Dog walker- am I being unreasonable?

[brownbear201]

I have genuinely no idea if I’m being unreasonable or not so thought I would ask before I have a word with the dog walker!

On the days I’m in the office I have a dog walker pop in for half an hour at lunchtime. I pay £15 for half an hour. I recently had a ring camera put in so I could keep an eye on the dogs whilst I’m out. I watched the dog walker turn up yesterday out of curiosity. She arrived at 11:50, took the dogs out at 11:54 and returned at 12:14 and left. So 25 minutes in total and 20 minutes walking the dogs.

Is this normal? If so, I don’t mind but I thought it was a full 30 minute walk and now I’m wondering if it’d be cheaper to just get a drop in for twenty minutes as the dogs aren’t going to be getting much out of a 20 minute walk!

thanks :)

Well you're paying for 30 minutes. So if she actually walked the dogs for the full 30 minutes, who's paying her for the 5 minutes either side to get into the house and leash/unleash the dogs? I think it's perfectly reasonable.

I'd be expecting her to be utilising the full 30 minutes but I would expect that to include the coming into the house, getting the lead on and the return. Aka I'd expect a ~25 minute walk and ~2.5 minutes either side for getting in and getting out.

£15 for 30 mins (£30 p/h) is a generous rate, especially to not even be getting the full use of her time.

For me, the trust would be gone and I'd feel I was being taken advantage of, but I am quite a 'one and done' type person. I'd probably start looking for a replacement service or as you say, come up with a different plan altogether. When cancelling, I'd let them know exactly why.

Minimally, you should have a word with them to let them know your expectations/ask for clarification on the service/time slot you're paying for.

It depends on your contract.

For household visits or solo walks, I charge by time and my timer starts when I put the key in the door and ends when I lock up again afterwards.

For group walks, which are cheaper, the time starts when we leave the car and stops when we arrive back. Travel etc. isn't included.

Did she specify a half hour walk or was it half an hour of her time?

It’s standard for the time to include pick up and drop off unless they specify otherwise. did you discuss this during the meet and greet when you did t&cs?

£15 for what you’re describing is very expensive though. I would shop around if you can. But I also think you need to consider what the purpose of the visit is though. Is it just a quick visit for them to go out for a wee, or is it a proper walk for them? If it’s one of their main walks of the day then you should look into upping it to 1 hour but if it’s for a quick wee then 30 mins is fine.

As an example, I pay £15 for a 45 minute group walk and pick up/drop off are done outside of this time so it’s a full 45 minute forest walk for her, off lead with max 5 other dogs. I’m in Hertfordshire so a pricey area and that is the normal price for a walk. Some are more expensive and some cheaper for less time.

Thanks all. I’m not too fussed about the length of the walk in and of itself- I don’t really count the dog walker exercise in the minimum exercise I give them and I’m not out for that long so its more of a toilet break. I just thought £15 was a bit steep to be in and out of my house within 25 minutes!

That’s a lot for 30 minutes imvho. However aside from that, 30 minutes should include everything. The dog walker I know does 90 minute walks, is paid for them and 15/20 minutes of that is taken up by driving to and from a decent area to walk them as where they are is very built up. She had a client moan and say that it should be a 90 minute walk excluding travel time, which presumably she expects her to fund herself. Basically if all clients expect that she’d be driving a couple of hours a day where she isn’t earning a penny! 30 minutes for the whole thing including prep for walk, walk, return and any clean up is standard.

I wouldn’t be overjoyed about that. My dog walker charges for an hour walk but with travel and pick up is actually out for much longer.

Yeah I’d be shopping around. I pay £15 for an hour walk, it takes all of a minute to put the harness on and then remove it again when finished.

I'd keep a watching brief and see whether this is a regular thing or whether she's occasionally a bit short with time. She may have had a 'difficult' client before you and she's trying to make up time. Fine for a one off, not fine if it's persistent.

Sounds like a lot of money for 20 or even 30 mins walk.

I'd get someone else.

I'm a dog walker and like @biscuitsandbooks the visit starts when I unlock the front door and finishes when I lock it. Depending on the dog and the time of year, depends on how long is spent in the house either side of the walk. A dog that has free rein of the house and whose lead hangs by the door, during the summer when no mud everywhere, I can literally be in, clip the lead on and out in 30 seconds and the same doing it in reverse. In winter, when it's raining and muddy I might have to go into the house, get the dog out of the crate and when I come back, coat type dependent, it might take me a few minutes to dry the dog off and then return them to the crate.

Our dog walker is £13 ph for a 45 min walk plus 15min collecting/dropping off. If she's driving them she's out longer.

I charge £15 per hour not including pick up and drop off, so the dogs get an hour. Occasionally, it is a few minutes under, but more often is a few minutes over. A one hour walk usually takes me two hours when taking into account pickup and drop-off times.