Not all of us have the benefit of being able to walk our dogs ourselves due to work etc but still love the old hounds, so I’m wondering if anyone on here use a dog walking service?

I’m just doing a bit of research and I’d be interested to hear your experiences and what makes a good/bad service. Anything you’d say puts you off using them or would make them better?

ensure ther have good public liability and theft insurance in case your dog bites someone or gets stolen runs off.

We have one and she’s great. Picks him up in her car along with up to 5 others. (Only ever 6 max) and takes them out for an hour. With pickup and drop off he’s out for 1:20 min up to maybe 2 hours+. He appears to love it, if I’m working from home he’s up and at the door soon as the car come around the corner. She also does some training with the dogs during the walk. We pay £12 for an hours walk. The pickup and drop off are a bonus.
We met up and had a chat before we employed her, and made sure we were happy with her and visa versa.

We have used a service as above. Worked well. Local company who knew what they were doing. I think its just a matter of meeting people from the company and having a chat. I think the main thing is that they ask LOADS about you and your dog.

My wife now minds other peopled dogs, this is similar to the above but not identical. Apart from Alfie the Beagle every dog goes home happy, fitter and thinner

The walker should also be CRB checked or whatever the equivalent is now if they are going to enter your house unaccompanied to collect the dog.
Everyone wants their dog to go out a lunchtime, this will rarely happen every day if your walker is popular. Ask for the dog to stay with them as they do the next group if it has an early walk as the driving about keeps them stimulated.

We used a couple over the course of our dog ownership before she passed earlier this year .

Both were great and the first one was replaced as she moved away.

Our dog ( Heidi ) wasn’t keen on other dogs so had solo walks , costing £10 per hour. Some walkers will do group walks too which is good to socialise your dog and generally is a little cheaper than a solo.

Have a mini interview with them first, write a list of questions down that you may want to know…we asked:

Are you insured? I’d want them to be insured.
Crb check?
If the dog walker is a ‘one man band’ do they have someone to cover if the walker is on holiday / sick?
See how the dog gets on with the walker(s)? If you can go on a familiarisation walk together, show them maybe your local walks , areas of interest.

Our dog walker would ask was she allowed treats / medical issues / vets details / emergency contact numbers.

You should be happy with who you choose…as well as giving them the keys and alarm code to your house ( consider changing this if you no longer use them ) you’re also letting them loose with an important family member!

The walker would also replenish her water after a walk and dry her off if muddy / wet. Some walkers like to use their own lead etc.

I couldn’t have asked for a better dog walker in Heidi’s last year. She was a absolute star and went the extra mile and fussed over Heidi which put us at ease. If anyone needs a dog walker in Stockport then give me a shout!

We pay £10 for an hour’s walk solo for Reilly as he doesn’t get on that well with other dogs.
He’s a mardy bigger, since he suffers from a fair bit of pain (back and hip problems) and she’s really good with him. Gives him the full hour walking if he’s up for it, or just as long as he wants but then sits with him for the rest of the time so he still gets the company.
We use the service max 3 times per week as my wife works 30hrs per week but in 10 hour shifts. Occasionally we use 2 walks or their dog sitting service if we can’t take him somewhere when we are going out for the day & the in laws can’t have him.
Ours has liability insurance, some sort of animal care course certificate from a local college too although I’m unsure of the validity of it.
Mainly she came across as really nice and a proper ‘doggy’ person when she came to see us before we chose the service. To be honest, she seemed to prefer to interact with the dog than with us, which suits me as that’s what she’s paid for.
She has bought an ex police dog van for transporting them, had a semi decent web page and submits proper invoices to me too. More effort to be a ‘proper’ business seems to me to be a good thing. 3 years in and no problems at all.

Find out where they’re walking the dogs, and if they clean up after them. Total pain in the neck for us, they turn up in a van at our park, unload half a dozen of them, let them empty themselves all over the park, and then load them back in the van to take back to their owners in posher neighbourhoods.

Like Ben this is my experience. If somebody has up to 6 dogs at once they don’t have them under control all the time, they don’t pick up after them all the time and doubt very much they have time to do much training. And if they’re charging £12 a dog I’m in the wrong business.

My sister lives a couple of streets away from you Bushwacked, she uses a local dog walking service quite often and has been very impressed.

I’ll find out the name and contact details.

Try the Tailster website – https://www.tailster.com/

I signed up with them as a walker for a brief time – all walkers are vetted (through the site) and Tailster provide the liability insurance. You can choose the walker and they’ll tell you if they do multiple or single dogs. (That’s if there is someone local to you, I think the site is in it’s infancy).

Find out where they’re walking the dogs, and if they clean up after them. Total pain in the neck for us, they turn up in a van at our park, unload half a dozen of them, let them empty themselves all over the park, and then load them back in the van to take back to their owners in posher neighbourhoods.

This.

There’s a right nutter of a woman that walks 8 or 9 at a time along my commute in summer, she runs at the same time, all lycra’d up so it’s fairly obvious that she doesn’t have one lead never mind 8 or 9. First time I saw her was on the path along past one of the many golf courses around Troon. 2 of the dogs were over the other side of the fairway wandering around behind her, out of her sight. Incredible.

and 6 dogs at 12 quid an hour? I’m in the wrong flippin’ job!.

I’m in the wrong flippin’ job!

I doubt it. It’s not as much of a doddle as it looks!

.

Cheers all. Appreciate the comments.

One question that comes up from some of the comments is – How do you know they have taken them for an hours walk that is decent and stimulating for the dog?

Sad to see some dog walkers taking the mickey with large packs and not clearing up

£12 for a walk sounds alot.

The service we used charged £8.50. A walker can probably do 3 walks a day. The cost of the service is much more the picking up and dropping off. So realistically thats 15 dogs a day. With more of your day in van than walking. So whilst that’s not a bad turn over its rarely big league

How do you know they have taken them for an hours walk that is decent and stimulating for the dog?

Imposssible really – thats why you meet and greet first, or check feedback if available. The only way the dog can tell you is if it’s pleased to see them the next time!

One question that comes up from some of the comments is – How do you know they have taken them for an hours walk that is decent and stimulating for the dog?

You get some idea from how the dog greets the walker and how tired they are when you get home to them