I was just wondering with the main group walks that you do what are your key working hours in which clients want their dogs walked.

I'm in the process of getting a business together myself and while I'll have various different aspects to my business this is one question I'd like answered.

Do clients prefer mornings, lunch time or afternoons?

Thanks

I don't do group walks, but the individual dogs I do prefer lunchtime walks. I do pet visits as well and they also prefer the middle of the day which can be problematic as there are not enough hours available.

This is what i was wondering as it's slap bang in the middle of a day if people work 9-5.
Just trying to adjust a work pattern in my current job around this business.. I could do some mornings possibly finishing at 1pm, but would people want their dogs walked at 2pm? Too late?

I tend to have customers between 12-ish and 2-ish. I groom in the mornings, visit and walk lunchtime/early afternoon.

Not currently a professional dog walker, but have worked for dog walkers and doggy daycares in the past. The answer is that it depends on the client. If the client is a working professional who needs the dog walked while they are at work, then it will usually be lunch time. If the client is on holiday and wants the dog walked but has someone else coming to do the feedings, it's likely to be lunch time during the autumn/winter months but in the summer time many clients prefer an early morning or late night walk due to the heat.

I will be doing what each individual client asks for so yes I will have to wait and see. I'm happy to very early and very late walks too.

I find that we have a good spread but the earliest people tend to want is 10am, the latest about 3pm. We also do visits of an evening (sometimes as late as 11pm) for people that go away overnight and leave their dogs at home, visiting again in the morning to replicate their bed/wake-up time. x

Thanks Josh... I'm going to be offering something similar with times, actually offering 24/7 walks..

Our 'basic' packages (I say basic as we never say no to anything) are:

1hr walk
30 min puppy/elderly dog pop-in
House sitting- staying in the dog's own home and replicating their routine, whilst owners are on holiday or whatever
Dog minding- again, in dog's own home but sometimes people just want an hour or two whilst they're at work but enjoy walking their dog so don't want us to do that for us.

It all depends on the time of year as this time of year I would expect earlier morning walks rather than during the day as never walk my lot in the daytime during hot weather. During the winter again later on in the day so they come back and the heating normally kicks on so they dry off in the warm .

In order to run a business and support yourself you can't be so restricted as you have to fit in enough in a day to cover costs. That's not to say you can't walk them safely taking the heat into account, but we go to cool streams and shaded, shorter routes.

Wish you were in my area Josh as might need to consider other dogsitting plans next year, current friend who has 2 of them is cutting down drastically on her client base, though she did say she knows mine are ok so might have them occasionally.