I only used Betsy's services for a week and a half while I rented her basement apartment. She…read morevisited my dog twice per day-my pup is shy and anxious and would not have anything to do with Betsy. To her credit, I did see that she was making progress with my pup, which is no easy feat. Betsy and I were discussing my dog attending her daycare because my dog does infinitely better in a group setting. In addition, it was convenient for me for obvious reasons. My dog has gone to daycare for the better part of the year that I've had her, and she thrives in that environment. Never once have I had a complaint or negative report about my pup's behavior at daycare. In this conversation, Betsy used a condescending tone to refer to my dog as "difficult ". I informed Betsy that we no longer had an interest in her services, as I don't want my dog to be cared for by someone who would speak about her in that way. However, that's not why I'm leaving this review. I'm leaving this review because of something I observed with regards to her dog daycare. What her dog daycare consists of is several dogs hanging out with Betsy's daughter, Amelia (my best guess is she's a teenager)in their living room/dining room/kitchen area all day. Betsy is typically gone all day (8-3:30) from what she told me. There is a narrow dog run, running along one side and the back of the house. The daycare dogs are let out briefly to do their business a few times a day. While I was a tenant there, I had to do my laundry on the third floor of the house, above the daycare. This required me to wade through the group of dogs each time I went up and down the stairs to switch loads from the washer to the dryer. Every single time I did laundry during the month + I lived there, I noticed that Amelia was never downstairs with the dogs during daycare time. She was always in her room with the door closed. I suppose it's possible that she went in her room each time she heard me coming, but sound carries very well in that house and I'm sure that I would have heard her moving. I would also have considered this discovery a coincidence had it not happened multiple times. My primary inspiration for making this review is the fact that the very last time it happened, while sitting on my couch reading, I heard a kerfuffle between the daycare dogs. It did not sound like a fight, just like the dogs getting rowdy. Eventually, things settled down. Shortly afterwards, I had to go upstairs and get my last load of laundry out of the dryer. While making my way through the sea of dogs, I noticed that one of them was now holding one of its front paws up and was wearing a plastic cone around its neck. I only observed the dog for a couple of minutes, but it was never once willing to be weight-bearing on that paw. I hope that the dog wasn't seriously injured. Even more so, I hope that this is the only time anything like that has ever happened to any dogs that have attended this daycare. And even more so than that, I still have hope that it all was a complete coincidence that the dogs were never being cared for when I made my trips up and down the stairs. To be transparent, Betsy and I did not have a positive dynamic as landlord-tenant. Interactions were never heated, but Betsy did tell me that she is a very sensitive person and perhaps her daughter is as well. She may have been encouraged/wanted to avoid me due to the tension between her mother and I, despite the fact that I was polite to Amelia each time I saw her and professional to her mother. Bowser's Best Buddy is far different from any dog daycare I have ever seen, and I've been taking my dogs to daycare for over fifteen years. It's basically akin to your dog being at home, hanging out with a group of friends, sometimes supervised and sometimes not, with a potty break or two sprinkled in. There are no cameras for pet parents to observe their pups. I've never considered taking my dog to a daycare that doesn't offer this and my observation here has cemented that requirement for any pet care provider we use.

I have been a client of Betsy and Bowser's Best Buddy for about 9 years, starting when I had one…read morecat, then two, then a puppy, and finally a second puppy who is now an amazing 3.5-year-old dog. I know that Betsy is partially to thank for the wonderful companion Gromit has become. Betsy is conscientious and communicative, and she is very connected to the pets in her care. She spends time training them in addition to getting them out to stretch their legs and go potty, and she adjusts her training and walks to fit the dog's needs and personality. When my pup boarded with Betsy, he was treated like family. If Gromit could write a review, he would say he loves Betsy and Amelia as much as he loves me, and he wouldn't hesitate to recommend Bowser's Best Buddy to all of his furry friends!

I hired Erin to cat sit my two cats, after our regular cat sitters, our neighbors, moved up to St…read more Johns. (we would swap cat sitting duty). Erin was super professional from the start. She has a questionnaire that helps her know what you'd like done while you're away. She not only does the standard: feed, water and scoop the litter box, but she will also bring in the mail, take out garbage cans, and help make your house looked lived in by rotating blinds, or switching on or off lights. However, what i loved most of all was getting daily texts while I was away. It was reassuring to know someone was in checking on my furry babies and making sure they were receiving a bit of love while I was away. I would definitely recommend Erin to anyone looking for a pet sitter in the sellwood area.

From the owner: Caring for your home and pets when you're away.read more

Leaving our pups behind is always hard, but knowing they were under Becky's excellent care made it…read morepossible for us to have a nice vacation without worrying if our two little ones were ok. She is great about communicating before, during, and after pet sitting. Our pups seemed far less stressed than usual when we were away while with Becky. We couldn't have asked for a better pet sitter than Becky.

Becky did an amazing job taking care of our sweet, but anxious dog during our recent 10 days out of…read morethe country. She was communicative, thoughtful, and cared for home, dog, and garden (in a heat wave!). All were well-loved in our absence. Becky is trustworthy and hard-working, and we will absolutely have her back again in the future. If you are looking for someone that goes above and beyond, look no further.

We couldn't be happier with the care they've given Marley and Charlie on their walks. We have two…read morestrong, excited dogs that definitely aren't the easiest to walk, and they've been so patient, reliable, and willing to work with them. It gives us so much peace of mind knowing our pups are getting great care while we're busy at work. They are also super communicative and we love the photos and updates we get after the walks. We highly recommend them to anyone looking for a trustworthy dog walker!

We hired Petsitter Portland for an overnight sitter while we were out of town for the weekend. The…read morefirst night, our sitter was a no-show. I only found out the next morning when I reviewed our front door camera footage and realized our dog had been alone since 7pm the night before. I had to leave a note in the app before anyone reached out to us. When the owner finally called to apologize, I asked why we weren't contacted as soon as the issue came up. His response was, "we're not open during those hours." I'm still not sure what that means for a pet care company. If you're taking responsibility for someone's pet overnight, there is no "closed." To his credit, the owner stepped in personally to cover the rest of the wknd, but by that point the damage was done. Our dog had been alone for over 12 hours. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if we didn't have exterior cameras or happen to check them that morning. We got lucky, and we shouldn't have had to be. The whole situation was incredibly stressful and affected our entire trip. The owner comped the one night, but charged full price for the rest of the wknd. Honestly, given everything that happened, I would have expected the whole stay to be taken care of. If you need a sitter you can count on, especially for overnight stays, I'd look elsewhere. Peace of mind is the whole point, and we didn't have it.

Tami and her Daily Dog Romps are the best! She provides a really unique service to SE Portland dogs…read morein the Sellwood-Moreland area, letting them run and play, but still keeping a really close eye on everyone's wellbeing. It's such a treat for Koko to be able to get out to swim, run, chase, fetch, and socialize in a way that works for her...doggie daycare and the dog park used to stress her out, but this is perfect. I highly recommend Tami and her pack to anyone who wants to get their pup out more often to really play hard. (Tami has also house-sat for us, which turned out great.)

They used to always give you the dog walker you wanted. Now they dont listen. What happened? Past…read morefew weeks have been bad. Incorrect charges, messed up appointments, bad communication, and a friend told me they keep charging her or showing up after she cancels. New guy answering phones is disorganized.

Broken glass with food is not a good mix. I apologize for the length and I'm not usually a negative…read morereviewer but... full experience: We recently relocated to Portland from Sacramento, Ca and were so excited to find a passionate group of folks to take care of our three cats and 70lbs dog in-(our)house. We used Tails and Trails 3 times with mixed results. Important to know- you create detailed notes with the owner (Jeff) on how to access your building, routines, where leashes are, etc., etc., when you have your introductory visit. Our instructions ask that the handler only feeds the cats their canned food, nothing else. 1st time, week-long trip (June 2024)- handlers were 2+ hours late regularly. While this wasn't the biggest issue, we don't have a doggie door and that level of lateness pushed the pup's bathroom breaks longer than we're comfortable. But, we liked the service offered and adjusted how often we scheduled handler visits for the second and third visits. 2nd time, 1 week of walks while both of us were gone for longer than 8 hours (September 2024)- Great! Annie (I'm not disclosing employees' full names for their privacy) had no problems and was very helpful. 3rd time, overnight away- 4 visits requested: Sat afternoon and evening; Sun am and afternoon (October 2024)- Day 1- We left the house at 8 am and scheduled feeding/walk visits for about 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Around 1:25 pm, Chloe (office manager) texted me to ask if we had scheduled for 7:00 am that day. When we said we hadn't, a communication between Chloe and a handler led to the 1:00 pm visit being skipped. We talked with Chloe that evening and she said the handler would roll the afternoon and evening visits together, apologized for the miscommunication between herself and the handler, and credited our account for the mistake (all great). The handler arrived around 7:00 pm. They had a difficult time accessing the building so Chloe texted us to say the handler would hang out for a little longer before leaving if they couldn't get access. Once they did get into the building, they couldn't find the food or leash. The access information, food instructions, and where the leashes are were all in the instructions. The handler fed the pets and took the pup for a 15-min potty break. Since we were only gone for a night, we didn't book anyone to stay overnight. We considered cutting the trip short and wish we had. Day 2- Oscar was our handler. We got notifications that both visits were completed and everything seemed to have gone smoothly. When we got home, a glass jar with cat treats had been taken from the closed closet and left open on the counter. When we got home, there were treats all over the counter and SHATTERED GLASS MIXED WITH TREATS all over the floor. All three cats had engorged stomachs. While Chloe apologized and said she'd speak with Oscar the next day, we didn't hear back from Tails and Trails' manager or owner. We'll be anxiously monitoring our furbabies for a few more days.

Quite possibly the best service in Portland! Meaghan and Jen go above and beyond to make sure my…read moreanimals are taking care of from long walks to cuddle time on the couch. I'm seriously impressed with how responsive and flexible they are. Meaghan was able to quickly accommodate me when my husband and I needed to attend a surprise wedding two states away and she's been great at changing with my schedule (some work days are longer than others). I'm so unlucky to have found these two because anyone else will pale in comparison. :)

I can't say enough good things about how amazing they are with our dog. Leo loves them & they treat…read morehim like he's part of their family.

I entrust Hot Diggity with the care of my dog on a weekly basis. I've used their services for years…read moreand they have the best staff and dog walkers! I get awesome write ups and pictures from each of her walks with them and it gives me great peace of mind to know that she's cared for, safe and loved while I'm working. Their services are invaluable and I would highly recommend them to anyone.

I came home from a short trip to find my dog greeting me at the door, not secured in her crate as I…read morewas told she would be in the emails I received. We do not let our dog free-roam when we are not home, and our house was not set up for it. There was trash in the trash cans that she could have eaten, and any number of things she could have gotten into that could be harmful to her. She also urinated and pooped on the carpet. In my bedroom. So I was cleaning that up at midnight after traveling. And of course I cannot stop smelling it. It's going to take getting the carpet cleaned. We have had this dog for 5 years and this is the first time she has EVER peed or pooped in the house. She also peed and pooped again when I took her out when I got home. This is very outside of normal for her and it makes me wonder if she was actually getting let out on her visits. I will be checking our cameras to see.