About us
Professional in-home pet sitting company providing service to Jacksonville area beaches, Intracoastal West and a portion of the Southside.
Business highlights
22 years of experience
Services we offer
Pet House Sitting, Dog Walking, Overnight Stays
Services we don't offer
Pet taxi & transportation.
Accepted Payment Methods
- PayPal
- Check
Reviews
5.028 Reviews
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 96% | ||
| 4% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 0% |
Filter reviews by service
Showing 1-25 of 28 reviews
Patricia S.
Feb 2019
Animal & House Sitting
Fantastic! If you have to leave your pet at home, Matt and Barb are the best!
Curtis D.
Nov 2017
Animal & House Sitting
Great. Matt and Barbara are the best t at pet sitting. We've used their services for a long time. We wouldn't trust our guys to anyone else.
Greg B.
Aug 2017
Animal & House Sitting
Matt and Barb (who run and own it) are the very best. High integrity and very trustworthy. They have never missed an appointment and/or nothing has ever gone wrong in over 15 years... and I travel quite a bit. You can't go wrong!
Lisa S.
Jun 2017
Animal & House Sitting
I called at last minute on a Christmas Holiday. Matt was very responsive and accommodating made it work. They went that extra mile. They are very reliable and my dogs and cats were happy when I got home. If my crew was happy they did a wonderful job. I had 4 pages of instructions for my pets and they followed it to the tee. They will always be my choice for a pet sitter.
Deborah H.
Jun 2017
Animal & House Sitting, Dog Walking
I wouldn't trust anyone else with my beloved labs. Matt and Barb are the best and will care for your pets as if they were their own. You won't find a more professiona and caring pet sitting service in Jax. Love them (and so have my dogs)!!
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"Thanks [Member Name Removed]! We are so glad that you found us, those MANY years ago! There have been so many smiles, laughs and tears with your babies, that they are forever imprinted in our hearts. You (and all our clients) are extended family to us!"
Curtis D.
Jun 2017
Animal & House Sitting
All of the above ratings should actually be A++. Matt and Barbara are extremely reliable and always go the extra mile. Our late Beagle, Wendy became very ill while we were away once, and if it wasn't for Matt and Barbara, we would have lost her. The prices are more than reasonable and the service can't be beat. We wouldn't trust our guys to anyone else.
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"Thanks [Member Name Removed] ! We still miss Wendy and all the ways she used to make us smile (and at times frustrate us with her lack of willingness to walk - haha). The current crew is great and we look forward to many more years of serving your pet care needs."
Holly F.
Jun 2017
Animal & House Sitting
This service was beyond awesome! Matt personally met with us for an interview before pet sitting was done! He sat, explained his services in full and answered questions as well as a "meet and greet" with our furbabies! For 7 years we used his service faithfully as there was NEVER any question for his reliability, punctuality and trust for taking care of our animals! He became a friend and even though we have moved to Pensacola I still follow all the wonderful news he has on his current furbabies that he is taking care of!! I would highly recommend this service to anyone!!!
Jennifer C.
Jun 2017
Animal & House Sitting, Dog Walking
I trust them and will continue to entrust my two dogs to their care.
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"Thanks [Member Name Removed]! We love your guys and appreciate the kind words!"
Jennifer U.
Jun 2017
Animal & House Sitting, Dog Walking
Absolutely love them! They take good care of my dog and never have any problems setting up services and they are always punctual and respond to any requests in a timely manner. My dog loves when they are over and is always happier after they give him an afternoon walk.
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"Thanks [Member Name Removed]! We love [Member Information Removed] and are so glad that we can be of service when you have long days and need him walked!"
Lori W.
Jun 2017
Dog Walking
This is the best dog sitting service we have ever used!!! They are very professional, always punctual, and my girls LOVE Matt!!!! I feel very comfortable knowing that he is caring for them when we cannot be at home.
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"Thanks [Member Name Removed]! We love the girls and are very happy to see them when you call on us. We are very happy that you found us!"
Craig T.
Jun 2017
Animal & House Sitting, Dog Walking
Matt and Barb are pros. They have been caring for our 3 dogs and cat for 4+ yrs now and are fantastic. I cannot recommend them enough n
Brenda V.
Jun 2017
Animal & House Sitting
Matt and Barb are fantastic! They provide great service and give me peace of mind knowing that my pets are well cared for while I am away.
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"Thanks [Member Name Removed]! We love seeing Skimble and Sydney when you are away. We feel honored that you trust the care of your treasured kitties to us."
Nicole W.
Jun 2017
Animal & House Sitting, Dog Walking
Perfect! The boys are/were always well taken care of.
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"Thanks [Member Name Removed]. We love your little guys and miss Pito terribly. What a sweet boy he was. Diego,for his quirks, is still adorable and we understand his stress. We are so glad that you found us and that you feel so comfortable trusting your furry family members' care to us."
Don L.
Jun 2017
Animal & House Sitting, Dog Walking
Matt and Barb were very professional and prompt on the business side but yet very loving and caring to our two miniature schnauzers. We used them a few times while we had to travel and would highly recommend them. Always on schedule and left great notes for us.
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"Thanks [Member Name Removed]! We appreciate the kind words. Our goal is always to relieve the stress of being away from your furry family!"
John B.
Jun 2017
Animal & House Sitting
We've been using A Friend in the Woods for over three years now for our three greyhounds. We couldn't be happier with Matt & Barbara. They're dependable, flexible, and thorough. You can tell they love animals and love what they do. Best of all, our dogs are much more relaxed versus dropping them off at a kennel when we go out of town. If the dogs are happy, we're happy! I highly recommend A Friend in the Woods to any pet owner.
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"Thank you so much for the kind words! Your crew is so wonderful! We love seeing them whenever you call on us. They never fail to bring smiles to our faces. We are glad that you found us and trust your babies to our care."
Amanda L.
Jun 2017
Dog Walking
Poor, bad experience
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"This review is from a person who never used our services. We could not agree on a meeting time and place so we decided that it would be best for her to find someone else. Here are the details: - This person requested midday dog walking using our online form on 4/27/17. - She was referred by her current Pet Sitter. She wrote, "...I've been using her for the last couple of years but I'm moving to the beach (out of her range) and she recommended you guys!" She did not say when she was moving. - We sent a couple of emails back and forth to discuss the timeframe for the visits and that night I established a date and time for a meeting. I sent a message asking if that day would work for her. - When I hadn't heard back in 2 days, I contacted her again. She said she didn't see the message but the meeting time and day worked for her. - A couple of hours later, she sent a message stating that she hadn't moved into the new place yet and wanted to meet at her current apartment. I explained that I needed to meet her and the dog but seeing the new place was important as well. - She needed dog walking to begin the day after she moved in and was not sure when they would be finished moving her things. - She responded, "..as far as the new apartment situation I leave the leash near the front door typically so I imagine that's where I'd leave it at my new place, I'm not sure what else you would need to see? I'm glad to take my business somewhere else if this is really going to be a problem." - She obviously had taken a tone so I decided it would be best for her to find someone else. Starting off a business relationship in this manner would not be a good idea. I told her it would be best to find someone else. - She gave us a negative Facebook review the same day and now almost 2 months later, she left this review. She rated our responsiveness as a "D", but when contacted, we responded almost immediately. She was the party who lacked responsiveness by not responding for 2 days at one point. She gave us an "F" for professionalism. We have standards that we adhere to for the safety and peace of mind of the client, pet and service provider. She was asking us to compromise these and when we refused, she said that she would gladly take her business elsewhere. I honestly can't see how we acted unprofessionally. Finally, when we responded to her in regard to her Facebook review, she said, "To be quite frank, this didn't have to be so difficult, we are setting up a dog walking schedule.". It seems that she valued professionalism (based on this current review), but then seemed to demean our business as an afterthought."
Charles C.
Dec 2015
Animal & House Sitting
unknown
P W.
Aug 2014
Animal & House Sitting
Matthew was very professional and organized. From initial sign up visit, where he asked very thorough questions regarding our cat, her health, special needs, name/number of her vet, likes and dislikes; also detailed information regarding our travel dates and times, who to call in case of pet emergency, he covered all the bases, making us feel so comfortable leaving him in charge. We've used other sitters and A Friend in the Woods is, by far, the BEST. As a health care worker, I know the importance of detailed documentation, and no other sitters have asked such thorough questions. Our cat is healthy, but it's nice to know Matthew is focused on well being of our pet, and would be able to handle an emergency. Truly the best way to be able to leave home and not worry about her! Thanks to Matthew and the team at A Friend in the Woods!
Paula K.
Jun 2014
Animal & House Sitting
Great experience. Thorough preparation up front with a home visit a week prior to our vacation left no detail unanswered. We felt very at ease with the situation. Accessibility and two way communication very much appreciated. This is how you run a successful pet sitting business. Will definitely use them again. Well Done!
John D.
Dec 2013
Animal & House Sitting
Matt and Barb who run and own this company - are amazing people and stewards of animal well being. I have used them for about a decade and they have never let me down. They truly love my pets like their own. They have a great attention to detail and they will call you if you don't let them know you are home. They care that much about your pets and their company's reputation. I wish every service I use was run like theirs.
Elizabeth Z.
Jul 2013
Animal & House Sitting
unknown
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"Thank you for the kind words! We always appreciate clients who are happy with the service we provide."
Frank M.
Jul 2013
Animal & House Sitting
Matt & Barb are by far the "cream of the crop" for pet sitters. We were lucky enough to find them back in 2005 when we moved to Jacksonville and have been very happy with their services for caring for our cat(s). Matt has gone above & beyond a number of times for us and has never requested additional fees like the time our relatively new kitten (gangly & uncoordinated) seemed to be favoring his one leg and Matt called to report the issue while we were in Italy. He was prepared to and did take the cat to the vet for a safety check and coordinated things between the vet & us while we were on vacation. There was issue of whether to take an x-ray or not which we decided to do to be safe and it turned out to be a broken leg. Then once the broken leg was identified, there was a need for the kitten to be transferred to another vet at another hospital and, of course, for liability issues, our vet could not make the transfer so Matt volunteered and then got him back to our original vet after surgery to save us the more exorbitant daily fee from the surgical hospital. Matt and Barb are simply the best and we would be lost without them when it came to leaving our "kids" when we went away. It is always comforting to know that our pets and our house are in good hands with Matt & Barb.
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"We are always glad to be of service. Minx & Marlowe are wonderful to care for. As far as Marlowe's injury situation, we were only trying to do for you what we would hope someone would do for us if we were away and couldn't return to do ourselves. Thank you for the patronage and kind review!"
Suzanne S.
Jul 2013
Animal & House Sitting, Dog Walking
Matt and Barb are great pet sitters. My dogs love them and I've been using them for over 4 years. I completely trust them to take care of my animals. They also have come on short notice and helped me when I was locked out of my house. I have no worries when they take care of my animals.
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"Thank you. We love Lionel & Gracie and love seeing them whenever you need us. They are wonderful and we appreciate loyal clients who make what we do worth it."
Nicole W.
Jul 2013
Animal & House Sitting
Matt is great! I'd highly recommend his services. He always promply returns my emails when I ask about availability. He also does us a big favor by dealing with our not so nice chihuahua! Before we hired Matt he came over to explain how his services work and to meet the dogs. He feeds our "mean" dog turkey in attempt to become friends with him! We were very nervous to leave our dogs with someone other than family, but Matt did a fantastic job, and we have used him every time we need to be gone!
Matt is also very aware of when we get home. Once we told him we wouldn't need him for the evening feeding because we would be back in time to feed the dogs ourselves. It was about 630 and we hadn't called Matt to let him know we were close to home. Matt called us to be sure we didn't need him to go over and feed the dogs in our absence. Great service! We always get a handwritten note about how the visits went!
Matt is also very aware of when we get home. Once we told him we wouldn't need him for the evening feeding because we would be back in time to feed the dogs ourselves. It was about 630 and we hadn't called Matt to let him know we were close to home. Matt called us to be sure we didn't need him to go over and feed the dogs in our absence. Great service! We always get a handwritten note about how the visits went!
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"We are so glad that our service fulfills the needs of clients like you guys. We have "special needs" dogs ourselves, so we definitely understand the hesitance of trusting a non family member to care for them. We are glad that we can help!"
Deborah H.
Jun 2013
Animal & House Sitting, Dog Walking
A Friend in the Woods has been taking care of my dogs for many years. They are very trustworthy and responsive to any needs I may have regarding my dog. Most importantly, they truly love their client pets and the pets love them. I wouldn't trust anyone else to care for my furry family. They have always loved my dogs like they were their own!
Response from A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting
"We love Scooby and Marley was an all time favorite! We appreciate your kind words and continued support."
Licensing
Bonded
Insured
State Contractor License Requirements
All statements concerning insurance, licenses, and bonds are informational only, and are self-reported. Since insurance, licenses and bonds can expire and can be cancelled, homeowners should always check such information for themselves. To find more licensing information for your state, visit our Find Licensing Requirements page.
*Contact business to see additional licenses.
FAQ
A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting is currently rated 5.0 overall out of 5.
Monday: 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Tuesday: 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Wednesday: 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Thursday: 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Friday: 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Saturday: 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Sunday: 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM
A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting accepts the following forms of payment: PayPal, Check
No, A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting does not offer free project estimates.
No, A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.
No, A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting does not offer a senior discount.
No, A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting does not offer emergency services.
No, A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting does not offer warranties.
A Friend in the Woods Pet Sitting offers the following services: Pet House Sitting, Dog Walking, Overnight Stays
Pet taxi & transportation.