About Us
Tita’s Dog Sitting is a small family business run by Mel and Aaron, who recently celebrated thirteen years together!
Our pet care project first began back in 2018, when a friend of Mel’s asked her to care for Ruby, an elderly terrier with some personality quirks and a seizure disorder. This is when Mel realized that her year working at Humane Society Silicon Valley (2012-13) had given her not only a passion but unique skills for caring for anxious and special needs dogs.
Tita’s Dog Sitting operated in Charlottesville, VA from 2018-2023. During that time, Mel worked closely with her spouse Aaron to ensure continuity of coverage for pets needing just a little more attention. Scroll down to read testimonials from our many happy past clients!
In 2023, Mel and Aaron returned to California so Mel could continue her education at UCSF. We are both excited to be offering positive methods care in San Francisco in Summer 2024!
About Mel
Mel is an experienced caregiver who built her positive methods skills during a year spent in adoptions and rescue. Mel particularly enjoys taking all the time (and treats) a shy dog needs to warm up and seeing the huge difference once they do! In Mel’s free time, she reads fantasy, drinks coffee, and does art.
About Aaron
Aaron brings curiosity and gentleness to his animal care. Aaron particularly enjoys helping dogs meet their exercise needs whether it’s going for a jog or just tossing the ball around. When Aaron is not working as a special educator with the SFUSD, he practices martial arts and follows Tar Heel basketball.
Testimonials
Melanie is great! Pick her! Melanie stayed with our dog, Scout, at our house for one week. She was extremely conscientious of our house and dog before and during the stay, making sure she knew the routine and asking us before doing things like taking Scout on excursions outside the neighborhood. She sent regular updates, […]
Melanie is absolutely AMAZING!!! I could not imagine a more perfect experience than we had with her! First and foremost, Melanie took the most wonderful and compassionate care of my dog, Simie. From the beginning, Melanie creatively figured out ways to get my dog to eat when she was initially sad after we left, and […]
Melanie is an amazing dog sitter! My dog Missy can be very selective about her human friends, but she took to Melanie instantly! I was gone for nearly a month and I was a little nervous about leaving my dog for that long, but Melanie sent constant updates and pictures to put my mind at […]
Melanie is the best. We have had many pet sitters but she is on of our favorites. She was very responsive and kept us updated. Our 3 dogs really like her. We highly recommend her.
Melanie is the BEST! My husband and I hired Melanie, after a recommendation from a mutual friend, to dog/house sit for our two dogs (a silky terrier & a maltese mix) while we were away on vacation for a week. This was our first experience with a dog sitter. Our dogs, though small, can be […]
Melanie recently pet sat from Friday through Sunday for our two elderly dogs and one cat. Both dogs are on medications and Melanie was very diligent in ensuring they received their meds. She kept us informed during the day on how they were doing. Our one dog was not well, and Melanie had to give […]
Melanie is the best! This was our first time having her stay at our home for 5 days/4 nights with our two large and old dogs (and keeping our three chickens alive as well!). She came beforehand to sit down and listen (for almost an hour!) to the special age-related concerns to look out for […]
Melanie does a wonderful job with our Lab. He clearly enjoys being with her, and she’s great at sharing photos and updates to let us know what’s going on when we’re out of town. She’s helped us with multi-night stays and daytime walks, and we trust her equally for both. She’s also super conscientious about […]
Melanie was the perfect sitter for our anxious dog! She sent many photos and updates to show how they were getting along. Milo really took to Melanie and we didn’t have any hesitation to leave him in her care. Melanie listens carefully and is very responsible, reliable, quick to communicate, and obviously loves and understands […]
Melanie is an intuitive dog caretaker who will match your dog’s personality, energy, and needs. She is very thoughtful and mindful of making sure your dog’s routine stays as close to normal as possible when you are away. I completely trust Melanie with my shy older border collie.
Melanie was the ideal sitter for our dog, Joanna. Joanna is an older dog with lots of anxieties, and Melanie took the time for a long meet and greet in which she paid careful attention as I detailed Joanna’s various idiosyncrasies. Throughout the stay, Melanie was consistent about posting updates, which gave us peace of […]
Melanie is such a wonderful sitter! She sent tons of pics, is so considerate and thoughtful, and really works to maintain consistency with your pup when gone. Absolutely will continue to work with Melanie!!
I don’t know why it’s taken me this long to write a review— it should have been top priority because Melanie was a complete godsend for us and our two small dogs. We have a papillon and a chihuahua, both of which are quirky. One is 14 yrs old and thinks he’s afraid of his […]
Great sitter! Melanie spent lots of time with my dog, sent lots of pictures and updates, kept my house clean and picked up the mail every day. Would highly recommend!
We were worried about finding a dog sitter for Luna. She barks and lunges at other dogs on other walks and has anxiety behaviors that come out around people she doesn’t know well. We have a somewhat complicated training protocol for her reactivity we developed with a positive trainer. And to top it all off […]
I cannot express how happy I was with Mel. I am very thankful for Mel, her professionalism, and her genuine love of dogs. She took the time to come and meet us beforehand to get to know our fur baby and understand his needs. She sent plenty of pics and we were so happy to […]
Melanie was absolutely fantastic with our dog and two cats. She sent us tons of updates and photos to let us know our babies were doing well. Our animals adjusted well to her and we were so happy for all her extra help with mail, kitty litter etc. Thank you again, Melanie! So glad we […]
Melanie is an amazing dog sitter. I was nervous about leaving my dog with anyone because she was recently diagnosed with glaucoma and needs eye drops. Melanie’s background with shy and anxious/nervous dogs immediately appealed to me because my rescue dog can be nervous as well. Melanie came over ahead of the booked dates to […]
Tita's Dog Sitting 