How to Choose A Dog Walker?

Obviously, we want you to choose Tailored Pet Services’ as your dog’s new walking companion; however, we want you to make an educated choice. To provide unbiased help, we are sharing information from the American Kennel Club article that offers comprehensive advice on finding and choosing a dog walker, covering the importance of this decision, factors to consider, and tips for a successful experience. To read the full article, please refer to the AKC’s article: Do I Need a Dog Walker? How to Find & Choose One.

To ensure your pet’s well-being and safety, answer all the questions in the following sections.

How To Prepare for Hiring a Dog Walker

What are your requirements because “a love of animals doesn’t qualify someone as a good dog walker”?

A dog walker needs to understand dog behavior and possess the ability to notice subtle signs to avoid dangerous situations. All walkers at Tailored Pet Services have had 300+ hours of working with animals in a professional setting and are taught to use all five senses to stay in tune with the environment around them. They also have access to a certified dog trainer if they need additional guidance on dog behavior (examples: reactive or skittish dog).

What type of exercise does your dog need?

Senior dogs might need a leisurely stroll and young dogs may need a fast-paced walk. Tailored Pet Services completes over 125 walks per week and all are personalized to the individual dog. We assess what your dog needs depending on how he/she is feeling when we arrive and adjust accordingly depending on the weather outside. Where we walk is also determined by your dog. Some dogs are leash aggressive so we try to avoid high-traffic areas. Some dogs want to chase squirrels so we look for a route that reduces the likelihood of seeing them.

How often do you need the dog walker’s services?

Tailored Pet Services walks dogs from 9am-3pm Monday-Friday and we ask each client which days/times per week they need us. If the time requested is taken, we’ll let prospect know before agreeing to service. If this is the case, we’ll offer alternatives. If we can’t accommodate, we refer you to another company. One thing that is unique about Tailored Pet Services is we promise to arrive within an hour window start time (example: 11:30am-12:30pm). Many other companies will arrive within a 2-3 hour window based on when it’s convenient for them not you.

How much you’re willing to spend?

Tailored Pet Services hires employees which is different than companies like Rover and Wag who hire independent contractors. If you’d like to learn the difference, read our blog article. Because we pay taxes for our employees and provide workers compensation, our rates might be higher. Fortunately, we offer a monthly package which help keep our rates competitive with other professional dog walking companies in the area.

How To Choose the Right Dog Walker

Where will you walk my dog?

We determine the route for your dog based on where we feel is safest. If it is very warm out, we’ll find a location with mostly shade and grass for dog to walk on so not to burn paws. If the dog is afraid of cars, we’ll avoid busy streets. We try to mix up which direction we go daily so they have new sights/smells to experience. We try to allow the dog to decide how adventurous they want to be on a walk and when to turn back. One exception is when owners are home so the dog wants to stay with them. In this case, we have some tricks to get them excited about their walk to ensure they receive fresh air and exercise.

Do you walk multiple dogs together or one at a time?

We only walk 1-2 dogs at a time from one household (we don’t pack walk). We do this for the safety of the dogs and the walker. Have 4 dogs? We’ll walk two at a time (example = we’d divide 45-minute visit into two 20-minute walks which allows time to leash/unleash). Do you have two dogs and don’t want them walked together? No problem. We’ll divide the visit in half so they each have a personalized walk.

How long will you spend with my dog on each walk?

We offer walks as short as 15-minutes and as long as 90-minutes. The visit starts when we turn key in lock upon arrival and turn key to head to next visit. To summarize, a 30-minute walk usually means a 25-minute walk (five minutes spent leashing/unleashing and giving a treat). If it is raining out, walk might be shorter because we need to dry off pup before bringing inside.

Are you experienced with dogs similar to mine?

After completing 5000+ dog walks per year, we feel we are knowledgeable about all shapes/sizes of dogs and we’ve developed tricks for each scenario. That being said, each dog is unique so we ask you to explain your specific circumstances so we can provide guidance on how we feel we can best take care of your pup.

How long have you been a dog walker?

Tailored Pet Services has multiple dog walkers on staff; however, each client is assigned a primary dog walker to ensure furry client becomes familiar with he/she. Half of the staff have been with the company 1+ years. The other two have been with the company six months; however, both have multiple years of experience working in the professional pet care industry. Read all fix walker bios on our About Us page.

Are you licensed, bonded, and insured?

Tailored Pet Services has a Washington State business license and one with the City of Everett. All employees are bonded and insured for everyone’s safety.

Can you provide client references?

We are more than happy to provide a list of references. You can also read the 30+ reviews on our Google My Business page.

Have you participated in any pet-care training, such as pet first aid?

Pet first aid classes are conducted on a yearly basis to ensure that walkers are prepared in case of emergency.

What happens if you are sick and unable to come on a scheduled day?

Tailored Pet Services is unique because we have a trained back-up walker to come when the primary dog walker is sick or on vacation.

You’ve Selected a Dog Walker. Now What?

Before scheduling a consultation (meet and greet), Tailored Pet Services asks you to complete an online profile with the following information:
1. Contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses.
2. Veterinary information.
3. Information about pet
4. Location of supplies (leashes, treats, cleaners, pee pads, etc.

Tailored Pet Services asks this information prior to the meet and greet so we can prepare a list of questions to ask during the meeting to make it move along more smoothly. Also, it provides more time to spend with the guest of honor (your pup).

Lines of Communication

Tailored Pet Services provides a brief update with a photo after every visit through our scheduling software Precise Petcare. You can even reply to the email to communicate with your walker. As part of the update, we’ll share behavior before/during/after walk plus share any abnormal behavior including unusual bathroom habits.

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