Pete the Vet: Do you need a dog walker? Here's what you need to know

From qualifications to pricing, getting the right person to walk your dog is crucial

Pete the Vet: Dog walking is an important job but an unregulated industry.

The death earlier this month of a dog walker in the UK, after she was attacked by the dogs she was walking, has raised many questions. What went wrong? Did she have too many dogs? Was she experienced enough? Did she have enough training? What can be done to stop this happening again?

It’s too early to answer these questions: what’s needed is a detailed forensic analysis of what went wrong, and at that point, to publicise the findings, and take actions based on the conclusions.

Meanwhile, the incident does highlight an activity that’s increasingly popular. Dog walking is an example of a new twenty-first century profession. Thirty years ago, there would have been no work for somebody offering to take dogs for a walk. Now there are dog walkers in most Irish towns and cities. I often notice dog walkers’ customised vans on the road, and I regularly meet people walking multiple dogs for other people when I am out exercising my own pets.

It’s an important job: all dogs need regular physical activity. When somebody comes to me to discuss a behavioural problem with their pet, one of the first questions that I ask is: how much exercise do they get? I have heard behaviourists say that typically, most dogs need half an hour of exercise twice daily, and while the need varies significantly between different dogs, this is a helpful starting point.

Many people find it difficult to give dogs this level of exercise: some people are working too hard, so they don’t have time. Others may have mobility issues that prevent them from giving the pets the type of walk that they need. So when someone offers a service that allows people to pay to have their dogs walked, there are plenty of owners who are happy to give them business.

It’s easy to find a dog walker close to you: a simple hunt on a search engine on my phone immediately shows me a selection of five or six people locally who will help me out. And there are helpful websites (such as gudog.ie) that can offer you verified individuals with user reviews that you can check to make sure that they seem to be reliable.

However this is an unregulated sector: dog walkers do not need to have any specific qualifications, they do not need to be licensed, and they do not have to follow any operational guidelines. This gives people freedom to walk dogs in whatever way they wish: it’s up to the individual dog owner to make a judgement on whether or not they provide a safe, reliable service.

After the tragedy in the UK, there have been calls for regulation of dog walkers. I don’t believe this is the answer: we already have too many unenforced laws about animals in Ireland. We don’t need to create one tier of pricier licensed dog walkers (who have ticked all the bureaucratic boxes and rightly deserve to be reimbursed for these costs) plus hundreds of cheaper black market “unofficial” operators. To me, it makes more sense for dog owners to take on the responsibility themselves for carefully scrutinising and assessing potential dog walkers.

So what are the boxes that need to be ticked?

What qualifications does the dog walker have? 

While a dog walker does not need to have any qualifications, there are a number of different types of educational achievements that would be helpful, covering topics from basic animal first aid, to animal care assistant training, to dog behaviour. And if someone tells you that they have a qualification, check out the details: was it a virtual online course over a few weeks, or was it formal hands-on training at an institution?

What experience do they have? 

The more time they have spent walking dogs, they better they are likely to be.

Do they have any references? 

A written reference, preferably from somebody who you can communicate with yourself by phone or email, helps to give confidence in someone’s ability.

Do they have any user reviews online? While fake reviews are possible in any sector, if you read reviews with a sceptical eye, you can often gather useful background information.

Do they have any type of insurance to cover dog walking?

 A dog walker should have some sort of insurance in place to cover the financial costs of unexpected mishaps (for example, if a dog causes a road accident, the person in charge of the dog may be liable for the consequences). Independent dog walkers may have their own insurance, or if they work with a website such as Gudog.ie they may have some sort of scheme linked to this.

What do they charge? 

Many dog walkers have an hourly rate (ranging between €10 and €25), but you should confirm what this covers, for example, does it include the travel time for them to your house and back? Details are important.

How many dogs do they walk at one time? 

The dog walker in the UK who died was said to have had eight dogs with her, and I have seen dog walkers with over ten dogs at one time. If you do the sums, multiple dogs sharing the same walk makes dog walking a more lucrative enterprise, but the more animals there are, the greater the risk of something going wrong.

What sort of customer service do they offer? Are they punctual and reliable? Do they engage with your dog in a friendly way? Do they send you photos and videos of your dog on their walk?

A couple of trial walks are sometimes the only way to work out if a new dog walker is a good fit for your pet.

Dogs need to be walked: it’s up to you to work out the best way of organising this for your pet.