I met Hollyce almost 2 years ago. I was frazzled as a day old dog mom, with a 6 week old puppy in…read moremy arms, buying a bottle of wine at my local corner store. Hollyce noticed I might need help. She gave me her card and I called her the next day. She has helped me take care of (and learn to take care of) my baby ever since. She is incredibly flexible and reliable, and there is literally no one else I trust my dog with. Prior to Covid, I was working in the field as a social worker. Sometimes I would get stuck at work for hours past when I supposed to get home. On those days, Hollyce always came through, and would pick up Pancho or hang on to him for the entire day. Literally sometimes I wouldn't be back home until 8 at night. Now that I'm mostly working from home, I still ask Hollyce to pick up pancho (because we love her) and if she notices I'm stressed, she'll just hang on to him for me and he'll get a few extra hours of attention in (probably why she has so many dogs on certain days). She is exceptional as a dog walker and trainer, and just as importantly, as a human. We love her so much, sometime we will coordinate trips to the dog park on days Pancho doesn't go with her, just so we can have the joy of playing with her and her well-trained pack. So, if you're looking for for a dog walker who will literally walk that extra mile with your dog, Holly is your gal!!

Holly is so fabulous! I've never felt more comfortable leaving my cat with anyone, including my…read moreclose friends, neighbors, and family members who see my cat on a regular basis. My cat has a ton of energy and is an escape artist--she wants to go outside so bad! Holly took care of our baby while we were away and was extra cautious when coming and going. She stayed for a few hours each visit to play with our cat and form a relationship with her while we were away. It felt so good knowing our sweet girl was in such good hands.

Chris is amazing. My dog Dillon picked her one day many years ago. She walked Dillon for decades,…read moretook him as a border hundreds of times. I was also lucky to be part of her extended family.. She knows how to treat any dog with love and respect. Please dis regard my negative review.

We've been using Chris's dog walking services, and sometimes boarding, for about 12 years now…read more Chris will work with you to find a schedule that fits for all involved. She is very honest and hardworking. She has a key to our house and our alarm code so that she can pick up our dog while we are at work and we've never had any issues with this arrangement. Chris mostly takes her pack of dogs to Point Isabel regional park so they can run around like crazy animals and expend all that energy. Our dog comes home worn out and sleeps the rest of the day, which is nice. Sometimes he rolls in poop or dead fish or whatever and Chris will spray him off with the hose before dropping him at home. She also will text us if this happens so that we have some warning and then my husband and I can negotiate about who will get home first to deal with the dog washing. Chris is excellent at pairing dogs with the appropriate pack so that personalities mesh well and the dogs have a good experience together. We've never had any problems with injury to our pet or negative emotional health. Our dog LOVES Chris to the point where we sometimes feel jealous that he has this bond with another person outside of our family, LOL. Our dog has this whole other life we know nothing about, haha. Chris accepts cash or check only and you have to call or text her to make arrangements, so no fancy computer appointments or billing. Everything is very simple and old-school.

I met Kristina while walking my Oggie Doggie around the lake. She was hanging out by the boat…read morerental with the Ladies of the Lake just before they were about to get their row on. I used to row the lake with the boat club so I already had a soft spot for that aspect but I actually appreciated her asking about my dog and giving me her card for future reference. I had only adopted by a dog in January from Rocket Dog and had as-of-yet, not left him with anyone day or night. He had been loyally by my side for many months in my disability and unemployment. My family does an annual trip to Reno in July so as the date approached, I tore up my house looking for the card she gave me. Once I located it, I both text her and called her. She had just had a tooth pulled so she wasn't feeling 100%, the date I needed boarding was over a month away so I said let's touch base when she was feeling better. A couple of weeks go by and as I was thinking to myself, I should call, text, or email her again. No sooner had I had that thought, had I opened up my email to find correspondence from her saying just that! I have read a couple of negative reviews on here about her personality. I like to do that when I am getting to know a business to see what others have had issues with. Even after reading those, I still stand confident that for my older dog, who is half-blind due to coming out of a hoarding situation, she is a good fit for us. We initially did a meet and greet for about an hour with the dog, my 10-year-old daughter, and myself in her backyard to see how Oggie did with her other dogs, both resident dogs, and boarded dogs. He did great and neither Oggie nor my daughter wanted to leave. The next step was a day boarding so he could rest assured that his new adoptive mommy, me, was not passing him off permanently but temporarily and I would return after 8 hours and take him home. The final step in our Reno trip coming up on Saturday for a few days will be to take Oggie there the night before we leave and pick him up the morning after we return home. I am confident that Oggie and Kristina will do well together. If not, I will update this review to reflect such... To be continued...

We had a _terrible_ experience with Kristina, and I would advise anyone considering working with…read moreher to read this review in full first. She made several decisions that made us deeply uncomfortable, both in terms of how she related to our dog, other dogs and how she treated her financial agreements with us (i.e. not honoring her word and charging us for services not received). Shortly after moving to Oakland, we had to go away on short notice and had to establish a new boarding relationship. We contacted Kristina about a week before leaving. We agreed to one day of doggie daycare that we did not otherwise need to determine if this was a good fit. This was explicitly a "test". She required us to put down a deposit to hold the boarding spot. When I dropped my dog off, she began making derogatory comments about a very elderly dog she was boarding in a confiding way, as though it would be obvious to me that the dog was a problem (it wasn't). She said the dog was very old and needed to be put down, that the owners hadn't been up front with her about the dog's problems. I was amazed she would tell a new client that another client's dog should be put down. Mystified, I asked what the dog's problems were. She said that the dog was sometimes disoriented and bumped into walls, that it sometimes vocalized and cried for its owners (as it was doing then ) and it made her feel terrible to hear this. She said she would not work with this dog again. To me, nothing about the dog's behavior seemed problematic or out of the ordinary for an elderly dog while boarding and it was only stressful to me to hear a prospective dog boarding business owner talking about dogs this way. She also said she was possibly going camping for 2 of the 4 days we would be boarding our dog, but her roommate would be around to watch the dogs. This was also alarming, but we felt we had no time to find another arrangement, so we agreed. When we picked up our dog at the end of the day, we learned that our dog had been cowering under the furniture most of the day. We'd never seen our dog behave this way, though he has boarded with half a dozen other people. He usually sits in guests' laps the whole time they are visiting. We were alarmed, but Kristina asked us to bring our dog back a second day because she'd been out of the house much of the day and hadn't been available to make our dog comfortable. She could not remember our dog's name and referred to him as a "she" (he is male). We were reluctant not only because of the red flags already described, but because we did not need daycare, only boarding, and each additional "test" day of daycare was costly. It was concerning that we'd paid for a test day when Kristina was mostly out of the house. We felt she could have planned better. We were supposed to bring our dog at 7AM the second day. We ran late. Kristina called us at 7:01 or 7:02 AM and asked where we were and told us she needed us to arrive at the time scheduled. It was stressful for us that there was so little wiggle room. Kristina indicated that she was going to a doctor's appointment that morning and needed to leave promptly at 7AM. Yet the only point of this second unneeded day of daycare was to see if our dog would be more comfortable with her if she was home, instead of out of the house. Our dog was returning again to a frightening environment with nobody there to calm him. After drop off, my partner and I realized we were uncomfortable leaving our dog with Kristina. I contacted her and said I preferred not to go forward with the boarding arrangement based on the test daycare experience and would she be willing to refund for boarding. She texted, "of course." That afternoon, 8 hours later, with no further communication to the contrary, my partner picked up our dog. Kristina refused the refund because she said we hadn't given sufficient notice, even though our whole relationship had happened within such short notice that we could not possibly have given more notice, and even though she'd agreed to a refund based on the test days. She said her policy was to keep all the money, but that she would make an exception and give us a credit for daycare. We didn't trust her anymore, and so my partner argued for an hour before she agreed to refund 50%. She agreed only after my partner asked for a written policy, which stated she would keep 50%, not 100%, as she had been verbally claiming. Seeing the discrepancy, she said she's not much of a businessperson and can't keep track of her own policy. In the end, we paid Kristina ~$200 for 2 days of test daycare to determine that this was a person we did not trust with our dog. We happily made the 8-hour round-trip drive _twice_, on work nights, to drop off and pick up our dog from a family member rather than going forward with the boarding arrangement.

Really great service provider! Very communicative, flexible, reliable, reasonable, and, most…read moreimportantly, so wonderful to our goofy pooch! Highly recommend!

In Their Element has been fantastic for our dog. They are reliable, communicative, and…read moreaccommodating. Our walker Kamala is kind and our pup clear enjoys his hikes with her and the pack.

Grace is by far the best dog walker I've ever had! She's super patient, attentive, playful and…read moreloving towards my dog Charlie. Grace has been Charlie's dog walker for almost 9 months now and I couldn't be happier. I love the pictures that she sends me of Charlie on their walks! I feel very safe and comfortable with Charlie under Grace's care. Something to note - Grace has a first aid kit with her during her dog walks just in case anything happens! Grace is just the best! I would highly recommend her if you need a dependable/long term dog walker!

Grace is everything you want in a dog walker and more!! She is reliable, trustworthy, friendly,…read moreflexible, knowledgeable and most importantly my pup loves her! My dog is new to dog walking and can be quite nervous, but thanks to Grace she is becoming more confident, comfortable and trained every day. Grace provides detailed updates (with a photo) for my dog's daily walks which allows me to feel connected to my dog and also better understand her patterns. Grace truly cares for my dog likes it's her own and goes above and beyond to be a phenomenal caregiver to my dog (and me!). Highly recommend Madra Dog Walks.

We were so glad that we got connected with Tom! We needed dog boarding for our four year old dog,…read morePiper, while we are on vacation and we felt that our Piper got his own vacation. Tom sent us updates about how Piper is doing, and we can see how happy he was based on the photos. Piper got to hang out and play with other dogs and went on multiple hikes/walks throughout the week. We cannot recommend this place more!

I did not board my dog. But I got wonderful information from Tom on a variety of things canine. I…read morewrote him because he worked with a partner in the Berkeley Hills who boarded my first German Shepherd. I have a 2 week trip planned in April 2024 and Tom will be my first choice for boarding if I can't find someone to house and dog sit for that length of time. He is just a really nice, informed, knowledgeable guy.

We had a troubling experience boarding our dog Zazie, with Jet Dog. After successfully working with…read moreJet Dog to take our pup on weekly walks, we were excited about the prospect of them boarding her while we were away. Unfortunately very disappointed with the experience. While being boarded, our dog Zazie was bitten by another dog. We were never informed that she would be boarded with dogs she had never met, nor were we notified when the incident occurred. In fact, we only learned about the bite two full days later, and only after a wound became visibly noticeable. When we spoke with the boarder, we were told the bite did not warrant a vet visit because the wound was "nice and red and not smelly." We had to push for veterinary care ourselves. Once seen by a vet, it was clear this assessment was wrong, as the wound required cleaning and stitches. Unfortunately, the problems didn't stop there. The cone that was placed after the initial vet visit either came off or was not properly monitored, resulting in the stitches coming out. Zazie had to be taken back to the vet for a second procedure involving staples. That visit cost $280, and despite the injury and follow-up complications occurring entirely under Jet Dog's supervision, they refused to cover even a portion of the cost. Incidents can happen in group settings, but what matters is transparency, urgency, and accountability. Jet Dog failed on all three fronts:     *    No disclosure about unfamiliar dogs being boarded together     *    A two-day delay in notifying us about a serious bite incident     *    Downplaying the wound that required medical attention     *    Refusal to take responsibility for resulting veterinary expenses When you leave your pet with a boarding service, you are trusting them with your dog's safety and well-being. In our experience, that trust was not respected and we are sharing this so other pet owners can make an informed decision.

JetDog has been great for our family (oh, and the dog!). We always feel like she's having fun and…read morekept safe on her pack walks! The JetDog crew communicates very well and makes everything super smooth.

Michelle took care of my 1 year old rescue Evie and she was amazing. She took Evie out with a group…read moreand they went hiking and exploring for many hours. Evie always came home so happy and exhausted. I recently moved out of Berkeley and was so sad to lose her services, so if you are looking for a dog walker in the Berkeley area Michelle is your best bet!!

Michelle has walked Ozzy for two years now, and it's changed his life. Ozzy used to be downright…read moreparanoid. Every other dog, every passing car, every stranger with a hand out represented a threat to be warned off with a growl or a snarl. Michelle taught him that so long as he was a member of her pack he had nothing to fear. Gradually, little by little - Michelle is patient and very consistent - Ozzy relaxed and began to enjoy life. He can't wait for Michelle to come in the afternoon and give him yet another chance to be a good dog. And when Michelle isn't here, he looks to me or my wife as interim leaders, so he's a good citizen for us too. Besides her talent for animal attitude adjustment, Michelle is extremely reliable, punctual, and a pleasure to deal with.