Hi guys

I have been asked by a few local people if i would take their dogs for walks as they are at work.  Ive never thought of this before and wondered if anyone does this as a full time job?  What sorts of prices do people charge and do you need any special qualifications or insurances etc?

Dog walking insurance is strongly advised as are police disclosures, after all you are going into people's empty houses to collect their dogs.     You have to be prepared to be asked to walk at short notice, walks cancelled at short notice, go out in all weathers, have to put up with some odd owners etc.  You would be advised to get a suitable vehicle to transport them in as your own car will get mucky very quickly. 

Prices vary as to single walks or group walks and how long you want to walk them for also what area of the country you are in.     Where I live, it seems to be one of the cheapest areas of the UK. Even in Fife, just across the Tay, they are charging at least £2 more per hour per dog.

Hi,

I have a dog walker who charges £8 per hour, he walks with no more than 4 dogs at a time.

I didn't have him checked out as he was recommended by a friend and he has all his clients from word of mouth..maybe we are just lucky with him and i dont have a problem with him coming into my house when im not here.

He doesnt use his car to transport as we live in a small village so walking distances arent long.

Anyhow...go for it would be my advise and i hope it will be a great success for you :)

Annee

Same as annee - go for it!  :-)

If you've been approached anyway, it would be those people who recommended you on to others, and your business could grow well. 

Hi Thompson1
My very good friend is a dog walker (and horse sitter).  She's just been doing it a year and is cranking up her prices every so often to try and put people off using her lol!  A good dog walker is hard to find and you sound like you would be a good one so I would certainly recommend it.  If you like I can PM you her web details?  It has pricing etc on it.  Insurance is certainly a must.

I was considering doing this a while back too.

I got a few insurance quotes which were around £80 - £100 for the year and covered things like losing someone's keys. I also spoke to the local dog warden about it. He said that they've had a few problems with people setting up a dog walking business, turning up at the local country park, and setting lose around 10 dogs from the back of the van. Obviously they aren't too keen on this happening. There is one particular lady I've met walking a few times who walks as many as 15 at once!  He recommended that if I wanted to just earn a bit of extra cash to insist that the owners arrange their own insurance and only walk 1 or 2 dogs at a time. I didn't look into that possibilty so I don't know if that could work. He also said to be aware that some people with unruly dogs or dogs with behaviour problems employ dog walkers so they can avoid training etc. themselves, so to be prepared to say no to walking any dog I wasn't comfortable with.

The reason I didn't go ahead with it was transport. My car isn't really ideal for transporting dogs and it worked out very expensive to have crates fitted. I suppose if you're walking dogs from their own home you wouldn't need transport.

Good luck :-)

> He recommended that if I wanted to just earn a bit of extra cash to insist that the owners arrange their own insurance and only walk 1 or 2 dogs at a time. I didn't look into that possibilty so I don't know if that could work.

Dog walking insurance is totally recommended, don't rely on dogs own insurance it doesn't cover you the same as dog walking insurance does.  

> Dog walking insurance is totally recommended, don't rely on dogs own insurance it doesn't cover you the same as dog walking insurance does.

I must admit, I didn't like the idea of doing it without proper insurance, as a dog owner's insurance wouldn't cover things like losing house keys, or even losing the dog itself

I also think it's a bit of a cheek asking the dog owners to insure their dogs and then to pay you for the privilege of walking them!

That's true! :-D

> There is one particular lady I've met walking a few times who walks as many as 15 at once!

How can anyone keep an eye on all those dogs at one time?!! Crazy and asking for trouble if you ask me.