Oh To Be A Dog

I can’t provide enough positive comments about Shannon and the Oh To Be A Dog team. I’ve been a customer for 4 years, and the only reason that’s not going to be another 4 (and another) is that we’re moving out of their service area. So very sad for us…
OTBAD has been our savior — we have 2 dogs and 4 cats and a very busy schedule. They have been walking our dogs 4 – 5 days a week for the past 4 years, and every vacation we have ever taken they have been house sitters. I know they take care of our furry family just as we would.
The PetCheck technology they use is fantastic and gives me massive peace of mind that the dogs are actually being walked when and where we’ve agreed. The flexibility of adding and subtracting a walk (even on the day of) is great (sometimes I get lucky and get to work from home so I can take the pups)
The email letting me know that they have arrived, and the comments (and photos) that the walkers leave when they finish are fantastic.
If you’re looking for ad hoc, or more regularly scheduled walks, call Shannon — you won’t be disappointed!

It’s 10:45 pm, you are out of town, do you know where your petsitter is? We are long time clients of Shannon’s and Rosie has stayed with our dogs for at least five years. Until now. We were out of town, and had arranged to have Rosie stay overnight with our three dogs, 7pm-​7am, with a half hour walk in the middle of the day.
We recently had security cameras installed (Nest), which I made both Rosie and Shannon aware of, which made what happened even more shocking. I was in New York City for work, and woke up around 1:15am. I decided to check the Nest app, to check our camera that is pointed at the driveway. I just had a feeling something was amiss. Rosie’s car is nowhere to be seen. I then turned on the camera in our living room, and saw all three dogs, sitting by the front door. Clearly no one was there. I immediately texted/​called Rosie. She explained there had been a delay at dinner, and would be returning «soon.» It was 10:30 pm in LA. I then reviewed footage for the entire day and was stunned. There was no mid-​day walk, and she came by at 6:15 to feed them, and promptly left at 6:22…not even enough time for a decent poddy break.
I was absolutely outraged, but helpless from 3,000 miles away.
I began texting and calling Shannon, by now it was 2am NYC time, and she was totally unreachable. I left numerous messages and texts stating it was an emergency.
Rosie came back around 11:15 pm, and it’s absolutely clear to me that had I not had a hunch something was wrong, she wouldn’t have come back at all that night. I had shown her exactly where the cameras were. I wasn’t trying to play gotcha, we had the cameras installed for security purposes as there has been an increase in burglaries in our area.
I had a huge presentation for work that same day, but was now wide awake, contemplating returning home five days early. Shannon finally responded at 6am, almost four hours later, stating she was on the East Coast (obviously thought I was in California) and was upset, but didn’t want to call me at 3am LA time, so she sent a text. She must have been stunned when I immediately responded and said I was also on East Coast and wide awake. I called her and it again went to voicemail. It took her another 45 minutes to call me back. She was stunned and started complaining to me, the client, about how hard it was to find reliable people. Really? This is now my problem also? Rosie said she would work on her «time management skills» and not let it happen again. There were only two days left, so I had no other choice but to hope she would actually do the job I was paying for.
The worst part of all of this was the trust I had placed on Shannon and Rosie. I had tipped Rosie $ 100 BEFORE leaving for New York City, and heated the swimming pool for her to use. During the emergency, Shannon was absolutely unreachable, only making the matter much worse.
The breach of trust was so egregious, it makes me realize that this was likely going on for years prior to the cameras being installed.
If you hire Oh The Be A Dog, do so at your own risk and buy Nest surveillance cameras. For the remaining two days of the time I was away, Shannon didn’t contact me once to check-​in. Please message me for screen grabs of Rosie ditching duties, and being MIA.
UPDATE:
5÷21÷2016
Shannon’s response is a total mistatement of facts. Not one time on the video does Cookie try to bite Rosie. I’m more than happy to send screen shots of Cookie interacting with Rosie. Shannon’s response fails to address the missed walk that day, and Rosie being MIA at 10:40 pm. She also neglects to respond to not herself being reachable at all during this time. Yes, there are always two sides of the story, but the cameras provide undisputed facts. We have found another amazing pet sitter, whom is responsible, trustworthy & loves dogs. Shannon’s comment about her other five star reviews, I can almost guarantee that if they had installed surveillance cameras, they wouldn’t be getting services paid for. If you use Shannon’s company, get cameras. There were other red flags I should have paid more attention to at the time. Several years ago, we came home from a trip, at the time arranged, to find Shannon’s petsitter having sex on our pool furniture. Our dogs weren’t even here at the house, they were at doggy daycare. What was completely shocking was that we came home at the exact time we said we would be home. While Shannon did fire her immediately, this should have been a warning sign to me. Another incident had Shannon scheduled to walk our dogs. I came home from work, and our housekeeper informed me Shannon had only come over to the house to let dogs out, no walk. I called Shannon and she confirmed there was no walk but had «planned» on coming back to walk the dogs. I will only use pet sitters that themselves stay with the dogs and do the walks. Outsourcing to random people is just bad business.

Oh to be a dog has been such a great way for Cosmo to get a long walk 5 days a week while I’m working. I have even had them do stop in visits when I have work dinners in the South Bay or just really long days. I love the GPS technology and updates from the team. I have them do a 30 minute walk 5 days a week and for the piece of mind it’s great. Today is one month since I rescued Cosmo from NKLA and Oh to be a dog has made this transitional period seamless for us. Thanks Shannon for the great communication and your team Trevor, Nicole and Erin as well. I highly recommend them they are reliable and trustworthy.

Love love love Shannon and her services and my cats do too! I had to leave a sick kitty with her for a full week and she was awesome! I was out of the country and very nervous about leaving with no form of communication other than email and it was my first time using Oh to be a dog services shannon was very informative via email, checked in often to let me know that the kitties were doing good. Best part about it, when I came home it was as if I hadn’t been gone, the cats most times harboring ill feelings for me leaving them, were rather indifferent about seeing me come home which means they were happy and in great hands and would have been glad to have Shannon come back instead of my husband and I! :) I will be using her services again! So easy and convenient and didn’t have to worry a minute on my vacation!

I’ve been using OTBAD for 5 years now. My son, Carlito, is practically cousins with the owners son, Rocko. Shannon and her staff go to great lengths keeping me updated when I am out of town. They are constantly sending me cute texts/​pictures of Carlito «hanging out» and playing with other dogs.
I recently had Carlito’s teeth professionally cleaned and unfortunately had 4 teeth extracted. When I was at work they happily picked him up from the vet, administered medication and closely watched after him. His recovery was successful and smooth. I don’t know what I’d do without their service.

This review is a bit overdue, but I just had to rave about my experience with Oh To Be A Dog!
A friend referred me to the Oh To Be A Dog for dog sitting, and I called Shannon last minute when our holiday plans changed in December. I couldn’t believe my little Maltipoo Walter could get in so close to the Holidays!
Never having used a dog sitting services I was a bit nervous about having a stranger look after Walter (aren’t we all the first time?). I loved that I could see when and where Walter was being taken on his walks. I never had to check in because OTBAD logs in their activity with your dog-​SO cool!
I arrived back to find Walter happy as can be! Love the communication and level of care-​I will definitely be using OTBAD again as well as referring them to my friends and family! Keep up the great work!

I really really wanted to be a fan of Oh to Be a Dog and attempted to use their services first for pet sitting (on short notice) then for walks.
Experience #1 — Attempted Pet Sitting
The owner Shannon responded initially stating she would not be able to personally do the pet sitting visits but offered an employee in her place. I responded right away saying that was fine for the one weekend, put in details what exactly I needed, etc. and received ZERO response from Shannon and I had no phone number from her to follow up so in a frenzy I contacted another company (who I initially did not like nearly as much on paper) and while I still hoped to hear from Shannon the other company went above and beyond to match my exact needs for the weekend. Since I value local businesses I emailed Shannon a third time noting to her that she never responded to my email and to her credit she did respond to me at 4:11AM the morning I was leaving but sadly it was too little too late at that point.
Shannon explained that she somehow never saw my email, so I decided to give them another try.
Experience #2 — Attempted Walks with Shannon
Even after the «missed email» explanation I emailed again and said I would like to hire Shannon for walks for my puppy but due to turn over in companies such a this and my desire for continuity I would prefer to deal directly with her. I explained I would be willing to be flexible on the days that went around «her» schedule and even offered to go on a wait list. She NEVER RESPONDED to me at all.
I am sure for some her services are great but I felt she was only concerned with growing her business and it diminished the small business feel.

As a performer work is a first come first serve kind of thing. I recently came to LA for a month and brought my 10 lb rat terrier. My work schedule was pretty hectic. And Darla needed her walks and ontime feedings. Oh To BE A Dog came to my rescue! The owner Shannon and her entire staff were professinal, friendly, timely, and very efficient. You could tell that they all love dogs and all pets alike. The prices were very resonable. And they were willing to work with my crazy actor schedule. I will use them over and over whenever I am in LA. I only wish they had a branch here in NYC.

I have been using these services for two years and am completely happy with them. I noticed a review that said the response time is slow. In the last two years, I have never experienced this. Shannon has always responded with lightning speed and always accommodates my needs. A little over a year ago, my grandmother passed and with no notice, Shannon helped me out with the dogs. Her walkers have been great and genuinely care about my dogs!

First I didn’t hear back from them and they said that my request never went through. Okay fine, I can forgive for the technology glitch. Then I resubmitted saying I live in El Monte. The person responded saying they were willing to help and wanted more information. But when I gave them my exact address, they said that they had recently lost their far east walker and they cannot help me. At this point, it had been over a week since sending my first request and I needed a dog walker like the next day… I quickly had to search another company and it was a pain in the butt…
From looking at these reviews, I can see that they pick and choose when they want to respond.

Shannon and her team are wonderful with our dog Finnegan. I travel often for work and my schedule isn’t predictable. It’s been seamless working with OTBAD to cover the days when I’m out of town. Everyone who walks Finnegan provides great care. The few times I’ve been home during a pickup our dog (who thinks he is a guard dog) didn’t bark and I was surprised — it’s like he knew his friend Trevor was coming over to take him for a walk.
I also appreciate that OTBAD has embraced available technology. While I’m on the road, my friends and co-​workers are amazed that I get text messages when the walk starts and can track the walk progress, which provides me with peace of mind. It’s also extremely easy to schedule a walk online.
They even helped walk Finnegan a few times on our wedding day so he was a little less rambunctious and could attend the festivities. That alone should speak for our trust in Shannon, that fact that dog walking services were scheduled into the wedding day timeline.

I must say, Shannon has been more responsive to my reviews than my emails. She replied to both of my posts! Even so, you can see that she does not do so in a timely manner. My review was re-​posted 6÷19÷13. Her reply came in on 3÷14÷14. That’s almost a full 9 months later!!! What more proof do you want?
Btw, Shannon, how do you expect someone to use your services when you’re painstakingly slow at replying to your emails or become completely unresponsive? I gave your business a chance by reaching out to you to inquire about your services and you simply could not deliver. That means I have the right to leave a review about my experience with your business. I do not go around reviewing companies I’ve never dealt with — what normal person does that anyway?! Haha Plus, I’ve read a review or two about the damages you/​your employees have done to your clients’ property while petting sitting. This further assures that I will never use your business in the future.
Oh, and my original review was removed because it was considered «promotional» because I mentioned the name of the other company I went with, and they happen to be your biggest competitor in the area.

Shannon is a lifesaver. My boyfriend and I love to hit her with last minute weekend requests and she is always quick to respond and helpful. It feels great to know that when we are in a pinch we can call Shannon and she takes such good care of my furry family members.

I am not a fan.
Our experience started off well. I contacted Oh To Be A Dog after researching dog walkers/​dog sitters in the Pasadena area and decided on this company based on their amazing reviews on Unilocal.I also got a quick response from Shannon (the owner) to set up a meeting about our needs for her service.
After planning a 10 day trip out of the country (Indonesia) for vacation my concern was for the comfort of my dog while away. We have 3 but only asked Shannon to walk our one large recently rescued Boxer-​mix, as we also had a house-​sitter staying in our home. My needs were for him to be walked as he needs a «good walk» in the morning and a shorter walk in the evening to supplement. He also had a current laceration on his eye that concerned me and asked her to watch and if need be take him to my vet. At the very least, let me know if it was getting better or worse. No updates during my entire time away was given. My request was that she be the one person, as we don’t want multiple people in our home while out of the country, to walk him. She explained that it may not be possible for only her to walk him but another employee, Trevor walk him. I agreed, understanding that she is busy. I also requested that she email me updates as being out of the country, I wanted to feel connected. My dog, as I said was a recent rescue and I wanted to know how he was acclimating. She assured me that she understands and was willing to keep me updated.
So, while we were out of the country for 10 days, I received a total of 2 emails updating me. This after waiting a few days for a reply to my emails. Sorry, but this left me not feeling «in the loop» with my dog’s acclimation and annoyed with Shannon.
My house sitter came home after work to my back door handle being broken (after I left her instructions, via email, not to turn it just use the lock) Also that other employees had walked my dog without agreement. Not professional!
And just to add extra burn to my opinion of this company, TODAY, I witnessed Trevor walking a neighbor’s dogs (2 Goldens and a King Charles) on my block, two houses away, NOT pick up after the one dog! How do you call yourself a professional dog walker and NOT pick up after a client’s dog in THEIR neighborhood. He had doggie bags I’m sure! Just annoying, it was all I could do to not call him out on it from across the street. No bueno.
We will NOT be using this company again.
And Shannon, please make sure your employees pick up after client’s dogs!

Great dog walking service in Pasadena. My dogs would always get so excited whenever OTBAD came over, because they knew they were getting their walks. I’ve never seen the dogs so excited to see someone besides me or my husband.
My husband and I moved to Arcadia, so we are no longer getting dog walking services, but we so would if OTBAD would come to Arcadia and provide services here.

I’ve never written a Unilocal review before but I just had to sign up to spread the word about my experience so far with Shannon and Lily. I interviewed several other dog walking companies and it was clear that they just wanted my money and didn’t seem to take an active interest in my dogs. I have a 12 year old and a 6 month old. Shannon was prompt for our first meeting and took detailed notes. What I loved right away about this company was that I was able to meet the person who would actually be walking my dog. Other companies could promise that. Shannon spoke very highly of Lily and I was thrilled to meet her. They have a system that alerts you when the walker arrives and you are emailed a nice little summary of how the visit went. Lily is amazing and my girls look foward to her visits. If you are crazy about your pets as I am you will be in good hands with Oh To Be A Dog!

Shannon and Lily are great! I screened a total of 7 other dog walking services, and I couldn’t be happier with «Oh to Be A Dog.»
Wallie always comes back happy and excited. On days when he has longer walks, he comes back happy and tired.
I love that I can schedule my appointments online and buy packages of walks. I also love their pet track technology and the details they provide on how the walks went.
Lily is super sweet and Wallie loves her!
I would highly recommend this service and will definitely continue using them.

Since my first email over a year ago, Shannon has been wonderful in providing a multitude of services for our ever-​growing family of dogs (and cats). Since Pasadena can be pretty hot in the summers, we had Shannon coming to our house every weekday around 12:30pm to play with our new pug puppy Dexter and put him in his crate in the nice air conditioned house. We got photos of him almost every day with what could only be described as an ear to ear smile (see photo).
As summer came and went we decided that Dexter would be fine in the backyard all day. She totally understood and told us if we ever needed anything to shoot her a text. We do have one off requests for her to come over and check on the dog, usually without very much notice and she is happy to help us out. She has even stopped by to check on my über-​independant cats while we have been away.
We have sent Dexter to stay with her and her pooch over the weekend a couple times and he comes back so tired from playing and we know he had a good time. Samantha has watched Dexter a few times too and he is a happy camper when he comes home and is the best cuddle pug ever because his is all tuckered out form having a blast.
We recently went on a trip to Seattle and had Andrew stay at our house for a few days while we were gone. He is awesome! We got daily photos, and texts giving us a summary of the day’s events with each dog and cat.
I cannot recommend them enough, they have been such a huge help in raising Dexter to be an upstanding little pughead and I don’t know if i could have done it without them.

I cannot say enough good things about Shannon, Rosie and everyone at Oh to be a Dog. They are kind, professional, dependable, truly understand dogs, and my babies love them.
I am a fussy dog-​mom, and I have never had to worry about my kids when they’re in the care of these amazing folks. Thank you, Shannon, Rosie and all of you at Oh to be a Dog!
Love,
Lisa, Paul & Georgie

I don’t have the words for the awesomeness that is ‘Oh to Be a Dog’.
Almost immediately I noticed the benefits of daily walks. The dogs are so much more chill when I get home. I’m more chill. Life is all around better when Matt comes to walk the dogs.
Plus the pet check technology is super great. It’s unbelievably adorable to get an email when I’m at work that ‘my walk has started’ and the follow up email with comments on how my little snow lions did.