Little Spot Runs

I cant speak highly enough about Beck. She is professional, punctual, and reliable. Beck is the only person I trust with dogs, she has been training them and walking them for over two years now. I see profound changes in the behavior of my Miniature Pincher, Otis. He used to be terrified of men, these days he wants to play with every man he sees! Dog lovers will understand when I say my dogs are like my children, and I only leave my children with Beck because I know they will be in good hands. Thank you Beck for being such an important part of our family!

Beck is awesome. When I first met her, I had a dog about 1 year old who was super shy and scared to be around other dogs. With Beck’s help and advice, my dog slowly began to socialize with her other dogs that she would take to the dog park with my dog. Now, my dog is completely social at dog parks!
I love the fact that Beck cares about her job so much. She genuinely loves these animals and I’VE SEEN HER PULL A HUGE DOG AWAY FROM A GROUP OF LITTLE DOGS HE WAS TRYING TO ATTACK! With no hesitation about if she would get injured or not, she just knew she had to protect her dogs.
It’s cool that she also offers overnight stays. Leaving your dog with a boarder is definitely not the same. She also updates the Facebook page for LSR so people always know what park their dogs are going to and she takes photos at the dog park and posts them on FB so if you’re at work you can see photos of your dog :) pretty cool.

Beck has been such a blessing to us! I had been working from home, or taking my puppy Teddy to the office with me since we adopted him. A job change made this impossible, and I was stuck with what to do to ensure Teddy maintained a high quality of life. After trying out all day day cares in the city, I remembered having met Beck at the Alameda small dog park and her unique services.
When I called to see if Teddy could join the pack, Beck was extremely kind and helpful. We worked out the perfect daily routine for Teddy which included trips with the pack, and being fed his lunch. She was honest, upfront, and remarkably easy to work with from the start.
Teddy has now been with the pack for almost a month and is absolutely loving it! He plays with his friends every day, gets great exercise, and is always a happy pup when we get home. It means the world to me to see him thriving. He’s working on his manners with Beck and I can tell its doing him a world of good.
I couldn’t recommend anyone more. I don’t know what my family would do without Little Spot Runs!

Last week I found and adopted a 5 – 6 week old abandoned puppy while hiking in the Grand Canyon (no lie). He flew in Wednesday, saw the vet on Thursday then I had basically three days to find him a good, reliable, trusted sitter (too young to walk outside yet — vaccinations pending) before I had to return to work. Talk about stress. On top of that, I’ve never had a dog other than as a kid so was rushing to learn how to care for him.
Beck and her team totally saved us both! My little guy was too young for day care and many of the walkers I called either wouldn’t take him (since he’s too young to walk) or I didn’t see great reviews with them. Beck answered my call, patiently answered my 759 questions and agreed to come sit for my puppy every day (which basically includes feeding and playing with him) each day.
On top of that, she is completely understanding of my «new mom» paranoia, sends me daily text photos of my boy to show how he’s doing, offers super helpful advice on training, feeding, etc., and answers all my idiotic questions. She even turned on the TV to help him relax and called to tell me (no doubt due to my severe lack of sleep) that I’d left a bunch of frozen dinners out and would I like her to put them back in the freezer. Really? Who does that? These guys are awesome!
My only fear is that my little mutt (not sure of his breed yet) may grow too big to be able to walk with the Little Spot Run crowd (35 lb limit). Time will tell. In the meantime, we’re both thrilled to be working with these guys and would totally recommend them. Looking forward to a successful future!

Little Spot Runs is the gold standard in dog care! Beck (owner and operator) is fantastic. She is super knowledgeable about dogs and once you are her customer, she goes above and beyond to make sure you and your dogs are happy. She provides dog walking services, but this means much more than just a ½-​hour walk on a leash. Little Spot Runs takes the dogs to a dog park to run, play, and get some training for a couple of hours! What an amazing service. Our dogs come back exhuasted and happy.
Little Spot Runs also offers training to meet your needs. For example, an hour-​long visit at home or outside on the leash, whatever is needed. And Beck is as good at training us humans to communicate more effectively with our four-​legged friends, as she is at communicating with the dogs themselves. Little Spot Runs also uses positive reinforcement as a training model, so no hitting, yelling, rubbing a dog’s nose in something — only positive regard and care. I have to tell you, my dog is usually the best behaved at any dog park or event and this is with love and patience, no harsh disciplinary techniques. It’s amazing and my dog is so happy.
I said that once you are a customer, Beck will take care of you. Well, I happened to mention to her that my husband and I are thinking of adopting another dog, and she took the time to call and talk to me for 20 minutes and offer me tips on what to look for and ask when adopting a dog from a shelter or foster care. She did this unsolicited and without charge, all because she cares about our current dog and wants us all to be a happy family.
Thank you, Little Spot Runs!

Beck and Little Spot Runs are FANTASTIC! My dog Mishka is my best freind, my family, I don’t trust leaving him with just anyone. For months I could not find a dog sitter I thought I could trust my Mishka with. However after meeting and seeing Beck and her pack at the dog park, I knew I found who I was looking for. Beck is flexible, professional, courtious and cares for every dog like her own. She scours the parks for items that might harm dogs, ie, glass. In a short time I have seen positive improvment in Mishka. I can not thank Beck enough for being so wonderful and caring for Mishka! I highly recommend Little Spot Runs!

I met Beck at the Castro Valley Dog park while taking my pup to play. After seeing her interact with her dogs and making sure that they were protected from the larger dogs made me ask her about taking care of my puppy while I’m at work. I couldn’t be happier with my decision. I know that my little Mia is in safe hands and she is always watching the way the dogs interact with one another. She is also a dog behaviour specialist, so she can see things before they happen and knows when a dog might be in a threatening position with another dog. I know that my dog is protected and number one, which is so important to me She is extremely flexible with my changing schedule and always takes Mia happiness into consideration. Thank for making my life easier and Mia one happy clam :)

Five stars for Little Spot Runs. I found their service to be consistent, reliable and include the specialized training just suited for my dog. Since my dog is deaf, Becka taught her hand signals. My dog is 13 and goes to show how talented Becka and her staff are. Under their care, my dog became more social and playful with other dogs. She used to sit at the dog park. Now, she joins in with the rest and really gets the benefit of playtime.
Absolutely the best!

I recently adopted a rescued dog whom I found had also been abused. I was unsure how to work with him as I hadn’t had a dog in years. I wanted training for me and him. I started visiting the dog park and met Beck and Crystal there with «their pack» and was impressed seeing them work with them. I started asking questions which Beck answered with no hesitation. I also found I was on the right track with how I had been working with Ben which was nice to know.
I found my trainers — Crystal and Beck. I am comfortable with them both and Ben adores them, especially Crystal. They have been working with us since October and I have seen a big improvement in Ben. Although he is now mad at me because I left him in Crystal’s care for a week when I went to Florida. :-D He enjoyed his stay and came home happy other than being mad at me.
He is becoming more confident and relaxed. Even my neighbors have commented in the change of Ben’s demeanor. They customize/​personalize their services to their customers which is a nice change.
I would recommend Little Spot Runs to anyone who is looking for this type of service.

Beck @ Little Spot Runs is nothing short of a godsend! 5 weeks ago, My girlfriend and I rescued a 4yr. old beagle named Snoopy. Snoopy was raised in an unfriendly environment and came to us with a very nervous demeanor around other dogs and severe separation anxiety and depression. I met Beck at the Alameda Dog Park and right away she startted offering me excellent advice. As it turned out I needed someone to walk Snoopy and our other 13 yr. old Beagle, Lucy. Beck was the one I called and boy am I glad I did! She is more than just a dog –walker. Beck, is a very patient and loving trainer who has excellent people skills as well which makes her great at training us as pet owners as well as the dogs themselves. She recently met up with my girlfriend and I and spent 2 hours teaching us on how to train our dogs to walk better on a leash! That’s fabulous! She has gone above and beyond to make Snoopy and Lucy feel comfortable. She has even gone as far as to invent games to help build up Snoopy’s confidence that play on his instincts! She is knowledgeable and charismatic and the dogs absolutely love her. Being that we don’t know many people since we moved to the east bay recently, I now feel confident that I have someone I can trust to help me with the dogs when needed and even a house-​sitter. Little Spot Runs has an excellent future ahead of it and if anyone in the east bay needs a dog-​walker/​house-​sitter/​pet-​taxi service I urge you to call Beck as you will not be disappointed. Another thing you should know about Little Spot Runs is that their rates are very reasonable and Beck is well aware of the economic troubles that are plaguing this nation right now and she will do what it takes to earn your trust and your business, and she deserves it!
Thanks Beck you helped make it possible for us to keep Snoopy and I know he is just as happy as we are.

After terrific start with this small business. I was disappointed in the lack of communication regarding their intention to change their business model. The person I hired Beck would no longer be walking my dogs, because she was branching out and hiring new staff.
Don’t get me wrong I think it is wonderful when a small business is successful and can grow it’s workforce. Unfortunately, Beck did not tell me and I learned from my neighbor Beck was taking people to my home and using my dogs to train unqualified dog walkers, i. e, a neighbor, a woman afraid to put a leash on a dog and a friend all whom had no background or experience walking dogs.
When I asked her if we could discuss my concerns regarding her training techniques vs. mine because I saw a negative change in my dogs and I felt it was because we were using different ways to communicate with the dogs and it was confusing them. She immediately responsed as if I had accused her of abusing my dogs. I was met with a barrage of emails stating her new company policy!
She couldn’t seem to understand that it’s one thing to change your business model, but bringing people in a customer’s home without permission leaves both her company and me with a liability. If the person was to get hurt or bitten by one of my dogs because they don’t know them I would be liable, not Beck or Little Spot Runs.
The bottomline for me is I decide who cares for my dogs in my absense, not the dog walker. Certainly, the decision of who walks them and takes them from my house should be mine at the very least I should have been informed in writing prior to the «change in business model» that someone other than Beck would be walking and caring for my little guys and given the chance to decide if this is what I wanted. Moreover, shouldn’t I be informed people are going into my home /​yard while I am not at home. I don’t believe this is a unreasonable assumption, Beck did.
My previous rating of 5 stars has unfortunately had to be amended to no stars, shame on you Little Spot Runs.

After a rocky start with a different, more established East Bay dog walking outfit, I was lucky enough to find Little Spot Runs. Beck is not only thorough, but caring and loving with my dogs. This is shown in every detail of her business: from the way she has outfitted her transport car to the extra time she spent with my pups in the first week to make sure they bonded well. Beck is firm but kind while correcting one of my dog’s occasional outbursts, just the way my dog needs to be corrected. While we were really sad to leave our city dog walker when we moved, we are really happy with our new dog walker. Little Spot Runs may be new on the East Bay dog-​walking scene, but they are not new to dogs or dog walking. They are truly excellent. I give them the highest recommendation.