Out-U-Go! Pet Care Services

I am so happy that I decided to go with this company. I returned to three, yes three, happy kitties! Because I am a crazy cat mom, they emailed me back BOTH times I emailed them asking for kitty updates. AMAZING!
Meet and Greet:
I really enjoyed meeting Lindsay and I could tell that my kitties instantly liked her. She was very professional in person and on the phone as well as very through in understanding the way I cared for my kitties. A plus is that they even get your mail for you!
Pet Sitters:
Shout out to my pet sitters Nathan and Colin! Whatever playtime you had with my kitties, they loved it. I walked in to a fresh smelling apartment as well! That was my biggest fear is a smelly litter box especially when my apartment is being shown to prospective tenants. Their litter area could not have looked any cleaner. Also! they left cute pet notes! Thanks guys!
I will definitely be using them again when I go on vacation! You guys are puuuuurrrrrfeccccct

Moved from the North Side to Printer’s Row/​South Loop and needed a new dog walker. Heard about Out U Go from the concierge in my building. Contacted them for a home visit and the experience since has been amazing. Loving the notes left daily telling as all the things our dogs did on their walk and how they acted. You can tell how much the walkers love what they do and take care of our kids. Highly recommend Lindsay and her team.

I used to be a fan of Out-​U-​Go, but as the business expanded, the service unfortunately degraded. I came home from a trip where Out-​U-​Go had been hired to care for my pets. I returned to BONE DRY water bowl and EMPTY food bowl. I was so upset, yet Out-​U-​Go happily charged my credit card without my authorization for services NOT performed.
After this, I ran a test to see how many days it would take to have the food and water bowls get to the point of what I came home to. It was 4.5 days… I had contracted Out-​U-​Go for an every-​other-​day visit throughout my trip.
I strongly suggest that if you choose to use this business, leverage a nanny-​cam or your buildings security cameras to ensure your pets are receiving the type of care you wish and are paying for.
I myself, will NEVER use this service again. I love my pets too much to place them in the hands of these uncaring, unskilled and frankly neglectful people.

We have been using OUG for our puppy for a year now and have been very happy! Our biggest praise has to be their flexibility; you can mix up your days and even times as needed and they always seem to accommodate. Also most walkers are truly fantastic– our ‘usual’ walker even smelled a gas leak in our home when she came to pick up the dog and took care of it for us! As it is a dog walking business some turn over and scheduling conflicts are reasonable and you may not always have the same walker but I’d say 85% of the time we have our great usual walker, Ally attending to our pup and the substitutes have been just fine. Any minor issues we’ve had the owner and her team have been very concerned about and taken 100% seriously and worked to rectify. They are fantastic about giving you «pup dates» and you can always ask them to keep an eye out for something specific. I would definitely recommend Out U Go to others in the area!

Just got off the phone with Lindsay after requesting a last-​minute cancellation. Her friendliness and understanding made me realize that after over a year of using the service, I really ought to write a review. We have been extremely satisfied with Out-u-go’s walkers. I have met a couple of them on days when I get off work especially early, and they are always sweet and professional. The best part, though, is how easy it is to schedule and reschedule. I have added and cancelled walks (and sometimes added and then cancelled the same walk) on the same day and somehow Out-​U-​Go makes work. I even lost my keys one freezing January day and just ran by the Out-​U-​Go office to pick up their copy so that I wouldn’t have to call a locksmith. Now that’s customer service!

We have been using OUG for over a year now and we couldn’t be happier with the services and the affordability.
We have an adorable super energetic Pembroke Welsh Corgi. We absolutely adore our little man Phinneas and we had a lot of issues handing over the leash to someone else.
Lindsay the franchise owner came to our house to meet and greet with my wife and Phinneas. After meeting Lindsay and getting answers to all of our questions we found that this would be an ideal fit. Not to mention Lindsay herself has corgis so even better!
Countless time OUG has been flexible working around our hectic schedules. Last minute additions and cancellations, no problem.
I want to personally thank Lindsay and her crew especially Rachel, I’m pretty sure Phinny has a crush on her. Also Rachel leaves the best little report cards and diary entries which my wife keeps track of to review with me on the weekends when I’m home. Thanks for taking a little bit of worry off our shoulders and making our days smoother and easier.
I would definitely recommend this service. If you have questions or concerns that is perfectly natural. Lindsay will walk you through the process and ease your concerns.

We had a great experience using out-​u-​go we ran in to a pinch due to a dog sickness out break right before we went out of town. Many of the boarding facilities were shut down for the weekend or had experienced cases of the dog flu in there facilities. So I reached out to Alison and Lindsay who went above and beyond to accommodate me and my pups for the weekend. The left great reports and kept in touch via email over the weekend. We will definitely be using there services again and highly recommend them.

So far, we’re very happy with Out-​U-​Go. I purchased the Unilocal deal at $ 29 for $ 70 of services. We were going to Wisconsin to ski all day and needed a walker for our pup.
Getting set up as a client of OUG was very easy– Alison, the office manager for South Loop got in touch right away and provided great detail on costs and services via email and by phone. We set up a meet-​and-​greet a couple days later, when she provided me with a folder of all the info I would need. Super helpful!
After our pup was walked on Saturday afternoon, our walker, Rachel, left a report card about how it went AND we received a follow up email from Alison. A couple days later, one of our neighbors told us she recognized our walker and also sang OUG’s praises.
We will definitely be using them again for future walks!

We have been using OUG for about a year now and have to say we’re extremely impressed with their level of customer service and care that our pup seems to get. The notes they leave every day are a great touch and very reassuring for us since he’s often alone all day. Also the fact that we can request walks the day/​morning of, is huge for us. Same thing with being able to cancel day/​morning of. We had maybe one hiccup in the last year and they addressed it immediately and made sure our account was credited properly. They seem to really take pride in their excellent service and that’s shown in all of our interactions with them. Almost forgot to mention, the occasional doggy-​safe treats they leave are a great touch!

Out-​U-​Go is a fine service for those who don’t have a reliable local dog-​walking service in their neighborhood, but I can’t quite make sense of their current business model being the right choice for the majority of pet owners. Finding ourselves in a pinch due to unexpected changes in schedules, we tried Out-U-Go’s services on for size with the help of a Unilocal Deal.
At the discounted introductory price, the rates were affordable and Lindsey, the owner of the South Loop-​Hyde Park location (OUG is a franchise), was more than personable at our meet-​and-​greet prior to Lily’s first walk. Going forward, we knew that Lily’s walker would sometimes be inconsistent (meaning there would likely be different walkers occasionally seeing her from week-​to-​week) and that OUG can only offer two-​hour-​windows for expected services, unable to tell you exactly when they’ll be by to pick up your dog. In our experience, all of the potential issues we may have had were directly addressed up-​front by Lindsey, so any criticisms are certainly not in regards of inconsistency in promises but rather just due to the business model in general.
For us, the model was problematic as we were out the door each morning by 7 am, and while our dog would have done well had she been walked by noon, the best they could tell us was that she would be picked up between the hours of 12:30−2. Since we were unable to be home any earlier than 5 pm on a given weekday, walks that fell in the later timeframe didn’t make a lot of sense as our pup, a year old and potty-​trained, is unable to keep her business to herself for more than 6 hours a time. We found that about half the time, her walkers (who consistently left sweet and informative notes), mentioned that she had minor accidents as she was on her way out the door, something we never experience with her ourselves.
Because of this, we knew that it was time to look elsewhere for a more localized dog walker who she would see consistently each week, and within a few days, nearby neighbors were offering suggestions for a well-​respected local walker who offers pups the same walk for about half the price of OUG’s regular cost and who could tell you within a 30 minute timeframe when he’d be arriving.
Since we’ve switched, we’ve had no problems at all, and because of this, I’d suggest that potential clients be mindful of a few of the shortfalls of OUG’s current service offerings and that the lovely folks of OUG consider recallibrating the specifics of their services to accommodate pet owners who are looking for a little more consistency from their dog walking service. I imagine these issues are largely due to client volume and employee scheduling, and perhaps those are the inherent pitfalls of expanding such an otherwise individualized service.

They’ve been taking care of my dog for more than a year. Consistent, kind and reliable. My dog loves them.

We contacted Out-​U-​Go with an emergency request for a dog walker to come on the night of the 4^th of July. Lindsey was so generous to come for a free meet-​and-​greet with our dog and to get us all set up for the holiday weekend. When we got home from our holiday activities, our dog was fed, walked, and happy — just what we wanted! The convenience and peace of mind was totally worth the extra holiday fee.
Since then, we’ve used Out-​U-​Go for twice-​weekly lunchtime dog walks, at a very affordable price. We love that they guarantee a 25-​minute walk, refill water, and feed him treats. I always look forward to seeing the sweet notes that they leave about our dog after every walk!
It’s easy to set up you first meet-​and-​greet, and after that it is super simple to schedule someone to come and visit your precious pet when you aren’t able to be there.

Before moving to Chicago from suburban southwest Ohio, I had never used a dog-​walking service because I never had a need for one. I could simply run home from work during lunch to check on my Corgi, Phinneas, and make sure he had water and a bathroom break, and I arrived home from work about 5 minutes after I left my office.
I was very hesitant to hire a stranger to come into my home while I was away, but the moment I met Lindsay, all of my apprehension went away. She came to our home for a «meet and greet» with Phinneas, and he immediately loved her. She took detailed notes, not just about his needs for his daily midday walks (location of treats, leash, poop bags, bowls, etc.) but also any additional needs he might have for using their service when we went out of town.
Lots of my neighbors in University use OUG as well, so I’ve gotten the chance to meet his most regular walker, Katie, who leaves the best notes for us to read when we get home from work. I know Phinneas loves her, and I feel so much less guilty leaving for work in the morning knowing that he has a friend coming by to keep him company.
Some other highlights: They are SUPER flexible. On days when I’m working from home or coming home early, it’s so easy to cancel a visit on pretty short notice. And when we left him in their care while out of town for a long weekend, I left a note letting his sitters know I wouldn’t hate getting some pictures texted or emailed to me. They all obliged, and it made my day to see him happy and smiling (Corgis smile, I swear!).
If you are considering hiring a dogwalker, look no further than Out-​U-​Go!!!

We love Out-​U-​Go! Lindsey and all of the other walkers are great! They are so flexible with scheduling our walks last minute. I work in retail and have crazy hours sometimes. Though there is an additional charge, Out-​U-​Go has always been able to work with my schedule and come late at night or super early in the morning. What I love most are the sweet notes they leave sharing the highlights of their time with my dog.

I contacted OUG on very short notice needing my first walk the next day. Lindsay was so accommodating and friendly. She worked around my schedule and came to meet me and Rudi, my dog, early in the morning before I went to work.
She was thorough in the questions she asked (which is great because my dog has bad allergies) and I could tell she genuinely enjoys taking care of animals. She sent me an email and left notes for when I got home, which was really appreciated. When I got home he was calm and I could tell he got a good amount of exercise but not too much.
So glad that I can rest easy on my hectic work days knowing my lil’ buddy is in good hands!

We love their service! We have 2 large dogs that have a ton of energy, and knowing that someone is going to come a play with them and give them attention is rad, and it’s totally reasonably priced. We set the time frame when the walker comes and we have a cute «report card» left in our house when we get home so we know how they did/​what they did.
Our walker (Michael) leaves really cute notes and our pups are tuckered out when we get home. Can’t beat that.

We’ve been using Out-​U-​Go for almost 6 months now, most regularly for our dog but we’ve also used it for check ins on our cat while we’re away.
We gave them 5 stars before and we still think they’re great! This update is to give special commendations to our regular walker, Chris.
Although I’ve never met Chris, I can tell from his notes that he takes his job seriously and genuinely enjoys the company of dogs. In addition to the standard checklist, he’ll let us know if our dog was feeling playful, restless, and how well behaved she was on leash. On a few occasions when the weather has been bad in addition to a walk our dog has gotten indoor playtime.
It’s great to know that when we can’t walk our dog she at least gets to see a familiar face and get attention, affection, and exercise, all of which make her one happy dog.

Trustworthy!!!
Reasonable Rates
Easy to schedule
I’ve been using their services for about a year now. Whenever I come home the cats are still alive and happy, they’ve been fed what I requested, and the litter box is clean.
I highly recommend using their service.

I’ve been using Out U Go’s services for about a year now and think it’s about time I wrote a review. It was also interesting to read reviews from others, because the proof is in the pudding.
First, I live in the South Loop area & I have 2 large dogs, so I can’t speak for other locations or people with smaller dogs, but that’s my background. I live in a secure building and they have a few pet rules you have to follow.
My schedule is hectic when I have to travel, so sometimes calling the little brother to walk the dogs or having a neighbor help out isn’t possible.
So Hire Out-​U-​Go if:
— You have a schedule that is constant or sporadic. They’re reliable and will at least show up. (If you’ve tried other services, I’ve had things taken from my home, folks no-​show or just college kids who don’t know how to actually handle dogs); that’s not Out U Go. You may get a different person from time to time, but they’re ALL great.
–If you want to know who to hold accountable if things go wrong. Lindsay always meets you and makes sure to understand your pets when trying to match walkers. It’s not like pulling out a name with her, she actually reviews schedules, talks to her walkers and understands what they are good at, etc. So you may get some swap outs, but they’re always solid.
–If you want AYA, move to the South Loop… Aya has walked my dogs on & off for over a year and is a testament to Lindsay knowing how to screen the right people. Thanks again Aya… the notes were great, Houdini & Sophie love you and I appreciate you bringing in the air filter.
If you want a dog walking service, there’s a few things you have to remember. Not all are created equal. It’s never going to be SUPER cheap. People make mistakes and I know our dogs are our babies, so it seems unacceptable… but ahem, there are days when you leave left overs out, or come home late, etc. The dog walkers are people too and they change their days to make sure your pups are ok when you’re not there. So give ‘em a break now and then.
I wasn’t paid to post this. Nor do I frequently post unless it’s worth it. I’m just happy I have Out U Go as my dog walkers… Thanks Lindsay, Aya, & Gina.

I rarely give 1 star reviews, but fellow Unilocalers need to know to whom they are giving their house keys. Methinks many of the «5 star» reviews are made by Out U Go themselves. Beware self-​promotion!
Hire Out-​U-​Go if you want:
— your dog to be walked for 7 minutes instead of the full 25. (I was home one day, unbeknownst to the walker). I told the owner, Lindsey, and she wouldn’t give a refund because the dog was technically walked and it wouldn’t be fair to the walker… uh, yeah, goodbye.
— your dog walker to change every other day with NO forewarning, no meeting the walker etc… This happened for my daily dog walks and also, more importantly, for a HOUSESITTING.
— The housesitter I met was not the one who did my housesitting because there was a «conflict» and the new housesitter wasn’t even available to meet me or my husband or my dog before I left! Out U Go had 2 months notice before I went out of town, so I don’t know how this occurred. I couldn’t help but think that this was a sort of «bait and switch» tactic because we had no choice at that point to change services and we had to use them for the housesitting. Had we known of the change of sitters, we would have found a different service and they would have lost $$$.
— you want to hand two sets of your keys over to a service who seems to constantly be losing their employees. High turnover rate is no bueno when my house keys and alarm codes are at stake.
–you want them to set off your alarm in the middle of the day when you are in a work meeting. I understand this happening once, but twice!!! I think this goes back to the constant changing of the dogwalkers because it happened with two different people who clearly were not introduced to the alarm code beforehand. I don’t blame the dogwalker, I blame the management.
I was recommended to them by a friend I met at a local dog park (who, needless to say, no longer uses them either).
In summary, if you are looking for a dishonest & unorganized dog-​walking service, choose them!