Professional Dog Walker

A

Audrey

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I have notions (hopes/dreams) of earning a living by dog-walking. I adore dogs (all animals) and love walking them. I can't just give up my job to walk dogs though, hence the "professional" in the title. Does anybody have any idea whether I would have a hope in hell of making any sort of a living doing this. You are just my first port of call, and I will of course do some research in this regard, but if you have ideas I'd be grateful. For example, do any of you know of someone already doing this and, if so, is it proving successful (or otherwise) for them? Any ideas welcome please. Ta.
 
Let's say you want to make 30k per year, working 20 hours a week with 2 weeks off. (4 hours a day is a lot of walking - adjust if necessary!) That's 1,000 hours, so you'll be looking to make €30 per hour. Now I'd say that's a lot of money for walking a dog, even if split among 2 or 3 owners. And you'll be wrecked...
 
I remember watching an episode of Show Me The Money which featured a dog-sitter whom seemed to do ok for herself. Maybe you could look into that rather than just the dog-walking.
When I was a teenager our dog went to doggy daycare with about 5 - 6 other dogs and this provided sufficent income for the lady running it (but things were cheaper then!).
 
Greyhound walking was (perhaps still is) a steady source of extra income for people in the west and south of the country.

When we were children we were told that if we did not do well in school that we would end up walking dogs!

A google search for throws up a handfull of hits but none in Ireland.

If you are interested in setting up such a business (rather that getting a job with someone else as a dog walker) have a look at the [broken link removed] section where you will find some information on business plans and starting up your own business.

Good Luck!

aj
 
I know someone who walks dogs for a living. She does three hour long walks a day, plus the time it takes to collect and drop back dogs. She charges approx €15 a walk, per dog and the maximum dogs she can take is 4 at a time.

Do bear in mind that depending on where you live it can be difficult to find places to walk dogs where they are legally allowed off their leads. I also remember her mentioning some problem with insurance, but I don't know the details.

It would be worth your while checking what services are already available in your area. As far as I know the two best well known walking services are Houndabout and Walkies.
 
This is interesting from [broken link removed]

[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA][broken link removed] what a wonderful business name!

It looks like these people animal adventures.ie in the Dublin area are hiring at present.
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Thanks everybody. I've been busy googling since and have found 'packs' of stuff - thanks again.
A
 
Thank you to all who gave advice. Update: I have made contact with a host of people (through googling) who do the same thing and have been able to advise me greatly. I am now setting out on the path of part-time (weekends/evenings) dog walking and home visits in the Dublin area!! Some day (if dreams come true) I'll be able to do it on a full-time basis.

Thanks again everybody.

A
 
Audrey, You CAN do this and you CAN make a living out of it. It's just a matter of adding other services. You don't just provide dogwalking services but also dogsitting services when the owner has to go away. You can do catsitting and even guineapig and budgie sitting! Once you start you will find more and more ideas coming to you! Go for it!
 
Murt10 said:
If your going on holidays you need someone (responsible) to look after your pet. You feel guilty enoughleaving them no matter how well cared for they are
Click to expand...
Absolutely Murt!
Why is that so difficult for some people to understand? Let me explain it in a way that even a child would understand.

If person has animal living in person's home, person clearly wants animal living in person's home (unless person has been physically forced to take animal into person's home, which is unlikely!).

If person wants animal enough to have animal live in person's home, person likes (even loves) and cares about animal very much.

If person cares very much about animal, person wants animal to be happy and well cared for even when person cannot be there to do the caring.
 
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