The Instapaw Feed

The Urban Paw

Founded in 2007 by Emy Sakai, The Urban Paw is an insured, bonded, and registered dog walking and pet sitting business located in San Francisco, California. Compliant with the San Francisco Commercial Dog Walking regulations, she is a licensed and permitted dog walker through Animal Care and Control, Pet Tech CPR and First Aid Certified, and has volunteered with multiple rescue organizations helping dogs and cats with socialization, training, and adoption processes.

Emy is also a member of SF Professional Dog Walkers Assoc., SF Sitters, Professional United Pet Sitters, and Pet Sitters Associates, LLC. She provides a variety of dog walking and pet sitting services for your beloved pets while you are busy, away, or just need some help taking care of them and believes that they are part of your family and deserve the care and attention as any important family member would. She takes great pride and joy in what she does, and cares for each individual pet as if they were her own.

About the pack leader

Hi, my name is Emy and I am the founder and owner of The Urban Paw. How did I get started you ask? After graduating college from San Francisco State University with a Japanese language major, I landed a couple different jobs working in office settings and realized that it just wasn't for me. 

During childhood, I was always known as the little girl riding her purple tricycle down the block with 4 or 5 neighbor dogs following behind me, and as the neighborhood animal lover who would frequently end up bringing home injured or homeless animals to save. People have always told me that I have a unique connection with animals, and that many times I seem to be able to communicate with them. According to my parents, my first word as a baby was not even "mama" or "papa" but our family dog's name! 

I have been pet sitting and dog walking since the age of 12, and have always loved working with animals. Starting off with a part-time job as a pet sitter/dog walker while working in office settings, it dawned on me that I could make this my full-time career! I then decided to branch off and start my own company, which is now known as The Urban Paw. 

I couldn't and still can't believe that I actually get paid to do this. It never feels like work and I always have fun meeting new pets and getting to know each and every one of their personalities. If you asked me what the hardest part of my job is, I would say that it's when I have to say goodbye to the pets after pet sitting or dog walking because I get so attached!