Keren at Home Away From Home is way better than any dog-boarding temporary parent I could have imagined. Before we ever had our dog Cooper stay with someone else, I had visions of him in a cage, sad, wondering where his family was and if he'd ever be loved again. But with Keren, all of that hesitation was shattered immediately. Actually, our dog get so excited to see her and his friends that he starts whining in the car as we start approaching her neighborhood. It's like he can't wait for us to leave so he can go and have the time of his life. Keren stays in constant communication with us, sending us text updates, videos of Cooper playing, etc. We never have to wonder how he's doing. I love seeing how exhausted he is just passed out somewhere in her house after a morning playing outside. You can tell she loves her work and she loves our dog. She doesn't just do it for payment. She really cares about Cooper, which is exactly the kind of person we want to leave him with. More than that, Keren cares about her human customers too :) Far from just doing business with her, we now consider her a friend as she has shown our family an incredible amount of encouragement, care, and blessing. Once you send your dog here, you'll be a lifelong customer, I'm sure. read more

I selected Home Away from Home because I was drawn to the idea of our dogs living with the family in their own home. Our great dane, Bella, is recovering from abdominal surgery, so we didn't want her stressed in a kennel. After our initial meeting with Keren and seeing how organized and clean her house is, it was a no-brainer that we could trust our dogs with her. Bella and Duke met her family, her dog, and a couple of other boarders at the introduction. Our dogs felt comfortable exploring Keren's home when we left them for their 3 night stay. We really loved that Keren sent us short videos of the dogs on their walks. We were not worried at all and we were actually able to enjoy our trip without them. When we picked them up, they were really happy to see us. The only issue we had, was that Keren kept the harnesses on the whole time and Bella chewed hers on the last day. Keren was very accommodating and ordered us a replacement at her expense. I would recommend Home Away from Home to anyone who loves their dogs and wants them to be in a friendly and caring, home environment when they need to be boarded. Thank you, Keren, we'll be calling again! read more

Keren is the best EVER. Our kids, Baxter and Matilda have stayed with her multiple times since Tilda was a pup. When they stay with Keren, we truly have peace of mind. The emails and pics we receive from her while we are away make our vacation nice knowing someone is truly looking out for them. We were amazed on how quickly the dogs bonded with Keren and her family. They start getting so excited in the car when we are about a block from her house. Then they jump out of the car and run to her door. We are a able to relax when out of town as we feel they are "home away from home"! We just know how comfortable they are with Keren and if we could give her a million stars we would. Thank you Keren! We are so grateful you are there to love our kids. You should stop searching here and call Keren, she really is the BEST! read more

Keren at Home Away From Home is about as good as it gets for dog care. I have been sending my little pup Pepper to Keren for several months, and would strongly recommend Keren's service to anyone who wants a comfortable, safe, and fun family environment for their dog. Keren is great to work with, really accommodating, I trust her totally with my pup, and know that she provides a great active day with socializing with other dogs (small group max) and kids. My pup Pepper has gotten to the point that she will get really excited as we drive into Keren's neighborhood, or if she sees/hears a van similar to Keren's in our neighborhood. She always come back to us happy, relaxed, and all tuckered out :) Highly recommended! Book while you can because my guess is that once the secret gets out you won't be able to... read more

Keren is the best! We have boarded our Rhodesian Ridgeback, Cooper, with her twice in the last 3 months. Both times, she was able to accommodate our schedules and work with last minute arrangements for us. She really makes you feel comfortable leaving your fur babies with her. Her house is nice and has a fully enclosed yard for the dogs to be outside. Her neighborhood is great for walks and the dogs get plenty of exercise while they are there and they even get to sleep in their own dogs beds!(cooper prefers to share Keren's bed, and she doesn't mind!) She really does an amazing job maintaining a home away from home for dogs of all sizes and ages. As an added bonus, she even sends pictures and videos throughout their stay so you have peace of mind for the duration of your dogs' stay. read more

Home Away From Home is a fabulous pet sitter. I lost my dog on the beach and was told she was last seen running up and down the busy street. Karen and her crew had found her, rescued her, posted her missing and kept her overnight for me. My dog will not go to ANYONE and these kind and gentle women had gotten her to trust them! And then, because I live over the hill, graciously offered to keep her overnight, because I live on the other side of the hill and had already gone home. The next morning I found my dog healthy and happy! They refused to take any money for caring for her. These are people that truly care about animals, have good hearts, and are great with your pets! I would trust them without reservation and wholeheartedly recommend them to you. Renee Marlin read more

The Smiths took wonderful care of our dog, Lulu! We usually leave her with family but no one was available for a last minute trip. The last thing we wanted to do was leave our precious pet in a kennel or large boarding facility. I hate to admit this but Lulu had her own little vacation going on while we were gone and we had a hard time getting her to leave her "new" family when we returned. Keren took pictures and sent them to me with updates. Lulu slept with their children and roamed their yard freely. She was walked and played with and loved. We couldn't have asked for a better experience. Plus-I found their fee to be extremely reasonable-especially considering the personal touches you aren't going to experience anywhere else. Great care- Great family! read more

I am so happy to have found Keren! We left our two pug children with her for 3 nights and needless to say, we were a bit nervous. Our nerves were quickly calmed when we saw our pups excited and happy to be in her home and we received the wonderful updates complete with photos and video of our babies playing and being cuddled by her sweet children. They loved the outings to the park and beach...it was clear that they had a fabulous time and so did we because we were able to relax knowing that they were in the best of care. I highly recommend Keren and Home Away From Home for your pet care needs. She is awesome and does such a great job. We will definitely be using her again and again. Thanks, Keren! read more

I am so happy I found Keren, it truly is a Home Away From Home! Having recently rescued Macie I was a little weary of having to put her in day care. Macie is a little shy meeting people and with Keren she went right up to her to say hello, Macie can tell when someone is a "dog person" and I could tell she felt comfortable from the get go. I found Keren professional,caring and attentive to your dogs needs and follows your guidelines carefully. I really enjoyed the emails I received while working, seeing, Macie having such a good time with the whole family put my mind at ease. I have already recommended Keren to several friends and will be happy to continue to spread the word! read more

My husband and I had trips planned at the same time and boarded our two dogs with home away from home for a week. After meeting with Keren once I had no reservations about trusting my fur babies with her. She has a great setup and system to keep pups safe, healthy and happy. She sent me videos so I could see my happy pups while I was away and was very skilled and patient with our year old, Aussie shepherd. She is an angel with a highly controlled environment, full of snuggles and socializing. I am so grateful we found her as I was able to enjoy the trip I was on without worrying at all about my babies. I would without reservation recommend her and board with her again. read more

Payton and Myles LOVE or meet and greets. The boys are my pride. I've called out of work for refusal for a soggy daycare and yet, I HAVE NO PROBLEM leaving the boys here. I get updates knowing they have face to face time and spend it with friends and a trainer who's very knowledgeable on all breeds and behaviors - SHE EVEN TRAINS ME to provide an safe environment for OTHER dog guests as well and that to me is invaluable! The boys have fun* The boys are safe* The boys love spending time there* I can't say express with words how vigilant and hands on with my boys has meant to me- *LOOK NO FURTHER * - your pets are safe,loved and cared for here read more

Thank you, Keren, for watching Peanut for us! Our active beagle can be a real handful. She is food obsessed and has been known to dig epic holes in the lawn, eat from the trash can, and do just about any naughty thing that you can think of. She needs pretty much CONSTANT supervision. That being said, Keren took such good care of her -- trips to the beach, group play, lots of affection and treats, and daily updates to us with a photo! She was flexible about pick-up and drop-off time and so sweet about my nervousness about my leaving my "fur baby" with her. Thanks again, for taking such good care of Peanut! We appreciate it so much! read more

Home Away from Home was just like the name says. Our dog Willie had such a good time and was so comfortable there. You could tell he had been happy and content. This is the first time we've ever left him with someone who wasn't actual family and they may as well have been. We felt comfortable right from the start after meeting the family. The nightly pictures helped us relax and not worry about enjoying our vacation. We highly recommend Home Away from Home, because it truly is. If we ever need to leave Willie again, they will be the first ones we call. Thank you to all the Smith Family for taking such good care of Willie. read more

Keren and her family watched our dog Biz over Memorial Day weekend this year and it was such a pleasant experience from start to finish, both for my husband and I as well as the dog! I could tell Biz had a great time, and the photos Keren shared throughout his stay proved it! The family truly treated Biz as if he was their own dog - they took him to the beach, played with him outside, and snuggled with him on the couch. I was so sad to hear Keren and co. were moving away to Santa Cruz, because we would have taken Biz back time after time! Highly recommend Home Away from Home to anyone looking to board their beloved pup! read more

Keren and her family are the greatest find! They have embraced our dog and our family so warmly and with great joy. Keren is a master of details and coordination, is professional and thorough. We are new to town and are so glad to have found a family that loves our dog as much as we do. Our (lazy) golden retriever gets so much action and stimulation during his stays with the Smiths that he sleeps for two days after he gets home! The last time we met to pick him up, he was clearly torn about who's car to get into...I'm afraid he may like it at their house better! Thank you Keren & Family! read more

Our dog loves Keren and her crew. She's just as excited when we get Keren's house as she is when we get to the dog park. Keren sends us videos and pictures of our dog who comes home tired from her adventures. We send our dog a few times a week and her socialization and time with Keren has resulted a better behaved and well mannered pet. Today at home, we played a past video with Keren's voice and our dog started barking and looking out the windows for her. We tested it, and confirmed she was responding to Keren's voice. (We did not continue to test. Poor dog is so excited to find Keren) read more

While recently on vacation in Watsonville, we found ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place when we were invited to spend a couple of days in SF visiting family. Unfortunately we didn't have a place to leave our dog, Howie, and the first few boarding facilities I contacted were booked through October. Thankfully someone recommended Karen Smith at Home Away From Home and boy am I glad they did!! She was AMAZING - inviting Howie into her home and treating him like one of the family. She even sent cute video updates during his stay!! Excellent place to leave ur pet!!!!! read more

Can't thank Keren enough for taking my parents mini Schnauzer Rebecca on extremely short notice over this past weekend. Mom forgot to drop the dog off at my sisters house on her way out of Sacramento and drove almost the whole way to Watsonville before realizing she was in the back seat. Our beach rental didn't allow dogs and charge $250 a night penalty if discovered. We received texts with a video letting us know she was doing ok and a picture all snuggled up on the bed with the kiddos...super sweet for a scared little pup! Absolute lifesaver!! Thanks again!!! read more

We had reserved a spot for our pup and dropped him off the night before we were to leave on our 4 day vacation. Early the next morning we arrived at the airport only to find out our flight had been canceled. We were tired, cranky and disappointed but decided to pick our guy up on the way back from the airport. Keren was not only sympathetic about our canceled plans - she tore up our check! We fully expected to pay for our reserved slot but she insisted that we'd been through enough. The only silver lining to our ordeal was her kindness and generosity. Good lady! read more