Career change - Dog walking

I worked with a guy who used a dog walker and when he told me now much he was paying I was shocked, it was more per day than I pay for child care. So I reckon there is money to be made if done properly.

From what I remember it sounded like the walker loaded all the dogs in a van and took them to a large enclosed field and then let them run around like crazies.
 
CLAWS said:
But then I've come across some dogs that just wont listen and I've seen their owners struggle with them.
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I've known many dog owners struggle, only to meet the guy who does our local training classes and see that their dog does listen... It's just the owner that needs to speak the right language and convince the dog they mean it.

That's the key, IMO. You need to be good with dogs in general, in that kind of way. You want them responding first time, every time, whether they're chasing rabbits, sniffing a hedge or especially having a crack at each other... and without any stupid Caesar Milan style tricks. ;)

CLAWS said:
but that if I wanted to I could go away and learn more about different breeds of dogs to increase my understanding of their needs and personalities.
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Good starting point, perhaps, but don't rely on it.
Those are only guidelines and even then more for Breed Standard showdogs. My three are fairly pure-breed of their various kinds (Border Collie, Welsh Collie, Black Working Lab), but in no way typical of personality, especially the Border Collie.

Without meaning to sound like I'm accusing you of 'doggie-racism', judge by the dog itself not by the breed and get to know them individually. We always swore we'd not get a Collie because of how mad the breed is always described - We ended up with two of them!
 
friend of ours does this, and makes some serious coin out of it.

doggy day care is another one way of making silly cash

bear in mind this is Glasgow,
http://www.dogdaysglasgow.co.uk/dog-day-care/prices/


£23 a day for doggy day care, multiply by 20-30 at a minimum dogs plus any extras you can work in over and above that,
https://www.facebook.com/pg/dogdaysglasgow/videos/

how many £23s a day do you see running about in those videos?

overheads
rent
building costs
maintenance
staff
insurance
advertising


dog walking seems to be £15-20 a walk round here, friend of ours does this and normally scoots round 2/3 runs a day with between 5 and 6 dogs per run

overheads,

decent sized van
insurance
advertising etc.


if your really keen on doing it I would suggest getting involved with some of the rescues and rescue centres locally and walk some of their dogs gratis, i'm sure they'd happily recommend you to potential new owners
as their experienced dog walker. facebook groups are always another good source of potential clients and just remember people love seeing pics of their dogs out supposedly enjoying themselves, get the videos uploaded
 
My dog walker is good. She charges £10 per dog for a full one hour (travel is not included in the hour walk/run/swim). She normally has between 4-7 dogs at any one time and does 5 walks per day. Early am, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea and evening during the summer or lighter months. She has them stay at her house for £10 per night that includes 2 walks, morning and afternoon. I use her now for stay over whilst we go on holiday.

I would imagine all she forks out for is insurance, tax at the end of the year and car insurance as it will be used for business. Any food is supplied by the owner if staying over. Advertises on FB and has a basic land page on website with details and she is fully booked most of the time.

Good business if you ask me.
 
Garage + treadmills + dog treat on rope = $$$ :D

People may scoff but the simplest of things can be great money earners. Just buy plenty of dog poo bags, perhaps offer a postal service for owners with enemies :o
 
I quit architecture and began a zebra balancing business. It's hard work but really rewarding when you finally get one to stay up on the pole.
 
My wife did this before opening one of those indoor dog day care places.

She got friendly with a couple local dog walkers who were full and got referrals from them, a lot of it is word of mouth so if you can get one or 2 then you can grow quite quickly. Set up a facebook page too and take pictures of your dog walks so people know the dogs are being looked after.

Also since you'll need a van get some vinyl stickers to help you advertise. It'll help a lot.

The one my wife had is in the background on this article

http://www.chorley-guardian.co.uk/news/pooch-pamper-plans-far-from-barking-mad-1-6997816
 
Did you ever make this happen? I'm struggling with a job I don't enjoy, stuck behind a desk, doing thankless tasks and crave to be outdoors. I love walking my dog, in all weathers, and I find it really helps my mental health. So I'm thinking of what I can turn my hand to and this is high on the list.
 
My wife and I have been discussing this over the last few days and the more we do, the more we think this could be good for us: Flexibility, freedom, outdoors, dogs!

I have an old friend that started dog walking three years ago and I've been chatting with her. She was a teacher, but now loves her new career. We also know a dog walker locally (met whilst walking the dog) and one through our dog showing (not local). So I've got places to go for advice and maybe even a business relationship?

I want to make this work, so I may well be coming to the good folk here on OCUK for your business acumen, input and advice. :D
 
BadMojo said:
Did you ever make this happen? I'm struggling with a job I don't enjoy, stuck behind a desk, doing thankless tasks and crave to be outdoors. I love walking my dog, in all weathers, and I find it really helps my mental health. So I'm thinking of what I can turn my hand to and this is high on the list.
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Try Rover too

My mate is signed up for dog sitting/walking and is quite often busy and it pays fairly well for what is a pretty easy thing!
 
I imagine it would be much harder work than you think.

I'll take my dog for 2 miles a day, twice a day and longer in the summer when the mornings are light but when the weather is hammering down and freezing, it's not fun. I also know what he's like around other dogs, children, runners and cyclists etc whereas if I was walking 5 or 6 dogs at a time and one of them shot toward a child/runner/cyclist/dog I imagine it would get stressful.

I like to walk but the thought of constantly walking with dogs all day would get old quickly.
 
Of course reality will no doubt be different, but I'm under no illusion - it'll be hard work in its own way. I walk my own dog rain or shine. Rain, wind, hail, don't bother me - I have lots of outdoor clothing and quite like the feeling of being warm and dry when mother nature is throwing some rubbish weather at you. In fact, my dog has shown signs of 'wtf?' before I have! :D

The local limit around here is 6, but I don't expect to be near that for some time. 2 or 3 I imagine to start with, until word of mouth kicks in and my experience levels increase. Speaking with a few dog walkers we know, they've shared what they do with new clients: trial their dogs for a few weeks and if they show signs of being too unruly, or high maintenance, etc, then just ditch 'em! There will be other customers...

I've approached work about working part time and their response has been encouraging. They're actually recruiting (externally) for a part time person, so I could take that and then they'd maybe be able to advertise a full time role instead; details yet to be discussed. That would leave me free to slowly start the business and build up a customer base, but still have guaranteed money coming in. Then when things get better, give my 3 months notice.
 
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