In Their Element

Glenn initially seemed like a great fit for our dog and the walks were fine (though FYI, notes they leave that are so highly advertised are never as long or as thorough as they claim) but about a month in, he very abruptly dropped us as clients. Glenn called and simply said they could no longer walk our dog anymore due to staff changes. I have no idea if our dog was a bad fit or if they actually had staff changes, but we got absolutely no explanation and were given no options from him as to alternatives. Given that both myself and my partner work full time, and that he gave us less than a week’s notice for dropping us, it’s been a pretty huge inconvenience and he hasn’t seemed very apologetic.
What’s worse, they’re asking for payment immediately and in full. What a TERRIBLE business model, I don’t understand why this is an acceptable way to treat clients, especially since we had been recommended to him through friends.
TLDR; the walks are fine, but I don’t think this business respects or values their customers. They could drop you at any moment, and will not give it as much as a second thought. Look elsewhere if you can.

My dog Woody has been walking with Francis and Glenn for a couple of months and we couldn’t be happier. In Their Element is by far the best I’ve ever worked with in the Bay Area. My dog goes for walks Mon-​Fri and we have noticed how much happier he is. He is a border collie (about 3yrs old) and energetic. Francis is one of a kind and an incredible dog handler. I’ve had nothing but a positive experience working with Glenn and am so excited we listened to a friend’s recommendation to try In Their Element. It was one of the best decisions we made in 2016 for Woody :)

Our dog has been walking with Glenn for a month now, and we are so incredibly happy with the services. He gets walks 3 days per week. We love coming home to a tired pup with a report of how his walk was. It also makes us not feel guilty about coming home late if we have to. Picking up the dogs and going for an hour hike ends up being about a 3 hour ordeal, so our dog is out of the house for almost half the day. Off-​leash and on trails is the happiest our dog ever feels, and Glenn and his team gives him exactly that. Following the company on Instagram is also very enjoyable, whether or not pictures of our dog are posted.

My dog Lucas is a 14 year old retriever/​shepherd/​hound mix. I’ve always had a busy job/​life and therefore used a half dozen dog walking services around the east bay. Lets just say not all of them were up to snuff. One time I even witnessed one of the walkers border-​line abusing poor Lucas when he was being dropped off. The walker had no idea I was home. When Glenn came along, any worries or distrust from previous experience went out the window. Its absolutely clear that Lucas could not be in better hands. Its absolutely clear how genuinely Glenn cares for his animals and takes pride in his work. Its also clear how much discretion and good judgement Glenn employs in the staff that he hires. As you might imagine, Lucas is getting older and starting to slow down but when he senses an Element walker coming to get him, he reverts to pure puppy joy. He gets just the right amount of exercise and fresh air and gets to be out of the house for close to 2 – 3 hours. Its a fantastic service and I would trust Glenn and his team with just about anything. Very refreshing and rare to see this time of commitment and passion for what they do. Strongly recommended!!!

So I am going to add to all the 5 star reviews because that is truly the type of business that Glenn runs with his team.
Our wee pooch absolutely loves her off leash walks up in the hills of Oakland and she is in such great shape as our recent vet visit attested to. We have our dog walked every day and have also used the overnight boarding which is also fantastic and I can highly recommend — your dog is boarded at the home of one of the walkers with personalized care and attention and the price is really competitive with other boarding establishments where your dog would be in a cage or confined.
I can’t say enough about Glenn and his team — they are prompt, reliable and super friendly and easy going but they pay real attention to teaching the dogs how to be safe off leash and mind their manners — in fact, our dog is better off the leash then on!
In Their Element rocks — I couldn’t be happier and highly recommend!

My Golden Retriever Peyton is always so excited to see Glenn or Francis for her walks. She is an extremely high energy dog so the hikes are an outlet to burn off that energy. Also, since joining the pack, Peyton has been much more responsive to recalls. I highly recommended Glenn and his team.

Where do I even begin? In Their Element is the BEST. I was lucky enough to find Glenn and In Their Element through a neighborhood listserve. The thing I wanted to highlight on Unilocal (because In Their Element are wonderful for many reasons that others say on here), is that Birdy (my dog) was not really into other dogs and playing/​having fun at dog parks, so I haven’t bothered going to them with her in roughly 8 years. It’s not that she would fight with dogs, she just didn’t get it.
Yesterday I randomly took her to a nice dog park in Alameda and noticed the difference in her behavior immediately. She played and enjoyed running with other dogs immensely, and I know this is from her 2x weekly socialization with her pack at In Their Element. I can’t thank Glenn and his team enough. :) –Andrea

I have two crazy dogs who get off-​leash runs from me on the trails of the East Bay Regional Parks, five to six days a week.
I got to know Glenn and In Their Element from the perspective of a dog owner who regularly interacts with dog walkers on these trails. Let me say that they are head and shoulders above the rest.
It is clear that the dogs are being trained and socialized, so they will get along with other dogs and with people. When I come upon a pack of In Their Element dogs, I can rest easy. The dogs they peg as friendly ARE friendly, and any dogs that have issues of any sort are on leash and kept safe. The on-​trail communication with Glenn and his team has been great – always friendly and professional.
They have a system of training and dog management that I don’t really see with too many other dog walkers.
So, when I recently took a job that will cut into my dog-​walking time and I needed to go with a dog walker, my choice was easy. In Their Element.

In the span of four months, our pup Starbuck has gone from doggie daycare reject to a responsive, well-​behaved dog who can hike off leash, thanks to Glenn and his crew (and she’s still only 10 months old)! My fiancé and I work 9-​to-​5s and we were worried about what to do with our dog while we were at work. After she got kicked out of Pride and Pedigree because her energy level was «too much» for them, we felt horrible and thought we might have a behavioral issue on our hands.
Then we found In Their Element. Glenn reassured us that she did not have any behavioral issues, just a lot of energy that needed a proper outlet. Their hikes incorporate everything our dog needed: training, socialization, and exercise. They’ve gradually trained her from being on-​leash to off-​leash. After 4 months with them (we’ve had Glenn, Nick, Marisa and Francis) taking her 5 days a week, we are now able to take her on the trails ourselves on weekends off-​leash! Although our pup is still super energetic, her recall and her responsiveness to commands are incredible. As others have said here, Glenn and his staff are also very professional, responsive, and trustworthy. They leave report cards after every hike to let us know where they went, their energy level, their behavior, etc.
Honestly, getting kicked out of doggie daycare was a blessing in disguise– our girl would have never gotten this kind of attention and development if we’d stuck with doggie daycare. This is the best thing we could’ve done for her.

We love Glenn and In Their Element dog walkers! Flexible, kind and considerate they never fail to accommodate our schedule and our dog Nati loves then to pieces. We also use them for boarding and Nati thinks of them as her second family. Thanks Glenn and the In Their Element crew!

We have used In Their Element for about two years now, walks twice a week for our dog.
Glen and his crew have been reliable and trustworthy with our dog and the keys to our home. They are available via text or email on short notice when we want to make changes.
Best of all, our dog is better behaved than he had been. We can even walk him off-​leash (where permissible). When we got him as a rescue, he was difficult with meeting new dogs, and his socialization has improved greatly.

I have an inconsistent schedule being a medical school student who is constantly switching rotations. Glen is incredible scheduling my pup for walks and boarding… always coming to my rescue. My dog, Nietzsche, comes back to me so happy it makes me feel so lucky to have found Glen, Mackenzie and Francis. I highly recommend this group of dog lovers if you care about your pup and only want the best for him/​her!

The BEST customer service experience I have EVER had with any business, large or small, is with In Their Element and Glenn Millstone with his incredible staff. I do not use these terms lightly. We started our puppy with them a few months ago and she absolutely adores her walker Nick and the adventures she gets to have with him and their pack.
Glenn and his staff are attentive and thoughtful, and demonstrate levels of both expertise and professionalism that are rare gems. When we were away for the holidays and I had to return solo without my husband due to a death in the family, Glenn was truly amazing, not at all minding that I had to bother him via cell on New Year’s Eve (while on his own vacation) with a plea for extra walks. Nick was out of town, and in the eleventh hour Glenn paired us with Mackenzie who was kind enough to add our pup to her rotation for the days I was a single puppy mom.
The hikes are wonderful, our pup has been thoroughly and lovingly trained by Nick in off leash recall and it shows on the weekend hikes we take. She is absolutely exhausted on the days she gets to go with her pack, which is a tall order for a cattle mix puppy. The daily report cards are a delight to read when I come home from a long day’s work. Nick is extremely accessible at all times, offers great training advice, and also sends us photos that are adorable and funny!
I have been telling all of my dog owning friends about this company. I suggest you join up, lest your puppy go one step further without the benefit of this incredible organization.
Thanks again for all that you do for us and for Junebug :)

I’m so glad to have found In their Element! They are responsible, attentive and my dog Mason loves his romps with Francis. When we come home at the end of the day after he’s been with Francis, Mason is super mellow, relaxed and has clearly had a thorough run around. And the notes that are left describing how and what Mason did on his adventure are awesome.

Glenn has been walking our dog for almost two years now and I have nothing but the most positive feedback to share. I agree with his dog philosophy and trust him %100 with my dog. I know our girl is being cared for exactly how I want her to be. She gets attention, love, exercise, and companionship.
In Their Element really stands out from the other dog walkers in this area because they hike with their dogs off-​leash. This is so important for my dog who moved here from the countryside where she could run for miles and miles off-​leash. There is no substitute for an off-​leash hike as far as we are concerned. Dogs need to run!
In Their Element is a completely professional organization — they are dependable, organized, trustworthy, flexible, and care deeply for the dogs they walk. Regular customers get photos and videos of their dog, a really fun calendar of all the dogs they walk, and we just got our very own baseball hat with their logo. Glenn is the owner of the company and he is very picky about who he has working for him. They go through extensive training with him and must meet his high standards.
Do your dog a favor and hire In Their Element…

Francis is a dog whisperer. Period. My dog loves him. I was so nervous at first about off leash walks with my not-​so-​polished stubborn rescue girl, but Glenn and Francis were not fazed. They reassured me: «SAFETY FIRST, we wont let her off leash until she is ready.» And like a worried mother I checked in several times after the 1^st few walks. Francis was so responsive and reassuring. And she did great. She was responsive to voice command by the 3^rd walk and I could even see pics of her having fun with her friends of the website. She is also a less anxious and better socialized dog for it. And we are a happier family. If you work, and are not able to get your dogs he exercise they deserve, you really should consider In Their Element.

Our lab Lola has been enjoying her hikes with In Their Element for over a year now and she loves it! Glenn and Francis are fantastic and have been flexible too when we’ve needed to make last minute schedule changes. It is such a good feeling to know that Lola is off on an adventure while I’m at work and its always fun to come home and read the daily report on where Lola went and with which dogs she played. I think she has been to more parks in the East Bay then I have… I’m jealous! Lola is getting great exercise, and her once shy behavior around other dogs has really changed now that she is comfortable being part of a pack. In Their Element is the best!

Nick at In Their Element has been walking our Aussie-​mix for about a month and she loves him! She is a rescue pup and is usually pretty skeptical of strangers but Nick worked with her patiently until he won her trust. Every night when we come home she is relaxed, well-​exercised and happy. Glenn and Nick were also quite lovely about taking us on even though we live in downtown Oakland, a bit outside their normal coverage area.

In Their Element has been an awesome experience this past year for us and our two dogs, Zeke and Zoe. Our dogs are a handful of energy, pranks and sheer will. Not always model dogs, they had been rejected from two other local hiking services before ITE for «need“ing «work». We despaired, and figured they might be beyond any service’s support ability.
When we met Glenn and Francis for first time, Francis said «these guys aren’t going to be a problem» and we admittedly thought it was too good to be true.
Since then, Zeke and Zoe have grown as individuals thanks to Francis. He totally gets them. He has taught us how to communicate better with them, and modelled for them how dogs and humans should communicate. They clearly adore him and their excursions with his pack.
ITE has also been very flexible in accomodating us. We’ve returned from backpacking trips with two exhausted pups and cancelled hikes at the last minute with no problem; and likewise scheduled additional hikes at the last minute when they were sorely needed because of a sudden hospital emergency.
We trust Francis and ITE, it is a great service, he is a genuine dog whisperer, and both we highly recommend.

We found Glenn & Francis through several neighbors, and we are so glad we did! Our Maggie loves her some Francis! She comes home worn out and well-​behaved. We’re usually home when Francis comes to pick her up and we’re always impressed with his structure and consistency in requiring of her the proper manners, even just from the front door to the car, and back. And, he’s always open to talking with us about the things we can do at home, to continue her training. Being an only dog, pack socialization on the trail, with Francis, has done wonders for her overall demeanor. We love getting the fun report cards and seeing the photos of our girl having a good time. Maggie knows the word «Francis». Say it and her ears perk up and she goes straight to the window to see if her boyfriend is here!