09/08/2024
Very well said and some very important points. I will always be as transparent as possible with everyone about my business and the safety and wellbeing of the dogs is of the utmost importance to me.
Yesterday when using a local Renfrewshire dog field for my own dogs I witnessed something that made me sick to my stomach and I cannot ignore it.
This is a long one but please read:
As I was leaving the field, another person was walking towards it. (This site has 3 fields, one can be driven into, the other two are walking distances away from carpark and not visible from the carpark.
She had one large dog and 4/5 smaller dogs with her.
As I stood talking to a friend using the drive in field, this woman walked by me again with no dogs, heading back to her very small 2 door car. She then took 3 more dogs out this tiny car, leaving at least one more dog still in it.
All the while leaving 5-6 dogs in the field unattended.
By this point I had put own dogs away safely in their custom built crates in my van.
I couldnโt hold my tongue, I asked if she had actually just brought all those dogs out of that tiny car, which she said they were seat belted in (Iโm not sure how 10 dogs can be seat-belted into any car) when I asked if they were her own dogs she proudly declared she was a dog walker.
I asked how that was legal or safe and she walked away, leaving at least one more dog in the car.
My jaw hit the floor.
If she was in a car accident and was rear ended, every single one of those dogs would be killed without a doubt. It doesnโt bear thinking about.
So so many people are choosing dog walking as a career, but how much research do YOU do when looking for a dog walker?
Personally, for me when researching, first and foremost is how they are transporting my dog(s) from my house to the walking destination or field.
Are they secured in the vehicle? Are they in crates? Is the vehicle size appropriate for however many dogs they have? I prefer knowing my dogs are in safe crates in case of an accident.
Secondly is how many dogs they are taking at a time and where are they taking them?
If walking in an unsecured area then 6 is normally the maximum allowed but different councils and insurances allow different amounts so best to check this individually.
If they are using secure fields, more dogs are allowed however I would want to know how they get from the vehicle to the field. Majority of the fields dog walkers are using are drive in fields, so the dog walker can securely be in the actual field and get all dogs out safely at the same time.
I would NEVER allow my dog to be abandoned alone in a field for 1-10minutes while the walker is going to get MORE dogs out their vehicle.
Thirdly what insurance do they have? Dog walker insurance, key loss insurance, public liability insurance, accidents & injuries insurance. Licenses, training, first aid trained, the list can go on.
Fourth is the time I am paying for.
Most dogs walkers will advise a time frame, be that 30 mins, hourly etc and although things can happen occasionally that means a dog walk needs cut short, you should be paying for the time advertised. Do you know your dog is actually being exercised for the time you are paying for, not including travelling time.
Fifth is transparency.
Is your dog walker happy to share this information with you? Do they have a public social media page or is it a โprivateโ group or page, hidden from outside feedback. Do they provide updates to you? Or is everything a little โtoo perfectโ on their social media page that they spend more time on it than paying attention to the dogs.
I witnessed a dog walker a few weeks ago that โwalkedโ the dogs for less than 15 minutes before they were all put back in the van.
I have heard of a dog walker that purposely walks the dogs through muddy puddles so it looks like they have been out longer than they have.
I have heard of countless dogs being attacked when the dog walker isnโt present or isnโt paying attention.
There is very little regulation around the dog walking business so itโs up to US to do the due diligence to ensure our dogs are SAFE AND SECURE!