Dog Trot by Chris

Chris is great! He is very professional and we loved having him take our dog out on her daily walks. We especially liked his report cards and the plethora of pictures he takes. Our dog is no longer able to go out with Chris due to a medical issue, but he is a great walker and she really enjoyed her time with him.

We adore Chris! Many months ago, we went through countless reviews and invited our favorites over to meet Dexter (our dog). In all this time, Chris has remained just as responsive, timely, professional, and passionate. We feel so lucky to have found him, and can’t imagine ever going without him in the future. Even though we brought Dexter to parks before, it’s obvious that he most looks forward to going with Chris and the pack. He’s got so much energy and is so healthy — everybody comments on it. But the best reward is seeing how truly fulfilling it is for Dexter. A great group, we absolutely love Chris.

In our first meeting with Chris, I remember him telling us that the dog usually chooses the dog walker and this couldn’t be more true. The second Chris walked through our door our two dogs were instantly connected to him and knew he was to become their new bff. On the occasion that we are home when the boys get picked up for their walk, it is awesome to see their level of excitement when they hear the jingling of keys at the door. One evening while my husband and I were out on a walk with the dogs, we ran into Chris at the park and they all but forgot the fact that we existed, making a B-​line to their buddy. We are so thankful we found Chris and definitely recommend him to other caring (aka over-​protective) dog parents.

For us, nothing is more important than our dog Huey. He is a hilarious Husky mix who is rambunctious, too smart for his own good and obsessed with tennis balls. When we moved to SF from Chicago, we knew that we needed to find someone who could handle Huey’s energy, and provide him a safe, fun and loving environment for walks/​playtime. We looked and looked and didn’t find anyone quite right until we found Chris. From the moment we met him, we found him trustworthy, caring and über professional. It really is such a wonderful feeling knowing that someone is caring for/​loving Huey while we are at work and can’t be with him.
Chris takes the dogs in a pack of 6 everyday to Crissy Field or the beach and they run and play for the entire time — he keeps track of what each dog is doing and even sends a report card at the end of each walk to each owner! I LOVE getting these — they are wonderful. He works hard to match up comparable dogs in each pack and uses really great treats (Zukes) to reward good behavior… he also always has an endless supply of tennis balls for the ball crazy dogs like Huey. I highly recommend him to anyone who is looking for a walker — he is exceptional.

This rating is long overdue. About a year ago, we adopted a lab-​mix from the SPCA. We live in the Marina so did a quick Unilocal search for walkers, saw Chris as the top-​ranked business, and immediately contacted him. He was awesome and walked our little one for a few months.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work out in the long run — our dog is sometimes aggressive towards smaller dogs and there’s just too much temptation on Crissy Field (Chris also gives the dogs treats and our little one is protective of food so that didn’t help either). So we had to switch walkers but I really wish that we could have stayed with Chris because our experience with him (other than our dog’s aggression issues, which weren’t due to Chris) was absolutely FANTASTIC. He is so professional (he gave us a copy of his drivers license, insurance and other credentials when we signed on), extremely responsive, a great communicator (I miss getting daily «report cards» — our current walker doesn’t do that), and truly loves and is completely dedicated to the dogs. We felt 100% confident that our dog was in good hands. Plus, he’s a Star Wars fan, which we love.
The experience with Chris was so much better than with our current walker. I can’t recommend him enough.

Chris has been my dog walker for the past year or so. He is the best. My dog Bruce can be quite the handful, but he always comes home tired and well rested. He sends a report card every day updating me on what Bruce did during their walk, including if he went poop and pee! I highly recommend him.

Chris has been my dog walker for the past 5 years. First with my sweet Molly who past at 16.5 yrs and now with Honey Bear who is a rambunctious 2 year old. Chris is a great trusted resource and I recommend him highly!

We’ve been using Chris off and on for over a year and would recommend him to anyone who loves their pets. His calm manner puts us at ease as we know our two dogs are always in good hands.
It takes a lot to be included on our short list of who we would entrust with our pups, they are our family, but Chris has definitely made the cut!

Chris has been talking our dog for the past 6 months and we are very happy with his service. Our dog’s ears perk up when he hears Chris pull into the driveway and he races to the door. He comes home happy and excited then about 15 minutes later he’s sound asleep.
Chris also sends a daily Report Card with a pic of our dog from that day’s adventure. I look forward to reading them.
If you live in the Marina and are looking for a courteous dog walking professional who your dog will love then you should definitely give Chris a call!

Chris is amazing with Hawaii. She is having a LOT of fun with them and is just exhausted when coming back. Plus, Chris sends a report card everyday informing us what Hawaii did during the trot with a picture of her. It seems like a detail, but it is a very pleasant detail!!!

Chris is the best! He has been taking our pup Murphy out twice a week for the last nine months or so and we couldn’t be happier. He is reliable, truly loves animals and — as some others mentioned — writes the most amazing wrap-​up reports. I look forward to getting them in my inbox and am jealous Im usually stuck inside while the dogs are having such a blast!
Every time Murphy hears Chris’ car pull up he starts whimpering with excitement. And better yet, he’s always pooped when he gets home… so I know he’s had a great time with his pup playgroup.

Our new dog, Huxley, was not quite sure about Chris (understatement). But Chris was VERY understanding and patient and even let me tag along on the «party bus» to let Hux get comfortable with the situation. Now Hux loves Chris and very much enjoys joining his sister Gracie on dog trots and playing with all of his dog buddies at the beach. And I can go to work knowing my dogs are in good hands.

We celebrated our three-​year anniversary with Dog Trot last month, so I felt the impulse to (a) give myself a pat on the back for being one of the first to discover Chris and (b) give an update on our ever-​growing appreciation, respect, and love for him.
Chris continues to exceed my family’s expectations. He is kind, honest, smart… and has become a trusted emergency contact for us beyond dog walking. Even our neighbors (who do not have dogs) have grown attached to him.
Of course, Bauer still barks rainbows and unicorns when he hears Chris approaching our door.
In closing, I will never understand how Chris comes up with the original and eloquent descriptions of what happened during the hour in the field each day for report cards (for three years). He is truly talented.
Chris — here’s to another three years, and beyond.

The BEST! I used to take my dog to work and walk him at Crissy Field everyday which is how I got to know Chris originally. Then, when I got a new job I started really scouting out the dog walkers on the field to see who I’d want to send my pup with each day. So I can tell you from both a customer and spectator that Chris is SUPER professional, gives the dogs so much exercise and takes really good care of the pack.
Gus has never been more tired (even though I was taking him to the same field as Chris does!) and it’s so nice to know that when I come home from work I don’t have to do anything for him because he can barely wake up to greet me at the door.
The truth is, I could take my dog to work at my new job, but we love so much that I don’t! It’s soooo worth the money. Plus, the report cards are the highlight of my day!

My dog, Annie, and I are always delighted to run into Chris and his happy & well behaved packs at Crissy Field. The dogs are watched closely and are super well tended. Several friends use Chris as their dog walker and are very pleased with his attention to updates and reports (which i heard about long before even having a dog). If Chris picked up dogs in the financial district & Annie needed to be walked — I’d certainly trust him to take great care of her.

My husband and I moved to San Francisco from North Carolina, so the idea of hiring a dog walker was completely foreign to us. We have two 9-​year old rescue pups who have been very spoiled with me always working from home; plus, they have always lived in a house with a big backyard.
When we arrived in the city, I asked everyone I knew to recommend who they used to take care of their pets. I went down the list, reading about each one, and Dog Trot by Chris immediately stuck out as someone I wanted to speak with.
When we first met Chris, he came to our house and he interviewed our dogs and we interviewed him. He could not have been more professional and caring. We immediately knew we had found the right person for us.
Chris doesn’t just walk the dogs to the nearby park — he takes them on a ride with their friends to fantastic places in the city (mostly Chrissy Field) and they get a full :60 of play time. One of the other things that made me feel comfortable is how he limits the number of dogs he takes out at once. Every day we would receive a report card emailed to us letting us know what our dogs did that day, what time they were picked up, dropped off, as well as photos! Often, we’d see video of our dogs and their new friends on his Facebook page. Another important thing to mention is this is not a company of many people with keys to your house, this is one person and this same person is our contact at every touch point.
Chris took care of our dogs Monday through Friday for 8 weeks while I was on a full-​time contract that kept me away from home. On one occasion, one of my dog’s rolled in goose poop in the field. Chris made sure I knew about it and my dog was cared for and also kept away from getting it on any of our furniture before we got home!
My only hesitation in writing this review or recommending Chris to anyone and everyone with friendly dogs is that he might get too busy and not have room for us when we need him!

Camie has been with Chris for about a year and half now. Throughout this time, Chris has been consistently reliable, caring, professional, flexible, and trustworthy. We feel very lucky to have found Chris! (he was referred to us with great recommendation from friends)
We highly recommend him to others as well!

I fully recommend Chris to be your dog trotter! It is more doggy play group versus a dog walk which my little Jake LOVES! I’ve seen Jake’s reaction when Chris arrives which is absolute joy. He wags his whole hind end versus just his tail. Most importantly, Jake returns home exhausted. I’ve rushed home on more than one occasion stressed that he is feeling couped up, but find as I come through the door, I am interrupting his nap.
Chris has been highly professional with handling Jake and respecting my home. He carefully considered all aspects of Jake’s behavior and level of training during our intake interview. Jake started with Chris at 4 months. Thus, his recall command and potty training were still under development. Chris communicated any issues (accidents) and has a sincere concern for the dogs. On one occasion, Jake threw up in in the evening, and I left a message for Chris to see if he had eaten anything out of the ordinary (eating odd things is quite ordinary for Jake). Chris promptly returned my call with concern for the little guy. Jake was fine in a few hours, but the incident made me further appreciate my trust in Chris.
The report card and pictures are an added bonus. You get to see your little one at their happiest (well almost, Jake’s happiest is while eating…) and feel confident in the interactions with the other dogs. Chris limits the group to no more than 6 to keep things reasonable and manageable.
Even if you want to get your dog socialized a few days a week, your pup is missing out if he isn’t getting playtime with Chris!

Chris is awesome!
My huckleberry ran into Chris on Crissy field where he was engaged with several clients. We were looking for a dog walker for the upcoming holidays so she got Chris’ information and we gave him a ring.
Chris came over and it was immediately obvious that he cares deeply about dogs and their well-​being. He made sure to let us know all the different ways that he would take care of Maya. He took Maya out for a trial run (so to speak) the following Monday to make sure not only that she liked him, but that she would have a place in the pack on a regular walking schedule.
That Wednesday, Chris took her to Crissy with some other dogs while we were at work and she had a blast. We know because of Chris’ end-​of-​the-​day report cards (and pictures! and videos!) which are fantastic. And Maya comes home tired and happy.
Having never used a dog walker ever I’m pretty sure we’ve been spoiled by Chris. Can’t recommend him enough.

Chris is the BEST! Spy has been extremely lucky to have Chris in his life each week… Spy looks forward to his beach outings and long periods of time running around with the big dogs. Every time when I come home, Spy is absolutely exhausted from his day out with Chris, which is very nice for me after a long day. Spy absolutely loves Chris, and I love getting the report cards each day Chris takes Spy so I can read about all the cute things Spy did while I was gone that day and see his adorable pictures/​videos.
I have recommended Chris to many friend, and all of them have been extremely happy with him; in fact, I have had many people comment to me that he is the most professional dog walker they know and very good with the dogs. Chris is extremely trustworthy, dependable, and willing to help out even when you are in a bind. And most importantly – it’s spy’s highlight of the week! Spy feels sorry for the dogs that don’t get to go play in the pack; he has such a great time. Call Chris; he’s the best, you don’t want you or your dog to miss out!