Wondering about walking dogs as a service?

FunnySmart

My son is a dog lover and I'm interested in helping him walk dogs. I've joined a few websites but there are no options for us locally. Does anyone know of a good irish website? How about the dog, do you think they would be ok with a new person walking them or could there be problems? If you have experience or any insight your advice would be appreciated?

aonb

How old is your son - that would be the deciding factor really - are you talking about offering a FREE service, or charging for it? Im sure a dog walking service would be welcome in most neighbourhoods - once the lock down is over - at the moment every dog in the country has its legs walked off - apart from those owners who are cocooned. You would need to set it up as a business, with issues like insurance cover etc being sorted beforehand.

Unless it was a completely casual system, but Im not sure if a dog owner would just hand their dogs over to your son... If you are talking about a casual service, just walking someones dog every day, depending on your sons age, he might be able to approach a friend or some friends contacts, and ask if he can bring their dog for a walk every day/whenever.

I know my dogs would be reluctant to walk with a stranger, but most dogs I think would love to walk with someone when they got to know him/her

Am I allowed to mention a business? Petsitters Ireland is probably one of the bigger ones - you could check out signing up with them as a dogsitter/walker possibly?

tk123

aonb wrote: »

at the moment every dog in the country has its legs walked off - apart from those owners who are cocooned.

Eh plenty of us are still working! In my case my morning commute time has turned into work time...my evening home time has you’ve guessed it..turned into extra work time!

FunnySmart

Thank you for your reply, that's exactly the kind of information I was looking for. My son is 8 and it's for his love of dogs that I would offer to do it on a friendly basis.

SillyMangoX

One thing I would advise even if this is a friendly thing rather than running a business is insurance. I would never send a pet off with someone uninsured, plus if anything happens and you don’t have insurance you’ll be liable out of your own pocket. There are companies that do this kind of insurance, but not sure if I’m allowed mention on the thread!

Salary Negotiator

Check with the local dog rescue charities, they might have regular walking sessions that he could volunteer for (probably also need a parent to supervise).

JustAThought

Your son is 8 -I doubt many owners will give their pet to an 8 year old to walk -maybe if they know him and have a very agreeable or docile small dog but even at that it is extremely unlikely -unless you are going to walk with him and take full responsibility?

Regarding rescues most in Dublin will not allow any children help out.Child protection and Insurance snd the amount of full time supervision they need .

Pet sitters wont register a child either.
You might get a community site that you can post on but Again I cant imagine any adult handing their dog over in the circumstances you describe.

antix80

I wouldn't pay an 8 year old to walk a dog. For the dog's safety as well as the child's.

GalwayGrrrrrl

8 years old is way too young to be walking a strangers dog on their own. I presume you’d be walking with them? What happens if the dog bites another dog or person? This has bad idea written all over it I’m afraid.

cocker5

While a nice idea in theory not going to work at all in practise for a whole loads of reasons. Insurance, what if the dog got lost / knocked down / dog fight / your son got hurt ... too many to even think about

what about contacting a local dog rescue (when they open back up) and you and your son could go down regularly and walk their dogs?

im sure they would be delighted?

tk123

I assume the OP isn't sending the child out to earn a living at 8 years old and will be doing this as an activity together?
I'd maybe try the local FB page (or even the local GAA might know of somebody they're helping out atm?) - some people (like me lol) wouldn't let just anyone walk their dogs... some people are less bothered about their dogs and would be happy to offload it on somebody else for a while and this is what you want to avoid(!) I'd maybe seek out somebody who's cocooning and might have an older/more settled dog - ie don't take somebody's bat sh!t crazy dog who they normally let run amok around the local park while they have a chat... You want a dog who you'll enjoy taking for a stroll and (if it was me) to help somebody who genuinely needs it right now not somebody taking advantage...

alroley

An 8 year old walking strangers dogs kind of sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

YukaShep

I'm not completely against an 8-year old walking a dog but there needs to be initial trust in your son. Have you tried asking around in the neighborhood? There surely are some small or average-sized dogs who wouldn't mind a walk, especially if their owner is not capable to do so in this current situation.

sillysmiles

You have to remember that to the dog owner, their first priority is their dog, not your son.
I have a very chilled lab, but no, i wouldn't let an 8 yr old (even with their parent) walk my dog.

Potentially, when things settle, you might both be better off working with a local rescue?

mymo

I have a daughter, and dogs, she wasn't allowed walk any of them alone until she was 16, for her own safety I needed to be sure she could handle any situation. My dogs are very friendly and well behaved, but not all dogs are. In the last few months one or more of mine has been attacked by another dog 4 times. I myself was snapped at putting my dogs in the car by one of these dogs that had returned to try a track my dogs a second time.
I understand your son loves dogs, but for now I would advise if you really want to do this, that instead you help him learn about dog behaviour, and body language.
Maybe if you have friends with dogs you ask if they could show him how to look after them, grooming is important, teaching them a few tricks, understanding being consistent etc. That takes a lot of practice.

jimf

tk123 wrote: »

Eh plenty of us are still working! In my case my morning commute time has turned into work time...my evening home time has you’ve guessed it..turned into extra work time!

love this

Dubl07

When I was 15 and walking my own puppy, he was attacked by a Dalmation that was out alone. I put my pup's safety before my own and put him on a car roof neighbouring that of the Dalmation's owner, despite the car-owner shouting at me from a window but not coming out to help.

That is the level of responsibility that I would expect from anyone walking my dog.

But a parent, walking someone else's dog, would naturally put the child first if another dog attacked, or the child or dog ran away. So an eight-year-old will be the priority of their parent, and my dog will be my priority.

puppieperson1

An 8 year old is not suitable to walk anyones dog but their own maybe just get him his own dog to walk. In todays society the level of mixed breeds and bad owners would be a maze of danger for your boy.

MissShihTzu

Pawshake and Borrow my Doggy are the ones I would recommend you have a look at.

I DO NOT recommend Pet Sitters Ireland. I've had bad experiences with them.