Instant dog walking service

[Karthick]

Hi All,

            As a dog owner like you all, i've sometimes had long days at work or had to come back home to catch up to some work and wondered if it would be nice for someone to walk my dog buzz on short request. Think something like uber or lyft for dog walking. If there was one, would you use it? Of course all the walkers in the service need to be verified, rated and even licensed based on the city etc and definitely not some random person. Please let me know if you would or not and would greatly appreciate it if you can give me reasons for either of those. 

-Karthick

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/profiles/blogs/instant-dog-walker#ixzz3...

[DJ & Chance]

I have sometimes used a dog walker when I have a long day at work and can't give Chance the exercise he needs.  I am very careful about who gets to do this and spend about an hour with the potential dog walker that includes an interview with specific questions I've prepared in advance, observation of how the person interacts with Chance, and observation of how the person handles Chance on a walk.

[Karthick]

Thanks for your feedback DJ! Would you trust a service that does such verification for you? For example all walkers with this service will be trained exactly the same and would have to be put through the same evaluation based on questions suggested from dog owners like you. Also, how about a first free initial session with such a service that you can feel out how these walkers are trained?

Appreciate your further feedback! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Personally, an evaluation where someone just answered questions would not be enough for me, especially to allow someone into my home in my absence. I would want a background check, and someone who was bonded or at least bondable. The company would also need to have liability insurance, so that type of employee evaluation would probably be required by the insurance company. 

I have looked at dog walking services in the past, and the cost was just too high for me, but I do understand the reasons why it has to be. The employee has to make a decent hourly wage or you couldn't attract trustworthy employees, the company owner has to pay the bills (insurance, taxes) and also make a profit. There are also costs associated with transportation: gasoline and travel time. It's hard for me to see how this type of business could be profitable unless you find steady regular weekly clients who could afford to pay a hefty hourly rate. Most of the dog walking services I know of are affiliated with dog training/daycare/boarding businesses, where there are other revenue sources besides the walking. 

All that said, if I were laid up and couldn't walk JD, I'd pay big bucks to have a reliable, trustworthy person who could do it for me. 

[DJ & Chance]

I get referrals from friends who are dog owner but do require a criminal background check, which I pay for.  Access to house in managed through a lock that allows me to program in an access code that works only on the date/time I specify.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Wow, what a great system. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I would love a short notice service where someone could let the dogs out, feed them and recreate them.

[Karthick]

Thanks for the feedback! How about access to the dogs when you are not around? I realize you can't  provide details here, but do you think that is something that can be managed? Appreciate your further feedback!

Thanks,

Karthick

[F, Calla & Luca]

I meant recrate them of course. My neighbor does this on occasion and I am so grateful. But of course she is not always available

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

F - I read your response quickly and initially thought that you wrote re-create, which made me laugh out loud!  

[Adina P]

I just assumed recreate = give them recreation :-)

[F, Calla & Luca]

Right, another good usage.

[Carol and Banjo]

Ditto.   I'd never used it in that context....but it made sense to me.