Questions for dog walkers

[Hoverfly1]

I’m considering setting up as a dog walker once my current work contract finishes. I have had dogs all my life, and also have a vet nursing qualification and several years of experience of working as a vet nurse although not been in practice for 15 years, so I feel like I have some knowledge and experience to put into dog walking.

However I’ve never actually used a dog walker before so I’m completely clueless about the logistics and would be interested to hear how other walkers do things. I would also love to know is it’s possible to actually make a profit from dog walking. I’ve seen most walkers seem to charge around 10 p/h. Presumably this is 1 hour of actual walking and not including any travel time, cleaning mud and drying time or dropping off? It seems like this could end up taking just as long as the walk itself.

Im guessing it’s more profitable to organise group walks but I’m interested to know how walkers manage group walks and letting dogs off the lead. I’ve seen walkers with groups of dogs all running off the lead but the idea of this is a little nerve wracking to me. What to they do if they suddenly meet another dog on the lead and have to get them all back the lead? What happens of one of them decides to disappear after a deer or something. Does anyone use trackers for the dogs they walk just in case?

Finally, I run Canicross with my own dogs, which is obviously great for exercising dogs that can’t be off the the lead. I was thinking I could also offer canicross runs as a service. Do you think this is something people would be interested in?

Any tips and advice from seasoned dog walkers would be much appreciated 😊

Giving you a bump as there are dog walkers on here.

Big things seem to be transport and insurance.

I would love you to be local to me and do Canicross with my boy.

Yes, I think the profit is in the group walks. How do people manage the dogs, I hear you ask ... often badly is the answer, I think. I rarely use a dog walker, but I would never send my dogs out with anyone who did group walks. There are plenty who do, though.

For me, there is far too much potential for things to go horribly wrong - even if the walker had perfect control of the pack of unrelated dogs, other dogs can react differently to a larger group and cause trouble. Hopefully most councils have now put in place a limit on the number of dogs one person can walk, but have seen around here that sometimes two or three walkers will meet up, which can leave a dozen plus dogs in a single group, recipe for disaster.

A friend of mine regularly meets dog walkers in her local woods, and several times has picked up dogs that they have lost, and sometimes not even realised. She makes a point of phoning the owner from the dog's tag now.

Thanks so much for the replies, insurance seems to be fairly straight forward. Transport is an issue, I would have to use my car at first and if it seemed like it was actually going to be a viable business look into a loan to buy a van and fitted cages.

@Whitney168 I wish I could canicross your boy for you!
I think most insurance only allows for 6 dogs max, but even that seems quite a lot to keep control. I guess if you know them all quite well then you could have the best behaved dogs in bigger groups and the rest in 2s or 3s.

Because I run with mine a lot I know plenty of very quiet areas where we could walk an hour without meeting anyone but there would be deer etc around. I hate the thought of losing my own dogs, never mind someone else’s dog 😱.

Someone near me specialises in 'proper' walks in very small groups where its a good long walk somewhere interesting rather than effectively a toileting outing with most of the time in the van. IIRC its two hours and more targeted at those who my wfh but don't have time for a big walk in the week. He seems to do pretty well. I know another dog walker who only does single households at a time but will focus on behaviour while doing so and she is very popular

Not sure where you’re based but in the South-east where I am, dog walkers generally charge £14-£15 for an hour’s walk. That includes collection and drop-off so dogs are usually out of the house for an hour and a half to 2 hours.
The dog walkers I know tend to walk 4 at a time, maybe 5 and often do 2 walks a day, planning ahead to put dogs that live near each other or play well together on the same walks.
They start off keeping a new dog on-lead and then walking it in an enclosed park for the initial off-lead walks (up to 6 walks this way until dog knows them). Then move on to bigger open spaces. One does have a dog that tends to run off so puts a tracker on it. I don’t know any that do this but it would also help to have clip-on tags with your details on them that you could attach during walks. In the event one runs off then someone who finds them would be able to contact you.
Good dog walkers are in high demand at the moment so, once you build up the business, you are likely to be able to pick and choose which dogs you want to walk.

Hi OP - I'm a dog walker and specialise in small groups of upto three dogs.

Solo walks aren't profitable unless you charge silly money which people aren't prepared to pay.

I agree that huge groups can be dangerous but unless you're going to charge at least £20 an hour you'll make nothing off solo walks once you factor in all the other costs.

Thanks for all the replies, very interesting to hear peoples thoughts.
@FeelinSpendy Tags are a good idea, I had been looking at cheapy collars printed with my phone number, thinking I could use those for every dog I walked and they could just be chucked in the wash with towels at the end of the day.

@thelobsterquadrille I can see that it would be difficult make a profit that way! 3 dogs seems a lot more manageable than 6 though. Do you think there would be a market for solo canicross sessions? Obviously I would charge more for these than normal walks but I wouldn’t be able to do more than 1 or 2 a day.

I suspect there would be @Hoverfly1 especially as you do it with your own dogs! Someone does it near me and seems to do quite well out of it.

I think a lot also depends on how much you need to make - it's not an industry where you'll make a fortune unless you go down the road of having employees which often causes more problems than it solves

I operate solo but my DH and DM are also covered under my insurance so they can step in and help or provide cover if needs be.

I would have thought that people interested in canicross would be doing it themselves rather than paying someone else for it? And from the people I know who do it, it generally requires different equipment for different dogs and consideration of matching pace to dogs etc.

Not necessarily. Plenty of owners aren't fit enough to run with their dogs but would love their dogs to have the experience of it.

A friend of mine does canicross with his dogs and will take mine occasionally as it's something different for him. There's no way I could do it with him though 🤣

@thelobsterquadrille thanks that’s really helpful! I definitely not aiming to make a fortune but needs to be enough to keep us going while my kids are still small.

I hadn’t thought about getting someone else on board to cover if needed. I will need to give that some thought as it would be a disaster if the kids were sick for days and I couldn’t get out!

@DarkMatternix plenty of people have large energetic dogs that aren’t able to be exercised off the lead and have no interest in running with them themselves.

I already have canicross experience and equipment because already do it with my own dogs.

Fair enough, the people I know who are into running are into canicross, people who aren't into running tend to favour private dog fields for dogs to run around in if their dogs can't be off lead. I expect this can be quite area/clientele dependent.

Our dog goes out once a week with a dog walker, generally with a max of 3 dogs, occasionally 4 but only from 2 households. We pay £12 for an hours walk.

I guess I could only offer it and see if anyone is interested. My feeling is that it would have to be something people did regularly if they wanted to use that service. You couldn’t just take an unfit dog out for a 1 hour canicross run without some build up so that might be quite limiting.

Thanks @DarkMatternix really interesting to see how the prices compare!

Our dog walker has an arrangement with another to cover holidays and the like, I don't know if that's typical. We only have an ad hoc arrangement so pup doesn't go on a walk if our walker isn't available. I know some others in the area insist on a minimum number of walks per week but prices seem fairly consistent.

You could have an agreement that the dog comes on x amount of runs per week or per month, although you'd need something in place to in case a dog was injured or unable to run (eg. a bitch in season).

Personally I don't have a minimum number of required walks/week as it wouldn't suit my business model or my area, but I know walkers who do insist on that and it seems to work fine for them.

Another thing to keep in mind is holidays - I have a lot of teachers on my books so half terms are quiet. I keep it that way as I like having a bit of a break a few times a year, but it does mean a drop in income unless you go down the road of charging people for taking holidays.

I expect offering canicross would affect your insurance.

On a personal level I would be worried about taking dogs on canicross that I did not know and if you are training them to do canicross then you are offering more than a dog walking service. However your prices would need to acknowledge that.

Also equipment for canicross would add to your overheads. It is good you have equipment for your own dogs but you will get dogs of varying sizes that will need different canicross harnesses etc.

When planning your hourly rate you need to consider that for each hour you walk a dog it will take usually minimum an hour and a half. To allow to driving to collect and return dogs and driving to exercise location.

DOnt underestimate other overheads
Tags for the dogs with your details on - to put on dogs when walking them

Leads and harnesses - you can use owners but safer to use yours that you know are safe and not damaged.

Waterproofs and good boots - you will go through boots quickly and need several different waterproofs.

Poo bags, treats, towels water bowls, cleaning disinfect for your vehicle ( you will need a crated vehicle that can carry 4 dogs to be profitable) , first aid kit (easy for you as a vet nurse!), water bowls

Fuel costs will be high if you are in a rural area.

What to they do if they suddenly meet another dog on the lead and have to get them all back the lead? What happens of one of them decides to disappear after a deer or something. This is really important to consider and a good dog walker will be able to assess the dogs (do not take the owners word for their dog) See which one are suitable off lead, which dogs will go happily in a group together (the dogs behaviour will change a lot in a group situation)

Always have a walk with the owners and watch the dogs interaction etc but this eats into your time and earnings if you are having new clients regularly. Best to get ones you are happy with and stick with them!

An easy answer to the above is to have private land to exercise them on but that again is mega expensive.

I live near a Royal Park, maximum number of dogs per walker is four. Wouldn't want to be a dog walker there though, you have to be ultra cautious in the summer, birthing season, and now when the red deer are in the rut!