To ask if there are any professional dog walkers on here??

[MoneybagsIamnot]

...And if so, could you answer a few questions for me? I'm seriously considering doing this.

I have thought about the following:

Insurance
Doggy first aid course
DBS check
Producing my own leaflets/ business cards etc
Sign writing and adding a crate or 2 to my car

Are any of you DBS checked and if so how? I enquired today and it seems that because I'm an individual and not an organisation I won't have cause to request a DBS check? Is this correct?

Any particularly good insurance companies out there for this? I got a quote that seemed pretty reasonable- about £22 a month.

Doggy first aid course- There is one locally that I can attend.

Business cards and flyers I think I have sorted.

Can I ask whether dog walking is your sole income or do you supplement it with a part time job or with other services? And (if not too cheeky) could I ask roughly how much you charge per hour, or per dog walked? And lastly, how long did it take you to be earning an income that you could manage on?

TIA! I'm just trying to work out whether this could be feasible for me!

Our dog walker is amazing. We're SE and pay £10 per hour walk.

Something to consider - are you going to wash the dogs? Our current walker does but our old one didn't and our poor longhaired hound used to be all crusty when we got back!

Also think about the signage thing. Every dog walker we've had deliberately doesn't have anything on their car due to the potential for theft whilst doing pick ups/drop offs. Could you advertise in family cars but not the one you're actually using for the business?

I don't have signs, apart from the fear of someone stealing the dogs lots of my customers don't want me advertising their absence if I'm collecting/dropping off dogs while they're at work.

Check terms of insurance carefully, haven't read the whole thread so might have been mentioned but many only pay out (for vet bills) if you are negligent and not for genuine accidents or other incidents.

I'm lucky if I make £200 on a good day, it's not exactly a living but I find it therapeutic and usually fun. I love the animals and their owners and it fits around my own horses etc.

I charge £12.50 for a 3 mile (45-60 minutes) walk and do two groups (am and pm) a day, I usually have a couple of lunchtime walks or visits most days. Daycare dogs (£25 a day or £35 overnight, you might need to register with your local council for this) join in the group walks. I also house sit when and where I can fit it around everything else, that starts at around £40 a night plus food and goes up if eg there are multiple horses to exercise.

What a great and informative thread. Have been thinking about this so just marking place

Would posters who have taken dog first aid courses mind linking to the course they did? My cousin's daughter is interested in becoming a pro dog-walker, and I'm thinking of paying for (or contributing to) a first aid course for her birthday.

I live near the Sussex downs and there are lots of dog walking businesses in this area. I walk my dog from the local car park which is at the foot of the downs and know a few of the walkers who park there. All of them use vehicles with multiple cages, many double stacked, and sign written with humorous business names and/or graphics.

I think the set-up could be fairly expensive but it's obviously a profitable business when done well.

Oh yes you can get a basic disclosure
You learn something new everyday or in this case two. The second being not to automatically trust what you read on the government's own website.

If your horsey and like cleaning would you think about a delivery/ collection tack and numnah cleaning service. I used to play polo (I am not a rich toff though!) And I'd love to have someone take my bags of bandages, numnahs, tack off to wash and clean and return them.

Obviously rug cleaning and repairs would be great, but that's a far greater capital cost.

The accounts book I misnamed before is the best small business accounts book, get the yellow version for non-VAT registered sole trader types.
Love the idea of cleaning and dog walking! Great selling point, and sure it would be popular.
Good luck to all you entrepreneurs out there!

With all your animal handling experience you should also look into house sitting, especially if you live in a rural area where some people keep horses at home. If you can find 3-4 people who need part-time help, help if they are sick and house sitting you could build up q decent business.

Hello! I started a thread about this a couple of years ago, purely so I could send all our advice in one go! Here it is complete with contributions from loads of the rest of us www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/2096707-Professional-Dog-Walkers-Corner-Muddy-pawprints-and-poobags-a-speciality?msgid=49326501

Just seen it's gone Zombie - aargh am I really that old!!!

Thank you so much! Read with interest!

I'm not a dog walker but we have an excellent dog walker. I think she does it for love rather than to make a killing. When he was a puppy and could go out but couldn't go far as he is a big dog she charged £5 for a half hour local walk. Now he goes on a communal dog walk which he enjoys far more. This is £10 but he can be out in total between 2 to 3.5 hours and is totally shattered when I get home. I guess prices vary depending on where in the country you live. She walks several dogs at a time off the lead in the country and they have an absolute blast.
I know she also supplements her income with an early morning job in a shop.
I also know she gets her vet bedding washed by someone else as it was taking its toll on her washing machine.
She also has insurance so she can board him and other dogs when we are on holiday. It's reasonable similar to kennel charges and he gets plenty of walks.

Hello All :waves: me again

So, I am almost ready to rock and roll with my business, I am literally now just ordering my flyers and business cards from Vistaprint.

Can I ask all the dog walkers on here....how long roughly did it take you to start getting (any) business?

TIA!

I did it the other way round - my SIL's neighbour had a dog and was feeling guilty about asking friends constantly to help so started to ask around for a walker. SIL mentioned it to DP, who of course knew I was looking for something to do that fitted with very young children. So first client appeared before the business did! The next two came within a couple of weeks, at which point I still hadn't actually advertised, just made sure it was mentioned down pub etc.

Another local walker who I often run into and have a natter with while our dogs chase each other to exhaustion did set up from scratch, and was fully booked within 6 months. However she had recommendations from the vet whose nurse she had been before. Like me she wanted a job that was very flexible to fit with young children, and the vet nursing hours did not suit her, but she'd left on very good terms.

That's interesting to know, thank you!

I am in the process of securing an evening job to cover essential outgoings/ bills until things pick up with the dog walking! Fingers crossed! X

Interesting discussion - good luck in your new venture! Whereabouts are you?

Some thoughts from me as someone who has thought of using a Walker:

We have a scruffy mutt who can't have a poo without making a mess, so a cleaned bottom would be a must.

She would enjoy being collected and going on a van journey to collect the others. It means being out the house for longer.

That when returning to the house, fresh water would be put in the bowl, and for me, my curtains drawn to keep out the afternoon sun from the back room. (I have to keep them drawn all day otherwise but she cant look out)

I like the idea of the Walker being DSB/Personal References just so you have some assurance when allowing someone into your home.

I also like the idea of house sitting and doing welfare/care visits.

Is it too late to name your business? I thought Walkies!

Me again,

Another thought for advertising is local businesses. Our building has anything up to 100 staff using it a day so a leaflet in the window (with permission of course), or leaflets under car wipers could be useful.

And another business idea is pick up and drop off at veterinary or grooming appointments.

Hello, me again!

From doing my research, it seems no other companies around here offer solo walks (obviously there isn't enough money in them)

I am just starting out and so building groups straight away isn't very realistic, so I may have to pick up some of that market. However; I have been asking for £10 ph for an individual walk and then I hear nothing back?! I then told one lady £8 in an attempt to secure her business and the first thing she came back with was 'You sure that's really your best price?' Really?! She's 10 miles away so it's a 20 mile round trip, I wouldn't make anything from it anyway, let alone make a living.

People want these 'solo' walks but don't seem to want to pay any more than £6 per hour?! Am I being unreasonable in what I'm asking?

OP where are you based...? I have dogs, cats, rabbits, horses... :D

Would you do house sitting as well?

I used to be one a few years ago and never had a DBS check, it was fine. That insurance quote is fairly reasonable but check what it covers you for. Some are a bit sneaky. One quote I received was very cheap but when I enquired as to why it was so low and what it covered they informed me that it only covered the dogs when I was on my property or the owners or in my car and not during the actual walk. I was

Make sure you use a proper contract for the owners, get one drawn up by a solicitor and use it as a template. You are not liable for this, that and the other. One dog pulled all the knobs off the owners cooker and chewed them up while she was out and she tried to refuse to pay me, saying that I clearly hadn't exercised him enough No, love, you just have a really badly trained dog. and deserved it anyway because you were a bitch

You will not make enough money by far for this to be your sole income unless you are doing several walks per day and taking at least 2, preferably 4 at a time. Saying that though, don't try to take more than you can handle. If they are big dogs then only take two. I used to take 4 rotties at a time but those guys were bombproof, nothing phased them but it took me a good few months to get that level of trust in their temperament and training. Until you know them better don't take more than you are confident you can physically overpower if necessary. I'm basing those estimates btw on what I used to charge which was £8 for a 45 minute walk or £10 for a full hour. I assume you will be charging at least a living wage? 45 minutes was the more common one as smaller dogs cannot always go for a whole hour and the 15 minutes leeway gave me travel time which allowed me to book walks on the hours - easier organisation. Always charge per dog, too. So if they wanted 2 dogs walked for 45 minutes that would have been £16 not £8.

If you can try to focus on one area at a time for advertising. I found that after a while I could make quite a bit as I was doing the five dogs in area 1 during the morning. Collecting dogs 1, 2 and 3 and taking them all out together as they were all dog friendly and got along at 10 o clock then collecting dog 4 at 11 and dog 5 and 12 and then from 1 o clock onwards doing area 2 with a further 3 dogs who had to be walked individually.

Having several in the same area is helpful, especially if you can walk them together. Doing one at a time all the time equates to not much more than pocket money unless you are up for spending 12 hours straight every day walking. Target blocks of flats for over 60s or assisted living for a leaflet run as they often want the evening walk done for them and a lot of the time may be neighbours with dogs who know each other. I used to do one block of flats where I used to do 7 dogs in 2 hours. Groups of 3 and 4 since they all knew each other and lived only a few doors or floors apart.

Anyway I hope some of that helped and good luck with your business, it really is great fun. I hope it takes off.

Hi Kishmish,

Thank you for your response. How long did it take you to get busy/ build up groups?

I am trying to target specific areas, I've got a couple in one area now and a potential 2 in another area. It's hard work though getting the business!

Ideally I want to be walking 3 dogs at a time, 3-4 times a day. That would generate me an okay income and I also have a few hours of horsey stuff a week, plus some freelance writing work. All that should give me a reasonable income. Ive got the horses and writing work, it's the dogs that seems to be slower. Lots of interest in dog/ house sitting ( which I would reluctantly do as its hard to make a living when you're meant to be sitting at someone's house for £20 a day!) or boarding (which I am not offering) The actual walking is coming slowly. There is demand though as all of the dog walkers around here are at full capacity and running waiting lists!!

P.s, can I asked why you stopped? It sounds like you were pretty busy?!

I did it for about 4 years to get myself through college because it was easier to fit around college and stopped when I got my diploma. It took about 6 months to build up a decent customer list because you don't know to start with which dogs can be walked together and introductions need to be done VERY carefully. Owners will go "oh he will be fine, loves other dogs" Does he fuck! Tell that to the woman whose ratdogs he just terrorised.

Try offering house checks rather than house sitting. I did a little of that for clients I knew well. Basically I fed cats, cleaned litter trays, watered plants and ran taps/flushed loo and kept an eye out for any problems. occasionally I would move the curtains to a different position or move the bins so it looked like someone was home. Took about half hour per day.

Thanks Kishmish!

Everyone thinks I'm mad as I've just quit a fairly responsible and well paid job to do this. I have a degree which I'm wasting (I'm questioning my sanity a bit) but I just want to do something that I enjoy and get off the rat race.

I am offering home checks and Pet Visits, I have one regular for that. I just need to pick up more dogs to walk, but competition is fierce around here!

Advertise on local Facebook pages. People are always asking on our ones.

The ones around here charge £10-15 for an hour walk . And £15+ for daycare, £20 plus for overnight.