Would you let a dog walker walk your dog?

[zoomer]

If a child came to your house and told you s/he was doing dog walking, would you let him/her walk your dog? What is s/he stole your dog? What is something happened to your dog? What would you do?

[Kfamr]

I wouldn't trust a complete stranger, let alone a kid, walk my dog. My trust isn't that easily given, especially when it comes to my dogs.

For the first time - last night I let my brother take Kiara for a ride.


*edited to add*
I HAVE let my co-worker's daughter walk Kiara, but I was right behind them the whole time.

[chocolatepuppy]

No, I wouldn't let anyone walk my dogs. My dogs are both special needs anyways, so I wouldn't trust anyone with them. ;)

[elizabethann]

[QUOTE=Kfamr]I wouldn't trust a complete stranger, let alone a kid, walk my dog. My trust isn't that easily given, especially when it comes to my dogs.
QUOTE]

I feel the same way. I trust only one person to take care of Fenway and that's my Sister. However, she had to earn that trust since the first time she babysat him (while I was in NC), he almost died because he had an absess that she didn't know about (she thought he was depressed and missed me). I can tell you she was devastated and I knew she would never let anything happen to him again.

[luvofallhorses]

I wouldn't trust a complete stranger, let alone a kid, walk my dog. My trust isn't that easily given, especially when it comes to my dogs.



Ditto. I don't think I would want someone I don't know to walk my dogs..I'd rather walk them myself to be on the safe side.

[Alysser]

I only trust certain people walking Sassy. I would never never ever let ANYONE just off the street walk my dog. EVER! Of course, even with the people I trust I am usually there supervising or not far away.

[wolf_Q]

No way. If Nebo got loose he'd just run off, huskies are normally not trustworthy off leash. I can give him the "come" command which he's good at obeying (in the fenced yard, I don't even try him off leash) but he would not listen to somebody else (he usually won't even do it for my parents). Not to mention he can be quite skittish around strangers.

[zoomer]

Reading all these I don't think I want to do dog walking this summer :o

[Pembroke_Corgi]

Well, I wouldn't let a child walk my dogs because I'd be worried they couldn't control them, especially Adele who chases rabbits and squirrels on our walks. I also wouldn't trust a stranger either, but if I were gone a lot or didn't have time to give my dogs proper exercise I would employ a dog walking service. Luckily my mom is in town, and I trust her completely with my dogs when I go away. :)

[Pembroke_Corgi]

Reading all these I don't think I want to do dog walking this summer :o
Well, do you know any of your neighbors that you could start with? Maybe if you know their dogs a bit they would be more likely to trust you, and then you could get other clients. I guess I don't know how old you are, :o but if you are old enough to walk your dogs (who are big) then you can probably control other dogs. It doesn't hurt to try!

[Lady's Human]

Being that Lady is a bear for ME to control on a leash, I wouldn't let anyone else walk her, regardless of who it was. If it was another dog (For instance, the ST Bernard we had growing up) and I knew the teen who was offering, then yes.

[BCollie_Kelly]

I wouldn't with either of my 2. Reason being, is because if *anything* at all happened to either of them, I would feel as if it were my fault.

With that said, I also very much so enjoy walking with them.... :)

[IRescue452]

Absolutely not. I don't hand out my animals to random people no matter how nice looking the child is. I wouldn't expect a child to go running after Autumn if she ran in the road or was taken by a stranger. I have a hard enough time letting my mom take care of her while I'm at school.

[I_luv_rusty]

I wouldn't let them, because Rusty is dog aggresive and when even my parents hold his leash he pulls hard and almost drags them. Rusty would probaly drag a kid if he can drag them. Also he jumps and barks at cars so its hard to control him. The only people that could ever walk my dog is my mom, dad, brother, me, and vets people. My friends can't walk him because it pulls hard and my parents don't them too.

[buttercup132]

I used to run my own dog walking buisness with a freind started when I was hmm like 11 and my freind was..like 9 and we went to people on our block we went to every single house that had dogs and we had alot of dogs for walking I dont know why people trusted us with their dogs but I've been walking only one of the same dgs for about 4 years now it's like shes my own dog she comes in my house and everything..BUT thats after I got to know the people alot and stuff and I would NEVER trust some stranger with my dogs...the people whos dog I walk the one who I knew for 4 years they had another dog that I knew for that amount of time as well great dog they were rehoming her cause they couldnt bring her to work with them cause she was too big and couldnt find a cheap babysiter for her so they put her to sleep!!!:mad: :( After that I stopped walking the dogs and so obviously they didint care who had their dogs...

[Flatcoatluver]

No Way!! Zoey is a very high strung dog no matter what and she only listens to me or my dad. T.j is a puller if he sees something. If my dogs were little I would have to know the child.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Never. I've had kids & adults show up asking to walk them, actually and have always said no. I love walking my dogs and they and I wouldn't be at all happy if some stranger came to walk them.

[dab_20]

Noooo way. I do not trust anyone to walk my dogs except me and my family. I will let my friends, as long as I am with them. If anything ever happened to them, I don't no what I would do. My dogs are on the smaller side, but things can still go wrong. Better safe then sorry.

[cali]

no way. Happy is perfect off leash, and bahaves just as well for my best friend as with me, because my best friend is practicly her second mom, yet when she is dogsitting for me, I keep in in a collar with tags, and I ask that she keep Happy leashed. I dont trust that my friend can handle Happy when she see's a strange dog, I cant garantee that if Happy ran accross the street in exitment that she would drop to the ground on the other side of the street and wait, if I am not around. I let Steph walk Misty and Ripley because I know she can handle the pulling, I know because she has a 100lbs golden retreiver that pulls like crazy, and she will often when we walk all 3 together, take my Misty and Dakota in 1 hand and run with them, thats 137lbs dragging her down the street, and she has never lost grip. because of that she is the only one I trust with my pullers, and I trust her to be able to hold Happy back when she is leashed. however just as I dont trust most people with my dogs, I dont trust myself with their dogs either, when I take Perky for walks, I never let her off the leash, even though she has NEVER tried to take off, she sticks closer then my own dogs do, however I cant garantee that she will listen to me without my mom there, when I watch dakota, I will walk him on leash, but I never take him off, even though he is safe off leash, and listens to me better then he listens to his own mom, I dont want to be responsable if something ever happend to him, the only dogs I trust myself with, are my dogs, and I dont trust others with my dogs either.

[Miss Z]

I would, if I had a dog:rolleyes: . Not just any random person, of course, that's just common sense. But anyone I knew who is a dog lover or has/had dogs or knows lots about them I would trust. I think I would let them walk the dog with me there first to see how they get on, if they did OK, then I'd let them. When you're busy, it would be helpful to have someone to walk the dog:) I do dog walking sometimes and the owners are usually very grateful, so it's good for dog, owner and walker.;)

[Rachel]

When we lived at our previous house, there were three different young girls who (in pairs) used to come by and ask to walk my dogs. Both the dogs I had then were very gentle and well behaved, so I really had no fear of how they would behave with the girls. I kind of got to know the girls a bit first and saw how they interacted with the dogs and had them observe me. They only took them around the block (which took about 10 minutes) and they said they didn't want any pay but I would give them $1.00 (this was 20 years ago).

Since I've lived at this house, no one has ever asked to walk my dogs. Hannah and Tucker are a bit more to handle than my last dogs were, so I would make sure that any youngsters who would ask were capable, but I wouldn't consider it out of the question. What I would be willing to pay would be another consideration. I'm not sure. If anyone is considering doing dog walking, I would suggest making the rate reasonable. Remember too that walking a dog in most areas includes picking up poop.

As you can tell from most of the replies, people want to make sure that their dogs are safe and you need to feel confident that you can handle the dogs you would walk. Before you take on any dogs as walkees, be sure to spend some time with them first in the presence of their owner to get to know them and their ideosyncracies.

[Pam]

I would have to vote *no* along with most of the folks here. Ripley has been known to wiggle out of his collar and run off. Nowadays I use a halter on both of them for their walks so he can't wiggle out, but if his leash was dropped I am afraid he would quickly realize it and dash off. Bella is a tugger on her leash although only for the length of the first couple of houses we pass. After that she settles in.

When I was in elementary school I occasionally would visit a friend who had two St. Bernards in her neighborhood. We often offered to walk those dogs and we did it for free just because they were such awesome dogs. They walked like angels on their leashes and it was so much fun to be around big dogs (I grew up with smallish dogs) and especially such well behaved big dogs.

Bella's breeder actually encouraged people to allow children to come and play with, and walk, her puppies. She felt the socialization was important and also that *a tired puppy is a good puppy.* I can vouch for that last sentence, although I took it upon myself to tire her out. LOL!

[cloverfdx]

No way i would never trust a stranger/ child walk my dogs, not worth the risks. The only people i trust with my dogs other than family are friends from Flyball ;). If i dont walk them they dont get walked (Which is rare).

[Chilli]

Nope! :D For mainly the same reason most everyone else said no.
Plus, Ethan is terribly afraid of strangers, and would strangle himself trying to get away from a strange kid, and if I try to let anyone else walk Frisk, he will refuse to walk untill I'm the one walking him. :rolleyes: My boys are a handful.

[jazz19]

I think this is a great idea!!!! :)

[lv4dogs]

Nanook & Kaige would be the only dogs I would have some one walk for me, as they don't have any behavioral issues, but Nanook can't really go on many walks anymore anyways due to his age & health.

BUT even so I would not have a dog walker unless I was physically unable to walk them myself. AND even so I would do extensive research on the walker, I'd check references, background checks, etc.... Then again with the family & friends I have I probably would just "hire" one of them.

And even if I were to have someone walk them it would not be a young child, MAYBE over the age of 15??? BUT if it were to even be someone under 25ish I would have to know them, like a friends child or the like.

[ParNone]

Somebody just coming by knocking on my door asking to walk my dogs. Nope wouldn't do it. It's annoying and doesn't say responsible and professional to me.

If I wanted to be a dog walker and I was a kid, what I would do is first is build up some clientele with very close neighbors or friends. Try your parent's friends too. That's how I got babysitting jobs. After you do that and have a lil' experience and good references:

Build a website. Make it look professional. Give your rates, services, references, dog experience and how to get in touch with you. Show pictures of you walking different dogs. Maybe some of you getting them to "sit" or "down". Just make sure in all the pictures that you look in control and the dog looks happy.

Then put together flyers or business cards, about your dog walking business. Make sure to point to your website and have a contact phone number. Then go around to pet stores, grooming shops and vet clinics and see if they'll let you put up your flyer/card. Or if you just want neighborhood dogs and they'll allow it, put the flyers on people's door. I've hired my lawn guy and my pest control guy through flyers.

Someone who went to that much trouble, I would very well consider.

Par...

[king2005]

With my old dog I only trusted 1 kid to walk him. She was in an abusive enviroment & her dogs were too old & sick to be walked far. We knew it would help her if she walked him & it did. She would even babysit him for a weekend or a week & sleep on our couch so he wouldn't be alone. She was also safe from her father when she was at our place & with Max. So we saw her a lot until she was old enough to move out on her own.

When Max was 6months old, we took him on a family trip to PEI. Next to our camper & tents was an old camper & 2 young teen girls (if they were even 13). My dad saw them pouting & pacing about for a few hours & he couldn't stand it anymore. He invited them over to play with our puppy. Then he asked them to take him for a walk around the campground. It was 6pm when they returned with him (we could see them the whole time) & their parents still didn't return. So we invited them for dinner & they stayed until very late as their folks still hadn't returned.

So ya, it really depends on the kids & the dog.

[zoomer]

I read all of the replies and they are very interesting. I think after thinking about what Par said I am going to do that.

[cocker_luva]

if i knew the kid, sure. but not a stranger, i mean, jesse is gonna be 12 this year! thats pretty old, even thou she could fool you about her age. ;)

[slleipnir]

I don't even trust most of my friends with my dogs, let alone a stranger or a kid....I don't think I would ever agree to it. Although, when I was a kid, me and my friend use to do that. People actually trusted us with their dogs though. I think we were 12. We always took good care of them though.

[lute]

i COULDN'T ever let anyone else walk the dogs! i'm real picky about how they are walked. the only time they are walked by someone other than me is my family walks them while i'm at a dog show or something.

[Suki Wingy]

To tell you the truth, NO. Never a stranger. I walk my neighbors' dogs for them because both the parents are going through chemo. I wouldn't let anyone walk Niño unless I absolutley needed to. I guess that is why no one ever called me to walk my dog when I had a buisiness. I would give my life for my dog, so no.
I would suggest a dog bathing business for the summer instead for family pets who's owners don't want to bathe thier own pets but don't want to take them to a groomers.

[k9krazee]

Nope!! I don't even trust my FAMILY!!!! My mom took Micki, Shadow and Kyra all for a walk the other day...for the very first time, I was a wreck :o

[K9soul]

I think most people on here will have the same answer because all of us are very conscientous about our dogs and they are like our children, but to a lot of people their dog is still "just a pet" and they have no problem with someone in the neighborhood walking the dog.

I wouldn't really want anyone, not even family or friends, walking my dogs without me there. I know them best and I'm a control freak when it comes to others commanding and handling my dogs :p. I don't want them getting any mixed messages or inconsistencies.

[jesse_3]

I would NEVER let a stranger walk my dogs. That is only asking for trouble in my opinion. The only ones who I am comfortable with walking my dogs without me there is my cousin Rachel (rizzy) or my mom. The main reason for not wanting anyone but me walking her is because she is dog aggressive, scared of men (She will sometimes snap at them), and she loves to pull (never let her three legs fool you!).
As for Jemi' I don't want anyone but me walking her because she is horrid on a leash, and I don't know her behavior well enough yet. I will still probably stick with my mom, Rachel, or I walking her though.

Zoomer, I think that if you are willing to go out and make a website, and take it slow, you can be very successful! Just follow Par's instructions, and be patient!
Steph, Jes, and Jemi'