Bark Brigade

Leila and Betsy pick up my puppy Bailey and take him to the park with a few other dogs. My young poodle really has a lot of energy and needs to run. Being home all day when I am at work — he simply tears up the house. So this has been great to have him leave the house for about 2 – 3 hours. One of those hours is at the dog park.

I am so, so thoroughly impressed with Leila and the Bark Brigade that I had to share the love! We just adopted a new puppy, and received a strong recommendation to call the Bark Brigade, particularly as we have to leave our little one at home during the day. Soon after connecting, Leila came to our home for a consultation — she is professional, and as lovely as can be! We arranged for her to come by this afternoon for the first time, and not only did she leave us a handwritten note, she sent us text messages to update us, and she even took the time to send photos of a very happy pup playing and out on a walk! That personal touch sets her apart and is just so tremendously meaningful to us. I would definitely recommend the Bark Brigade to anyone with a four-​legged friend. We can’t wait until our pup is old enough for the playgroups!

For the record, I’m only a single-​time customer of Bark Brigade. However, I take my pup Jazzy to the dog park every Monday and Wednesday specifically to hang out with the Bark Brigade crew.
Leila, the owner of Bark Brigade, and Betsy (her assistant), are both exceptionally attentive to the needs of every pup she in their care. On any given day, they bring between 4 and 10 dogs to the park, all of varied age, ability and temperament.
What impresses me every time is that Leila never lets any of the dogs get away with being lazy while at the park (with the exception of the senior citizens). She also ensures
Leila makes sure Bear (the big Bermese mountain dog seen in the pictures) plays with the rest of the pups, even if he needs a little coaxing. He is, after all, a people pup above all. She makes sure that Saffron (the white lab) doesn’t trample park newcomers with her sometimes over-​eager playfulness. She also separates any dogs that seem to have a bad attitude for that day, which allows the rest of the crew to still get their playtime in.
I trust Bark Brigade with my pup without hesitation, and I would encourage anyone that considers their dog as a child to try Bark Brigade too.

I needed a new loving, zen and accomodating dogwalker in the La Jolla/​University City area, who could visit my doggie/​feed him and take him for short individual walks a few times per day. And do so, when I went out of town for a few days at a time (without gouging me) so I could relax, knowing that my doggie was taken care of. Though I was just OK with the last service I used (one of the largest and supposedly most reputable in San Diego), I wasn’t thrilled at all: they seemed to go thru a number of different people, be more focused on lucrative «group walks» and charge a gazillion dollars for short visits. Desperate to find a new attentive and more personal and service-​oriented company, I asked my local Pet People store who they’d recommend for my Lab mix: and they immediately mentioned Leila’s company, Bark Brigade! I called Leila with a desperate plea to visit for an orientation ASAP, and commit to walking my dog when I was on my trip 4 days later. (I signed up for just dog walking/​visits, and had a family member at my home the rest of the time). I can’t even describe how WONDERFUL this company is! Not only did Leila help me in a pinch, but because my dog was a rescue/​a bit skittish/​and only likes women, I asked for specific, individualized attention— and Leila came thru in spades! A short time later, when I had another trip come up at the last minute, (and when Leila was unavailable), I worked with another person on her team that is in the UTC area, Betsy: and she was AWESOME too! In fact, I’ve recently requested Betsy again. I’ve never seen my doggie Max take to people SO quickly after just a few sessions (after 1 – 2 visits, he was already «play-​growling» and wagging his tail like crazy when they came)!
Anyway, I can’t recommend Bark Brigade enough. There are some other people on Leila’s team that also service other areas south of UTC and in central San Diego that I haven’t met (like Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Point Loma, Hillcrest, Mission Valley, etc). But if they’re anything like Leila and Betsy: then this team is a true gem of compassionate, loving, sweet but experienced dogwalkers. I’m taking a risk of giving them 5 stars and having them get too busy/​popular for occasional clients like me. But if possible in the future, I’d have them take care of my doggie EVERY DAY, without hesitation!