Paws Down Training & Pet Care

You guys! Amber at Paws Down Training is unbelievably amazing. She is responsive to both text messages and phone calls, and has an easy website to navigate your invoices, schedule, and so forth.
So here’s the scoop… I have admittedly been an overly nervous first time puppy mom. The first day I went back to work, I had Myles (our 8 week old goldendoodle puppy) on a baby monitor. I was so nervous to leave him and didn’t know when he would need to go potty, if he would cry or bark. So this first day I had to leave him, I spied on Myles to see how he behaved in his crate while we were away.
How does Amber come into this? Added benefit: I was able to see how amazing Amber was when we weren’t there. She came and left on time… maybe even a few minutes longer than she was supposed to. Amber was so gentle and friendly with him, using positive language with even the most frustrating puppy nippy behavior. Amber did not just come to walk Myles, she loved on him and treated him as though he was her own.
We are so incredibly grateful for Amber. The price of dog walkers is anywhere from 20 – 30 bucks for 30 minutes. However, the price of an honest person to carry a key to your home and your pets life when you aren’t there (and to feel 110% comfortable and safe with that)…that is absolutely priceless.
We recommending looking no further and get on her list before she is too busy to take any new clients. She came highly recommended to us by 4 other clients… and it’s obvious why. She is a good person with a good soul, a heart for animals, and a strong work ethic.

5 stars on Unilocal is supposed to mean «As good as it gets,» Amber and Melissande truly are as good as it gets!
After I had foot surgery, we were faced with the reality that I couldn’t walk the dogs when my wife had to work at night. Because I knew I’d be off my feet for a couple months, we embarked on a search to find dependable and awesome walkers who could handle our two handsome, yet occasionally naughty dogs (miniature poodle and miniature schnauzer).
We tried a couple other services that no-​showed and left me literally walking one dog at a time on crutches, then we were lucky to find Paws Down! Seeing how great the Paws Down duo is on email immediately made us feel comfortable with going with them as our Friday night walkers instead of a hodge podge of not-​so-​great random walkers. If you’re busy at work, it’s so great to be able to arrange everything via email.
Melissande showed up every week and because we gave them a range of times (anytime after 5PM), she always gave me a text with an ETA so I could plan out the rest of my evening. She showed up right when she said she would, was always great with our pups, and gave our dogs the full 30 minute walks they were excited about. She’d even clean off their faces so their beards were on point afterwards. After a couple weeks, even our grumpy dog who doesn’t trust anyone who doesn’t live with us was excited to see Melissande and get outside for his best walk of the day. Amber also walked the pups one week and was equally great.
It’s great to trust your dogs with two people who truly care about and understand dogs. If you’re looking for trustworthy, punctual, and awesome care for your pups, look no further than Paws Down.

Amber and Melissande are amazing! They are incredibly kind to both dogs and humans. My dog Dixie and I arrived from NYC almost 2 months ago and my work schedule has been crazy. Amber and «M» (as we call her) have gone above and beyond to make sure my little one is taken care of and feels safe and secure. Dixie is an older dog and has some medical issues and isn’t used to being left alone for very long. I feel so lucky to have found them and their knowledge. They offered to loan us doggie steps. They recommended a great herbal supplement for her. They even made their own keys to my place when I didn’t have time. They always make themselves available whenever my schedule changes. I don’t know what I would do without them. You can text them anytime day or night and they always get right back to you. I can’t recommend them highly enough. There are very few people I trust with my dog — Amber and Melissande are at the top of the list! I can’t thank them enough.

My dog loves hanging out with Amber, and her doggy friends. He gets excited when I just mention Amber’s name. Great facility, Great Staff, Great Morals, and Great Care of your furry love buddies. I don’t trust anyone else with my dog.

WOW!!! just completed our first session with amber and it couldn’t have been any better. the situation: we just recently rescued (a week ago) a young 3 yr chocolate lab/​pit bull mix. she’s super sweet but has trouble with pulling on her leash, running out the door or onto the street and jumping on people. amber helped us with ALL of that in just a one hour (and totally affordable!) session. amber was both caring and commanding. our dog almost instantly obeyed her commands. by the end of the hour she had learned the commands Sit, Focus, Stay and Come. it was also the best leash walk we’ve ever had with our dog with the least amount of pulling. the session ended with amber introducing our dog to a food puzzle that she went totally bonkers for! so worth every penny. we love the one on one attention and the incredible amount of progress we made in less than an hour. amber is SO good, lesson number two may be unnecessary. :)

So happy I found Amber! We have a new bullterrier puppy and had been struggling to manage his behavior. After hitting my limit, I looked for and found Paws Down and called. Spoke to Amber who was very reassuring and scheduled for her to visit our family to help us with our pup. I was blown away by how immediately our pup followed her instruction and direction, when we had been struggling so much. It was very reassuring to know that with the right approach, we could improve our relationship with our pup and make all of us happy. She was able to convey excellent easy to understand instruction for my young sons and the rest of us that we were able to put into practice effectively right away. We had several sessions with Amber to build on our progress and things are going so much better now. She is an easy recommendation.

We’ve been using Amber for years and our dogs love her. We trust her completely with them in our home. We are writing this review because Amber went above and beyond recently when my wife went into early labor. Amber was able to walk and feed our two dogs on very short, same-​day notice — AND waited for a friend of mine to let him into our apartment. Amber has a key and our friend came over to pick up our hospital overnight bag and other essential items. Baby and mom are now home and doing fine. Thank you Amber!

Amber and Melissande have been walking our 2 year old lab Lily, for almost a year now. I feel SO comfortable/​safe knowing that my pup is in such good hands, when my BF and I are at work all day. Their service is TOP NOTCH and are reasonably priced! They are quick to reply to requests and last minute walks. They also genuinely care about her. The best part are the updates/​pictures that we receive about their walk with Lily. I will continue to use Amber and Melissande and will recommend them to family and friends!
PS– Lily is always so happy to see either one of them when they visit for walks!

Amber a miracle worker! We just rescued a was supposed to be a Chihuahua mix and turned into 15 pounds of pure muscle. This dog has so much energy he eats two mile walks for a breakfast snack and literally pulls my arm off.
Amber came over for a one hour training session, he was listening to her and walking right by her side in 15 minutes. It was amazing.
Now let me preface this by saying this isn’t my first doggie rodeo. I’ve had dogs my entire life, I was a dog groomer and a veterinary technician many years ago and I just couldn’t get through to my new dog. We called him the destroyer.
What can I say Amber speaks doggie language and now our dog is much happier, so good on the leash, he listens to us and gets along with our older cranky Chihuahua. All in one hour! She’s the bomb!

Amber is amazing! She helped with training our 2 dogs and in just one session, we have completely different dogs. They are much better behaved and listen better than they ever have, and one is a 10 year old dog. She has great techniques that our dogs are very receptive to. I cannot express how happy my husband and I are with her services. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking into dog training services.

Seriously the best dog walking service in town. Amber and our walker Mel are fantastic. They go above and beyond to care for my pup. They have a very convenient online scheduling service where I can book walks as needed during the day when I have business events after work and can’t go home to walk my dog. The photos and messages I get always brighten my day at work. Yesterday I came home to some fresh picked flowers on my table from their walk– I love flowers it made me so happy! They’re always reliable and my pup loves them. A+

jess is the best! not only is she reliable, she also texts the most awesome pics of the doggies, berkeley and nia. she even socialized the rather anti-​social nia with a new friend, lola – and sent a video! even billing is online and easy (thanks to amber). paws down, the best.

I can’t say enough good things about Amber and Paws Down. I was worried about leaving my diabetic cat for the first time but I quickly realized that I had nothing to fret about.
Amber is a true professional with a personal touch that is unmatched by any other pet/​house sitting service. I received pictures and texts every day and she (and James) even took excellent care of our garden.
Paws Down, the best!

We use Amber exclusively for dog sitting when we go out of town. In fact, we’ve had friends offer to watch our dogs for free, but I’d rather pay Amber than let my friends watch my dogs. May sound weird, but I know that my dogs are getting the affection they deserve when they stay with Amber. In fact, I think our «boys» may like Amber more than us :) She lets us know that our dogs are doing well by send pictures, or videos and it puts our minds at easy when we are on vacation. I highly recommend Amber and trust her completely with our two dogs.

Our dog Coco had a botched spay and consequently went into acute kidney failure. She had a 4 ½ hour emergency surgery to save her life, losing one kidney in the process. The other kidney was saved by connecting a stent to her bladder. Our surgeon warned us that if Coco jumped, ran, or used the stairs, she could dislodge her stent, which would have very grave consequences.
I was completely freaked out since I have a happy, playful, and energetic dog. What do I do?! Well, calling Amber for dog training was the answer! Coco immediately took to Amber and was following her commands with ease. The big test was Thanksgiving dinner with my in-​laws and their two Poodles; you know what, Coco only tried to jump twice that whole day. A huge improvement!
Amber is everything you want in a dog trainer. She’s intuitive, kind, cheerful, empathetic, and knowledgable. She taught us the commands in only three sessions! The best news, Coco’s surgeon confirmed that the stent hasn’t budged. Thank you Amber for giving us the tools to keep our dog safe.

We have used Paws Down since we moved to LA just over a year ago, and love them! It is clear that Amber loves dogs– she has always been patient and takes great care of ours. We have 2 French Bulldogs, and one of them has anxiety around people and it has been difficult for others to leash her to take her out. Natasha was able to earn her trust though, so we know they are in good hands when we have to go out of town! They really go above and beyond with their care, I know pups love them too!

We absolutely love Amber and Natasha — they treat our dog like she is one of their own! This is a group of people who truly love animals and it shows. Natasha has done an excellent job taking care of our dog Callie and we really appreciate it! Callie absolutely loves her. She is so thoughtful and caring — we are completely comfortable when we are gone knowing Natasha is taking awesome care of her. You guys are both terrific — thank you so much for your wonderful service!

Amber and her team are great. Another dog owner in our building recommended them when we started looking for a dog walker and we definitely haven’t been disappointed. So far we’ve just used PD for walks, but will probably use them for pet sitting in the future as well. Our dog tells us he’s a fan!

My pekingese puppy Oliver has now had two sessions with Amber. We review the exercises she taught us every night and it’s made a HUGE difference in our relationship with him. Of course we love him to pieces but puppies are a handful. And now that he’s got the basics down we’ve bonded even more because we’re constantly telling him how GREAT he is rather than having to clean up puddles and destruction in quiet frustration.
Pekingese have a reputation for being one of THE most difficult dogs to train but Amber hit it out of the park. She’s intuitive, focused and compassionate, and even if she didn’t have her certification (she does) she’d be able to rely on innate ability. Thanks Amber!

Amber just started yesterday! We have an 8 week old puppy and need hands on help at home. I am SOOOOOO happy we found Paws Down and Amber. She texted me when she arrived with an update and later with pics and status on the walk/​visit. Definitely makes me feel relieved to know our new baby is in GOOD hands. Thank you, Amber!