Becoming a dog walker

[mustbemad17]

I've wanted to do dog walking as a business forever, but always shied away for one reason or another. I have the opportunity to potentially pursue it once DS is older, but I want to do it right. If I can't do it right from the start, I won't be doing it.

I'm wondering if there are any dogwalkers on here that can give me pointers on what is required. Any tips of the trade as it were.

I'm also looking for what dog owners want in a walker, are there things they'd ideally like doing or not doing?

I know I will need some decent insurance, I would do my research & get the best cover - will also be looking at the restrictions for things like off lead walks & muzzled dogs etc.
I'll be doing a first aid course, and have a current enhanced DBS check on the update system, so always available.
My intention is to do household walks only, so no group walks of dogs from different households. This used to be a massive source of anxiety for me as a dog owner!

I have no qualifications in canine behaviour or trainingg, but I have six years experience working with & rehabilitating rescue dogs - I have understanding in & experience managing dog aggression, food aggression, resource guarding, lead reactiveness & general fear/anxiety. Prior to that I have spent many years volunteering with rescues & boarding kennels, so walking dogs of all shapes & sizes.

Definitely not coming at this as a half assed money maker, I genuinely would love to be able to make this work & do something I enjoy as a business. Any hints, tips, suggestions, anything I might have missed or not thought of, all welcome!

Just to add another aspect - I deliberately WANTED mixed household walks for my dog. It was the reason I engaged a walker. I wanted my dog to have the experience of walking with a variety of different dogs plus wanted to encourage him not to be so attached to me so needed him to go off on and enjoy himself so much he didn't miss me - he loves other dogs.

I chose a walker who thought about the balance of dogs carefully so doesn't walk my young and playful springer with an older dog who might get stressed out by him.

The dog now has more friends in the village than I do - he is always meeting dogs on our walks that he knows from being walked by a pro.

I also wanted my dog walked with other dogs as she loves dogs. My walker walks dogs on their own usually and I worry how she makes any money. There aren’t enough hours in the day.

Like pp I use a dog walker who takes a variety of dogs out so my dogs get used to being around a wide variety of dogs and I trust my walker to match them with dogs they will get on with.

I, too, would want a walker who walked with other dogs and divided them into sensible groups (e.g. mine would fall into the category of energetic trip hazards, but other might include energetic giants and golden oldies)

However, I'd also want a walker who could deal with his habit of lunging and barking at passing motorbikes and the fact that if he can't greet another dog quickly enough he will sometimes start to bark and grow (totally the way to make friends).

That said, I know some people who would love the idea of household only dog walks (e.g. owners of reactive dogs) - so that could be your USP and you could charge a premium for it, to reflect the fact that you're not being paid to take out multiple dogs simultaneously.

I love the fact that my dog goes out with other dogs. She has grown in confidence and gets to go off lead for a good run around. When she is with me, she often has to be on the lead because she is easily distracted, she has a nose in her! But she will stay with 'the pack' with the dog walker. Mine used to suffer from deprecation anxiety, it is crucial that she has a routine, so the same time everyday to be picked up by the dog walker is really important.

*seperation anxiety

Thank you for everyone's comments. The area here is full of dog walkers so any dog I took would have the social aspect regardless...unfortunately I have bad memories of my own dogs being walked in mixed household groups with bad results. My car is not big enough to accomodate individual crates so I would forever worry about mixed dogs in transit too.

The money aspect of it isn't really the important factor as I wouldn't need to go back to work unless I chose to. So even individually, walking four dogs a day between the school run would bring suitable 'pocket money' 🙂

I'd love to be able to do home boarding but sadly my property is unsuitable, that is a pipe dream of mine also!

I would want to make sure where you walk is varied as well so not same walk everytime

How would you ssecure my dog in your vehicle

We have lots of woods & a massive Heath, so lots of variety 🙂

I have a dog guard for the boot & also car harnesses that can be used in the boot or back seat depending on owner's preference. I have a variety of these from my rescue days.

Would obviously be owner choice re walks, I know some owners require road walks as well as wood/field walks so that would be something I would query initially with owners.

Other thing is as you have children how would you walk in school holidays?

What is your back up plan if you or one of your children are ill
How long are the walks and on or off lead
Would you do only in week or weekends as well

(My dog walker homeboarder has her husband that covers when boarding as well as having a partner in the business who can pick up if she is ill

As aove for me the fact he gets good doggy interaction is a plus i trust her to match up .
I'm lucky my dog walker is also homeboarder/dog groomer and qualified dog trainer so one stop shop

A big thing is being reliable. My dog day care lady has never let me down and we both give notice of changes in advance so alternative arrangements can be made.

Initially would be week days only, if things worked out then that would potentially alter.

Very good question re children, one I hadn't properly thought through, thank you!!

If it picked up then group walks would maybe expand once I knew the dogs I regularly walked & who could walk together. Initially I wouldn't be comfortable doing this as the dogs would be new to me. Were that to happen, my transport mode would also have to be re-thought to ensure everyone was secure & safe.

My dog walker uses map my walk and sends me photos or route maps during or just after the walk so I can see where he's gone.....

Yes I've heard that apps like that are a brilliant investment, definitely one for my list. Having had a crappy dog walker who lied about the amount of time she walked my dog, that extra bit of reassurance for owners would be well worth the investment

If you are just starting out, definitely sign up for Tailster Dog walking and pop an ad on gumtree - tailster is great, my niece uses it to win clients and they handle everything for her.

It may or may not be lucrative but I think you are in the same boat as her, doing it to build something you enjoy, and taking it seriously - and see what happens! Good luck! :)

Have never heard of them, will take a look today, thank you 😃