Active Paws

Great, reliable, and affordable. We use Active Paws a few scheduled days a week for our dog. If we ever need a last minute change they are always so accommodating and make it work. It is so nice to be able to rely on someone to take your dog out and know that they are treating them as you would. I would highly recommend to anyone in the area!

Great, reliable sitting service (I use them to sit for my cat).
They have always fit us in, even on short notice, and make sure we know which sitter is vising our cat. The sitters are responsive and attentive during visits and always send emails with updates and pictures (despite a few minor delays in the past, 98% of the time they send on-​time updates). A note is also always left upon my return with a summary of the visits. They always take my concerns seriously and are super friendly and attentive to my cat’s needs! They are a bit pricier than the average cat sitter, but I appreciate and trust their organization so the slightly higher price doesn’t stop me from using their services.
My one suggestion to this organization would be to provide more updates and pictures of their cat clients on social media, not only to promote the other offerings of their business, but to give their cat clients some love!
Overall, great business, I would recommend to anyone in the area!

I’ve been a loyal customer to active paws since they opened, spending at least $ 100 monthly on food and supplies. I work in the pet industry and on a daily basis refer people away from petco to this local joint. The customer service is a little se-​saw depending on who’s working, but overall I’ve been pleased.
So why 2 stars? Well, this morning I went in to buy some food, walked through the open front door with a smile, and was greeted by the owner, (who was sitting at the register) with «we don’t open for another 15 minutes.» So I left…
It didn’t seem like it would have put her out too much to have made a small exception. I’ve worked in many retail stores where people have come in up to 30 min early or late and if we are there, they were never turned away. Even at my current job, my boss takes great care in her customers, accommodating even when it seems unreasonable to me. Now I understand why.
Although I won’t badmouth the products or the other businesses attached to it, for a small local place to turn down a regular customer is certainly upsetting enough for me to take my business elsewhere.

Great boutique pet supply store within walking distance of home. Customer service is top-​notch. Knowledgeable and friendly and always willing to give a recommendation. The store is along my walking route with the dog so have stopped in a few times for treats and toys. Will definitely stop here before the big box stores!

Active Paws is a great little boutique pet store located on Trapelo Road, in Waltham. They have a big selection of quality pet foods. The staff are very friendly, knowledgeable and always happy to help:-)

Rude customer service. Short impolite emails. Not available in Belmont (One town over from Waltham where they are located)

Love love love these guys…
Megan is absolutely amazing. She fit us in last minute. Came every day… Took photos and emailed them to us along with updates. The cats loved her and she left the house in amazing condition. I loved the photos and cute emails and they made me feel worry free about the house… Also, she knew we weren’t coming home until later the next day and we hadn’t planned on having her come in so she had the foresight to leave extra food and water out. She also asked us to email when we got in so she knew the cats were taken care of… Which is amazing since things do happen that keep people from getting home and the fact that they would be able to come back and look after them is a huge load from my shoulders.
They are professional, take credit cards, are extremely pleasant (both Cara and Megan are amazing!!! And so sweet… They even left us a Christmas card from the company addressed to the whole family and kitties), certified in CPR and administering pet meds, trust worthy, reasonably priced, and offer many services.
We will use them again. So happy with the service and love them!

If you have a pet you need to know about Active Paws! Cara, Gerard and the entire staff of Active Paws are concerned about only two things… the well being and care of your pet and making sure you know that your pet is OK when you aren’t around.
I have used Active Paws on and off for the entire 12 years I have had my dog and they have loved her and always been there their walks when I needed them. Prices are reasonable and I always get a nice updates on how things went. They are flexible and available. as an added bonus they also have a store that has everything your pet could need!

If you’re in the Waltham/​Watertown/​Belmont, MA area, Active Paws are a great alternative to the big-​box pet stores. They don’t have everything, but everything they do have is top-​quality, and they take product recommendations. They stock only high-​quality pet food and treats and are happy to offer suggestions to make sure your pet is getting everything it needs. They also do pet sitting, dog walking, and playgroups. Meg, one of their walkers, has managed to get our crotchety little mutt from being a friendless loser to having little doggie friends that she happily walks with and plays with twice a week.
Their rates are also crazy-​reasonable and what they offer is priceless. They’re always expanding and working on new ideas, too, like the private dog run they just opened in Newton to keep their playgroup pups safe from predators and other dangers and give owners peace of mind that their furry friends are in a contained environment.
They’re also a great resource to have in your back pocket when it comes to other related businesses. We love the groomer (Grateful Dog in Watertown, fyi) they recommended to us and are hoping to begin some training with their recommended behaviorist soon.

Active Paws is the BEST! They are so helpful and friendly and have all natural dog food and treats. We use their store for pet products as well as their dog walking service. They are reliable, trustworthy, and our puppy Great Dane absolutely LOVES his walker (Cassandra). Every time they recommend a service for our puppy they are always 100% spot on– we used their recommended puppy trainer and groomer. We really can’t say enough about how excellent the service, people and products are — we wouldn’t use any place else!

This review is for the Active Paws Pet Supply shop, not their dog walking services.
What’s not to love about this place? My husband and I recently adopted a dog and I had been doing a lot of research on different dog foods and what to buy/​not buy. A lot of the big name dog food companies have fillers in their food that your furry friend just can’t digest, so I was looking for a store that had food with less fillers and found that almost none of the big chain pet stores carry them.
I stumbled upon Active Paws Pet Supply’s website and saw they had almost all of the good brands that I had researched for a reasonable price. In addition to their online store, they had a brick and mortar shop in Waltham where I work. How more convenient could that be? Yeah, it’s true I also drive by Petco on my way there but the products at Active Paws are actually cheaper than those big name shops anyway. Just an example, the Kong Classic was $ 5 at her shop as opposed to $ 6 – 7 at the big name shops. So why not just support local businesses?
Cara was so helpful and explained the differences between the foods and what she liked/​disliked. She also shared the story about her pups’ allergies and why it’s important for your dog to have real, genuinely nutritious food! She wasn’t afraid to talk price points and didn’t push the more expensive products on us. You can really tell that Cara cares a lot about your pet (and you too)!
If you’re looking for a pet store that can fit all your needs, Active Paws Pet Supply is the place to go. The staff is extremely knowledgeable and they have just about everything you’ll need for your pet. You might not get the HUGE selection you may have at Petco/​PetSmart, but who really wants to spend an hour sorting through products to find the good from the bad? Active Paws does all the sorting for you and carries only high quality products at a good price! You’ll leave the store happy knowing that you didn’t buy something you and your pet won’t be satisfied with.

Cara, the owner and chief kitty sitter, has been great to work with. We have used her services over a half dozen times now and she has always been able to accommodate the dates we needed. She texts us photos of our cat when she gets to the house so we can see how he’s doing, plays with him, makes sure he has food and water, and keeps the litter clean. In other words, Active Paws takes good care of our cat.

Active Paws is the best dog walking/​pet store in the area. We were lucky enough to find them when they were just starting out and they helped us out with any and all pet issues we had over the 5 years we used them.
We haven’t met any people who care about pets as much or are more willing to help out pet owners than the people at Active Paws.

I can’t say enough about the amazing services of Active Paws. For the past year + I have used Active Paws’ dog walking services and I must say they must be the best because I would never think of switching in a heartbeat.
Cara and her husband Gerard love pets and it shows. They and their staff will go above and beyond the call of duty and make sure that my dog’s needs are met. There have been a zillion times I’ve needed an extra walk, last minute change; and they never skip a beat.
My dog is my family, I would not trust him to any other team.
Acitve Paws are the best!

My entire house (and our dog Lucy) highly recommends Active Paws. These people are rare gems in the dog-​walking world. The personal attention, care for animals, professionalism, and determination (they walk Lucy in the deadest of winter storms!) is really unmatched with any other company.
We used to drop Lucy off at daycare all day, but now we feel good leaving her at home and having AP come once a day to walk and visit her. That’s right — we rely on Cara and company every day of the work week to take care of our dog. Lucy LOVES everyone who comes to visit her — many are vet techs and every person who has ever worked with Lucy has given her the care and attention of pros. We could not be more pleased with this company.
We especially love notes on Lucy’s walks/​playgroups, seeing pictures of dogs on the Web site and Facebook, updates almost instantly through phone and email when necessary, and the total peace of mind we feel all day knowing that AP is on the job.
Good going AP — keep up the good work!

Cara and her team are the best dog walkers in town! We adopted our yorkie mix puppy back in March and were desperately looking for a play group. We could only find groups for big dogs. Then I came across the Active Paws web site and contacted Cara. She let me know that they offer a small dog play group every Thursday. We signed him up right away! Active Paws not only picks him up/​drops him off for group, but they leave a «report card» of his activity that day and my favorite part — they take video and post it on Youtube!

My experience with Active Paws’ cat sitting services was exceptional!
My doggie daycare place highly recommended the Active Paws team for its cat sitting services when I recently went on vacation. I was impressed from the first phone call. In fact, the husband and wife team that runs Active Paws were on their honeymoon in Ireland when I first called. But so I wouldn’t have to wait until they returned (and possibly get in touch w/​another pet sitting service, thinking they were being unresponsive) I received a phone call from one of their helpers, letting me know I’d be hearing from the owner shortly.
I continued to be won over when Cara and one of her helpers arrived at my home to discuss their services and meet my cat. They were kind and loving toward him and didn’t at all mind getting down on the floor to interact with him. These were «cat people» through and through. Not just a business, but a passion. I knew my cat would be in good hands.
I was especially pleased that Active Paws was able to pay my cat two half-​hour visits per day – as opposed to one hour-​long visit. He’s a finicky cat and the twice-​daily visits gave me the peace of mind I needed in order to have a relaxing vacation. I was able to call and check in on how things were going while I was away, and Cara left a kitty report card about his behavior during her visits. He got tons of brushings I could tell, the litter box area was super clean, and my 14-​year-​old cat seemed unfazed that we had been away for ten days.
Big props to Active Paws. I’d call them again in a heartbeat.
P. S. They’re bonded, insured, certified, and all that important stuff, too.