Who has a dog walker?

Ranyhyn

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*please only answer if you pay someone unknown to you!*

Does anyone here pay someone, an individual or agency type thing, to walk their dogs?

How does it work? What do you pay? Do they have keys to your house??

Kitty :D
 

Marquire

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*please only answer if you pay someone unknown to you!*

Does anyone here pay someone, an individual or agency type thing, to walk their dogs?

How does it work? What do you pay? Do they have keys to your house??

Kitty :D

I have a dog walker for Holly Pops. I found her via the t'internet as I was moving to an new area and didn't know anyone to get a recommendation from. I arranged to meet her at my house, she supplied references and a police check and I made sure Holly liked her. I followed up her references (which where other people in the area who's dogs she walked) and they gave her a glowing report.

It has worked out great- she charges me £10 for an hour's exercise- off lead- and she has a key to my house. We have a formal contract which details the dos and don't such as where she keeps my house key.

Hope this is of some help.

Marquire
 

CAYLA

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From the other side:p
OH walks dogs, we just got back from walking the pack (some days I join him, esp when he has them all):rolleyes:

He has keys to every house and only steps in the front door as the dogs are ready and waiting to go:D, he has inuance for loss of keys, full liability for dogs.
He collects, he takes them on a walk route or to the large farmers field where he walsk around an he plays ball/frizby for 1 hour and then returns them filthy and paggered:D
In the summer he goes down to the river and has them swim for the hour.
Depending on the how far away each client lives the price varies.

The ones on the door step £8 per hour
The ones a little drive away £9 per hour and half for second dog

OH was recommended by vets, a few I took on to train as pups and they then asked for a day creche type service (as I board) it was easier for OH to start a dog walking round, he had just had spinal surgery and had to pack his job in.
A few of the dogs where boarders who asked for the walking service too.:D
 

Ranyhyn

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oh my word - thats far too expensive for me then, thats circa 200 a month for my dogs to be walked, no way I can do that! Back to the drawing board! :) xx
 

prosefullstop

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I have a walker for Stella and Prince. The walker comes via a dog trainer who employs a dozen walkers that cover different areas of NYC. She either takes my dogs to the dog park, or to Central Park for an hour's running around, or an hour's heeling-type walk, a la Cesar Milan. The variety is nice, as it keeps my dogs on their toes.

It is expensive, but my circumstances have changed since I got Stella eight years ago, when I worked at home pretty much all the time. My circumstances will change again in August, once I've had a baby, so we'll probably up the walker to 2x a day for a couple of months to ensure a smooth transition.

Don't be dissuaded by the price. Maybe there are responsible teens in your area who'd walk the dog for less, or some walkers charge less when they do group rather than individual walks.
 

TED2010

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I use some local pet sitters, they charge £10 per hour and an extra £2.50 per dog so £12.50 a day for my two for an hours run. They are quite often out for longer though because they take them up on the moor sometimes and all over the place. They have a key to the house and are fully insured. I filled out a form with vet details and any special needs the dogs had or quirks. There are only two or three different ladies that ever walk them on different days of the week and they always seem very happy and well cared for. They go out with other dogs and socialise and have lots of fun playing! It does cost a small fortune most months and I take them with me whenever I am not working in the office but expensive months can be about £250 which is horrendous. I walk them for an hour before and after work and wouldn't be without them, they are very happy!
 

CAYLA

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oh my word - thats far too expensive for me then, thats circa 200 a month for my dogs to be walked, no way I can do that! Back to the drawing board! :) xx

2 of our clients bills are never below £250 a month.:eek::D they are bladdy big dogs, 2 akitas in one family and 2 weims in another. The weims board aswell when the owners are on business trips their bills in total can go beyond £300 a month.
There is a young lad near us who started walking 2 dogs for a bit of extra money and he chages £7 for 2 dogs (he does get the bus to his desination) something we cannot do with 8+ dogs:D, but he was not insured (I have spoken to him re insurance now) but you may get it cheaper for someone wanting to make a few bob rather than someone who does it large scale as a business.
 

Ranyhyn

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Yeah for me, there's no way I could afford 200 a month, I'd have to get another part time job to do that - and that'd just leave the dogs on their own for longer! Will have a look in local petshops and see if there's someone who will do it for around 20 a week..
 

BBH

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I have a walker for my dog and she is fabulous. She was recommended by a good friend whose judgment I trust. My dog is my surrogate child and I absolutely won't leave her with anyone unknown.

I pay for a couple of walks a week whilst i'm busy and she also goes for sleepovers and day creche if i'm out for the day. It is a lovely set up and she comes out with a big smile on her face. The walker collects her from home , I leave the key under the door mat.

She is fully insured and professional, with contracts and all sorts. She is always busy and I have to book in as early as I can for known sleepovers / day creche.

The bill depends on how much we have but walks are £10 and stays £20 I think, don't take a lot of notice tbh. It'll obviously be more if I go away. Reduced now cos my other dog died :(
 

lexiedhb

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A woman I used to know from my working in the pub days had an elderly Bassett who in his old age did not like to be left alone, so she had doggie day care..... it cost her £25 PER DAY- then again she always did have more money than sense.......

I am SOOOOOOOO setting up doggie day care when I have my barn conversion----- sometime in the next Millennium then!!!
 

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite

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I needed someone a few weeks ago when I was out competing for the day and the only person who could look after doggies was elderly mum!!! Who can't walk them, only "babysit" for them. So needed someone who would take them out for a piddle and runaround in the middle of the day.

Went on the internet and saw that there was a name given - part of a national franchise; which covered my home town, so I rang the number given and was responded to promptly.

The person came out, met me, met the dawgs, and I showed her where she could walk them. One dog is rather nervous as she was a rescue, other one would sell his soul for a treat.

Then on the day, she came in when she said she would, took dogs out for an hour, and returned them duly panting and pasted. Job done. Total cost for the two was £14 - a tad expensive but I had no other option.

Both dogs were happy to go with her for their walkies, so yes, I'd use the service again if needed.
 

Luci07

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I have a dog walker in 3 x in the week and she costs me £10 for the first dog and £8 for the second. If I need someone in the evening, I will pay one of the girls from the yard to come in and dogsit for a couple of hours and pay her £15 - just so the dogs aren't left from walk at lunchtime to late evening. My dog walker is great, reliable, is insured and my older staffie bitch loves her to bits. Unfortunately my younger dog won't always go out with her but that is because he suffers from elbow displaysia so is only happy to go out when he knows he is near a car (i.e yard)
 

CazD

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Could you try asking a neighbour or someone local who has a dog if they would walk your dog? I know one of my friends takes a neighbours dog running as she doesnt like it being left alone all day while they work. My father walks his dog three times a dog and often takes a friend's dog too when they are working shifts.
 

Starbucks

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Haven't got one now but had one up to about 2/3 months ago - she was brill!!! Was a bit sad to let her go TBH!!! She charged £5.50 to come and take my two out at about lunch time, she had a key and let herself in. Would feed or whatever free of charge and always left me a note saying if they'd been ok etc. She NEVER let me down in over a year! :)
 

Skippys Mum

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My friend is a dog walker (Ayrshire area). She is fully insured and takes 3 or 4 dogs at a time for half hour walks. She charges £5 per walk with a reduction for multi pet households.
 

poorchickens

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£10 for one dog and £15 for both. They're gone for a couple of hours and are shattered for the rest of the day. Day care is £20 each. They're gone from 8.30am until 6pm, are cooked for (eat better than me, think scrambled eggs with smoked salmon!?) and come home clean and tired. Sometimes they stay overnight and Elvis will sleep in the walkers bed between her and her husband :eek: I'd love to do that job!
 

smiffyimp

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I did have a dog walker from an agency and the individual was terrible, lost my dog, untrained them let then jump up all over, pull the walker all over - nightmare!!!!:mad: Now i'm not saying ther're all like this, im quite sure they arent but PLEASE vet the person well. I thought I had, but obviously not and just to say, my dogs are good dogs, not perfect, but good. They were asked to come between 12-2 to walk the dogs - i found strangers in my house at 4pm one day - a young girl who was covering whislt she was on holiday - pity she didnt inform me! Yes my house keys handed out to a complete stranger! 4pm - we'd been out of the house since 7am that morning, thankfully my husband got home early (not 6pm). When she lost my dog - she left him to get to a telephone to call me - I was 200 miles away! (Im a rep and she knew this) what was I supposed to do - again hubby to the rescue! Went back to the park with a whistle and blew it....guess who was found??! My best walker now is a friend in the village who does exactly what I ask and looks after my dogs - £5 a visit, not usually an hour but near enough. Ps £10/hour is the norm, there or there abouts. Insurance is important, my friend obviously isnt but she just comes to the house and plays with them in the garden for half an hour or so which suits us fine.
 
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