I had very high hopes for Lisa. I still would’ve been willing to talk this out but I haven’t managed to get ahold of her since I returned. Here were my instructions to Lisa exactly (phone and password redacted): “BamBam: 2.5 cups (1 full scoop) + water for breakfast and dinner Reyna: 2 cups (to the line on the scoop) + water for breakfast and dinner. Please use the towel on the stool inside the door to wipe mouths as they come inside. Since it’s been warming up I’ve been poop scooping into a plastic bag, tying it off, and putting in the outside trash can with blue lid. Bags are located in the thingy on the laundry room door. Please ensure you secure the gate behind you when you return as they have escaped before :( Bam eats Inside the porch (about where you’ll find his bowl) and Reyna eats just outside the porch. You may use the hose to rinse and refill the water bowl as needed, at minimum once per day. Geoffrey is scheduled to run daily at 10 am. Please keep my bedroom door closed as he will get stuck on the rug in there. You are welcome to use the downstairs shower and bathroom. I will leave a fresh towel and wash cloth for you. Dogs are not allowed upstairs or on furniture. I also generally send them out of the kitchen area when I’m cooking. Please do not hesitate to call or text if you have any concerns: ************. My roommate, James, will also be in and out as he pleases. Don’t be surprised if it is late at night or early morning. WiFi password is ******* Tv in living room is smart tv. If you push the big round button in the center of the smaller remote, you can watch Netflix or Hulu. Or just watch cable. I think I’ve covered everything. Again, please feel free to reach out. I should be home by mid afternoon on Sunday and can plan on feeding them their dinner.” Let’s start with what Lisa did right: * my house was the cleanest it’s ever been after a sitter has left * she sent pics of the dogs * a package was delivered and she verified what i wanted her to do * my dogs are alive Now the rest: As soon as I walked through the door, I could tell something was off. My dogs were sluggish in getting up to greet me, and immediately wanted outside. Once outside, they began tanking up on water from a bowl with about an inch of dirty, slobber water in it. Now, I can concede that she may have filled the water bowl that morning and they could’ve already made it nasty. But they were acting super dehydrated and uncomfortable. I then noticed that one of my dogs didn’t finish breakfast. Not only is this unheard of, but I was even more shocked that my other dog didn’t finish the food for her. The food also appeared dry, which was odd because during our meet and greet I showed Lisa to put enough water to float the food. I looked out into my very small backyard and counted five piles of poop and what was left of a sixth pile. Now mind you, in my initial correspondence I offered to pay extra for poop scooping. She said it’s an included service. I let her know that my male dog sometimes will eat poop (totally not cool when you own a slobbery breed) so I really wanted her to pick it up. Also, my dogs poop is large, but these piles were significantly larger than usual. I then began looking more closely at my dogs and noticed both had very round, full tummies. At this point i remembered Lisa asking me about an additional bag of food. I checked and it was open with a fair amount already gone. Based on my regular schedule, I should’ve been coming home to food left in the previous bag, not a newly opened bag with a ton missing. Later, I offered my dogs dinner. Both ate half of their food and quit. From this, I can only deduce that my dogs were grossly overfed, incorrectly fed (not receiving the additional water in their food), and that the agreed upon poop scooping was not done. Additionally, my male dog is limping. He has arthritis that occasionally flares so I do not blame Lisa for that. However, I do believe limping is something I should’ve been texted about. I also believe I should’ve been texted about them not finishing meals. All in all I’m sad. I have reached out to Lisa to figure out what happened or where the misunderstanding was, but have heard nothing. I do understand mistakes, and she seemed very sweet and conscientious, but I can’t ignore the fact that my instructions were not followed and an agreed upon service was not performed.

This is our second time having Lisa stay with our pups. We were comfortable with her from the first time we met her. Her communication is great and it is obvious she is an animal lover. Being new to an area it is sometimes difficult to find trustworthy, reliable pet care and we feel lucky to have found Lisa who is both. We will definitely be using her again.