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It’s no secret that people love their pets. Annually, according to an article published in BusinessWeek, Americans spend 41 billion dollars. As you might imagine, that money is spent on everything from pet food, training, and veterinary care to making sure their dog is happy, healthy and taken care of while they’re away. Because most of the population works out of the home, and still wants their beloved pet to be cared for while they’re away, a pet sitting business can be a great way to make a living. Here’s how to start a dog walking business you can be proud of.


Write A Business Plan.

How are you going to market your business online and off?  What is your business vision?  Who is your audience?  What are your skills, strengths and weaknesses?  

Decide what you’re going to charge for your services and how? Will you charge a flat fee for your services? Charge by the hour?  Will you provide extra services like grooming or stick to walking only?  

What supplies do you need to get started and how will you market your services?  Do you already have a list of potential clients?  Do you have friends in the pet industry like veterinarians and groomers?  You can partner with these associates to market your business. Give them flyers to hand out or pay them for referrals. You can also send referrals to them.

Finally, you’ll need to take care of all the legal aspects of owning a business and that means registering it, getting any licenses you need, and getting your business finances in order.


Growing Your Dog Walking Business

Once your business is in motion, you’ll want to plan and take steps to grow your business. Here are a few tips to help you grow your dog walking business to reach your goals.

Be attentive and listen to your customers. Each customer is going to have their own specific preferences and requirements. Having a pen and paper handy when you first meet them and paying close attention to their requirements will help you keep customers and grow your business. While it’s important to enjoy the dog, it’s their owner that’s your customer. Make sure they’re happy.

Be available and professional. If you’re going to be a professional dog walker make sure you’re available when your customer’s need you. As a dog walker, that’s one of the benefits you’re selling.  And make sure you always show up to your appointments on time, every time. True, the dog can’t tell time but their owner can and they’ll know if you skipped a walking or were late. Many older dogs have very specific schedules and thirty minutes late could mean a puddle on the carpet. Being professional also means not gossiping about your clients and always cleaning up after your client’s dogs. You’d be surprised how small your community of clients is and word can get around quite quickly if you’re talking about your clients or not cleaning up after their pets. You can hope that the owner potty trained their dog but not all have.

Be prepared. Emergencies happen and if you’re prepared with emergency numbers, a cell phone and a first aid kit, you’re one step ahead of your dog walking competition. Also, make sure you have each and every client’s veterinarian on your cell phone and the client’s cell phone number or work phone number.

Finally, to continue growing your business, consider expanding your services and adding more value. Do your clients need you to take their dogs to the veterinarian or groomer while they're away? Do they need pet sitting services?  Do they need house sitting services?  Can you collaborate with other relevant businesses to increase your offerings, products and services?

Owning and operating a dog walking business can be one of the most enjoyable and financially

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A good example of an age specific thing to consider is the size of their bladder. They you may think that this is a silly thing to even think about but it's not. It's just not reasonable to expect a young puppy to be able to hold their urine for more than about two to three hours at a time. This means that if your pup is less than about 12 weeks old, you should be prepared for scheduled visits outside with your puppy.

At about 12 weeks, the two to three hour schedule can begin to be expanded to six than 12 hours. Again however, no matter what age your dog, you need to establish a routine in the behavior of going outside to relieve themselves before bed.

Until the routine of visiting the outside bathroom just before bedtime is established, you can expect to be getting up in the middle of the night with your pet. This is a major difference between adult or adolescent dog crate training and working with puppies.

Crate Training Tips for All Dogs.

1. Keep your dog in their crate unless you are able to directly keep watch on them. The idea here is to try and eliminate the possibility of bathroom accidents happening in your home

2. Watch and understand the "I need to go to the Bathroom" Queues your dog is showing you. A canine that is sniffing around and squatting is a good indication that they're looking for someplace to relieve themselves.

3. Make your pet's crate area off-limits to children and other animals. Inside your puppy or dog's crate should be considered their own sanctuary. This means that you should make it comfortable by placing a blanket and a favorite toy inside

4. Dogs and puppies take many naps during the day. Using the crate for nap time is a good way to increase the comfort level of your puppy

5. If control is your goal, get a dog crate that is more like a full cage with an enclosed top. If house training is your goal, a better alternative is a dog crate that controls access to the rest of your home but allows for easy access to your animal

Just remember that puppy crate training is different than working with a more mature dog. You'll probably need to make adjustments to the basic crate training method to allow for your dogs personality. With persistence and consistent effort on your part, soon you will have a reliable house trained companion pet that will bring you years of enjoyment.

Now if you run into crate training problems, you want to be sure to check out how to deal with them here. I'll be putting more tips and strategies to overcome common cratetraining problems.

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