Dog walking and agreements

[dogwal]

So, I have a dog walker, I pay her to walk our dog 1 hour every day, I also pay another 17% on top for travel time.

She picks the dog up at 9am returns her at 10am on the button, sometimes a few minutes earlier but never later. The drive to the walking area is close by, less than 5 minute drive each way, she doesn't vary the walk, it's always the same place. So the dog gets a 50 minute walk, I have never had the courage to actually mention I am paying for a 1 hour walk, and the travel time should not be included.

I am not often home when she drops the dog back, but a few times recently I have been home and the dog has been dropped back 50 minutes after being picked up, so a 40 minute walk. She probably didn't realise I was home today, so I messaged and asked was everything okay with the dog as she was dropped back earlier, she replied, yes, all fine, but never commented or acknowledged on the dropping home early mention that I made.

I don't really want to get rid of her, she is lovely and I don't want the hassle of finding a new dog walker now either. I don't know if she will be offended if I tell her that I want the dog to be walked for a full hour as that is what I am paying for.

Any diplomatic ways to say it, obviously being vague and hoping she gets the message is not working.

How would I word it?, or am I being unreasonable to expect the dog gets the full 1 hour walk?.

Edited to add, she herself lives about 5 minute drive from me.

I'd expect the 1hr to include travel time
Sometimes our walker will spend a portion of the time playing, and then a shorter walk for example. The clock starts when they enter your house and ends when they close the door imo. I'd expect time to put dog in crate, get water etc to be taken out the hour. I've never heard of any other dog walkers only starting the clock after they've driven somewhere different unless it's big pack walks

You can probably ask her to change up where she's walking if you have a specific reason

Is the travel time you're paying travel to your house?
What does your contract say?

Different dog walkers charge differently.

For me, the timer for a group walk starts when we reach the location and ends when we get back to the vehicle, so they get a full hour of exercise.

Solo or same household walks book an hour of my time - so that includes any travel time as well as cleaning and drying the dogs. If they want a full hour of exercise then they need to pay for a 90 minute slot in order for me to accommodate travel etc, otherwise it's just not profitable for me.

So I guess for me it depends what's in your written contract and what you agreed to when you signed your dog up.

YABU

Do you also expect her to stop the clock if she has to wait for your dog to shit in the grass?

My dog walker does an hour walk, picks up at 10.30, walk is 11-12, he gets dropped back off about 1 due to other drop offs.
£11.

But I'd expect the walk to be an hour personally.

my walkers have always done a full hours walk

My previous dog walkers walked for the full hour and often more, and always varied the walking location, but they walked a few dogs at the same time. This lady prefers to walk dogs singularly, although our dog would much prefer to be walking with a few other dogs.

There is no contract, she does it cash in hand and unofficially, she is not a professional dog walker.

I am not in the UK, I pay around £28 pounds plus £5 pounds travel.

So I guess I need to find someone who will walk for the full hour, which is my preference for the dog.

Gosh, why be so crude and aggressive. 🙄

If she's not a professional then you can hardly expect her to behave in a professional manner 🤷‍♀️

Not so easy to find professional and registered where I am unfortunately, the amazing one I had, only takes small dogs now and we have a retriever. The other official dog walking company I know off has terrible reviews, so won't be using them.

Anyway, the other dog walkers, who did it as a side business and unofficial, always did the full one hour walk, which is why I am a bit put out about the shorter walks, other than that she is kind and caring and really nice. I was very clear from the beginning that we wanted a 1 hour walk, which is what she used to do, but it's now trailed off to these shorter walks.

Thank you for the input, I do appreciate your perspective.

Next time you are home and she drops off early, I would go and speak to her... start a conversation on the lines oh, you are back early, I thought doggo gets an hour walk.... see what she comes up with.

It could be a simple misunderstanding and you get the hour from door to door.

The extra 17% could be for keeping the vehicle on the road, ... cheeky, but it's how she decided to run her business. Maybe she does walks around the neighbourhood without the extra 17%....

Speak to her directly and say you'd like her to give your dog a full hours walk in future, not 40 or 50 minutes.

She's probably relying on you being too uncomfortable to say anything but you've discovered that hinting is pointless so you have to tell her.

Also, start checking out Facebook ads for other walkers in the area.

I just think when you use someone who isn't a registered business or professional, you can't really expect them to behave as one.

There's a reason why professional walkers have insurance, signed contracts and detailed intake forms so that everyone is clear where they stand.

I agree with you somewhat, because up to this the unregistered one I used for several years until she moved, was absolutely totally professional and did everything by the book. But I do accept I have no recourse now that it's not going great with this one,, even though I am paying the same price I was paying to the registered and insured one who carried all those overheads.

I used to be a dog walker and time would start from when I collected dog to when I dropped them off for solo walks. But agree with what other people have said that without a contract it's not fair of you to expect anything that's not been formally agreed

Normally I'd expect an hour door to door, but if you're paying an additional charge for travel time I'd expect that to cover extra time with the walk itself being an hour.

I don't include travel time when walking. All my customers get a minimum of 1 hour, often more and in different locations. Fortunately, I have many choices so can offer a lot of variation, however I factor travel in so that the dog gets the relevant exercise / play time.

I am registered, insured, my vehicle has business insurance etc etc.

I could be wrong but I read that as travel time for the walker to get to the OP's address?

As your paying extra for the travel I would expect the walk to be for the hour or if they were expected to wipe dog down or check water & feed at home to include that. My walker would occasionally do hour more door to door if pushed for time but other days would be out much longer so it balanced out overall.

I think you could have bigger issues with this non-professional agreement, especailly if the dog is injured while in her care or causes an accident. If otherwise good best to speak to her and try to clarify things.

I feel like this is a fuss about nothing.

I used to have a dog walker for my previous dog. She would sometimes do less than an hour but I was just grateful to find someone who could walk the dog when I couldn’t, was nice to him and he loved her.

If your dog likes the dog walker I wouldn’t rock the boat. He’s still getting out and getting mental & physical stimulation. Walks don’t have to be 60minutes exactly.

This is exactly how I feel about mine! I trust her with my dog and I know my dog thinks she's fab. I think a bit of give and take is needed, for example the dog might have finished their walk and it's daft for your walker to eg have to sit in the car waiting til bang on the hour mark to bring them home. I'd be miffed if they were always dropping them back after say 30 mins when I'd paid for an hour, but a few minutes I'd let go especially as you never clarified whether driving to and from the walk counts within the hour. (For me a travel time payment would be to get to my house, not to get from my house to the walk location). If they're otherwise a great dog walker, your dog is happy and you haven't got any other options, I'd not rock the boat.

Actually she could walk from my house, park the car in our driveway and walk the dog on the leash for the first and last 5 minutes, she does the same walk everyday and there is no real need to take a car. 30 minutes walk before turning back for the final 30 minutes. it's what we do when we are taking her to that area for her walks. The dog walker doesnt start the walk at the entrance, she drives further up the trail before letting her out of the car. Anyway, nevermiind, because I do like her and I know she loves the dog and I trust her, its just one of those things that once you think about it, it begins to bug you, but I won't be making a big deal about it.

It would bug me too. Mine gets an hour's walk but he's out for 2 hours - but that includes the pick ups and drops off for all the dogs plus the drive to the area she's walking them that day. I pay £12 for that - she's great, fully insured and we have a contract. 40 minutes of a walk is taking the p imo - if the walking route is only 5 minutes away then she's getting away with a lot if she's doing that to everyone. If you don't want to raise it with her then fine, but I'd be tempted to have a quick chat along the lines of 'can I just check...'.