Choosing a Dog Walking Service – Basic Tips

Dog walking is one thing pet owners seem to fall behind on more than anything. We can remember to feed and water our dogs, we can play with them and pet them, but walking them so often is done too seldom and for too short a time. Speak to any dog trainer and they will tell you that walking your dog is the best thing you can do for him. Dogs have an immense amount of energy (consider that their ancestor the wolf can trot all day long, sun up to sun down at a speed equated to a light jog for a human) and this energy must be exercised out.

Walking a dog is the best thing you can do for man's best friend.

Many dog owners feel that simply playing with their dog for a while is a good substitute for a walk but this is simply not the case. What we have hear is a difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Playing with the dog is anaerobic exercise – hard and fast. This means that your dog won’t breathe in enough oxygen to keep the cells in his body happy and so oxygen must be taken from elsewhere. It is good to exercise a dog in this way, but it must be done in addition to aerobic exercise, which is long, sustained exercise.

All the same, many pet owners these days simply do not have the time to take their dogs for the two walks a day recommended by most all dog trainers. Just because your life is busy does not mean that your dog should not get his walks. Without walks, your dog will start to show a number of damaging behavioral problems.

Enter the dog walking service. These businesses, springing up all over the world basically charge a small fee to walk your dog. Especially useful in large cities, these services allow your dog to stay exercised while you are busy with your life.

Find a dog walker who can work with your schedule and who also has experience handling dogs of your dog’s size and maintenance level. If the dog walker has only handled easy dogs and your dog likes to pull, you might look for someone with a little more experience.

You can also ask for references and certifications. Several organizations now issue certifications in dog handling. It is always useful to talk to the dog walker as well. This lets you get a feel for the person while you can give the walker all the information he or she needs to know in order to safely handle your dog.