Any dog walkers on here???!

[Frazzledchildminder]

Hi all,

I'm wondering if there are any dog walkers on here who'd be happy for me to pick their brains....
I'm currently childminding but losing the will to live and my child hates the kids in her home. So I'm considering a career change to dog walking - BUT reluctant just to go ahead without talking to anyone first. I did used to pet sit so I have had some experience but not to this level....
Are there any dog walkers on here who'd be happy to chat and answer my questions????
Thank you!!
Ps sorry to do aibu but hoping for traffic.

Thanks guys, good ideas re early starts in hols and weekends. Yes @AlertCat it's stressful being self employed isn't it?!
Great idea re puppy daycare too
Thanks guys!
And lol yeah if I can heard a load of kids dogs must be easier 🤣

Daycare of any kind requires a council license and registration - you need separate, secure spaces for all the dogs, a secure garden and procedures in place to keep dogs and children separated .

Thanks @butterycroissants I definitely wouldn't mind at the same time.

If that’s the case you would barely make any money - daycare is about £25 a day.

I do think the market is saturated now with dog walkers, not sure how many are that good and how many actually last. I’m a massive dog person and have been all my life, I’ve got several related qualifications and a lifetime of experience. I own multiple dogs of my own and compete in various dog sports. I have a van and walk groups of dogs in places where I rarely see people, sometimes I hire offlead fields. My daughter is a teen now but she was tiny when I started, I always had childcare for her and then just worked around school hours. When it’s hot out I do a mix of starting early/home visits/walk near rivers etc. it took a while to get a decent client base, I did a morning cleaning job for a while until it had built up.

I think you'd probably make more teaching. Our area is really over supplied with walkers so unless you have a particular niche I think it would be hard to stand out.
What about supply/ part time. Supply is tricky if you need a guaranteed income I know.

Honest opinion here, it’s a market over saturated by under qualified and under insured service providers.

Walking seven dogs from different homes / backgrounds / obedience levels in a pack at once is irresponsible.

I personally wouldn’t engage a dog walker who’s only experience of dogs is that of owning their own / pet sitting in the past who’s evolved to dog walking for an income.

However, I am probably different to the everyday pet owner- my dog is predominately a pet but has been trained for a future as a working dog from the day he was brought home and is used to a certain level / style of handling and rock solid consistency. He only goes to friends / family who are able to replicate that, and if we’re away for any length of time he goes to our gun dog trainer to stay / work. He doesn’t get to run up to random dogs and annoy them on walks, nor do I allow that to happen to him. He’s eight months old and is a happy, well rounded dog with rock solid recall… even in his teenage phase 🫠

I’ve seen far too many perfectly lovely, friendly dogs become fearful and reactive because they cannot handle the group dog walking environment and the dog walker doesn’t catch the signs of an uncomfortable dog until an there’s an evident issue, or an incident happens and someone / a dog gets hurt.

Dog walking is full of people who career change into it because they like dogs but haven't a clue what they're doing.

I have a city and Guilds in Dog Walking, hnc in animal care, animal first aid, animal behavioural psychology.

You'll need a properly kitted out van with lighting, cctv, risk free cages, ventilation and air con. All of the insurances related to public liability etc. First aid kit, key safe. The van will need sanitised at least weekly with the approved animal licensed disinfectants, all vet bedding, blankets etc washed and dried. An agreement with a local vet in case of emergency. I'm Defra certified too and anything else your local authority requires and that's just off the top of my head.

There's much more to it 8f you're going to do it legally, properly and safely than just taking Pongo for a wander!

You don't need all those things at all.

Most local authorities require absolutely nothing of dog walkers. You don't even need to be insured, legally speaking.

Obviously I'm not recommending OP starts-up without insurance etc, but most of the things on your list aren't even remotely necessary to be a successful dog walker.

I have a reactive dog from working lines and I find walking him really stressful. Not because I can’t control him; his recall is second to none and he’s completely engaged with me the whole time time - always to heel. But if another dog flies over and approaches him he can bite. It makes where I can go and what I can do with him really hard work. most of the time now he’s on lead and only allowed off lead in private fields (where I know and have permission from the owners!) away from public footpaths where other dogs might be. There aren’t enough dogs under control IMO and if you are going to consider it, please ensure you are in full control of the dogs in your charge. Some owners aren’t fully honest with their dogs’ foibles such as poor recall, aggression and reactivity which is why my niece, who was a dog sitter for many years, had to stop doing it. Dog walking isn’t always a walk in the park (literally!)

I would argue that they are necessary to be a credible, responsible dog walker.

Of course they’re not. What if you only do solo walks from the owners home - do you still need a van with CCTV, cages and air con?

You’d at least need a suitable vehicle to transport the dog safely in case of emergency with at least one crash defensive crate.

In my opinion, you need most of what is on that list give or take an airconned van.

Of course you don’t. Or do you think nobody should own a dog unless they own a vehicle with crash tested crates?

I’ve run my business for six years using a car, seatbelts and harnesses and have multiple clients who picked me over the “crated van” set up because they knew their dogs would find it too stressful and overwhelming.

I walk a maximum of three dogs at once and only if they’re from the same household, otherwise it’s pairs and the dogs travel (separately and securely) in the car, or we walk from one of the houses.

I’ve never had any issue getting a dog to the vets without a crate, and I certainly don’t need CCTV, vet bed or blankets either. I have seat covers and a large supply of towels, coats and dry robes for soggy days.

Personally I don’t agree with walkers who take large numbers of dogs together in a van as it seems
to be more about profit and looking good on social media than it is about the welfare of the dogs.

Ownership is different to offering a professional service. If you are offering a service, no corners should be cut in my opinion. I wouldn’t let anyone transport my dog in a harness on a back seat.

But for the record - no I don’t think anyone should transport a dog outwith a heavy duty crate in a car. I don’t. But again, I’m perhaps different to the normal dog owner.

I also said that walking large numbers of dogs at the same time is irresponsible and I wouldn’t touch that type of service with a barge pole.

The OP wanted opinions, I gave mine. As someone who has a dog as both a pet and a working animal, who uses the services of canine professionals when I need the support.

And that’s totally fair enough - you can use whatever service you want for your dog. I would say that you’re very much an outsider though - at least in my experience of dog owners and what they ask for in a dog walker.

My point was more that you don’t need all the expensive gear that a PP claimed you do. It may look good on paper to say you have XYZ but they don’t actually make you a good dog walker and IMO there are much more important things.

Not a dog walker, but used ours since our dog was six months old. They have children, but also have two other walkers working for her which I think helps to ease the load.

The team is fully insured, DBS checked, first aid trained, the owner of the business is trained in animal behaviour, and they have access to a van for out of town walks. They take a max of five dogs at a time, and work between 8.30-3.30.

They have a website with an excellent booking system (which also REALLY helps us - this is something else to consider) but we also had to sign a number of forms and disclaimers about our dog's temperament, medical history, vaccination status, being off lead etc, as well as them "phasing" our dog into the pack. We had a meet and greet, our dog then met the owner's own dogs, and gradually walked first of all with one or two dogs at a time - this was all to test our dog's temperament and check she was suitable.

They are extremely good at what they do, love the dogs and are very thorough (hence why they're so popular) but it clearly takes a lot of effort, time and resource to be as good as they are.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply and for your suggestions, they are all much appreciated and certainly would inform any decisions I make. Thanks again!

If you are taking multiple dogs on walks how on earth do you pick up all their poo?!

In multiple poo bags 🤦‍♀️

The same as anyone with one dog does - using poo bags

I know several. One is outstanding. One is awful.

The awful one has too many dogs at a time and her idea of walking them is to drive them all to a field in her van, get them out, take them just inside the field and stand there in her phone while they sniff about, swearing at them loudly if they dare to pull on the lead in a vain attempt to go more than the lead length away.

It's such a shame that the bad ones cause issues for everyone.

We have someone near us who takes 8+ dogs out off the lead at once - he's lost several dogs over the years and one ran off the other day and still hasn't been found.

I just don't believe one person can have adequate control over more than 3-4 dogs. I personally only take more than 3 if I have someone else with me (my DH and my mum are also covered under my insurance).