Dog Walkers Ahoy

[Squirrel]

OK, I know some people on here make a business out of working with, and caring for other peoples dogs.

One of the people I'm working with at work has recently expressed a tentative interest in possibly working with dogs - but has no experience working with them.

We've suggested things like volunteering at kennels and similar, and also the possibility of him maybe walking some dogs, maybe of people he knows, maybe otherwise, to gain him the experience, and to see what the work is/was like.

I asked his permission to see if any one on here might have any information/advice for him, and he agreed that any information I might be able to find would be a good thing. We're talking all the basics here - from how you get clients, to what people are willing to pay, to what different services you offer, to how you decide if a dog is one that you can handle, or anything which springs to mind on the subject.

He's definitely not at the place where he would want to make an actual business out of it, but at the kind of level he's looking at it's not that big a thing anyway - we're really looking at 'weekend job' level of commitment overall I'd say - at least until he builds up his confidence in his abilities.

Any thoughts?

[Elaine]

If it's dog walking he's looking to get into, there is no legal requirements at the moment although loval authorities and dog wardens are trying to come up with some sort of legislation. This varies from council to council, so he might want to start by asking them what they are hoping to pass. Some councils are being quite unreasonable imo, while others are trying to be sensible for all concerned. I.e. how many dogs can be walked at one time, where they are allowed to walk and whether they should be on or off lead.
He should get himself out to parks and such and talk to owners and dog walkers alike. If he has any friends that have dogs then he should go with them on walks and try to learn as much as he can about dog behaviours/language so that he can guage the dogs he is walking and also the dogs that aproach him. He should be responsible and not walk any more than he can possibly control/handle.
Gotta go for now but if has any specific questions he'd like to ask, then ask away... Cannt promise I have the answers but can tell him how I manage.

[Squirrel]

That's great, thanks Elaine.

[calismum]

Volunteering at a kennels or dog rescue would be a good starting point in terms of walking with more than one dog and also how to deal with different temeraments, sizes etc?

[Squirrel]

I did wonder if that kind of thing might be the case, and mentioned the possibility of it - plus we talked a little about where there might be possibilities of volunteering there. Will have to wait and see what client thinks, but it would definitely be a fairly easy way of getting more experience of dogs!