Fetch! Pet Care

I give them a 3 because we used them for many years and they were great. I think the owners are good people but sometimes the help can get flaky. The last trip we took was a disaster. I kept getting excuses for why Kay wasn’t at our home when she was supposed to be, that is when I could get her to return my calls. Our little Maltese is old, fragile and has extreme separation anxiety. I ended up having to call our son for the overnight stays. it’s an awful feeling when you are a thousand miles away and depending on someone to take care of your baby.

Barbara was great with my dogs. I was scared to leave my two dogs alone on vacation with a stranger, but she proved that there was nothing to fear! Barbara is so professional, reliable, and trustworthy. I’ve used her services twice already and I’m always pleased with her work.
I loved the email/​text updates that she sent me when I was away, it’s something that definitely helps me sleep better at night.
I’m really grateful that she’s there for us.

We’ve used Fetch off an on for about a year now for occasional overnight trips, sometimes lasting as many as three days. We’re unusual clients in that we don’t need daily service, since we work from home, and this was something that we were worried about at first: How would Max, our sensitive yet fun loving Beagle with separation anxiety take not only our being gone but being cared for by somebody he rarely sees? And he’s a bit… quirky. Loves people, not other dogs. LOVES people’s feet, but really hates having his own touched. Must sleep with somebody under the covers. LOVES walks, but also loves playing hide-​under-​the-​bed-​from-​the-​leash. Came to us too early as a puppy, and so more identifies with people than animals.
Yeah, ok– we’ve raised a sweet mess! But Ken got the real situation with his first assessment. He had Max’s number (and ours :)) from the very beginning. He was able to place somebody with Max who was perfect for him, and we’ve used them every since.
A couple of things extra about Fetch SW Austin: Their staffing is very stable. We’ve worked with Donna Lane for almost all of the visits, and she’s wonderful. We’ve always gotten text updates and pictures to keep us informed. One has become a neighborhood classic– the day that a random peacock showed up outside our house and caused our hound to go NUTS! Everybody remembers the day, yet only we had the picture evidence– thanks to our sitter.
Also– booking is so easy. This is online service at it’s best, and Jill is ON IT as soon as a request is made. We rarely have to wait more than a few hours for a confirm of availability. The billing, too, is automated and standardized. Fetch tells you exactly when they bill for service/​charge your card. It’s the same time every month, no matter when the service was provided.
We wouldn’t hesitate to use their walking service, if we needed it, and will continue to use them for overnights as long as they’ll have us! Love these guys.

I boarded my two little older dogs with Fetch for a week and a half. Immediately, felt comfortable from the consultation with Jill and Aaron. Their commitment and passion for animals was evident. While I was out of town, Aaron sent me pictures and a video of my little ones which I really appreciated. I really missed my little guys, but I knew they were well taken care of. Fetch provided me with piece of mind and look forward to using them again.

JT was great! Sent me pictures and messages every morning. I will definitely use them again in the future.

I have recently relocated overseas (for 18 months) and was unable to take my dogs. It was a hard decision for me to make, but I could not turn down this wonderful opportunity. Once I met Ken I knew my dogs would be in good hands. Anytime I have a question Ken responds immediately and send pictures or videos that reassure me they are being well taken care of. He leaves notes for the people who are living with our dogs that he has stopped by or if they need to monitor the dogs behavior due to something he has noticed. If it rains, Ken will walk the dogs later that day after it stops or the next day when the weather permits. I never thought it would be this easy to be away from my babies for this long, but they love him and I trust that they are in great care. A friend in the neighborhood emailed me the other day to let me know that she saw my dogs being walked and they look great. She lives quite a few blocks away so I know that they are getting nice long walks and jogs. I would recommend Fetch! services to anyone.

THE GOOD: we didn’t have to pay
THE BAD: they didn’t actually walk our dog
THE UGLY: for weeks I smelled the lingering scent of dog pee
Ken, the franchise owner and dog behaviorist-​in-​training, came with the dog walker to meet Milo before our trip. Milo’s very nervous when new people come into our apartment. We said it would be hard to get the leash on him and offered to just leave it clipped on for the one day we’d be gone. Ken said not to leave the leash on because it wouldn’t be a problem.
We gave them a copy of our key, Ken gave us a folder with his business information and we were set.
This was the first time we’ve left little Milo alone since adopting him from APA! last year. Fetch! was going to text us after each walk so we wouldn’t have to worry.
But we didn’t hear from Fetch! until two and a half hours after the scheduled walk time. The dog walker called and said couldn’t put the leash on our 10-​lb dog (!) when he went before and was now going back to try again. Milo went into his crate right away, which makes sense. We suggested he immediately close the crate door so he could corral him, put the leash on him, and take him for the scheduled 20 minute walk. Unfortunately, he texted us that he wasn’t able to walk him on the 2^nd attempt but would try again in the evening.
If he couldn’t walk the dog twice before, why wouldn’t Fetch! send someone else to our apartment?
Milo didn’t get to go outside at 8pm either. He was shaking (common nervous chihuahua behavior) and now not only scared because a stranger was in our apartment, but also stressed because he had to relieve himself inside.
After a mix-​up with the dog walker texting us his evening plans instead of an update on Milo, we told him not to bother going back tomorrow morning. We would cut our trip short since Fetch! couldn’t do what they’d promised.
Then someone we’d never met, Jill, texted us up until 10:30pm saying they were «concerned for Milo’s safety» and thought they should just check on him in the morning. If they weren’t going to actually WALK him, why would stressing him out again help anything?
The following Monday, it took Ken all day to respond to our requests that he call us. He didn’t seem to care what we had to say and accused us of not listening to him, which was not the case. And he promised to drop off our apartment key personally yesterday, and have the corporate office call us.
He didn’t bring our key. No one from this Fetch! or the corporate office has contacted us. I would never use this service again. We did receive 3 copies of our key by mail a week later.

We have used fetch the last three weeks to walk and feed our high energy dog. Before the first walk Ken, the owner and Aaron, the walker, came to the house to meet our dog and introduce themselves. Our dog Shiloh quickly became comfortable with Aaron. It is obvious that he has experience and a good repoire with dogs. I always came home to a relaxed dog that was napping due to her handlers care and the exercise she was given. Fetch was able to accommodate last minute schedule changes also. We appreciate the detailed reports we received by Aaron each evening. We won’t hesitate to use Fetch again or to recommend them to others. Thanks to Aaron and Ken for all the help.