We offer private as well as group options, can give meals and medication. For overnight care or pet sitting, we have an extensive list of walkers who provide such services. You give us dates, we check availability and then put you in contact with your overnight care/pet sitter to work out the rest.

Our version of doggie day care is to book several sixty minute visits throughout the day, and then let your dog enjoy the comforts of home. We can get them out, tire them out, and then bring them back for nap time. If they are not so nappy in between outings, set up a chew or puzzle toy we can pull out, get them started on and leave them with to work on in the tranquility of home. No need to guard the chew toy from random other dogs.

Is your dog quirky? Aren’t we all. Having worked with dogs of various dispositions, ages, breeds, sizes, and health issues: we recognize that no two dogs are exactly the same, and things change. We get to know each dog individually. We keep your dog with the same walker as much as possible, so we are more apt to pick up on if something is not quite right. We will let you know if we notice something out of the ordinary. If you value off leash time, we will consider taking them to a fenced in dog park or back yard. We might even be able to put together a private play group.

A HAPPY WALKER MAKES A HAPPY DOG

A well established system for managing the dog walker’s schedules when they take time off, even short notice, helps us maintain a consistent standard of service. Our loyal staff is devoted to helping one another. If an emergency situation arises for one then all are there to help. Committed to sending someone familiar and on time, rain or shine we show up well rested and ready for a walk.

More than just dog people, we are also people people. Canine Care has hired and trained over two hundred and fifty dog walkers, and a handful of office managers. We look for candidates with an endless amount of compassion for people and pets, and an insatiable thirst for understanding in what makes each and every dog tick. And how to take care of them when they have a tick, and how to avoid ticks.

We support your walker so your walker can support you. Support for walkers helps keep them on track, on time, and connected with your dog. It also gives them a break. We encourage our walkers to take time off. By giving some time off before getting burnt out, sick, or injured, we avoid having to take more time off later. It’s a win win. Your dog walker is happier and healthier, and so then is your dog. Plus, when your primary takes of, it gives your backup walker an opportunity to become reacquainted.

Providing a consistently qualified and already familiar dog walker increases the odds that our time together will be peaceful. So does when all the dogs are familiar with one another. In order to provide this consistency for you, we ask that you commit to a minimum of one visit per week (with an allowance for some weeks off).

Getting and keeping everyone familiar helps make certain that everyone gets along nicely. Positive Reinforcement is the mode of training to which we primarily and predominantly subscribe. While we sometimes say “No,” our goal is to use more and more of “Yes.” It is about as simple as that. Catch them doing it right.

We supervise and monitor our walkers. When walkers make a mistake, we point it out and typically give them another chance. Unfortunately, we sometimes hire the wrong person. If too many mistakes are made, we let them go. We have found this to be the most effective way to assure that you are getting for what you pay. While our cost to hire and train a walker is substantial, it is less than the cost of holding onto someone proven to be irresponsible and untrustworthy.

Our founder, owner and operator is Lennox Armstrong. He grew up in Northfield along with horses, sheep, chicken, cats, and…dogs. He took his family dog, Jackson, with him to the University of Oregon, where he graduated with a degree in English. After moving to Chicago and while pursuing a career in acting, he established Canine Care.

He has twenty five years of professional pet care experience, and has made a commitment to continuously learning how best to keep dogs safe and secure. He works hands on with all of our walkers in order to pass along to them what he has learned, and in turn to learn from them. As others gain expertise, they then often become the one leading the training exercises, passing along tips to others.

When Canine Care started, the pet care industry was quite different than it is today. There were just a handful of other dog walking companies, and very few supporting businesses. For example, it was hard to find a knowledgeable insurance company. With limited resources, it was more difficult to meet a high standard. The opposite is true now. There is a wide base of supporting businesses around the industry. This is great news for everyone. We have now more than ever a great opportunity to deliver a high standard of service.

Canine Care is taking full advantage. As a member of the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS), we attend NAPPS conferences in order to stay current with professional pet care education and products. One such product is Fetchfind. Part of what Fetchfind offers is an online program for training people within the pet care industry. We use this online resource to augment our in person training program for our dog walkers.

Lennox was first inspired to start Canine Care by his then dog Jackson, a blond lab mix. She was his first dog, and was the kind of dog who got along well with almost every dog and person she ever came upon. Jackson just seemed to be born that way. They enjoyed going for walks. A friend of Lennox’s gave him an idea about starting a doggie day care. Lennox thought about his walks with Jackson, and turned his friend’s idea of doggie day care into dog walking. What better way to spend the day than walking with dogs? And to get paid to do so? Seemed too good to be true.

Back then it wasn’t clear whether or not there was a market. Lennox rounded up one customer, Molly. She was a black lab who liked to eat cigarette butts. After six months, it was still just Molly. Struggling to pay the bills, Lennox went to work at a coffee shop and became the morning manager, still walking Molly and a few others in the early afternoons.

There were a few other dog walking companies in the area, and Lennox went to work with one called Lucky Dog, with the understanding that he would continue cultivating his own business. He worked with Lucky Dog for two and a half years, gradually weening himself off of them and further onto Canine Care. Jackson continued as Lennox’s dog walking partner until she passed away in the year two thousand at the age of fourteen.

Lennox thought he had found in Jackson the breed which made for a perfect dog: blond lab mix. So he took in another blond lab mix, Greeley. Greeley’s disposition turned out to be quite the opposite of Jackson’s. While no less loving of some people, Greeley was very aggressive towards strangers. He just seemed to be born that way. It caused Lennox to reflect. Aside from just being born a certain way, what part of the nurturing could have bettered the odds that Greeley would have been more at ease? This question has further inspired Lennox and Canine Care ever since.

It is in honor of Greeley to which Lennox owes his gratitude for what has become a wealth of knowledge, and an endless amount of compassion for people and pets. The reason he first got into, and has stayed in, this business is simply because he enjoys walking with dogs. He still has the thought that making a living doing so is too good to be true.

Lennox now lives in Glencoe with his wife and kids, two of who are miniature schnauzers. He is a member of and volunteers with the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS). Over the years, he has worked alongside several dog trainers and behaviorists.