Picking a dog walker

I just wanted to wish you luck in finding a good dog walker. I'm a dog walker myself, and I understand how difficult it is to find someone you're comfotable leaving your house key with and caring for your dog.

Make sure they're insured and bonded. Make sure you ask for references, and check them! Make sure they have had a backround check done, and it comes back clear. Make sure your dog looks happy around them, and you're happy witht them. And when/if you do hire someone make sure you leave them a typed run down of exactly what you want done- where you want poop bags to go, what to do if there's an "accident", what to do if the dog is sick, who the vet is, your work numbers and emergency numbers, what treats the dog can/can't have, etc. Make it clear for them exactly what you want.  

Best of luck. We had one lot that came over to feed and play with Kivi Tarro until he was about 5 months old. Communication was pretty non-existent and I never really knew what they were doing and what they weren't. I got a bit anxious when Penny got an eye injury and no one said anything to me about it. Sure, she wasn't the one they were being paid to pay attention to, but I thought, if it were me, I would have at least said something to make sure the owners were aware there was a problem and to make sure they would know I had noticed! Anyway, I sent a polite email outlining the things I liked and the things I didn't like and two days later the woman I had paid hundreds of dollars to for these services called me up and abused me for daring to find fault with her service! She accused me of being cruel to my dogs and said a whole lot of things designed to be very hurtful. She then ranted about her outrageously long working hours and how she didn't care because she loved the dogs so much. Whatever. I didn't bother to tell her that we get up at 5:30 every morning in order to walk the dogs and her phone call at 6pm had found me on the train on my way home and my partner would be 2 hours behind me.

We have a new one now that I really like. Rather than lecturing me on all the things I should and shouldn't be doing with my dogs, she listened and got me to fill out a standard form that lets her know what normal behaviour is so she can let me know if she's seeing abnormal behaviour. She is also a calm and laid back person. She asked me if I minded her using liver treats and she just exuded competence in a quiet, understated way. It's nice to have someone confident enough that she doesn't feel like she has to flood me with all her dog knowledge at every opportunity. She also sends me SMSs and leaves me notes to let me know how she goes. We will be getting her back over Christmas to take care of the bunnies while we are on holidays.  

I can't afford a professional walker but I wanted to make sure Nikon is getting enough potty breaks so I put an add in the home/personal section of the job board for the college where I work.  Basically I wanted a student that loves puppies so low payment isn't a factor.  I got a ton of responses right away and started with the first responder.  She came over Thurs. evening and I just felt comfortable with her.  She will be coming Mon-Fri at 3:30 to let Nikon out and play for 1/2 hour (though she seemed to like Coke as much so I bet Coke will get out too) and she's doing it for $30/wk.  I have a clipboard with basic info, contact numbers, and a chart for her to check off when she comes and leave notes if there are any accidents in the house, etc.  Basically I pick after meeting the person.  I don't really care if she's not a trainer and isn't insured or whatever, I could tell she loved dogs and had good sense.