Looking for H Street – Dog Walker Recommendations

Columns

by Prince Of Petworth August 18, 2016 at 2:15 pm 22 Comments

dog walkers
Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr.TinDC

“Dear PoPville,

Does anyone in the H Street, NE neighborhood have any recommendations for dog walkers who truly love to spend time with the dogs they walk, and can be trusted to take good care of them?

I’ve had horrible experiences with being lied to about visits/ walks, and even just not showing up at all. All help is appreciated.”

Andrew

I use Howl to the Chief for my dog and have had a great experience http://www.howltothechief.com/#!dog-walking-pet-sitting/cee5.
- Annette
  
  I second Howl! They use an app so there’s a check in with photos and you know when they leave. Super patient with our pup who can be sort of a jerk. They also offer a 15 min walk (our dog is little and doesn’t need a long one) and discounts for purchasing walks in bulk.
jmarkman

We use Rover (it’s an app and a website) and have had good experiences with all the walkers we’ve used. They send pictures, too, which is nice. Obviously it’s not 100% fool-proof way of confirming they do indeed walk our dog, but it’s nice nonetheless.
DC8

FYI – If you end up deciding to use a dog daycare, City Dogs is supposed to open a second location on H Street in October or so.
Alex

I’ve had great luck with Wanderpups – I’ve had the same dog-walker each time (unless they were on vacation) and they send me messages and pictures for each walk. They also offer dog runs if you have a high energy dog like me.
- ArchaeoG.
  
  Seconding Wanderpups. I was so sad when we moved and couldn’t use them anymore. They were really wonderful, reliable, and great about providing updates.
- Z
  
  I second Wander Pups. Mel (Owner) is great and provides feedback, updates etc. Never had any cancellations or issues.
- Michael
  
  I’d highly recommend Wanderpups. After working with several DC dog walking companies prior to moving to Boston last year, we started using Wanderpups as soon as we returned this past summer for our black lab. Mel and her team are incredibly responsive, they have a really easy-to-use online platform that makes scheduling easy, and their cancellation policy is great – if you let them know prior to 10 AM on the day of a walk, there is no fee for cancellations (which is great for folks whose schedules may be a bit flexible). We started with one dog walker who ended up moving, and they gave us plenty of notice and heads up prior to a new one beginning – they even had her transition with the old dog walker for a week to make sure our dog was comfortable and the new dog walker knew where everything was located in the house. Definitely check them out!
Caroline

I can’t vouch for their dog-walking services, but we’ve been using Metro Mutts for cat-sitting, and they’re great. Some sitters will send pictures, but they all fill out a daily “journal” with notes about what they did during the visit. And our neighbors use them for midday walks with their two dogs, and I know they show up because I used to work at home and could always hear the dogs barking in excitement around lunchtime when the walker appeared to take them out.
- H St NE
  
  We have used MM for several years and they are great.
  
  http://www.metromuttsdc.com/dog-walking/
Lisa

I highly recommend Saving Grace Pet Service; ask for Bill. http://www.savinggracepets.com/. He lives on the Hill and knows the neighborhood (including H Street) very well. And he’s awesome with dogs.
DcinDC

We’ve used Paws on the Hill ( http://www.pawsonthehill.com/) for the past 1 1/2 years and it’s overall been a great experience.
Sarah

You could check out Barkly! I walk for them and everything is tracked through an app. When I arrive at a house/apartment, I start the app and it GPS tracks me throughout the time I am there. The walker writes you a note about how everything went, lets you know if the dog went potty, and can even include a picture from the walk. You get an email showing the walk, how long the walker was there, and the notes/pic. It’s a private service, so your dogs get all of the walker’s attention! The walker and dog are even insured during walks if for some reason emergency medical care is needed.

Here’s the site: barkly.us and here are some of the happy clients https://www.instagram.com/barklyapp/?hl=en
dogmom

Whistle makes a great and relatively inexpensive product that monitors your dog’s activity. It attaches to the dog’s collar and syncs to your phone so you can periodically check in to see if your dog has indeed been walked.
HStreetpetlover

I’ve had some bad experiences in the area as well but have been very happy with Metro Mutts. We’ve been home unexpectedly a few times when we’d requested a walker so were able to see first hand how much our pup LOVES her walker which is always nice. Also they are very accommodating and always consistent with the walker. I HATE when places send a new person to my home without telling me and they have NEVER done that.
thunder

Check out Dog dot cat. It’s a mother and daughter team that has been in business for years. They are bonded and insured. Magic has walked my pup for eight years. She boards him too.
Jen D

We love District Dog Walkers — https://www.yelp.com/biz/district-dog-walkers-washington?sort_by=date_desc. They have GPS tracking of the walk and usually a little note with pictures.
J. Makeeff

Check out DC Dog Sitter! We use them and their entire team is awesome!
TrinidadLopez

Highly recommend Saving Grace. Our guy can be a handful and they are always great. And flexible with out work schedules, which change a lot and result in us cancelling some afternoons yet asking for a late night walk or for a last minute walk.
Christina

I used Saving Grace when I lived in that neighborhood. They were wonderful! Even did some light cleaning when I had them dog-sit.
ParGage

We had the same problem when we first moved to H street. We went through a few walkers before finding Barkly (barklydc.com). It is an ap based service- but with personal touches. In fact, the owner personally responded to my inquiry and personally came out to meet our dog and place him with a walker.

The ap is also great because you can see exactly what time they pick up the dog. The map of where they walk. And when the walk ends. You get a daily report that also includes a summary of the walk, photos and relevant bathroom information.
Effie

I’m gonna be completely honest here.. honestly the best dogwalkers are my friends. They are reliable because I can completely trust them, they wont rip me off with crazy prices (most are willing to do for free in exchange of future hang out sessions, doing them a solid back, etc), they have been in my house before and generally know where things are, and I feel very comfortable with them.

Subscribe to our mailing list