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Frequently Asked
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General Dog Walking Questions
How
do I Choose the Right Dog Walker?
How Does PuppyWalkers.Com Work?
Questions for Dog Walkers
 General Dog Walking FAQ
What does a dog walker do?
A dog walker comes to a pet owner's home and quite simply takes your
dog out for a walk. But this is only part of what they do.
Experienced dog walkers can work with you to plan an exercise
routine for your pet, administer needed medications or just make
sure Rover gets a much needed mid day break while you are at work.
Services vary from dog walker to dog walker and may include watering
your plants, cleaning cages, taking in your mail or even simple
house cleaning. PuppyWalkers.Com lists the services each walker
provides but every one helps to keep your dog healthy and happy.
How does hiring a dog walker work?
Once you have selected a dog walker, the walker will come to your
house for a free consultation visit. The purpose of the visit it to
allow you and your dog to get to know that walker to make sure you
are a good match for one another. The walker will ask you questions
about your dog's daily routine, her health, and her temperament.
You should also take this time to get to know your walker. How long
have they been working with animals? Do they have a back-up plan in
case they get sick or go on vacation? Are they insured, bonded,
certified? These are all questions that PuppyWalkers.Com helps you
answer through our walker listings but they are things you need to
know.
If you are all comfortable with one another (your dog included), you
and your walker will come up with an exercise plan for your dog and
you can begin your partnership.
How much does it cost?
A professional dog walker is surprisingly inexpensive. Prices and
services vary from walker to walker but all provide your dog with
exercise and love. Many walkers are certified in pet first aid, have
taken classes in dog walking and provide years of experience
handling pets of all kinds. Check out the walker profiles on
PuppyWalkers.Com to see rate schedules and services.
Do I need a dog walker every day?
Some people use a dog walker everyday. Others use them only when
they go on vacation. This is up to you. However, the American
Veterinary Society recommends your pet get one-hour of active
exercise a day. If your dog isn't getting his or her needed hour of
exercise a dog walker can help.
Is a dog walker better than a kennel?
Research has shown that pets experience less stress when they are in
a familiar environment. By using a dog walker instead of a kennel
your pet stays in a comfortable and familiar place. Dog walkers also
reduce anxiety in a your pet's daily routine by ensuring he
maintains a consistent diet and gets an adequate amount of exercise.
Additionally, a dog walker reduces your pet's exposure to illness
from other pets that kennels can not protect them from. We are not
saying all kennels are bad, just that a dog walker may offer a
better choice for your pet.
What other benefits does a dog walker
provide?
A dog walker not only improves the lives of your pets but they can
also reduce the stress you face as a pet parent. With a dog walker
you don't have to worry about the stress of taking your dog to the
kennel (you know she hates it!), you won't have to impose on a
friend or neighbor to watch your dog while you go out of town or
work late, and you get the added security of knowing your pet is in
capable hands. Dog walkers make your life easier too.
Finding the Best Dog Walker for You and Your Dog
How do I pick from all the dog walkers out there?
That is what PuppyWalkers.Com is all about! We can help you find the
right dog walker for your pet.
The first thing to look at is finding a walker that serves your
neighborhood. Most walkers specialize in certain towns or
neighborhoods and this ensures they are aware of any town laws
regarding dog walking as well as being knowledgeable about the best
places to take dogs for a little exercise. Next it is important to
find a walker that is insured or bonded. This can protect you in the
event of an unfortunate incident with a walker or your dog. An
experienced walker will also have a back-up plan in place in case
they get sick or go on vacation. Just because they get ill doesn't
mean Rover doesn't need his walk and a good walker prepares for
that. Finally the most important thing is finding someone both you
and your dog are comfortable with. The free consultation visit is
your best chance to meet someone and see the interaction between
your pet and the walker. What you are looking for is someone who is
professional, knowledgeable and trustworthy, someone who is worthy
of you entrusting your best friend to.
I have a puppy. Do some dog walkers specialize in meeting a
puppy's needs?
Absolutely. Puppies require more frequent exercise than mature dogs
due to their high energy levels and small bladders. However, a
puppy's body is not yet fully developed and can not handle the
stresses of active exercise sessions. Many dog walkers specialize in
new puppies because of these specialized needs. There are also
walkers who specialize in large dogs or mature dogs. Finding the
right dog walker comes down to knowing as much about each walker as
possible. Check out PuppyWalkers.Com's comprehensive walker listing
to find someone who matches your pet's needs.
How Does PuppyWalkers.Com Work?
How much does PuppyWalkers.Com cost?
It is FREE! PuppyWalkers.Com is a free service for pet owners
looking to find the best dog walkers in their neighborhood.
Why do I need to register?
PuppyWalkers.Com uses the information you provide during
registration to best match your pet's needs with the appropriate dog
walker. We pass along the information about your pet and the type of
service you are looking for to the dog walker that you have chosen
through the site. This allows the dog walker to best be able to
answer specific questions you may have and also help them plan the
available times they can service your pet.
We will never sell this information to marketing companies.
PuppyWalkers.Com is a secure site and we promise never to give out
your information to anyone other than the dog walkers you have
chosen to interview. Privacy is a main concern at PuppyWalkers.Com
and your information will be protected.
Where does PuppyWalkers.Com find the walkers for its site?
PuppyWalkers.Com actively interviews dog walkers every day, looking
for the best walkers in the Northeast. We ask the same questions you
would and provide all that information in our service profiles. It
is a very time consuming process because we want to find only the
best walkers but we think your pet is worth it.
Questions for Dog Walkers
How do I sign up?
Registering is easy. Simply go to the 'Dog Walker Registration' link
on the PuppyWalkers.Com home page and fill out the appropriate
information. Its that simple.
How much does it cost to register?
Registration on PuppyWalkers.Com is free.
How does PuppyWalkers.Com make money?
We make money by charging a small commission on each service visit
you perform for a dog referred through PuppyWalkers.Com. If we don't
bring you any business, the service does not cost you anything. If
we bring you new business you pay us a small commission (about $1
per service visit). We believe this is the fairest way for a
referral service to charge. Why pay a huge up-front expense like
those other service that may or may not bring you business? With
PuppyWalkers.Com, we only make money if you make money.
Does PuppyWalkers.Com charge me for all the dog walks I perform
regardless of where my clients came from?
No. PuppyWalkers.Com only charges a commission only on dogs we have
referred to you. If you currently have five customers you found on
your own, those are your customers and of course there is no charge
when you walk their dogs. If we referred two of those five customers
to you, a commission fee would be generated for only the two
PuppyWalkers.Com dogs.
However, if you would like to take advantage of our on-line billing
system you can always sign up all your clients on PuppyWalkers and
never have to worry about billing again. Its your choice.
How does PuppyWalkers.Com bill me?
There are two ways that we can bill you. Should your client's chose
to utilize PuppyWalkers.Com on-line payment system, we will bill
your clients weekly (at the rate you inform us) and immediately send
the payments to your checking account minus the commission. If you
clients do not wish to use the on-line payment service, we will send
you and invoice and you can send us payment through our on-line
payment system or through traditional mail.
Besides clients, what other benefits do I get through PuppyWalkers.Com?
PuppyWalkers.Com provides our walkers with numerous benefits that
help them grow their businesses. We provide on-line bill payment
capabilities that no other service offers. Imagine how professional
you will look to potential clients when you tell them you accept
Visa and Mastercard. Additionally, accepting credit cards means
fewer hassles for you tracking down bill payments and sending out
invoices. We make life easier so you can focus on what you love,
walking dogs.
By joining PuppyWalkers.com you also increase your exposure to pet
owners. Unlike those other referral services, our service is focused
on pet owners. We actively market to pet owners in trade
publications, through veterinarians, in local newspapers and through
other means. Because we represent so many walkers, we have the
ability to economically advertise in ways that would not make sense
for a single walker. PuppyWalkers.Com will increase your business'
exposure beyond anything you could do on your own.
Plus we try to make growing your business fun. We have numerous
give-aways, incentive prizes and other events that make this
business fun and will allow you to meet other walkers in you area.
Remember we don't make money unless we make you money, so our goal
is to grow your business.
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