When do you all start the clock for walks?
I've always worked it that if an owner hires me for a 30 minute walk then I "start the clock" as I'm walking out the door with the dog. But recently I've gotten to thinking that for some clients it takes a while to get out the door because their dogs are difficult to work with or the owners are unorganized with where the dog's stuff is and that's time I'm not getting paid for, so I'm curious how you all do things. Do you count your entire time there or only the time you are physically walking the dog?
What about if it's an apartment? It would be nice to be compensated for waiting especially if the owner can't let me in but on the other hand it takes me a few minutes to get upstairs and get the dog ready. I never start it till I'm headed down with the dog and I figure that's fair.