“Lauren is the absolute greatest dog walker and trainer we could ever imagine. She has become a part of our family the last 4 years and put our dog on a very different, happier path. Our dog was a pound puppy, scared of many things and occasionally reactive. Lauren didn’t judge him from the start - she worked with him to understand what scared him. To deal with reactivity, she created a specialized program for us at home and when he was with her so we could consistently help him calm down and feel safe. She is a master trainer.

Her packs are intentionally smaller (2-4 dogs) so she can work closely with each dog and keep and eye on them. We really appreciated this, including the care she takes drying them off on wet days and checking for ticks and foxtails. Her offering was amongst the best of any we could find in SF. Paired with her training prowess and ability to work with reactive dogs, she’s truly a special walker.

Over the 4 years we’ve worked with her, our dog has grown into a well-adjusted dog that can be in most any situation. The happiest moment of our day has been hearing her arrive and the excitement our dog has when he hears her pull up to the driveway. She’s just made all of our lives better.”

“When my shy pittie with zero doggy social skills needed a dog walker, Lauren stepped in to do training walks with her so she could have successful group walks. I feel like my dog can succeed in small dog walking groups and I appreciate the prompt feedback on my dog’s progress!”

“UPDATE: Lua and I are expecting to foster this summer! And I truly think she would not have the social skills she needed without your help. So I just wanted to say thanks!”

“Lauren has been Sencha’s walker for more than a year, and I really couldn’t be any happier. Sencha’s behavior has continued to improve by leaps and bounds with Lauren, and she’s even taught him a few fun tricks on his walks! Lauren is extremely conscientious and communicative, and I can’t imagine trusting anyone more. She texts me updates if anything even slightly unusual happens on a walk— like if he seems to have more energy than usual, if he has diarrhea, or if he seemed a little off when she picked him up. Once in a while, if I’m home when Lauren comes to pick him up, Sencha is obviously beyond thrilled to see her, which I think speaks the most to what a truly strong and special bond they have.”

“Lauren is our trusted go-to sitter! We discovered her services in 2014. We were attending a friend’s wedding in Europe, and needed someone skilled, trustworthy, and compassionate to care for our three pets - one of whom was a sick, senior dog with special needs. I was incredibly nervous to leave our ‘fur kids’ for two weeks, but Lauren proved to be everything we were looking for and more. She is responsible, reliable, warm and loving with our pets, and takes care of them as if they were her own. She sent us daily updates with photos, and asked questions about feeding and medical care as things came up with our senior.

Our senior dog has sadly since passed away, and we adopted a new puppy. Lauren has basically been an ‘aunty’ - helping us raise and train the new fur baby. We have so much peace of mind knowing that our pets are in her care that we try to plan our trips around her availability. We feel so lucky to have found her!”

“Lauren was fantastic with Nigel. She took great photos of our silly guy and kept us regularly updated. She was with him through the recent heat wave and was very conscientious about keeping him cool with a fan and water during the day. She was so thorough in our meet and greet asking lots of questions and getting a full picture of Nigel’s habits and our home. We felt very comfortable leaving him with her for a full week on her first stay. He seemed relaxed and content when we returned. We are lucky to have found such an experienced dog lover to watch our quirky guy.”

“From the initial meeting we had, it was clear Lauren would be a good friend for our dog. She was very attentive and posed a lot of questions when we first met. Our dog is relatively low maintenance (no special health needs) but goes out at least three times a day and likes to stay active and likes to be very involved in domestic affairs. Lauren took her on short runs, coordinated with our regular dogwalker, and was able to accommodate her schedule for a day our dogwalker couldn’t come to be sure our pup was not alone too long. I forgot to ask Lauren to give our dog some heartworm/flea medicine and she was happy to handle, and also provided regular updates and photos via text message. Finally, Lauren was also a very good house-sitter, and took good care of things in our home. Wonderful person and wonderful dog sitter.”

“My dog is my absolute best friend in the entire world. He has been my best little buddy for ten years, and leaving him behind when I go on a trip is never easy for me. Zeus is a sweetheart, but can be a little sneaky finding and stealing food and being aggressive towards other dogs. Because of that, it’s a bit daunting to leave him with someone new and know that he is going to be in caring and careful hands. This is where Lauren comes in.

Lauren stayed at my place with Zeus while I was out of town, and took excellent care of him! I didn’t even have a chance to worry about the little guy because she made sure to send me pictures of him a few times of day while I was away—which I loved, of course. Lauren took amazing care of Zeus, and I wouldn’t think twice before having her come back to spend time with my little guy again. Very, very excited to have found her!”

“We have never felt so comfortable, confident and at ease with a dog sitter as we do with Lauren. We have 2 lab-mixes and both of our dogs have extra needs, which can be complicated, but Lauren is patient, kind and a professional. We never worry when they are with Lauren. She truly cares about all animals and will take care of your pups as if they were her own. We moved to the East Bay and have yet to find someone we love even half as much as Hearth & Hound!”

“We were looking for someone to stay with Tanker, a 60lbs pit mix who’s super cuddly and loves to have lots of human interaction. He’s a pretty active dog so we needed someone that would be able to keep up with our energetic pup. When we first met with Lauren we knew right away she’d be a great match for Tanker. She really engaged with him, talked with him and did some commands with him. She asked great questions about all Tanker’s normal habits but also asked some other great questions I wouldn’t have thought of. By the time we were done with our initial meeting she knew Tanker’s likes, dislikes, challenges, trained commands, watch-outs, etc. While Lauren stayed with Tanker she sent pictures regularly to keep us updated. We could always tell that Tanker had a good time with Lauren. They were really active together and spent lots of time outside. We had a great experience with Lauren and would definitely use her again! ”