Dog walkers during coronavirus

[suggestionsplease1]

I pay a dog walker for 3 walks a week for my dog, but now that I'm home working I don't need this service any more. However, I'm aware these are difficult times and that she might have other owners doing the same thing which could really impact her income. So I suggested to her that I continue paying her the weekly amount as per usual, but I don't take the dog walks, and in the future I have them as credit... So if I had 20 credited dog walks I proposed that, when everything is back to normal I would use them up at a rate of 1 per week ie. I would pay for 2 dog walks every week instead of 3 dog walks, until the credit is used up. (so as not to be too dramatic for her income.)

So she's really happy with what I have suggested. It's just crossing my mind now, worst case scenario, what if she didn't dog walk in the future - so that I've paid for a service that I might not be able to get back again.

Should I ask the invoice for walks in credit to say something like "If J is unable to walk in the future, the money should be returned to Suggestions"

I'm trying to take pressure off her for the immediate uncertain future, but I'm just a bit wary I could be leaving myself open to not getting those walks back if she decides to stop dog walking for eg!

Just email her thanking her and confirming everything.
That would count as written evidence hopefully.

Thanks, ok, will try to think of how best to phrase it!

Sounds like you think she is going to die.

We use a walker. We've messaged to say that we'll pay if she gets ill, and if we're home we'll do the walk but pay her. We aren't planning to ask for a return because it means so much to us to have someone really committed to looking after our dogs, and because like you we want to support the independents we use, but i know we're fortunate that we can offer that.

That's the last thing on my mind! It's more that she might decide to give up dog walking altogether and do something else for employment (and I would perfectly understand that) - she might get a temporary job in an area that's really in demand at the moment to tide her over, and then it works out really well for her and she makes the decision to stick with that in the future rather than do dog walking.

That reply was for for @dudsville !

I'm losing income at the moment as mostly self-employed, but want to try to support where I can.

I've just paid ours her normal monthly amount though we haven't used her for 2 weeks, but she's insisting we have it as credit when life is back to normal. She's much more than a dog walker to us and I wanted to make sure she can keep safe and not worry about money. DH will be paid even if sick as he's NHS.

We are still paying our dog walker and whilst she can she will walk our dog. If she can't because she's ill etc I will still pay her as I am still getting paid and I want to support her. If you can afford to pay them I would (and I wouldn't ask for the walks for free in the future as then effectively you are still not paying for this period just not right now) - especially if you want a dog walker to return to once this is over - I worry that small businesses could go under due to what's going on.

We're still paying our dog walker, though DH and I will both be WFH from tomorrow full time so won't need the walks until things go back to normal. Ultimately we don't want to lose her services in the future and nor do we want her to suffer financially as a self employed person who's unlikely to receive much assistance to weather this situation. If we aren't losing our financially as we're still being paid, why should she? 🤷🏼‍♀️

I know, I am in the same situation; my self employed income will just disappear and unfortunately nobody has suggested anything similar to me to tide me over. But I do have some savings that I can use.

Yes, now don’t require our dog walker but will continue to have her and pay her, to keep her business going, as long as she is willing