Doggy Lama Pet Care

10/18/2024

Four dogs and a… spy? Creeper? Shy girl?! If Frida doodle had thumbs, I think she would be a tree hugger! Great hike on the York Trail yesterday with some fabulous Montclair and Piedmont pups!

04/21/2024

Our kitty care expert was out sick on Saturday, making it a cat-full day for me! I had adventures and snuggles with three kitties, Harlowe, Smokey, and Bandit. What a lovely feline interlude!

04/11/2024

It would be so helpful to us if you would vote for Doggy Lama for Oakland mag's 2024 Best Dog Walker & Boarding & Training biz. Most important is the Dog Walker category, but we wouldn't mind a vote in the other categories since we have those services, too!

It's very challenging to run a small business these days, especially one with our policies, practices, and education support. We see other "dog pros" on the trail with a dozen dogs at a time, using prong and shock collars to control their packs, and taking shortcuts in time or procedures. We don't work that way! We train everyone who works for us and we offer continuing education and support. We don't take out more than six client dogs together. **We will never use pain or fear to control the animals in our care.**

Please support us by voting for us for best dog walker. Thank you!

With gratitude,

Molly Kenefick
https://www.oaklandmagazine.com/best-of-oakland-ballot/ #//

04/11/2024

My current foster pup, Fig, slays me. Of course that’s what I have said in the last few months about Curly, Lulu, Harvey, and others. PAW FUND has the best dogs, and Fig is a gem. ❤️

03/26/2024

I had a great hike around King Estates Open Space this morning with my two dogs, my two foster puppies, and Luna doodle. Lots of running and sniffing. Life is good!

03/20/2024

For the inaugural spring 2024 PPG group we had these good folks present: Tubs English yellow lab, Emily corgi-x, Hamilton & Lewis, cavapoo brothers, Bluey, Aussie/GSD, and two “family” members: Molly’s foster puppy, Curly, and Kristi’s Xochitl puppy, Xuba. Humans present were Merrigold, Emily, (who will go by her nickname Yuri since there is a dog named Emily here,) Kristi, and Molly.
Some notes:
Tubs—very treat motivated so easy to direct with treats. He’s a big guy and “doesn’t know his size,” so we’ll be working on interrupting play if smaller dogs want him to chill. He was a bit tough to get into the car, so we’ll work on that.
Emily corgi-x—Shy with new people and dogs. She gets private walks with Merrigold so she stuck by her a lot of the time, but we saw times over the hour that the body language relaxed and she was having fun!
Hamilton & Lewis—Brothers and littermates so they move “as a unit” a bunch of the time. We’ll be working on opening up their world to have
fun with non-family dog and human friends. They have dynamite “sits” (keeping their butts on the ground as the treats slowly descend to their mouths).
Bluey—All over PPG! He and Tubs played quite a bit but Tubs didn’t always listen to Bluey’s “OK, that’s enough” signals. Bluey needs some help with getting into the car, too.
Today we worked on getting to know the gang and supervising and shaping positive play. We have a “quiet area” that is set up in a corner of the patio and we rotated all the dogs into it. We try to have it be about two minutes of treats, water, and pets. As time goes on, puppies sometimes request a break for the play, and we can also use it if play gets too intense and we want to take the energy in the main area down.

02/07/2024

Greetings from Murray, Meatball, Marty, and me! Brittle Leaf Trail off the MacDonald Trail in Anthony Chabot Regional Park ✌🏾

02/05/2024

These are some really good buddies here, but I want to send a special shout-out to Floyd pug, in the yellow rain slicker. I’ve known him since he was a young’un and I think he’s about 15 now. He’s had some health challenges recently that have slowed him down, but he still has swagger and is still excellent company. Floydy Floyd, love you, man. 👊🏾💗🌈

01/03/2024

As they say, this photo is a mood. I don’t know what kind of mood, but I want to be there! Thanks for the pic,

12/01/2023

My friend Katy Atchison, who writes for Broke-Ass Stuart, invited me to do a guest blog for her column. Here it is!

There’s been a slew of media coverage surrounding a new dog influenza which has many dog owners scared. Typically, canine coughs endure for approximately two weeks and respond well to antibiotics. However, in this instance, the ailment seems resistant to standard medications, potentially persistin...

11/29/2023

Dear clients,
There is a canine respiratory illness that the media has been talking about lately. Good news: I think you’ll see from the information gathered below, including the links at the end, that there is no need to panic!
However, as always, please tell us if your dog is sick. If your pup has had cough, sneezing/congestion, diarrhea, decreased appetite, and/or low energy in the last 24 hours, please email the office ASAP.
You already keep your dogs up to date with rabies and combo vaccines. With this new condition identified but not yet a dire threat, we think it is the right time for us to begin tracking our clients’ dogs vaccination status. Please email us information from your dog’s most recent exam. We ask that you now get your dogs vaccinated with the canine parainfluenza and bordetella (ideally intranasal vs. oral because intranasal is effective for a longer time) vaccines. It would be great if you can get your dog the canine influenza vaccination too, but we are not making that mandatory because it can be hard to obtain because of production and backorder issues and because the canine flu is a pretty sporadic disease. If your dog only needs bordetella and canine parainfluenza, if you want to save some money, you probably don't need to make an appt. with your vet, but use a low-cost clinic such as PetVet.
Below is our communication with our employees. Included is what is known about the respiratory disease and what we’re doing to keep your dogs safe.
Please let us know if you have any questions. Thanks for trusting us with your dogs.

Scientists are investigating as vets in some parts of the U.S. are seeing double the number of respiratory illness cases.

10/02/2023

It’s my Dad’s 91st birthday! I’m in W. Mass—celebrating Dad with family, friends, and neighbors. I love this guy. We talk almost every day.

09/10/2023

Richmond, CA: Hey local friends, this is a new puppy socialization class that starts on 9/30/23. I know the trainers well--one of them works with us part time. They had a dog training and boarding facility for 13 years in Mexico and are totally positive-reinforcement oriented. Although there are lots of trainers who will work 1:1 with puppy or dog parents, there is a real need for group classes for puppy parents, because they are *much less expensive* so more folks can have the benefit of top-notch training. Bonus: they are totally bilingual in English/Spanish. I really want this class to fill up so they will keep doing them, so please consider telling your clients/friends/community about this class. Thanks!
www.holisticdogtrainers.com

09/02/2023

Some of the staggeringly attractive people I get to hang out with over Labor Day weekend.

08/23/2023

Quiet night at home with pug and pug mix and others not pictured.

08/19/2023

I had a lot of fun this morning. I met up with Sophie at Luna pittie/hound?-x's house to help facilitate incorporating her into Sophie's group, and we went to the York Trail. While hiking we ran into Vero with her crew and we had a happy check in and photo sesh. Such good doggies in both groups! professionaldogwalker

08/16/2023

We didn't set and distance or speed records today--the main goal today was to have a good, safe experience and not let anyone get overheated. We spent time in shady spots and still got a good walk in. We brought water and encouraged everyone to sniff and relax.

08/09/2023

Not all heroes wear capes! Jeysi takes a foxtail out of Maxine's paw. Photo by Jolie, friend of DLPC. 💗