South Paws In-Home Pet Sitter

We found Marcia on Angie?s List and decided to hire her because of her A rating.  There were few services listed that would dog sit in-house all night in our area.
Our two year-old weimaraners?one intact male (Gunner) and one female (Kimber)?were to be left outside as usual when no one was home in the 2 acre fenced yard where they had water and shelter, and be let in at night to be fed, watered and to sleep inside  until morning when they would be fed again (twice a day) and let out again the next morning if no one was to be home. She was also told that Kimber might come into her first heat while we were gone and, if so, to keep her separated from Gunner in a 10'x10' kennel when outside (purchased specifically for this purpose) while she was away, but was provided doggy diapers and pads for in-house use. She said that she knew what to do and could handle such situations. Marcia was given the key, security code and was to arm the system when she was away.  But when she returned in the evening, was to leave the patio sliding glass door that had the doggy door panel open so the dogs could come and go as they were trained to when she was there. Otherwise she had the rest of the day to do her other dog sitting jobs.  All this was told to her in person and again in a note left for her. She was paid $250 (a portion-which has cleared) and would be paid the balance depending on the day we got home--either the 28th or 29th.
We spent the holiday in a cabin in the woods of Virginia with sporadic cell service, so communication was spotty at best. But when we were contacted by Marcia she said all was well and that Kimber had not gone into heat.
On Friday the 28th we finally got a text when we were on our way home and was asked to call.  She said she cried because the dogs had pulled down the livingroom curtain, tore up a mounted fox that was on the floor, chewed a TV remote, and chewed the wooden shoe rack.  I asked her if she left the sliding glass door open as instructed when she was there and she insisted she had. She said she also kept them in the bedroom with her at night.  She said she was sick about it and didn?t want to get paid the balance.
When we got home Saturday evening the house was a disaster.  It was obvious the dogs were left in the house alone at some point and had tried to get out  . Besides the damage she told us about, the solid oak front door was scratched up and the molding chewed, the back door gasket clawed and shredded, the patio sliding glass door wood frame that has the doggy door was chewed and the cedar paneling scratched up. Also the antenna of the remote phone was chewed, silk plants I had on my headboard, floor and basket centerpiece were missing, the plastic newspaper box was chewed, a laundry room plaque chewed, ears of a mounted bobcat chewed off, and 3 ball caps torn up. There was also blood on the floor and my bedspread from Kimber?s heat?all this while she was supposedly there watching them   (Pictures attached).
We also contacted the security company and found out the log showed from the morning of the 23rd to the morning of the 24th no one entered or exited the house?a 24 hour period. There was also no activity on the 25th and 26th until the 27th which indicates the house was left unsecured and vulnerable (see attached).  And based on the amount of dog food left and the condition of the dogs, they were not fed as instructed, if at all on some days.  They also seem very stressed, passive and insecure? very unlike them.
We have had another dog sitter during the month of July for 2 weeks and not a single issue, but unfortunately he was available during this time. He had watched the dogs twice this year and was surprised at the damage.  The most that had happened while he was here was Kimber had brought in a few pine cones. 
    
I would not hire her again and urge any unsuspecting client not to trust her for any job that requires her to be responsible for a length of time.

This worked out great as we felt secure and knew the pup was in good hands.  This was really a baby-sitting job, and it is important to have a trusted and capable person.

Marcia came daily, plays with the dogs, and feeds and waters them. 
She texts me daily following her visit to share how the dogs are doing and even occasionally sends me pictures of them. 
She takes in the mail regularly and has even taken in packages as well on occasion when one has arrived early or late.

She is wonderful!!  Does all we ask and more.

Marcia is great ~ I'm so happy that we found her!  Although she lives on the opposite side of town, she drove to our house every day to take care of our kitties. She also spent some time with them (they love company.)  They are usually pretty shy around strangers, but when Marcia came to our house to meet them, they came right to her. I also love that she sent me texts (sometimes with pictures) every day while we were gone to let me know how things were going.  For Christmas, she brought all 3 kitties little collars with their names embroidered on them!  What a sweet thing to do!  I would recommend her services to anyone!

Marcia watched my two dogs recently on two different weekends.  She is punctual, professional and a true spoiler of my animals.  I'm certain they hate seeing me return given all the attention Marcia shows them.  Regardless, she is fantastic and would recommend anyone to take advantage of the services she provides.  She offers a variety of options when it comes to the care of your pets.  She'll come to your home multiple times a day while you're away or just do a quick swing-by if you're going to be late getting home.  Her flexibility is great.

Marcia is very personable and PD (our retriever) loved her immediately.  When we had ducks and geese she took care of them at no extra charge.  She will pick up the paper and mail if you haven't cancelled them.  She gives a daily text message letting us know how PD is doing.

We have used South Paw Pet Sitting services for over four years now. When we first used Marcia's services, we had two pets; an elderly dog, an Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix, and a kitten who simply could not be separated from his beloved canine 'brother'! Marcia took fantastic care of our dog, giving him the walks and attention he needed while caring for our cat in-home as well, and we were always able to travel with peace of mind knowing our furry friends were in great hands. When our beloved dog passed away at the ripe old age of 14, Marcia, having worked with him a couple years by then, expressed such heartfelt sympathies it touched us both. When we added two new cats to the home in our dog's absence, Marcia's services remained just as vital to us. She has always taken excellent care of our three cats (and as you can guess, three indoor cats can be quite a handful!) and keeps us updated while we're away on how they're doing...as well as whatever trouble they've gotten into that she's had to address!. Marcia is a consummate professional who truly loves animals and we have so much trust in her that my husband and I always jokingly refer to her as our cats' "Aunt Marcia". We definitely don't think there could possibly be a better pet sitter service than South Paw!

Everything was wonderful, I could not have asked for any better care for our animals.

The dogs took to Marcia right away, which made me feel very comfortable leaving them for the day. When we returned several hours later, the dogs were all relaxed and content. Marcia was wonderful, and I would definitely use her again! Thank you again, Marcia!!!

I was extremely pleased with the service I received from South Paws Pet Sitting.  I am new to the area and don't have a lot of connections/friends to get a recommendation for a pet sitter.  I needed to give that person access to my home while I was gone for 10 days.  I was nervous about that.  Marcia totally put me at ease when I first met her.  She gave me several recommendations and I called them all.  Everyone said the same thing - She is GREAT!  I agree.  Not only did she care for my two cats, she sent me a text message daily to let me know how they were doing.  I knew I picked the right person.  When I returned home, everything was in perfect order and I had two happy cats.  I will be using this service and recommend to others.

She was absolutely fantastic. We have 4 dogs that love her. This is apparent because when we come home - our dogs act as if we were never gone. Our home is also left in the same condition we left it. We trust her completely.

Caren has cared for my dogs on two occasions. She is reliable and leaves notes on how the pups were doing. The first time she came was my dog Cassie was alone after her sister died. She wasn't eating and was really unhappy. When I got home she was happy and eating. She was obviously very happy with Caren. I would recommend this service without reservation.

From the moment Marcia came in the door for the first time all four kids were in love.  Which is very rare for our mixed breed 9 year old female but she climbed right up on her lap and was so content.  They were all trying to be the center of attention.  When she came back for the 2nd visit it was the same way they just wanted to be with her/near her.  The last visit was when I pretended to leave the house and a few minutes later she came in through the garage door like we do and they were all in their kennels.  They barked but it was they happy someone is home bark not the "hey who are you" bark.  She left them out and they went out in the back yard with her and back in the house and again it was a competition who got on the couch first to sit with her.
A co-worker of my husbands has used her for his fur kid and I highly recommend her.  We have never traveled because we refuse to put our dogs in a kennel so finding her on this list was a blessing.  We plan on traveling more in the future thanks to Marcia as we know our fur kids will be loved and cared for.

Traveling is a dream when I use Marcia's In-Home Pet sitting.
I have utilized this service for about 2 years and every time the service is impeccable, prompt, reliable and economical.
I have 2 dogs now and hate thinking of them in a kennel when I travel so I went looking for other options to save money and to help my dogs stay together.  When I found Marcia and South Paws In-Home Pet Sitting, it made my life and them times I have to be away from my dogs, so much easier!
Marcia is AWESOME with my dogs.
She comes in to my house for multiple days to care for my dogs.
Marcia comes to my house daily.
She plays with them outside in their fenced yard  or inside at times.
She feeds them and waters the daily and all while making sure my home is secure when coming and going.
South Paws In-Home Pet Sitting is one of the best services I have found.

Marcia is fantastic! My dog, Sophie, took to her like I have never seen before. They were best friends within 5 minutes of Marcia's initial consultation visit. We went ahead and booked her to take care of Sophie for 2 days while we were out of town. Marcia was great! She sends texts with updates, brings treats for the pup, leaves the house exactly as it was when she arrived. She told us that she'll come 2 times and just let the dog out to potty, then the 3rd visit she'll stay and hang out so that Sophie has some human interaction for a while. I believe her website also says that she'll water plants, take in mail, turn lights on and off so that it "looks like" someone is home. We'll probably use those services the next time we go out of town for longer than 2 days. 
Sophie does NOT do well in kennels so it was a HUGE HUGE HUGE relief to find Marcia. She is clearly great with animals and is extremely reasonably priced considering the care your animal is getting is personalized and always one-on-one. We're extremely pleased to have found her! Thanks Marcia!

We had a good experience with them. Our pets were well taken care of when we were gone, and they were just fine when we came home. I do not remember the pricing was but they did it in a very short notice as it was a holiday weekend, but I was very satisfied with their pricing. They also followed-up with e-mails to us while we were gone daily like photographs. They e-mailed some photographs of them walking the dog.

This wasn't the first she has watched my dogs but this was the longest we were gone for, after coming home around 8 pm on Tuesday night our home really smelled of pee. There was feces on the toilet in the guest bathroom and two of my dogs had issues. One of my dogs eye is messed up and my other dog had problems with her back legs. My dogs also got into my bedroom and had a big mess to clean, there was pee on my bed so we had to clean when we got home. It was not something I was expecting to come home too. We probably should of talked of what was expected but when my dogs go to the bathroom. it usually means they were not taken outside. After we decided we werent going to have her back I asked for the key to be mailed and the key was lost apparently. I don't know who would have taken the key out of the enevelop but I feel treated like second class. My key should have arrived in a bubble wrap private envelope. I was not pleased and I would not have her back. VERY DISSatisfied.

I can't say enough good about Marcia. My 2 dogs love her and my bird tolerates her, which for him is miraculous. He doesn't like women at all. Anyway, she always do an incredible job which is why I'll always use her services.

Everything went great. I will definitely use South Paws again.

I have seen how excited our dogs are when Marcia walks in the door.  She is a very special care giver who takes the time to get to know our routine so our beloved pooches are not too "upset" when we have to travel.  We have one elderly dog who needs extra outside time and one dog who was badly neglected and is learning to go outside and she takes extra time with them.  Marcia will spend the night if necessary and keeps in contact even when not pet sitting to keep up to date on their lives and health.  If we are gone for the day or for a week we always call Marcia to take care of our beloved pack.  I HIGHLY recommend Marcia for your pet sitting needs.

This was the second time we used Marcia.  The first time the dogs did great, the 2nd time was a nightmare.   We were gone for about 10 days.  Marcia was supposed to stay at our house and take care of our dogs and look after the house.  A few of our dogs must be crated when no one is home.  Since the last time we used her we had a security system installed.  The system keeps track of every time a door/window is opened.  Marcia told us she was there most of the day and all night when in fact she would leave at 5am ish and not come back till after 9pm.  The poor dogs were stuck in crates ALL that time!  One evening she called us on vacation to tell us "the basset is missing", she didn't even know her name!!!!  She had been with them all week!  She had been told that Maggie, the basset, was terrified of storms and she had a Thunder shirt to wear if there was a storm.  Instead Marcia was gone all day and Maggie freaked out during a storm.  It was 10pm when she called us to tell us this.  As it turned out Maggie was hiding under the house afraid to come out.  
When we returned the wall by the front door was ripped apart all the way down to outside wall!  One of our small dogs does not like it when we leave, that's why we hired someone to stay at the house!  Since Marcia was never there, he freaked out and did tons of damage to the house.  

We paid $60 a day for someone to stay at the house with the dogs.  We understood that she worked for a school and so the first time we hired her we knew she would be gone during the day for work.  During the summer however we expected her to be there MOST of the time.  Instead she was there even less!  We will never use her again.

We were on vacation and that is why we had her come in. So we weren't here to observe the quality of care. She contacted us via texting daily when she was through coming in to check, feed and change the litter box. When we have left the cat before with others (our first cat sitter moved out of state, and the one we usually use now was on vacation out of state) she has not seemed to have been too bothered that we were gone and got right back into routine. This time however she was clingy and out of sorts for days following the experience. We don't think that South Paws did anything wrong or to hurt the cat, just that she maybe didn't take the time to play with her or interact. I won't give her a bad review because everything was as it should have been when we got home, and I'm sure that she did her job. Just will give her an average review.

Awesome. I dropped off my dogs. They were so happy to see Marcia again. They were at her home 1 1/2 days, got to sleep with her which is what they are used to doing.

The animals all seemed just fine when we got home.   Marsha is totally trustworthy and takes pride in her job so even though we weren't here to observe her, I feel confident that she everything that was needed for the animals.  We've used Marsha for several years now and would highly recommend her.