Dog Walker - advice

[orangeplum]

Hi everyone

We are looking at a dog walker and possibly doggie day care for our puppy for 2 days a week (either x2 dog walking or one of each). Does anyone have any advice about either and what questions we should be asking/when we talk/meet with them. I am new to this and don’t want to miss out something important.

Thanks v much.

Dog walker

• Experience
• Insurance
• Maximum number of dogs walked
• How they pair dogs up, making sure dogs walked together get along
• What they do if dogs do not get along, how they handle fights etc.
• How they transport the dogs (is the van etc secure)
• Whether they ever leave dogs unattended
• When and how they let dogs off lead
• What happens when they are sick or on holiday
• Where do they walk the dogs
• First aid training
• What they do in an emergency (e.g. lost dog, injured)
• what they do if the dogs get muddy
• cancellation policy, do you still have to pay, can you book short notice

Similar for day care but also

• do they ever leave the dogs alone, e.g. while walking others
• how do they ensure dogs that need space, peace or quiet get it
• where will the dog's spend most the day
• other than walk them, what else do they do with the dogs
• do they use treats, if so, what
• water availability
• how do they secure their property while the dogs are there

The new legislation means that dogs in care in a home situation :-

can not be left unattended at all
they must have their own space for eating drinking and sleeping
they have to have the correct amount of exercise for their breed
there has to be two gates doors etc between then and the outside public land
you have to give written consent if you want your dog to be with a dog from another family

so insist on having a registered dog day care

re dog walkers I would like to know how long the dog will be in the van for eg do they collect a lot of dogs for walking all in one go. what do they do if your dog gets wet and muddy

That’s really helpful. Lots of things I had not thought about.

Thanks very much.