Professional dog walker: PROS
Don’t get us wrong; we don’t want to completely turn you off your chosen career, so let’s start with the positive side of being a dog walker.
Flexibility — Okay, so a dog walker will have to adhere to appointment times and you may be expected to start early in the morning. However, the job is not as rigid as an office-based nine-to-five role.
Plus, if you plan to expand your business and take on other dog walkers you can always off-load the early starts to your employees!
No office politics & drama — Surely no one can be bothered with office politics? Four-legged doggy clients are much easier to handle (and more pleasant) than humans.
Of course, it’s mighty difficult to prevent ALL possibility of drama. For example, the dog you’re walking might get into a fight with another dog. It might have an unusual behavioural change or it might break free of its lead and run away. In general though, drama is fairly minimal for professional dog walkers. Phew!
Photo by Matt Nelson on Unsplash
Enjoyable exercise — Forget hitting the gym at six o’clock in the evening when every other man and his dog are there; as a dog walker, daily exercise is part and parcel of the job. Bonus!
Furry friends — Being a professional dog walker you get to meet lots of canine chums. Plus, aside from your doggy clients, you’ll get to meet other dogs while out and about on your dog walking route.
Independence — Running your own dog walking business can be great, providing you set boundaries from the very start. You have the independence to set your own rates, specify what days you’re available (although turning clients away on days you’re not available can be tricky) and set down your rules.
New friends — Aside from the fantastic fur friends you’ll make, if you’re lucky you’ll also meet some great humans too. Be it the pets’ owners, people in your local community or other dog walkers, being a dog walker can be really sociable and lead to some awesome friendships.
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12. You might not agree with how your clients take care of their dogs, but thats business. We have some clients that have a lot of money and we always joke that they want the benefits of owning a dog without doing any of the actual work of having it. We have clients who are home every time their dog is walked, they just didnt want to walk their dog. As a dog owner myself, I like walking my dog and spending time with him, so Im like, “Why dont you want to walk your dog, its a beautiful day?” But then again, its my business so its like, “Absolutely we will walk your dog today, we are happy to do it.”
8. Even if youre prepared for it, bad weather is the worst part of this job. Days when its 100 degrees outside and the pavement is really hot, its hard to make sure the dogs little pads on their feet arent getting burnt on the cement. And on the super-cold days, little dogs especially dont like to be outside. If its snowing, not only do we have to deal with the dogs getting wet from the snow, but the streets get really mucky and dirty, so their little paws are all covered in muck and it gets on their bellies, so you have to rinse or towel them off completely. You definitely have to be equipped for the elements. I dont use an umbrella because its hard to juggle a dog and an umbrella, and if you have to pick up poop, youve got a poop bag in the mix too. So I have a weatherproof coat and weatherproof pants, and I literally look like a trash bag. But it keeps me warm and dry, and I can go from walk to walk and not have to worry about carrying an umbrella.
4. Even if you dont have a ton of clients in the beginning, its still super important to treat yourself like a real business and get liabilities covered. My co-founder and I got business insurance pretty much right off the bat. Its so important to do that because you never know whats going to happen. You could be walking the dog with a harness that wasnt fitted properly, and the dog could slip the harness and get hit by a car. There are just constant things that could come your way that youre not prepared for. Its important to know what your insurance actually covers. You could have business insurance that covers all incidents that happen on leash but might not cover if the dog gets into a fight in the dog park.
Stacia Anderson is the co-founder of a dog walking business, RuffCity, in New York City.
9. You will get attached to the dogs you walk and it will break your heart when you dont see them anymore. Its always really devastating when your favorite clients and their dogs move out of the city, which actually happens a lot. Its really, really sad to lose some of your favorite clients, but there are always new ones. And the nice thing is that we have such great relationships with the human clients that theyll still send us updates about the dog. One of my favorite clients moved to Westchester and they still send me pictures of the dog with their 2-year-old.
What Nobody Tells You About Dog Walking
Dog Walking is a good job if you love dogs and enjoy spending time outdoors. Your workday will take you on walks around neighborhoods and to dog parks. Dog walking is excellent exercise—you’ll be moving as much as the dogs—and holding multiple dogs of various sizes on leashes will give your arms and shoulders a workout. As a Dog Walker, you get to decide how many dogs you’ll walk at once and what times you are available to walk dogs.