I do not recommend this business. I had a terrible, abusive dog walker by the name of Victoria who…read moreshoved, kicked and smack my dog while under her care. I spoke to Felicia who said she had a serious talk with her about not disciplining other people's dog but decided to keep her in her in her employ. Just for that fact I cannot in good faith use her business again for the possibility my dogs will be treated like this again

I'll make it brief. We had an emergency. We had to leave town on a trip. The House sitter who…read morecame mis-portrayed her ability to take care of our 55 pound Australian Shepard Mix. She took no responsibility for it. We had to find a place to Board him while on the move. IN the meantime, we had to find someone to help for a day. Walking the Dogs was there. They answered; they responded; they did 2 walks, gave us photos and feedback, and put our minds at rest. Can't say how much we appreciated this. Highly recommend this service.

Janet McMillian is an excellent trainer. She was on time for our appointment and showed up prepared…read morefor the training. She was kind and gentle with my dog but firm. She showed patience in showing me what I needed to do to work with my dog and made sure I was confident with the training and able to continue when she was gone. I highly recommend Janet to anyone who need any kind of training for their dog.

Janet is absolutely awesome! She demonstrated both expertise AND professionalism, and we truly…read moreappreciated that. I was literally in tears as our 9 week old Bernedoodle was nipping me constantly... I knew that we needed some training support, but she was too young to attend any puppy classes at that time. Janet responded to my email inquiry quickly, and we were able to have her come to our home to help within a few days. Janet spent several hours with my partner and I-- giving us tips and techniques for positive training and enrichment. She provided detailed notes and resources after our session, and called to check in with me a couple weeks after to ensure that we were in a great place and still progressing in the right direction. I am so appreciative of Janet and the impact she has made with us in our home. We are now able to attend puppy classes for socialization, but I plan to reach out to Janet again as our puppy gets older for 1:1 skills reinforcement.

Long post but please read the whole thing…read more My husband and I hired Mark because our dog was aggressive towards strangers. He was very responsive and we set up our first meeting for a Sunday. When I got home from work the Friday prior Marks card was on our door. I assumed he was just scouting the location. On Sunday 15 minutes after our appointment time he wasn't there and I called and left a voicemail. 30 minutes after our appointment time I called and left a voicemail. He returned my call a few moments later and said there was a mix up he thought the appointment was Friday when he left the card. It was odd since he did not call me that day but we agreed that people make mistakes and to give it another try. He was very reluctant to meet us after business hours and preferred daily appointments. This was rough since we both worked but the first week I had two sessions with him at lunch time. My husband couldn't be at these and he needed to learn about it also so we scheduled another Sunday appointment. Again 15 minutes past the appointment time he didn't show up and I left a voicemail. 45 minutes past the appointment time I called and left another voicemail. He called back 2 minutes after our appointment would have been over and said he was running late but it was too late now to do another appointment and would have to reschedule. My husband called him back and explained that he needs to respect our time since we respect his. He promised it would not happen again and that if he was running late he would call us prior to our appointment time. He then PROMPTLY cashed the $500 check we wrote him on the first training appointment day which we understood wouldn't happen until all 6 training sessions were finished. Regardless the next few sessions went well he called in a timely manner when he was going to be late. Our dog started to realize that we were in charge and his aggression died down quickly. The last day of our training was supposed to be the test and we were going to a dog park to prove he learned what he was supposed to. 15 minutes past the appointment time we left a voicemail. 30 minutes after the appointment time we asked him to call and reschedule. It has now been THREE days and he has not returned the call. We were shorted one appointment but honestly I wouldn't want to work with him anymore anyway. Nothing he taught us was extraordinary and having to keep track of him was not worth it. It is a bad business practice and we are out the money. I WOULD NOT recommend him.

Our recently adopted (newly neutered) 2 yr old pug was a huge problem on leash: always pulling,…read moredistracted, chasing after squirrels, cars, everything. He was also rather aggressive to other dogs, trying to dominate them. In the beginning, I had wanted to make sure he got plenty of exercise, but my inability to manage his behavior was not making it easy for us to take long walks, and I felt bad that my lack of skill was keeping him indoors so much. Stress! We wanted to take him to some group training classes, but none were starting at the time and we needed help quickly. I checked out yelp and found Mark, who had very good reviews. I called him, told him about our situation and he was very interested in helping us. We had a good, long conversation, where he offered his thoughts about why our dog was behaving that way, and what we could do now to alleviate some problems. We met a few days later. It was obvious Mark had good energy because our dog, who gets overexcited with any newcomer, seemed to relax very quickly when Mark arrived. Mark observed me and my dog and saw that the dog, though he listened, was rather reluctant to listen and act, and this was a problem. I am a first-time dog owner and so I didn't think it was strange that our dog would lazily respond to my commands. Mark showed me how to get the dog to respond enthusiastically, what kinds of incentives to use, how to adjust my voice and petting. We moved outdoors to work on the leash. Mark showed me some techniques to get our dog to Heel, which worked rather well. Mark gave me other hints and tips to work on outdoors. We all were working very hard and felt like we accomplished something! We had another lesson with Mark, who taught us some new commands, which our dog seemed to pick up quickly. We worked outdoors again, our biggest challenge, and Mark again showed us techniques to keep our dog in check. What I found interesting in these sessions is that Mark is training the owner more than the dog. Mark showed me how to be a stronger leader, whom my dog would respect and follow. I have learned a lot and my dog obeys me more enthusiastically, though we have some way to go. But I definitely feel Mark gave us great tools to mold our dog into a great companion. Mark is very interested in giving you what you want in the lessons. He is a good listener and freely offers lots of comments and advice. He encourages you to call him outside the lesson when you need additional help. He really cares about your dog and wants to inspire the dog to listen to your commands. Overall, Mark is great and I would recommend him wholeheartedly.

Will is a phenomenal kitty caretaker.  The amount of love and attention he gives my boys (two…read morekitties) is such a comfort when I am away from home.  I highly recommend Will's services - he goes above and beyond and truly treats your furbabies as he'd want his own to be treated--with plenty of attention and love.  He's also wonderful with the updates and pics/videos.  We're so grateful for Will!!!

I am so grateful for Will and his excellent pet care skills. My dog tends to be quite standoff-ish…read morewith new people, but Will immediately understood how to "talk" to him, doing all the right little things that made my dog feel comfortable with him faster than I've ever seen him take to a new person - within 10 minutes of Will arriving for our meet-and-greet, my dog was laying with his head on Will's feet. During each of Will's visits to walk and feed my pup, I received photos, videos, and detailed updates on how the visit went. I will definitely continue to ask Will to help with pet care when needed.

Josh and his team are wonderful and patient with Sansa who has been shuffled around between so many…read more"sitters" since my surgery. I was supposed to heal enough to walk in 6 weeks but its taking me about 8-10 months instead-surgeon misrepresented/lied to me. Sansa is an almost 3 years old Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier who is easily excitable. A typical of her breed she does the "Wheaten greetin'" whenever someone walks through the front door, jumping up at guests. It can be unnerving. Michaela handles Sansa like a pro. She calms Sansa within minutes, takes her to day care and then returns her, exhausted. Sansa cries when she leaves like she has never done for another walker/sitter. Don't hesitate to hire this team.

Josh and his staff couldn't have been more responsive and professional in our dealings. Even though…read morewe only needed them to cover 3 days for our usual dog walker, they Josh and his walked drove out on the weekend to walk through access to our unit and to meet our dogs. The walks went great and Josh's staff checked in to let me know everything was fine.

I love Bloomingdogs!…read more Abigail has been walking our dog for 3 months now and she is the BEST. They have super reasonable rates, which is always a plus. Also, Abigail obviously loves Harley (the aforementioned dog) and we always come home to the most adorable notes from her about what she and Harley did in their walk while we were at work. She's also really flexible when it comes to having to cancel days or add them on. If you have a dog in the LeDroit Park/Bloomingdale area, this is definitely the dog walker you should choose!

We love Bloomingdogs! Abigail is thorough, professional, flexible, accommodating, conscientious,…read moreand above and beyond what you could ever hope for in a dog walker. It gives us such peace of mind to have someone like Abigail stopping in on our dog during the week. We couldn't recommend her more highly.

Greyhound Welfare is a great organization to look into if you are considering the adoption of a…read moregreyhound. Yes, they are extremely thorough - it's not one of those groups that you can just show up to one of their events and take a dog home with you. But that is actually a good thing for a lot of reasons. It's probably not best for the dog to have someone "adopt" her and bring her back three days later because the decision was made without adequate forethought. Once you have filled out the application, you are required to read a few (short) books about greyhounds, do an over-the-phone interview, and then do an at-home visit with one of the volunteers during which they bring a greyhound to your home. They also do a phone check-in every once in a while to make sure that things are going smoothly once the adoption has taken place. The number of available dogs varies, but you can view the current ones on their website. I found that because the greyhound I adopted was put in a foster home beforehand, the foster "parents" were able to tell me a lot about her habits and personality so that I could make a fully-informed decision. Since all the greyhounds are retired from the track, they are already crate trained and typically very easily transition to the home environment and with house training. The organization also has events throughout the year, so you can stay in contact with the group if you choose to do so. Greyhound Welfare also has ample volunteer opportunities for those interested in continuing to work with them. Even if you are just thinking about adopting a dog and are unsure what breed, speaking with the volunteers and meeting the dogs can really help narrow down the type of dog that is best for you. I am very happy I went through this organization when I adopted my dog.

Extremely thorough screening process to match you up with a grey that suits you, vice versa. I got…read moremy boy, Basalt (fka Frodo Fido), on September 2016. It's been 4 months and he's adjusted very well to his new home. I would highly recommend going through greyhound welfare.

Ed was absolutely exceptional. From beginning to end, he was kind, reliable, professional, and…read moregenuinely thoughtful. He went above and beyond to make everything as easy and stress-free as possible, and his care and attention made an enormous difference during a particularly demanding time. It is rare to encounter someone who combines such professionalism with so much warmth and compassion. I am deeply grateful for Ed's help and could not recommend him more highly. Truly outstanding service from a wonderful person!

Ed SAVED us last Thursday. It was an epic adventure. My 2 dogs and I flew from DXB to IAD on…read moreTuesday, November 12. I booked a flight to Omaha leaving DCA on Thursday, November 14 and needed transport. I found Fido Fitness and Play at 8:00 pm on Yelp and can't believe Ed agreed to a 4:30 am pickup the next morning. He took excellent care of my dogs and supported me through the process including helping me find a solution to being told we could not travel that day. We did travel and after 4 long days finally made it to our new home in Iowa. I am so grateful to Ed. He went above and beyond for us.