Dog Walking

homeworkgirl

I have offered to walk a neighbours 3 dogs from Monday to Friday. I am not a professional dog walker so obviously don't expect to earn their going rate. Money hasn't been discussed yet and I am looking for some guidance as to what would be a fair rate. I won't be letting them off lead and I will walk them for approx an hour a day.

threeeyedraven

My dog walker charges £7.50 per hour for a full hours walk for one dog (i.e. the dog being walked for an hour, travelling time either side of the hour) however that is a pack walk of up to six dogs and they are allowed off lead. I think he has different rates if he is walking the dog on its own.

Your best bet would be to look up local dogwalkers websites and take a look at their charges, as they will have a sliding scale i.e. several dogs from same family would get a discount and take it from there, as it is a neighbour are you considering giving them "mates rates"? if so knock a pound or two off the prices of local dog walkers and you should arrive at a figure.

As a side thought, have you looked into whether you require insurance? Are the dogs themselves insured in case of accident/injury/dog fights etc? Do any of them have behaviour problems you should be aware of? And what times will you be walking the dogs?

Caroline_a

Some good information here

SensibleSarah

Speaking as a former professional dog walker - don't even think about walking for payment without having insurance in place. It's just a big risk. You might not let them off the lead but they can still get hurt, fall ill when in your care or cause injury or damage to someone or something else. There are lots of things out of your control on a dog walk, and walking all 3 at once on lead will mean you're fairly hampered anyway.

Insurance aside, you also need to have a discussion with the owner (preferably written agreement) on what will happen if one of the dogs does get hurt or needs vet treatment.

In terms of rates, this does vary somewhat depending on location, but in the North West, pro rates are usually £10 per full hour walk per dog, usually with a discount for additional dogs from the same home. For this situation, I'd be charging £20 a day.

catkins

Over 4 years ago I was paying £12 an hour for a dog walker in Essex. That seemed to be the going rate then

gettingready

Anything from 10 to 15 per hour in London for one dog. Little less for an extra dog but for 3 dogs I would not expect to pay less than £25.00 per hour.

As above, don't even thing about that without having insurance. Having 3 on leads is hard enough - imagine strange dog running up and attacking them while you have them on a lead.

Think it through properly xx

Katiehound

3rd party insurance 'free' as a perk of being a 'Dogs Trust' supporter.

Round here £10 per hour either for dog walker or for hire of a private field.
A friend takes mine running for 2 x half hour per week- worth £10.
She is a well experienced dog owner and when they run they ignore everything (I'm told)- this is running on lead

sheramber

Dogs trust third party insurance is for any damage your own dog causes- not for someone else's dog.

ohreally

Katiehound wrote: »

3rd party insurance 'free' as a perk of being a 'Dogs Trust' supporter.

Does this extend to a business?

aife

As they're your neighbours and you're not experienced I think you should pitch your charges on the lower side .
But if you're thinking about doing this as a job maybe ask them to provide a testimonial you can use to get more customers
Just to check - they do realise you expect to be paid ?

Pollycat

alexalex
Are you aware that you're giving advice to someone who asked for it in November 2016?

Necropost alert