The worldwide pet care market is uprising very quickly, but due to the COVID-19 crisis, the estimated growth is not achieved. Dog walking is a great side hustle to start right now.
Roaming around with your furry friends is really enjoyable and this can be both work and passion for someone who is a dog lover.
If you love fresh air and getting exercise along with getting some cash in your hand, then dog walking will be your dream job. Dog walking job as well as getting money from the same job is easier to say but not to do. Only if you enjoy the work, you can be benefitted financially from this work. In the following discussion, there is a complete guide for you to be a successful dog walker.
What is Dog Walking?
Dog walking is a service that provides a person to walk a dog for the owner. The person who walks the dog is called a “walker” or “pet walker.”
Dog walkers typically work for themselves and are self-employed. They walk dogs for people who are too busy to do it themselves, or who have a physical disability that prevents them from doing so. They may also do other various tasks like feed, bathe, and watch the dog or pet while the owner is busy or out of town.
How To Become A Dog Walker?
Be thoughtful about your goal
Before starting the journey to be a dog walker, you must be determined about your goal and process of working. How much hard work can you endure and how much money you want to earn are two of the most important things that must be fixed. You can’t just go and take someone’s dogs for a walk and ask for money. If anyone is interested in starting a dog walking service, he/she must open an agency or firm to offer the services to the dog owners.
Know about the locality
After reading this title, you may have started to think that you know everything about your city area. But, to be a dog walker, you know the places around like the back of your hands. Dog walking requires several law-related formalities including insurance, licensing, and other paperwork. The layout of your target area is the most important thing as you will take the dogs to roam. If you get yourself stuck in the jam, you will be losing money for lost hours. The more you will walk with the dogs, the more money will come into your pocket.
Gain some experience
Experience is always important to get a job opportunity in any field. If can apply and join some established dog walking agency and work for some days, it will be a great addition to your future career. Therefore, you can place your previous dog walking experience in your CV and identify future clients easily.
Take the gears you need
Starting a dog walking business is one of the cheapest services to start, but it doesn’t mean you don’t need anything to start. Harnesses and leashes are very much needed for the dogs. Some dog owners believe their dogs are the sweetest dogs available on earth. That’s why some dogs become very unruly. Harnesses will be handy for controlling such foul dogs. While you are out for dog walking, you must be careful with your safety. You can carry animal deterrent spray for keeping street dogs away from your dogs. A pair of comfortable shoes will help to walking for a long period of time and a reflective vest will help to get noticed after sunset. A dog whistle is another very important gear you want to add to your collection. Dogs are fond of quarreling with one another. A whistle can help you easily to make the dogs distracted from quarrels and give you control.
Basic medical skills are important
First-aid knowledge is very much important for a dog walker as he/she and the dogs will be out for walking. Hope for a safe trip every day, but little mishaps are inevitable. Heat problems, scrapes, and minor cuts are very much common for dog walking. Not all the dogs are aggressive, but at the wrong moment, any dogs can bite you or each other. So, treating dog bites will be a mandatory issue for any dog walker.
Try body shaping
If you are not accustomed to a lot of walking, dog walking will be really hard on you. So, before starting this, you must start physical activity to gain some body fitness. From an inactive daily life to hard-working dog walking will be great pressure on the body. So, it’s better to get accustomed to walking as a dog walker does. You can wear the same shoe that you have bought for dog walking time.
Dog problems troubleshooting
Dogs generally love to walk around and some are desperate to roam, because of living in small places with no grass or yard. But, there may few different cases, where dogs don’t want to walk. If you encounter any lethargic dogs while dog walking, you must be careful about several problems including fever or other affection. Inform the owner if they have anything to say or do. Stubborn dogs can create disturbing problems for you, like not moving. Do not try to pull their harnesses to make them walk; rather tempt them to do something they like. Sometimes, you get trained dogs for walking with you, but face problems about roaming with them. You can take help from the owner by calling the trainers to absorb the techniques.
Teenager as a dog walker
To be a dog walker, one needs not acquire any special qualifications. But, only people at least over 18 years old, is permitted to be a dog walker. Someone with the permissible level of age can follow the above-mentioned guidelines and become a dog walker to get extra bucks in pocket at an early age.
Personal traits to be a dog walker
Dog walkers need to have some technical knowledge about dog walking instruments, dog foods, and their illnesses. He/she should also be able to supply proper nutrition to the dogs if needed. If you have determined to be a professional dog walker and continue to stay in this profession for a long period, you must be ready to meet all kinds of clients, and dogs. There can be different weathers including sunny, rainy and snowy. But, you must always be ready to roam in any kind of weather prevailing out of the window. Along with dog walking, you can offer dog grooming, dog sitting and dog training services to all the dogs available around you including dogs from other walkers.
Need more side hustle ideas? Check out: 100+ Best Side Hustle Ideas: Ideas To Make $1,000 In Your Spare Time
How To Find Dog Walking Jobs?
The best way to find dog walking jobs is to download apps that are catered to this.
Apps For Dog Walkers:
How To Much Money Can You Make?
Dog walkers are typically paid $10-15 per hour. If you do other tasks that rate can be $20+ or more. But as more experience you acquire, you can charge more and more.