MoxieMutts

Your pets are in good hands with Karyn. If you have large dogs that need exercise she is a runner who will give them a workout. Small animals will get tender, loving care. She will take good care of your home and possessions. I highly recommend her service.

Wow, we had such a bad experience with Karyn watching our dog and two cats for the day I still can’t quite believe it. I hate to write a negative review but I really feel that she has no business watching anyone’s home or animals. We have a rescue dog with fear issues that Karyn had come over to the house to meet before the housesit. We were very clear about his issues, both verbally and in very detailed written notes we left for her. I reiterated things she could do to make him more comfortable with her when she arrived to house-​sit. A few minutes later, Karyn was sitting on the couch and our dog came up to her with his tail wagging and she grabbed him around the head, petting him roughly looking directly into his eyes. He handled it well so I told him he was good and didn’t want to make a big deal about it but I had JUST finished telling her that sort of thing, while no big deal for most dogs, was not ok with him.
My husband called her at about three in the afternoon and asked how things were going and she said «Everything is fine here.» We then stopped by to pick up some things and I called out to her– she didn’t come out to talk to us when we came home– and said «How was your walk?» She replied curtly «Did you read the blog?» She knew I had spent the morning kayaking down a river and it wasn’t likely that I was reading a blog. I said no and she didn’t respond– she had just told my husband on the phone all was well so I figured all was well and we left again. My husband called her again at eight pm and asked how thing were going. Again, she said «Everything is fine here.» Ten minutes later I got a text from her saying I should read the blog so I stepped out of my birthday party and read the blog, which left me fighting tears and I left my own party early to go straight home.
She had written that our dog was barking at her all day and she described her day with him which made it very clear that she had not read-​or chose to ignore– the instructions I had left for her regarding where to walk him, where and how to feed him, how to handle him generally, etc. She wrote that she felt he was acting aggressively towards her and it was making her uncomfortable. That is clearly unacceptable behavior– not good for her or for him– and we should have been notified, directly by phone, IMMEDIATELY when the behavior began! Our neighbor, an elderly woman, saw our back door had been left open and heard our dog barking a lot and told us later she came over to check on things. Karyn didn’t respond to her calling over the fence or knocking on the door. The very first line of the notes I left for her read: «CATS: Our biggest concern is them getting out so please, above all, make sure you only open the front and back doors when you have to go in and out and watch because they are often right there.» We are very lucky they didn’t go out the door when it was left open.
Our dog has been though a lot and has been making really good progress with people so this was a big, disappointing setback. After her first house-​sit with our animals, our previous house-​sitter said of our dog: «He was a little unsure at first but he loves his belly rubs, is a great foot warmer and follows me everywhere– I think he’s in love with me.» I expressed my disappointment with Karyn over the phone after she had gone home. She was defensive and a bit sarcastic; she said that I should be apologizing to her. I did apologize for my dog barking at her– it pains me that it happened, regardless of her part in it. She never did apologize to me, however.

Full disclosure — I knew Karyn before she became a pet sitter/​dog walker and already thought she was the bee’s knees. But dang howdy! Who knew my fur babies would fall so deeply and helplessly in love with her so FAST?!?
This review is woefully overdue, but we had Karyn watch our 3 big dogs and 1 pampered feline (he is truly the king of the castle!) a few weeks back while we slipped out of town for a long weekend.
Every day we were greeted with blog updates of all the fun our furry family was having with Auntie Karyn in our absence, and it was CLEAR they weren’t missing us at all! Karyn had them out and about every day running and jumping and chasing balls and playing with other dogs at the park. And each night they returned home happy, calm and exhausted — just the way we like ‘em!
And when we got home not only were our dogs and cat happy and calm, but our house was spotless and it was clear Karyn had gone above and beyond the call of duty in making sure we were able to just walk in the door and relax.
I truly can’t recommend Karyn at Moxie Mutts highly enough! She is such a wonderful person, has great instincts with the pets, and will absolutely make your time away from home SO much more relaxing just knowing she is there and in control.
We loved her pet & house care so much we immediately booked her for another long weekend! Now THAT’S a recommendation you can take to the bank!

Karyn was recommended to us by a close friend. So I had her sit for Maggie when she was only three months old. I was nervous about leaving her even though it was just for the day. But all my concerns were put to rest when I saw how quickly Karyn connected with our pup. I left with no worries.
We then had an opportunity to take a trip for almost three weeks. We were apprehensive about leaving our five month old so long. But our guilt and concerns quickly disappeared. From day one, Karyn wrote a whimsical and detailed blog of each day they were together including a photo or two. We found this to be invaluable and we looked forward to reading it everyday. We knew then that Maggie Mae couldn’t have been in better hands. Karyn treated our little girl with such love and affection, taking her on long hikes everyday, playing catch and cuddling with her at night. I hardly think she missed us. It was evident to us that Maggie had fallen in love.
In addition, on our return, we walked in to a calm and immaculate house. Linens changed and my yard put back together after a few puppy mishaps. Can’t thank her enough for her services. I recommend Karyn without hesitation. When we can’t be with Maggie, Karyn is our go to «doggie mom. »

If you’re in search of some Pet-​Peace-​of-​Mind while you’re away on vacation this be it!
Karyn took excellent care of our 2 energetic, high maintenance, large mutts, our 1 sassy Siamese cat, our house, numerous house and garden plants and all things associated while we were all the way across the world in India for 19 days.
It was like summer camp around here while we were gone. Karyn totally spoiled the canines – with morning AND afternoon activities for them. Actually I’m somewhat surprised, given the extent of involvement, that we didn’t come home to find a couple of doggie-​made lanyards, or doggie-​sewn sit-​upons. I half-​expected the dogs to start singing about going on a squeegee hunt and demanding s’mores and a bonfire in the backyard.
We were able to check Karyn’s daily blog to see what happened the day before – complete with pictures (!) so we could see what our manic mischief-​makers had been up to.
Also one of our dogs has epilepsy and she kept him properly dosed so he didn’t have any seizures while we were away. A huge relief!
We had an excellent vacation in part due to the fact that we’d left our domestic universe in such capable hands. With Karyn in charge, you can spend time enjoying the trip and not tripping on your pets’ or plants’ or house’s welfare. THANKS LOADS KARYN!

karyn was recommended by our dog walker as a potential pet sitter and we couldn’t have been more fortunate to have her looking after our two dogs and a cat. she stayed at our house for 19 days while we were out of the country on a long vacation and it was great to be able to read her posts about what she and the pets had done that day. she took them on runs, played fetch with them and took them on a lot of car rides with her which they love. also, the house was spotless when we came back which was really nice. in future, we will always try and plan our vacations far enough ahead so that we can have karyn stay at our house with our pets. she really is great and we feel so much better having her stay in the house with the pets than leaving the dogs at «doggie sleepover camp». thanks karyn

I couldn’t be happier with Karyn’s pet sitting services. The first time we hired her we went out of town a little longer than a week. We have a few older pets who are pretty high maintenance – needing daily medical care. Karyn came to the house before our trip to meet the pets and learn how to provide them with the care they needed, which includes insulin shots and oral med administration; she wasn’t squeamish at all and her confidence made us feel more comfortable about leaving the little guys with her. It was obvious that our dog warmed up to her right away and even our cat, who is normally evil toward strangers, seemed to develop a mutual understanding with her.
We were especially pleased with Karyn’s detailed daily blog posts about our pets’ activities while we were away. It was a comfort and a relief to be able to check the Moxie Mutts blog and read about walks and snuggle sessions and meals and meds. Last but not least, our house was in impeccable condition when we returned – in better shape, I think, than we left it. We are now planning a few more trips and are looking forward to having Karyn come again. I couldn’t recommend her more highly. Thank you for everything, MoxieMutts!

My fiancé and I, with our combined pets moved to the bay area about a year and a half ago. We have 3 dogs and 2 cats. We used Karyn to watch all of our pets for a weekend trip. Our pets seemed to enjoy her, our «alpha» dog even warmed up to Karyn a few minutes after she arrived. We loved the blog Karyn has; we could check in on the pets and hear how things were going by looking online.
She took the three of them on a walk and seem to be fine working with our deaf dog. I should also mention that all of our animals are senior citizens and all take many different medicines. Karyn did just fine with all of that.
We definitely will use Karyn again, and we highly recommend her.