Martijn and Shola LOVE dogs and let the canine guests wander freely around the living room. While…read moreI filled out paperwork, I saw first-hand how patient they were, even with the ones who ... ahem ... thought the coffee-table leg looked remarkably like a tree. I call Happy Dog the "doggie summer camp" since the dogs get out on daily off-leash walks in the hills. Rates are reasonable. Care is good. Dog came home from camp tired & happy. What more can you ask? Oh, yeah, they'll also pick up and return your dog to your house (in Marin) for an additional charge.

I absolutely adore Martijn and Shola! They are fantastic dog walkers who take our dog on weekly…read moreadventures to the beach, the woods or the trails. They pick up and drop off and are extremely friendly and responsible. I've also boarded my dog at their home and he always comes back happy and refreshed. My favorite thing is the photos that they'll send to you of your dog on his latest adventure!

Our dog Max started going out with Having a Ball during the 2020 shelter in place. In the early…read moredays, the service was great and Max was happy. Unfortunately, we have had many issues with this company and recently moved Max to another company. Overview of main issues: - Inconsistent schedule, different walkers showing up daily to pick Max up - They use personal cars which are not large enough for 6 dogs to be comfortable. - I regularly saw a dog sitting in the front passenger seat when they would come to pick up Max - this is very unsafe, especially since they are driving from Sausalito to Petaluma on Hwy 101. - Many times on hot days, Max would come home and his fur would be hot to the touch and he would be panting excessively. This made us question whether or not all of the personal vehicles used to transport dogs have functioning AC. - In August, our home alarm was set off twice by the walkers. Both times, Max was in the house with the alarm wailing for an extended period of time. - One day at 6 PM, Max was not home from his walk and we started to get very concerned. Multiple texts and calls went unanswered. Eventually, we learned that a dog had run away earlier that day and all of the walkers were trying to find it. We later learned that our dogs did not get a walk that day- so essentially, Max spent many hours crammed in a car - and we were charged for the walk (!) After this incident, we expected an official communication from the company acknowledging what happened and details on processes being implemented to ensure appropriate communication in the event of a future emergency. Even after discussing this with Richard, no communication was forthcoming. We are left to assume that there is no process in place. - The company stopped offering trail hikes and transitioned to ranch outings as of 10/1/2020. The ranch outings are more expensive and are advertised as being 2 hours. Max wears a GPS - his ranch outings have not been 2 hours (see picture below - at ranch from 1:05 - 1:59). Our estimation is most days in October he spent at least 3 hours in the car for pick up/drop off of other dogs. - The final straw was when a complete stranger showing up to pick up Max on Friday 10/22 - we were not notified that there was a new employee. We have a lockbox - it was highly concerning that we weren't notified and introduced to this new person. To this date, I never received a response to my last email outlining our concerns.

Moxie, our 2 year old Golden has been "having a ball" since December of last year. She loves her…read moretime out with her friends - both human & dog! Live others, she gets so excited when the car pulls up...her whole body wags with joy. She comes home happily tired out & looking forward to the next day's adventures. I can't recommend Having a Ball highly enough. Their staff are wonderful & I can't be happier.

Milton took wonderful care of my beloved dog while we were in town for a holiday wedding. He was…read moreattentive, communicative, caring, and treated my pup like his own for the duration of our brief visit. I received several updates with the sweetest photos and notes throughout and it made my heart swell. Milton went above and beyond to show my pup the city, ensure his needs were met, and that he had the most fun. If we're ever back in the Bay Area I will be looking Milton up and hoping he's available. Could not recommend him more!

Milton has a special intuitive connection with dogs, and I am very grateful for his extraordinary…read morelove and dedication to our animal friends. My dog benefits from every outing with him. Thank you, Milton!

The best!! Don David…read morehas been the best dog walker I've ever dealt with, his prices are more than fair and my puppy is totally pooped once he returns home after romping with other dogs and going on hikes. I'm pretty sure my dog has a better day than I do every time Don David takes him out. Don David keeps me updated with photos during their walks and makes sure he gets enough shade/water during the hot days. He is a genuinely sweet person and extremely easy to communicate with. I absolutely trust him with my dog and am so grateful to have found him. I now have Don David take my dog four days a week :) Oatie waits for him at the door every morning. He goes above and beyond to ensure your dog has a great day so you can rest easy while away from home. I absolutely recommend Don David to any dog owner in Marin.

What can I say about Don David? He is kind, loves animals and nature, an excellent communicator…read moreand he's a professional. I am Don David's biggest fan! He is a fabulous dog walker as he provides excellent care for my Shih Tzu on group walks. He takes the dogs on hikes and never unloads the dogs in a dog park for an hour. My small dog is in tip top shape from all his exercise. The socialization he provides for the dogs is excellent. Depending on the day he has small dog groups or a great mix of various sizes. Best of all, Don David texts us dog owners, photos throughout the week of our dogs on their hike. It is so nice to know my dog is in a safe environment and playing with dogs of all sizes. I can see that he is happy! I highly recommend Dog Trotters as your dog walking/pet sitter service.

Patrick is amazing. I had a hip replacement and needed a dog walker for a while. He is very…read morepatient and always on time. Also cleans the water bowls and adds water. And he takes the dogs for a long walk. The app he uses gives you all the info you could want if you're not home when he walks the dogs. Distance, where they walked, if they pooped and so on.

Patrick took very good care of my kitty Leo. He followed all directions and when I got home Leo was…read morerelaxed and happy. Patrick really cares about his feline and canine clients. Leo cannot wait for him to come back to play with him!

Sedra is so great! She took care of my senior chihuahua/terrier mix, Oreo, and took great care of…read morehim. She sent the cutest pictures. It was clear that she instantly became his best buddy. She took him to her fun activities, and he got a lot of attention. She was also able to manage his picky eating and medication and diaper use (for marking). Sedra is very caring and loving to pets and people. Oreo will definitely be staying with her again, and I plan to stay in touch with her as a friend too!

Sedra is absolutely the best house sitter we've come to find. She loves animals and it shows in how…read moreshe cares for them when they're in her care. Shes a great communicator & sends us a lot of beautiful pics of our fur baby. Our cat came to love her pretty quickly, letting her play & brush her while we were on vacation.

Paws & Go (Sarah Z) is seriously the best dog walker/ runner I have ever come across. I spend a lot…read moreof time at the dog park and have meet all the walkers in my area. I can confidently say that Paws & Go exponentially exceeds other walkers. Sarah is loving, kind, trust worthy and Willie (our 8 year old golden retriever) adores her. We receive pictures while she is with him. He loves the company that Obi brings to the outings and is learning how to break some of his old bad habits. Paws & Go is amazing, neither you or your pet will regret it.

still can't say enough about this dog walking service. Sarah is the best and she posts the cutest…read morepictures of her dogs. Makes me happy to see them every day!

Dog Meet Dog Marin has done wonders with my two puppies, Echo & Piper. Over the past few months…read moreLauren's training walks have transformed my two wild rescue pups to well mannered pets and I couldn't be happier! She is very knowledgeable and practices humane training techniques, which is extremely important to me. I highly recommend her services to anyone that truly loves their dog!

I had a really hard time finding a dog walker who I could trust and who could meet the needs of a…read moresmall breed dog who was, at first, nervous around big dogs. There were many people who would happily walk Eevee, but would have thrown her in a group of 5 or more big dogs! This would have made her anxiety around big dogs worse! Luckily, we found Lauren with Dog Meet Dog Marin! Lauren has been walking our papillon pup, Eevee, for about 6 months now. I am so grateful to have found her, being the overprotective dog mom that I am. I should be clearer, Lauren does not just walk your dog, she provides complete care by reinforcing training, appropriate exercise and socialization with other dogs in appropriately put together group walks. She takes the time to really get to know your dog and sends me cute updates & pics via text when I'm stuck at work. Our pup is a much better behaved dog because of Lauren. She freely shares resources on training which have been really helpful in building our pup's focus. Lauren has also boarded our dog at her home, which made leaving Eevee a bit easier, as I did not worry (though I do suffer from separation anxiety :). Oh, and those big dogs Eevee was so scared of? That fear is gone...and her best buddy is a German shepherd. I highly recommend Lauren and her services in Marin.

I cannot thank Becca enough! I recently adopted a ~2 year old rescue husky who had spent almost all…read moreof his life behind bars. He unsurprisingly turned out to have some socialization and dominance issues that made taking him to the dog park or walking in popular dog areas impossible. Becca met us at our house where he put on his full show of crazy energy racing around the house, jumping, and (eek!) leg humping. Becca showed me how to calm him down without petting him and accidentally rewarding him for his bad behavior, as I had been before. Once we were outside she brought all different kinds of dogs out of her van for us to practice walking past calmly without flipping out and pulling to go see them. He got to meet these new strange dogs on leash and Becca reminded me to have a slack leash so he could relax and wouldn't feel confined. Then we went to an area with lots of dogs who were off leash and he was able to be calm and meet them on leash without being a jerk and bowling them over! Hooray! After just one meeting with Becca he was already a brand new dog that I felt confident walking near other dogs. At our second meeting we reinforced meeting new dogs on leash and then we went to the dog park(!) where he got to work on his recall and how to interact with new dogs off leash. All he needed were two sessions and we're now able to walk around other dogs and go to the dog park and be social! And he even comes back when I call him! I was able to get the behavior I hoped for but didn't expect for many years after only a couple days. My friends are flabbergasted, haha.

We have rescued quite a lot of dogs over the years. Sometimes they are scared, sometimes…read moreneglected, and sometimes from abusive situations. I don't know what we would do without Becca. She rescues and fosters lots of dogs herself, so she has loads of experience. She understands dog behavior and emotions. She trains with compassion.

A friend of mine recommended Sunshine Puppy to me, singing their praises--and I can see why. Donna…read moreand her team are professional and responsible. I was gone for several weeks and during that time I received texts letting me know how the cats were doing. Bonnie, who is very shy, actually came downstairs when Donna was there, which is amazing. Along with taking care of the cats, the Sunshine Puppy team watered my garden and indoor plants at no extra charge. When I got home, the hall lights were on to welcome me. Everything was in good order--especially my precious cats. Sunshine Puppy is the best!

I have used Donna/Sunshine Puppy for my two chihuahua mixes, Chloe and Emma, since 2011 when I…read moremoved to Marin. After previously experiencing dog walkers while living in San Francisco who walk huge packs of dogs and mix large and small breeds together, it was a breath of fresh air to come across Donna. She takes dogs to play groups in private yards so they can pace themselves in play and are protected from the general dog park, and when she takes them on walks she matches similar dogs as far as stamina and speed. She is also willing to be flexible in terms of how many play groups/walks per week, which was not the case with dog walkers I worked with in SF (with them, it was either 5 days a week or nothing at all). Aside from all that, Donna is such a caring, wonderful, and responsible person. My dogs and I all love her! Donna also provides referrals to dog sitters when she is unable to do overnight stays when I've taken business and personal trips out of town. You can't go wrong with Donna!