CITIZEN HOUND RESOURCES
The Complete
Citizen Hound
Dog Care Guide
This resource center answers detailed questions about the company’s services, safety systems, staff training, pack matching, scheduling, policies, dog training, independently arranged pet sitting, and more.
Citizen Hound has provided professional dog walking and care in San Francisco since 2003. The guides combine Citizen Hound’s firsthand experience with practical information for families evaluating professional dog care. For shorter answers to the most common questions clients ask before booking, visit our main FAQ page.
Explore the Guides
Choose a topic below to get detailed answers and helpful information.
01
Compare Citizen Hound’s off-leash pack memberships, private and semi-private Outside Hours walks, Ad-Hoc Walks, training options, and independent pet-sitting referrals. This guide explains which dogs and household schedules are best suited to each option.
02
Off Leash Pack Adventures Safety and Professional Standards
Learn how Citizen Hound screens dogs, develops Pack Leaders, creates compatible packs, manages transportation and emergencies, provides backup coverage, and maintains professional accountability. The guide explains Citizen Hound’s commercial dog-walker certification, staff-development system, insurance, and safety practices.
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03
San Francisco Dog-Walking Service Areas
Detailed info about Citizen Hound’s coverage in the Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights, Lower Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Laurel Heights, and the Presidio. This guide also explains pickup and drop-off, route considerations, service boundaries, and why CH maintains a focused geographic area.
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04
Scheduling, Memberships, and Daily Logistics
Understand Citizen Hound’s weekday membership model, adventure times, pickup windows, Ad-Hoc Walk availability, Outside Hours scheduling, primary and backup Pack Leaders, home access, client communication, and booking timeline. This guide is particularly useful for families comparing recurring membership with more flexible care.
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05
Rates, Billing, Cancellations, and Service Policies
Learn how Citizen Hound structures membership, billing, cancellations, low-usage periods, additional walks, and other service policies. Because prices and policies can change, this guide explains how the programs work while directing clients to the live Rates and Policies pages for controlling terms.
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06
Dog Training Within a Professional Walking Program
Explore how Citizen Hound incorporates recall, leash skills, social behavior, transitions, emotional regulation, and positive reinforcement into routine care. This guide also explains when skilled handling during an adventure may be sufficient and when a dog needs dedicated training, owner instruction, or behavior-specialist support.
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07
Dog Sitting, Medication, and Special Care
Learn how Citizen Hound connects clients with trusted staff who independently provide sitting or boarding through a collective-style system with shared standards. This guide also covers medications, feeding instructions, medical or behavioral needs, multi-dog households, home-care responsibilities, and emergency planning.
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08
Getting Started With Citizen Hound
Follow Citizen Hound’s process from the first inquiry through the phone consultation, in-field screening walk, pack placement, and trial period. This guide explains what info families should provide, when to contact CH, how dogs are evaluated, meet the Pack Leaders, and what happens when another service would be a better fit.
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Not sure where to begin?
Contact us and we'll answer any question.
Apple AirTag
Currently starting around $30, AirTag is one of the most affordable and easy to integrate forms of wearable trackers. It sends out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network - hundreds of millions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices around the world - displaying real time location in your Find My app. The whole process is anonymous and encrypted to protect your privacy. And it's efficient, with no need to worry about battery life, data usage, plus they are water resistant.
Gentle Leader Headcollar
More than 5 million dog owners have found the secret to controlling their dogs on walks. The Gentle Leader headcollar fits securely over your dog's nose. The nose loop redirects his head towards you when he pulls forward, preventing pulling and giving you his full attention. It works much like a horse's bridle, which we use to control 600 pound animals - there is no better tool for preventing leash pulling. When introduced and trained correctly dogs are comfortable wearing them, and the leash pulling problem is essentially completely gone, while other unwanted behaviors like barking, lunging, and jumping are severely diminished. There's a reason the Gentle Leader is the brand of head collar preferred by the training department at Guide Dogs For the Blind.
Easy Walk Harness
The Easy Walk Harness gently discourages your dog from pulling on the leash. When your dog pulls, the harness steers your dog to the side and back toward you, gently unbalancing them, and redirecting their attention toward you. The harness rests across your dog's chest instead of the throat, so there's no choking or gagging. For those who might be more averse to the Gentle Leader, or who may not require that level of prevention, the Easy Walk is our preferred harness both because of its efficacy and ease of use. Rather than a step-in harness, which are cumbersome, this one goes over the head.
Long training lines
Long lines are one of the best dog training tools. You can use them to train many elements of reliable off leash behavior. The best type is biothane, a synthetic rubber that is extremely durable, lightweight, and easily wipes clean. They're found in various lengths on Amazon, like this one. We use these all the time on our walks. I'd recommend them to every puppy owner.
Favorite authors, books, and trainers who I recommend you read:
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Jean Donaldson - SF's most renowned trainer and author. Check out any one of her booklets on specific problem behaviors.
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Dr. Ian Dunbar - The Bay Area's most renowned trainer and author.
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Nicole Wilde - Great selection of booklets on problem behaviors.
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Pat Miller - One of the leaders in new age dog training.
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Dr. Bruce Fogel - His book, "A Dog's Mind" is my favorite.
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"Excel erated Learning" by Pamela J. Reid The most scientific textbook approach to dog training you can get.
YouTube training sources:
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Simpawtico - Tons of free, insightful content.
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Tom Davis - one of my favorite YouTube trainers, especially for training rambunctious dogs.
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Zak George - Can't afford puppy classes? Who cares! Zak is putting all of his on the internet.
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Kiko Pup - Great how to videos from a pro trainer on virtually anything.
Crissy Field Dog Org - A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting responsible dog ownership and establishing and upholding permanent off-leash dog walking rights within the GGNRA.
Save Off Leash - http://www.saveoffleash.com/ A website dedicated to battling the GGNRA's restrictive new anti dog laws in our parks.
Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) - A professional organization of individual trainers who are committed to becoming better trainers through education with a searchable database for certified trainers.
Not a dog.