The stereotype of a professional dog walker usually involves one to two people holding the leads of a large ‘pack’ of dogs. Here at Friends for Pets we avoid this at all costs! Why would we do this? Well here are our reasons:-

1) The Personal Touch – Your dog probably does not live with a large changeable pack if dogs so will be used to having plenty of 1-1 time with you. We aim to replicate this.

2) Insurance – The majority of dog walking insurance companies will only insure for up to six dogs to be walked together at one time with many insuring for less than this. Although we have insurance for six, we will tend to stick to a maximum of a few dogs at a time.

3) Safety – However well trained our doggy clients they are still animals with minds of their owns. Picking up scents, coming across third party less well trained dogs, unforeseen veterinary emergencies can all lead to problematic situations very easily. With just a couple of dogs this situation can be controlled much easier than having to scramble to get a large ‘pack’ of dogs under control. 

4) Stress on your dog – Our doggy clients tend to build up very close relationships due to the 1-1 nature of our set up. If dogs are walked in large ‘packs’ then these are likely to change each day causing stress in sorting out a new hierarchy each time or more passive dogs may become more insular. ‘Pack’ is also a term regularly used by professional dog walkers, a dog walk usually refers to a stable group of dogs rather than an unbalanced group which changes each day.

5) For the love of the dogs – Financially it makes more sense to walk multiple dogs at a time as its more money for less work. Here at friends for pets our pet carers are true animal lovers and would prefer to spend more time with each pet than rushing lots of dogs through each walk. Most would do if for free!

6) Controlled Socialisation- Smaller groups mean a higher input from the dog walker therefore we can oversee any dog interactions more closely keeping dogs safe as well as socialising. This is very important for very young or elderly pets or other vulnerable dogs.

7) Transport – Due to not having to collect lots of dogs up our doggy clients are not spending long periods of time in our vehicles. Especially important in the hot summer months, if your dog gets stressed when travelling or gets car sick.

For more info on our local dog walkers please see your local team page http://www.friendsforpets.co.uk/dog-walking/