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Old 06-13-2012, 06:59 AM
 
1,072 posts, read 2,965,942 times
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I've never had to use a dog walker before but due to my work schedule there is one or days a week I'm gone for 10 hours. Previously a neighbor had walked my dog if I was gone for a while and I reciprocated, but this neighbor has moved. I take my dog to daycare sometimes, but the times often don't line up. The daycare closes at 7 but I'm at work until 7:30. So I'm back to a dog walker.

I've set up an appointment with one and asked for references, but I'm a bit nervous about it. Both with trusting someone else with my dog and with giving someone a key to my home. Can anyone share positive or negative experiences? Is there anything I might not be thinking of that I should check for?
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Old 06-13-2012, 07:13 AM
 
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 32,928,393 times
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This is such a tricky situation. I have two dog walkers for when we go on day trips or for when I'll be out for an extended period of time. (I have two because sometimes one is not available.) I went by gut instinct -- I think I'm a pretty good judge of character, but you never really know, do you?

A friend of mine has a dog walker and she's supposed to take the dog for an hour. My friend came home early, unexpectedly, and the dog was being brought inside her house 20 minutes early. My friend was livid. Worse than that, I recently read an article where someone was suspecting that their dog walker wasn't doing their job properly, so she sat in her car across the street and filmed the event. The dog walker came to the house, parked in the driveway, chatted on her cell phone, and then left. She hadn't even went inside and taken the dog out! Can you imagine???

AnyWAY... like I said, I went with my gut when I met these two ladies. I'd like to believe that they're doing what I've asked of them. They each gave me references but, really, how do I know that it wasn't just a list of their friends and/or family members? I can't know that. Again, gut instinct.

I have them text me when they leave my house. (Of course, they could be texting me from their own living room, though.) They always text me in pretty great detail -- that he was great, that they went for a 30-minute walk, that he pooped (or didn't poop), etc... -- but that could be made up, too.

My best and only trick is that I leave a treat for Artie, for them to give to him. The treat is always gone when I get home, which means that I know that they were at least THERE. They also have the option to just let him out in the backyard -- not even walk him -- and that's fine, as long as I know that they were there and let him (or took him) out to pee. Of course, if you're asking the dog walker to come more than once per day, they could give both treats on one visit and then not come back, but I could drive myself crazy with all the "what ifs".

So, the only advice I can give you is to call their references (again, they could be made up, but call at least one anyway), go with your gut, and leave a treat for them to give to your dog when they come. You could also check that they're bonded and insured (I don't think either of mine are).
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Old 06-13-2012, 06:11 PM
 
2,709 posts, read 6,300,144 times
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I use a dog-walker every weekday. My experience has been positive.

I pay for a 15 minute visit and the cost is $10/day. (It's about $200/month.) They have a key to my apartment, and they show up sometime between 12:00 and 2:00. They walk Bandit, give him lunch if I've left it out for him, give him treats, fill his water bowl with fresh water, and leave me a note that tells me how the visit went.

The service I use is bonded and insured. I arranged first for a meet-and-greet in my home, but I only met the owner and I've had a few sitters. (She tends to employ students or people who have at least one other job, so the scheduled sitter sometimes changes. The turnover is not that often.) The current sitter has a Sibe, too. She loves Bandit, and he loves her -- her notes always tell me how talkative he was with her, and he talks mostly when he's happy.

There have been a few infrequent (minor) negatives: sometimes they leave some of the lights on; there have been a couple schedule mix-ups. (It works best when I'm on a REGULAR schedule with them. It throws them off if one week I'm 5 days but the next day I'm only 4 days.)

I pay them on the 1st and the 15th. I just leave the money on the counter with a note that tells them the days I need them.

Bandit really likes his sitter. He likes the break mid-day, and it does wonders for my peace of mind, because sometimes I have to work late, and I appreciate that I don't have to stress about whether or not he's having an accident due to being alone for so long. He's 10 years old now and I think it's too much to expect him to hold his pee for 10 hours the way he could when he was youngster. (Speaking of accidents... Bandit had a sick tummy one day and had diarrhea in the house, and my sitter cleaned it up for me! She didn't get the stain out, but she made a valiant effort. I really appreciated it.)
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