Meet Diefenbaker!

Our dog Diefenbaker is a seven-month-old Siberian Husky. While we work quite hard to train him, Dief is a high-energy breed with a mind of his own. In his short lifetime, Dief went through three dog walkers before Anne (one per month!). All three were either completely overwhelmed by his energy and perpetual desire to play, or insisted upon using harsh dominance-based training methods to keep him in line.

These training methods only made Dief fearful and confused, and did not reinforce the positive training methods that we were using at home. We were referred to Anne by our trainer after I voiced concerns that Dief was being treated a bit harshly.

Anne has been a pleasure to work with. She takes Dief on long trail walks and high energy romps in the dog park five days a week. She has been reinforcing our positive training methods with no harsh leash corrections or flipping Dief on his back like the other walkers.

Under her firm but gentle leadership as a walker, we have noticed a significant improvement both in Dief's behavior at home and his recall in the dog park. Dief is exhausted, much happier, and extremely well cared for when we get home.

Safety is also paramount for Anne - she even takes special precautions to attach a special collar to Dief with her cellphone on it while they are out for added security, and she leaves us detailed notes about Dief's well-being and always calls our cell when Dief is even the least bit out of sorts.

She lets Dief run off-leash and tumble with the other dogs which has been instrumental both to his social development and his daily exercise. Now, when I take Dief to High Park he is the most social dog in the pack, and seems to know everyone there!

She has also been available on weekends on short notice, and she is extremely reliable- unlike previous dog walkers, she has always shown up every single day at the time she says she will come, and she doesn't cut walks short. Today, she even e-mailed us beautiful pictures of Dief having fun at the dog park!

Anne is also constantly learning and taking the latest classes on dog behavior, first aid and other topics- she's a dog expert and well-connected in the Toronto canine community. She rewards Dief with premium healthy treats out of her own stash and is always careful about his sensitive stomach.

Most importantly, she clearly loves our dog as if he were her own, and this cannot be easy because he is a total lunatic (one of the reasons we adore him of course). And seeing the way she treats her own two dogs, we know our dog is in great hands and that Anne is an expert in handing all sorts of difficult behavioral issues that other walkers won't touch.

We are thrilled that our pup is so safe and loved in our absence, and we happily recommend Anne as perhaps the best dog walker in the city.

Heather Findlay

Meet Duchess!

Anne has been walking our Great Dane, Duchess, for over a year now and we are delighted with the change in our dog's demeanor and behaviour.

Duchess is less excitable and much happier thanks to the attention and training that Anne has provided during her daily walks with Duchess.

Anne always keeps up to date and informed of current developments in animal behaviour and training; she is aware of different personality quirks dogs may have and is able to deal with them effectively.

We feel our dog is safe and in control with Anne and would happily recommend her services to any dog owner.

Courtney and Ken West

Meet Sybil (rip)

I hired Anne Gibson to look after my two 20 year old cats while I was on vacation. Both cats have kidney failure and have been getting SUB-C fluids for the past 3 years. One of them also had thyroid and stomach problems and was on medication for that too.

It was the first time I’d left the cats since I’d found out their kidneys had failed and I was very nervous about leaving them. I needn’t have worried…

Anne did an amazing job.

She came up twice a day to give the cats their fluids, change their litter, replenish their food and even stuck around to spend time with them after wards so they didn’t get lonely.

Both cats were happy and doing well when I got back… and were happy to see Anne arrive (quite a testament to Anne, as both cats hate getting the SUB-C fluids.)

Anne genuinely loves animals and is very good with them. She’s responsible, caring and honest and I would not trust my animals to anyone else.

D. Fordam, Toronto, ON.