4.8

Marla was fantastic! Easy and flexible pick up and drop off. It’s very clear she loves animals 🤍

She was the best, I loved how the way Marla’s whole family took care of buddy during his stay. Thank you Marla and family. Love from buddy.

What a pleasant experience with Marla! I will definitely go back to her!

Marla is great. She communicates well and took great care of Rocko. She has lots of space for her dogs to play. I made a mistake on the booking and had to extend an extra day. Marla was very understanding and kind. Would use her again.

Marla and Debbie were fabulous! They allowed us to stop by with Kacy to have some time with them prior to our trip (and to put me at ease). They have a great fenced yard for some exercise. They sent me videos of Kacy during our trip and she always looked happy. If you need a sitter, Marla is the one to book.

TLDR: Since coming back from a 10 day stay with Marla my 2yr old dog Jupiter has been suffering from PTSD. I’m not sure exactly what could have happened but because I’ve been having such a difficult and emotional time with Jupiter since pick up (12 days ago now), I decided to speak on my experience to potentially help others. Pick Up My dog’s usual sitter was not available so I decided to do an initial meeting with Marla in her yard and all went well. She had two of her own dogs and they all got along well enough. During the stay I didn’t get daily updates like I usually did from other sitters and had to ask every couple of days for pictures but i received a few 3 or 4 short videos during his stay. I was a little weary but ultimately decided all was well. When it came time for pick up, Marla graciously let me pick Jupiter up the morning after i was meant to because I returned home late after a flight delay. Marla communicated that although she would not be home, her daughter would be able to help me with pick up. I texted when I arrived as instructed and loaded the car with Jupiter’s things that had been left on the porch. Although he had only stayed for 10days the top of and the inside of the lid of his food container was quite disgusting and looked as if it was left in an unkept place for months. There had been some sort of mashed pumpkin/or sweet potato food that was not my dog’s food and the bottom of it had a few spider webs. His bed absolutely reeked of a smell that I have never smelled before and was very dirty. I washed the cover of the bed a couple times but it took days to get the smell out of the foam insert. After waiting a while i decided to ring the doorbell and with that came the eruption of many dogs barking aggressively and banging against the front door (Marla had said that she separates one of the bigger fear aggressive dogs from the others in the house.) The dog barking resulted in the sounds of a man furiously shouting inside and her daughter came out with Jupiter visibly and audibly frustrated that he was pulling in order to happily greet me. When I asked for his food bowls, she came out a few times with various very dirty food bowls of varying sizes that were not his until I finally received his food and water bowls (still went home with one that wasnt mine but it was close) that had remnants of food that wasn’t his and his raised stand in similar condition. Our 10 min ride home was also rough because Jupiter kept trying to come into my lap while driving (something he hasnt tried to do since his first week with me and about 50 pounds ago). I chalked it up to him missing me. The rest of that day I struggled to get Jupiter to eat or drink water even after a walk. he drank water after 18 hours and is still occasionally refusing to eat. PTSD Prior to this stay Jupiter was a dog that really only ever barked if he wanted you to kick his soccer ball for him. He is an extremely friendly pup who loves everything and everyone and always squealed with excitement whenever someone came home rather than bark. He was quite well trained to be able to be off leash to use the bathroom or hang out for hours in our yard that isnt fenced but has about an acre of land separating it from the street and a little less from a trail that wraps around the property. In his first four days back he had run off to the trail twice while completely ignoring my recall (one of the times he went to just stand and bark repeatedly at a woman taking photos). Every time he hears someone who isnt me approaching the front door (i have roommates who he loves) he incessantly barks until he sees who it is come in and then is his squealy happy self again. He has been frequently afraid of any of us removing items from bags and has even backed away from me terrified and shaking on multiple occasions. Sometimes he is very afraid when I try to close my bedroom door and will run out before I get the chance to or he hides behind my roommate and shaking on multiple occasions when i try to command him to come to me. Prior to leaving i had a whole karaoke event at my home and now the elevated voice of someone through the karaoke machine absolutely terrifies him. 2 out of 3 driving sessions with him have resulted in him being extremely scared and refusing to leave my lap (even though he is a quite strong and heavy 60 pound dog). He also came back with severe tartar on his teeth indicating to me that he was not eating his own food I’m taking it day by day but this has been extremely heart-breaking for me to deal with. When he is afraid of me (for reasons im still unsure of whether its when i try to command him or taking my headphones out of my purse), I give him his time and space and he happily comes back to me after an hour or so. I am shocked that just 10 days away can undo 2 years of trust and training. I hope this helps others. Overall, I would not recommend this sitter.