Canine Performance

We love the Canine Performance team! Lisa and her team of dog walkers took great care of our chocolate lab puppy, Coco. They were very responsive and knowledgable. It was great to know that our puppy was in good hands while we were at work. Coco was always happy when we got home. She loved her 2 walks a day and lunch time with Lisa! I highly recommend Canine Performance. If we hadn’t moved to Texas, Coco would still be getting walks from Canine Performance :)

Finding a good walking service can be stressful… especially if you’re like me and your dog is like your child! I moved to Arlington from Chicago and our dog walker there was amazing, so finding someone who could step in and take over that role was tough, but Lisa and Matt have been amazing! Setting up a schedule was a little tricky at first, but that was mainly due to me and my partner’s work schedules. Canine Performance has been very reliable and I think Parker enjoys his new friends too!

Lisa and her team have been caring for our puppy since he was 9 weeks old. Lisa has provided us with numerous tips and suggestions for house training, as well as behavior, all of which have been extremely effective (hooray for a 100% potty trained puppy!) Her flexibility and willingness to accommodate have been exceptional. Furthermore, any time we have had a question or concern, Lisa has addressed it immediately. I can honestly say she goes above and beyond, often spending extra time with our pup and even popping in for extra visits on days when he is whiny or difficult. She communicates with us immediately if anything seems off or out of the ordinary with our puppy, and we love when she sends photos and updates just because :)

I’ve always been very selective as to who I let take care of my puppy. Lisa, has been great to work with and is always diligent with the updates she leaves about how Buffy’s day went.

A few weeks ago Lisa had someone representing themselves as her attorney call me and offer to settle for $ 250 if I removed the Unilocal reviews. I told him not to insult me. He then stated they would move the case to district court, which was her option as the defendant. The conversation was a bit strange, he explained that he worked in a building that her father owned, and owed her dad $ 65K in rent, and that her father was the type of person who would spend $ 20K to defend his daughter. I said, well, that’s his right, so I guess we’ll see you with our attorney as well. Based upon what he was saying to me and giving away, he was def not an attorney. Strangely enough, when I called him back to confirm that our court date was still on, the number was disconnected. Needless to say when I mentioned this in front of the judge she admitted her boyfriend was the one who called. I guess when you are with Lisa, you need to be a liar just like her.
The judge pointed out that there was no complaints about service prior to our investigation during the last month, and therefore we could only ask for damages for the time period in question, which was the last month of service. While it is a small amount of money compared to the time invested, I wish more people would take these steps when businesses fail to provide services they have agreed upon and hold people accountable for their actions.
It should be noted that during the trial Lisa claimed she personally only walked our dog about seven times during the four months of service, despite the fact that during the initial meeting she said she would be walking Oreo as she is the main walker in the Orange Line Corridor. Of those 7 instances, we know that on at least two occasions we were home, and she failed to walk the dog. As we pointed out to the judge, she had another dog in the car with her when my girlfriend confronted her, so either she planned to leave the car running with the other dog inside for our 30 minute visit, or she didn’t plan to walk our dog.
Lisa also tried to state that since we did not have a formal contract in hand, that somehow she was not bound by the terms of service shown on her website. The judge pointedly asked her if she was questioning whether there was some question about whether she was supposed to provide services since the record of text messages clearly indicates which level of service and walking packages we specified and she agreed too. She then went on to say that the website link that she asked us to fill out with Oreo’s information apparently had issues, and she did not have that information. Not sure when she realized this, but again, shoddy business practice.
Lisa did introduce as evidence a letter from her own condo complex «The Reserve At Clarendon» that said she was no longer permitted to operate as a dog walker «due to multiple complaints from owners and multiple negative reviews on Unilocal.» I have to admit, when I saw that letter, I didn’t care what the judge awarded us as I knew the reviews were having the desired impact. She attempted to blame the loss of business on me, and I pointed out that the letter sent to her by the management company or condo BOD (I don’t recall which) states that there were *multiple* owners complaining and *multiple* negative Unilocal reviews. I had nothing to do with this, but submitting that letter just helped our case and proved my point better than anything I could have provided!
Lisa also did a great job of trying to talk around the issue, attempting to confuse the judge and ask questions regarding whether Oreo was on medications for kennel cough. As I pointed out, the question was not whether or not he had kennel cough, we indeed we agreed on that point and were in discussions via text message regarding this issue. We agree with Lisa that Oreo was not supposed to be taken for long walks. However, he WAS supposed to be let out of his crate and provided with a short walk, food, and water. That was the problem and the judge picked through her smoke and mirrors campaign and agreed with us that she was guilty.
Finally, on Sept 15^th, after threatening to file wage garnishment papers, which would have made Lisa appear before the judge again, she finally paid the judgment amount. Just note, this is her mode of operation should you have any issues.
I’m was somewhat hopeful that this incident would somehow lead to changes in Lisa’s business practices, but being as she has rejected attempts by other reputable dog walking/​pet sitting services in the area to meet with her to discuss business practices, I feel that this may be a lost cause. In the end, Oreo and other pets are the only losers in this whole episode, so be careful who hire, and always check in periodically.

I strongly discourage anyone from hiring Lisa Meade and/​or the Canine Performance Company. I found her through Craig’s List. After a couple of months of her walking my dog, reportedly for 25 – 30 min. walks, my neighbor noticed that Lisa routinely showed up, let the dog out for 2 min. and took him right back in. The neighbor wanted me to know in case my contract was for a regular lengthy dog walk — thank goodness she told me. Due to trust concerns and the fact that Lisa had a key to my house, I wanted a simple termination without advance notice, so I left her a note asking her to simply leave the key upon arrival for the dog walk, but no walk needed. I paid in full up until that day. She did not leave the key — instead she kept my key stating I owed her at least one extra day’s pay (that would be for the stop over that day, when no walk was performed. She said she normally she charges more but in this case she wanted to be reimbursed for coming to the house). In the very end she never returned the key and I had to change the locks. She was difficult and argumentative by phone, hanging up on me, yelling at me and refusing to take the calls. In short, I would never ever ever recommend this person or this company to anyone. In the end you have to rely on her that she’s telling the truth regarding the time spent with your dog, unless you find a way to monitor it to vet her. But no one should have to resort to that — particularly if you are contemplating given that person a key to your home.

We love Lisa! She and others from her team have been walking our Frenchie for over a year now and they’re fabulous. We have never had one missed walk or anything. We had so many issues with our dog walkers before we moved to Arlington and we’ve really had a great experiences with Lisa, Jamie and the rest of Canine Performance. She goes above and beyond! Also, we totally trust her and anyone she hires.
If you’re looking for a reliable, enthusiastic and knowledgeable walker to take care of your fur babies, look no further than Canine Performance!

I recently moved into a large complex in Arlington and was recommended to Lisa by management which by itself is an strong endorsement. My lab Jackson loves almost everyone however, I’m a tough sell. Lisa is good people. She is genuine, down to earth, real and clearly loves animals. We discussed her families history with dogs and her philosophy handling training etc.
My gut said all green lights so I scheduled numerous visits right away, including consecutive visits where I was away to Florida overnight for business.
I didn’t see Jackson for about 36 hours, and during that time he was visited on schedule and fed as requested. He was his normal excited self when I got home which is all a dog owner can ask for when trusting someone else to watch after him.
Today, I was home for lunch and happened to run into one of Lisa’s walkers, the same who visited Jackson while I was away. He acts a certain way to strangers and a certain way to people he knows and likes. She got the later response; Jackson was very excited to see her and that to me was all the confirmation I needed to know about the kind of person Lisa sent to see my dog.
Trusting someone with your dog is a big deal. A building complex recommending someone be allowed to watch after dogs in their complex is also a big deal. Even more, my building complex allows Lisa’s service to come into this building and enter homes when owners are not around. Those things by themselves are big endorsements.
For me, the biggest endorsement of Lisa came from Jackson. He was his normal self when I got home and he was very excited when we bumped into his walker.
Dog’s know good people, so do I and only good people are allowed around either of us. Canine Performance will be getting my business for the foreseeable future. I definitely recommend anyone consider them to take care of their dog.

I’ve been a dog person my whole life, and when I was able to get my own dog for the first time I tried training it on my own. I believe I did a fairly good job, but I still needed some help and advice on a few more things. I found Lisa online and really enjoyed the fact it is a family run business. She came last weekend and did a great job. My puppy (1.5 years old) loved having her over and she gave me some solid advice and things I needed to work on. She’s now the only dog trainer I will ever recommend. She truly loves dogs, has grown up with them, and you can see that in person when you meet her.

What a scammer! I’ve used many dog boarding services before and this has to be the worst. If you love your dog, steer clear of Lisa. There are so many other options in the area with honest caring businesses. Lisa Meade is irresponsible and manipulative, to say the least, and retained my dog to leverage for more money. All the drama I experienced was frankly because Lisa forgot to pick up the check when she picked up the dog and demanded that I mail her a check over the Christmas weekend. I find it difficult to believe the other reviews considering my experience. Lisa wanted me to pay cash before I could even see my dog and check that my dog was happy and well. The truth was that she didn’t even have my dog when I went to go pick her up!
Moreover, she requested I pay $ 165 plus a late check fee, when the original contract I emailed her was for $ 120. Lisa kept making excuses for negotiating earlier pickup and later drop off fees and trying to charge extra for requests she made to suit her schedule. I understand that it was Christmas time and I am not concerned about the money as much as how manipulative Lisa was in the end.
The day after Christmas, I went to go pick up my dog at her apartment, she said she wanted the cash even though a check was already en route, as clearly requested by Lisa. I already paid via check but I went to the bank to cancel the check right before attempting to pick up my dog. When I showed up, Lisa wasn’t there at her apartment!
Then after numerous texts and phone calls, she asked me to leave the cash with the concierge and she would drop the dog off at my house later at 3PM. I refused, since I wanted to see my dog first before paying. Then, she suddenly appeared at her apartment complex and again demanded the cash, and I requested to see my dog first. She said she wanted to discuss the situation and I said we could when the police arrived. So she she stormed out of her apartment lobby. The police came shortly after and recommended I wait for her to return. After waiting 3 hours, I called the police again and the second time they knocked on her apartment door and apparently the dog was not even in the apartment this whole time! Hence, even if I paid before seeing my dog, I still couldn’t have gotten my dog back!
Thanks to the Arlington police, I got my dog back later that evening, with a chewed up harness and missing name tag. Luckily, my dog didn’t seem traumatized.
Needless to say, if you love your dog, I strongly do not recommend this business.

Worst service ever!!! My dog’s walking calendar was not followed at all while I was out of town. My dog was supposed to be walked a 7 AM in the mornings. I called the sitter one morning around 10 AM worried about my dog and she told me she was sleeping and that she will walk him later. She did not followed instructions on several occasions even when they were clearly written down for her, and when I tried to corrected her she told me not to tell her how to do her job. I fired her while I was out of town and she was still found unauthorized in my apartment. She through away half of my dog’s prescription food in the garbage disposal our of anger and stole a folder with all my dog’s paperwork. She also refused to return my house keys to my property manager and told me that she will charge me a fee to return them to me. After filing a police report on this, I just decided to changed my locks.
This is a young and irresponsible girl who is just looking for an extra buck. Her lack of professionalism was beyond ridiculous. There are a lot of good dog sitters out there and this is NOT one of them. Don’t waste your money and find somebody that will actually take care of your dog.

We love Lisa… she wonderful! She always lets us know how our pup is doing.

This is a great dog-​walking service! I’ve been using Canine Performance for about six months now and have had a very good experience with them. Lisa is very responsive, even with very last minute requests, which is great for days when I’m going to be getting home late from work and completely forget to let her know ahead of time! I would definitely recommend using this service if you are in the Gaithersburg area.

We’ve been using Lisa for about a month now and she is great with our dog. She was recommended by one of our neighbors. We’ve also used Lisa and her mom to take care of our dog while we were away. Again very good! They are reliable, cost-​effective, and kind! Thanks!

I’ve been using Canine Performance since I moved to this area 3 months ago, and I’ve never had a dog walker so conscientious and so great with my dog. Lisa has also taken Lexie for boarding twice for me. She is terrific, and I highly recommend her!