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Becoming A Dog Walker


Elise+Hudson
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I'd second Alkhe's suggestion of working with an established company (the money won't be as good... if it is ever good)

I work for a dog minding/walking company and get to pick and choose if I want a client or not - most are just walking and minding when the owner is a way but a few have been long term walking.

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Owning dogs & being a competent person to be a paid walker is a big difference for me & yes being a vet would also have little bearing .

Walking dogs may not be Rocket Science but many people are incapable of walking there dogs safely & correctly in public .

I wouldn't hand my dogs to anyone unless i truly felt they would come home in one piece & the same dogs in nature .

Many vets are clueless when it isn't listed in a book & to be honest we have had students out here on final field days & they couldn't control well trained dogs it was scary .

I would never use the service but if i did i want to now

* insurance covered

* past history in controlling dogs of all shapes ,sizes & needs ( not vet history)

* How many you plan to walk in one hit

* Areas you would walk & why these areas are deemed better for the dogs

* Do you plan to do onleash or offleash

* Method of transporting dogs in vehicles & safety methods offered

* There would be many more questions i would consider .

Very good list. There was one little dog in the UK that recently didn't go home from the dog walkers because the other dogs he was walking killed it.

When working at the AWL years ago, I used to walk one dog at a time for the up to 6 months they were there. I knew two dogs really well as they were long termers so thought I'd take them together - both v. sociable and medium sized - they didn't like each other and got into a fight - not that easy to manage if this happens and you are already down the road.

You do need to know how to break up a dog fight - many people have no idea.

Edited by dogmad
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My thought would be that you would need to take care that it doesnt impact on your reputation as a vet.

While a vet could make a good dog walker I personally would be concerned about a vet also taking on work as a dog walker. To be honest without knowing them it would make me question their skills as a vet. Is there scope to have your own mobile vet practise on a small scale or maybe a rescue clinic for basics like checkups, vaccs and chips etc?

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I guess it is the low pay of a dog walker vs vet. I know that young vets are not paid the greatest amount of money though.

But still it just doesnt make sense to me, so it would make me question why. Says she would would rather curl up on the couch with a book in my spare time than take on hours of walking for little money.

Edited by gillbear
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Trying to pay of student loans... :p I am fairly sure I could have earned as much dog walking as I have in the past 2 and a half years as a vet. But that is beside the point.

I find it very odd that you would question my skills as a vet because I chose to do something that was not being a vet. Its like saying a doctor who does volunteer work in their spare time is not a good doctor? I just find that a little odd.

Anyhow, it was all only ideas at this stage and thought I would see what people thought. :)

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i debated before putting up my post because the last thing I wanted was to offend, but thought it was better to be honest.

Most people wont know that new vets have garbage wages after all of the study. Plus I am lazy so I would do many things before choosing dog walking as a job for myself :rofl:

In essence I suppose my thoughts would be to consider alternatives rather than the obvious. But if walking suits you then go for it.

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