I'm a professional dog walker AMA

[Krate]

Ask away!

MyBearIsCalledTeddy- I enjoy all weather apart from the heat we are having. Its extremely challenging.

I walk closest to where my last dog that I pick up lives.

How do extremes of weather affect your income - by this i mean unsafe due to ice or too hot for walking? Do you still charge if folk cancel?

LEMtheoriginal-Yes it can affect my income. For example I will cancel all brachycephalic breed walks and revert to visits. Senior dogs and young puppies also get cancelled by me.

With regards to ice yes also, snow is fine, once it turns to ice its extremely dangerous for the dogs. Most of my clients in London stay home anyway and work from home.

Under normal circumstances I have a 24 hour cancellation policy in place where I still get paid if the client does not give enough notice.

What's you're favourite breed?

Will you walk dogs who are extreme pullers who pull non stop from start to finish no matter how far you walk them?

shutthedoorbob-it depends what size the dog is. I would speak to the owner first to see if they can call a trainer in or if we could try a no pull harness.

Having a strong dog constantly pulling and lunging whilst on a lead can do serious damage to your back or shoulder ect so its not ideal!

Hi @Krate ! You've beaten me to it, I was going to do an AMA about the joys of walking other people's dogs. Sounds like we have the same insurers and a lot of the same problems (and have come up with the same solutions). But my experience is very different from yours as I'm lucky enough to work in deep Ruralshire with miles of woodland and open country to use. I started walking at 6.10 this morning, have you been doing walks mega early too?

I know a couple of people for whom this is the dream job: leaving behind their career-focused/ long working hours /live for the weekend stuff

Is it a dream job for you? Was it a career change and if so, what prompted it?

If it's not too rude, is it well paid enough to live off in London or does it rely on another/ joint income to make ends meet?

Do you like dogs?

AlpacaLypse-Hey! Totally envious of your country walks :-) Yes very early walk start and reverting to visits until the heat calms down.

StripesandWings-It was a career change for me yes but I have always owned multiple dogs and handled dogs of all sizes since I was a small child (showing dogs etc.) The main reason I started my own dog walking business was because I wanted to spend more time with my own dogs and have a job that I could work around them.

It is my dream job yes. I am never without a dog by my side 24/7

Yes I earn enough to sustain a decent lifestyle in London. Having said that I don't have time to go out much and I am too tired on the weekend to do anything else to be honest but rest and take care of my own dogs.

From my experience a lot of people start or try to get into dog walking for the lifestyle change but if they want free weekends, holidays and an easy life dog walking they are completely mistaken. It can be very demanding and challenging at times. To make a good living you have to be totally dedicated to the dogs and your customers.

Dog walkers are popping up everywhere , before people would not consider having a dog if they were both out all day or unable to walk but it seems dog walkers have facilitated a lot of peoples desire to have a dog
Are you ever worried about dogs packing up on another dog whether on or off a lead ?
Whats your opinion of people that get a dog and are then out all day at work ?

We have had a huge surge of dog walkers around here (SE)

Tbh it seems like the good ones stay around, but there are an awful lot of women who are doing it as a hobby job. It really pisses me off as it dilutes the reputation of the good ones.

billysboy-I don't know if we are actually facilitating people getting dogs but I certainly take a lot of calls and emails asking how much my services cost so they can budget and see if owning a dog is financially feasible for them. A lot of rescues will re-home a dog r to workers and there has to be a walker in place.

Dogs ganging up on each other ? yes of course I worry, I do everything I possibly can to avoid any confrontation and I don't work with reactive dogs myself.

It's not my place to judge. People have to work to live, its my job to take as much of the anxiety out of dog ownership that I can. I have clients that work from home or retired and I still walk their dogs daily.