Dog walker for an hour?

[lucya66]

I need some perspective. If you booked a weekly dog walker 3x 1 hour per week for £15 an hour, would you expect the walk to be 1 hour door to door (they collect dog in a car, drive round and collect 4 other dogs then go to a field to walk dogs and return).

The reason I ask is because we pay dog walker £15 for an hours walk. Whereas he also offers a walk for 30 minutes at £9 which we don’t use.

consistently the dog walker is 50-60 minutes door to door, including all his drop offs in the neighbourhood via the car. So I’m thinking my dog actually only gets a walk for maybe 20-30 minutes if the drop offs are included in the hour. I don’t know exactly how long the dog walks are but I’m guessing as I know the dog walker goes 10/15
minutes drive away to collect the other dogs.

is this reasonable and usual?

I ask because my old dog walker (who moved away) used to be about 90 minutes door to door with pick ups and drop offs, but she was always clear the dogs all got a 60 minute run and play.

I am not sure if I should raise with the dog walker or just accept that it’ll be 60 minutes ish door to door rather than a walk

I have a ring camera so get a notification when the dog walker picks up and drops off the dog.

I do have other issues as sometimes the dog walker is 30 minutes only door to door, and I need to address that with him too.

It depends what you want out of it. Do you want 60 minutes exercise, or 60 minutes company ? Most dogs enjoy a car ride, and they’ll be greeting their doggy friends.

I don't think that's reasonable. We pay for 45 mins and our dog Walker has a maximum of 3 other dogs so 4 including our girl.

They are all grouped by distance from each other so they get maximum walk time. When I'm home, she's collected at say 1pm and doesn't get home til 2pm ish so I am comfortable in being reassured she gets the full 45 mins sometimes maybe even an hour if they're having fun! We also get photo and video updates

I wouldn't be happy if she was home within 45 mins!

I pay for a 60 minute walk, the walk is 60 minutes! with the pickoffs etc it’s usually about 90 minutes - 2hrs they are out for.

I sometimes use a walker who charges £13 an hour and it is a full hour. She doesn’t drive him anywhere as she can walk to the beach from our house so she leaves her car at ours while she walks him for an hour. She also doesn’t usually walk any other dogs at the same time. I think we’re lucky to have her!

I pay for an hour walk and my dog is usually out for nearly 2 hours, sometimes longer. The dog walker collects the dogs and takes them to a secure field for an hour and then drops them off.

I would expect the walk to start after the last dog is collected and to finish before the first dog is dropped off.

The only time I would expect the walk to end earlier would be if the weather was bad or to hot.

I’m a dog walker and think the walk should be 60 minutes actual walking. However, I only walk dogs one on one, so if a client didn’t want them to be taken to local walkable parks, I’d charge a pro-rata of my usual hourly rate to account for travel time outside the 60 minutes.

Your dog walker is a CF. I'd expect the vast majority of that to be a walk.

We pay for an hour but the dog is usually out for at least 2 hours sometimes a bit longer. I would expect an hours walk or outdoor play with travel as extra.

I pay for an hour and he is often out 2-2.5hrs.
I wouldn’t be impressed with your dog walker.

I'm a dog walker and have two different pricing options depending on what the owners want.

Solo or same household dogs pay for an hour of my time (if they have multiple dogs then they get a discount) so that normally means about 45 minutes of exercise - the other 15 minutes are to cover clean up and travel, and getting them settled back home. If they want a full hour of exercise then they lose the discount.

Group walk dogs pay for an hour of exercise. Travel time and clean-up is on top.

We pay £13.50 for a walk. How long he is out depends on who else has to be collected and where they decide to walk. The walk is 1hr but he is usually with her 90 min to 2 hrs.

I pay £14 for an hours walk. DDog usually goes out at about 8.30/9 and gets back between 12 and 1, so it's 1 hour walk + van time.

My dogwalkers give the dogs a full hour's exercise. They can be out up to 2 hours from pick-up to drop off, depending on how far they go. The hour starts when they get to their destination.

My pal was just saying this morning that her dog walker goes round in the van picking up dogs, they all get the hours walk outside the van in the private hire dog park or on leads, meanwhile the others are tied or caged in the van together.
then they all come back dropped off one by one.

So the first pickup is out its house for about four hours with one hour walk.

The last pickup is out its house ie in the same van for about 1 hour 20 mins to get an hour of walks.

they all pay the same rate for one hours actual walk.

I’m a dog walker and I charge £12 for an hours walk (may need to up my prices!). I don’t include pick up and drop offs in the time so all my dogs get an hour actual walking/playing/swimming.

You should definitely discuss your expectations with your dog walker. I think if you’re paying for an hour walk that is what you should be getting. Although I have seen dog walker in my area arrive at a field walk round once and then get all the dogs back in the van. I think they’re taking the piss must have been about 15 mins.

I am in agreement with pp’s. My dog walker charges £12 per hour and we are last to pick up as nearest the woods. My dog is generally away 80-90 minutes and comes back tired & mucky. Some days it’s longer it she charges the same. My dogs love her.

My last dog walker had my dog out for about 90 minutes for a 60 minute walk.

Our dog walker who is amazing has been taking our girl for over 6 years now, for £12 an "hour" but it's closer to 2.5h door to door so the dogs definitely get the full our out running off the lead, then a snooze in the van. She loves it! 50-60 mins door to door for £15 is chancing it!

When we had a dog walker the dogs got a full hour walk or social play. They were out for at least 1.5, sometimes 2, hours depending on where the other dogs were being picked up from.

Yeah I increasingly feel like my dog walker is being a CF. He has walked the dog 30 minutes door to door several times because of a) having a cold b) the dog getting growly at another dog c) his dog needing to see the vets, all in the past few weeks.

sometimes he texts me these excuses. But I don’t think he’s clocked we have a ring camera so know the walks are 50-60 minutes door to door.

so I’m paying £15 upfront for walks that aren’t always happening and if they do I literally think it’s 20/30 minutes actual walk and the rest travel/other dog pick ups.

should I say something or just get a new walker? I don’t like confrontation.

There is no way I would trust him now, that’s obviously just the way he operates. Find a new walker.

No he's full of shit ditch him and get someone who will actually walk your dog for an hour, especially if you have a big dog. A big dog needs a full hour (at least).

I pay £15 an hour for "a walk and a half" and he's gone about two hours. He's actually walked for about 1.5hrs-ish and the 15 mins either end is pick up and drop off, he's walked in a group.

We pay £13 for an hour. She either walks him from our hour and is gone 50-60 minutes or drives to get other dogs and is gone around 90 min.