5.0

Olivia was fantastic with our pup. She is timely, handles a large dog well, and communicative. I highly recommend her!

There are few people i've met that understand animals better than Olivia. Yes I am her brother writing this testimonial, but no amount of sibling bias can refute these anecdotes: Our dog Java particularly hates thunderstorms. Last year, during one of those classic D.C. summer storms, he was having a hard time with an especially long period of loud thunder. He was shaking and panting and couldn't be calmed by me as much as I tried. Olivia however had another approach. She took Java's blanket, a pillow, and his bed, and crafted a cave-like cocoon for him that must have felt like he was being hugged on all sides. Once curled up inside, he quickly calmed down and she pet him behind his ears until he fell asleep. Java also used to lick the food off dirty plates in the dishwasher. One time as he attempted this, his collar got caught in the dishwasher rack so when he tried to back away he brought the entire shelf with him. Naturally for a dog, he freaked out and ran out of the kitchen dragging half of our cabinet ware with him. Most people's initial reaction to the loud crashing sounds of dishes breaking were to get upset with our dog (looking at my mother). Olivia's was to run over and hug Java, knowing he was probably scared and had no idea what he had just done or why it happened. All this to say, Olivia is a caring and deeply understanding person. Although those stories aren't directly about how good of a dog walker she is, I hope they convey her grasp of canine emotions and love for them. In any situation she'll know how to care for your pet, and treat them most kindly. I could also talk forever about how she is a hard worker, does the job right the first time, etc. etc. but in the context of dog walking I think all of those traits are abstractions for the simple fact that she loves and cares for animals.