For people who are just dog walkers for some dogs and not sitters/boarders. Subject says it all. Am I being unreasonable for not wanting to do morning walks before 9 AM or is that pretty standard? What are your hours?
I do walks from 9AM-8PM at the same rate. I charge $16 during the week and $18 on the weekends.
For me, it would all depend on the regular routine of the client dog. If they are used to an early morning walk, then that's what you should provide. My normal hours are 9-6, 9-7 in the summer because it stays light, but I always ask the client what they prefer.
I work part time, so my morning walks are always between 6:30 and 7:30 am so I have enough time to get to work. It also allows me to have a more steady routine. For example one of the families I walk for does 3 walks a day. So I walk their dogs at 7:30 am, 2 pm, and 7:30 pm. This gives the dogs about 5 hours between each potty break, and seems to work pretty well.
In Summer months, very early, 5:30am-7:30pm at the latest, before it gets too hot for them. Fall 7am-9am, the weather just makes you wanna go for a long walk. Winter, 8am-9am, Spring , 6am to 9am. Morning walks are the best, the air is fresh and cool, I get to listen to music and release all the bad energy and enjoy that private moment with your dogs m. Gives me energy for the rest of the day, on days I miss going out to walk in the mornings, I feel the difference,. It disrupts my sleeping patterns for a few days.
I don't walk, but just had to chime in. I can't imagine walking between 9AM and 5PM during much of the year in Austin. It's waaay too hot to be out. If you have the right climate, though, I'm sure it works!
I do walk my boarders daily, and it's almost always the first thing I do after waking up.
I mostly do afternoon walks, but in the instances I've accepted bookings for morning walks/drop-ins, it tends to be VERY early (4:30/5:00am) since I work night shifts, and that's my usual bed time. It's worked for me, but since my schedule is different from most people, I just propose times that work for me and the owners can decide if it will work for their dogs or not.
I agree with what Deb says...every client has different needs. I think every sitter has different needs too, so it's up to you how early you want to do walks. I cannot do early walks myself, because I have a regular late night drop-in visit. My earliest walk has been at 10:00 am, and that's fine with me.
Every client agreement tends to be different. Whatever you & the client agree to is All you have to be concerned about.
For the clients I've went to their house to walk their dogs, the standard morning walk time requested was usually 7-8 AM, as that is what is normal for their dog's needs. If their family is away (which was the reason for walking the dogs), some dogs need to go out long before 9 AM -- and arriving that late may require clean-up to tend to, since their last walk before bedtime is usually around 9-10 PM.
Thanks for sharing. Are the dogs really small and have to go out all the time? That's a really long day! Most of the professional dog walking services in my area seem generally 9-5 but maybe individual walkers tend to be more flexible idk
Many prof. pet co's in my area offer services 24 x 7. Obviously this includes morning, during day, and bedtime service. Usually, I care for small dogs,, who walk to take care of business approx. every 5 hours (about 4x/day if their family is away entire 24Hr). That's good4health-humans need that 2.
From what I understand, a lot of dog walking services charge at least $5 extra, sometimes $10, for early morning and late at night (aka outside of standard operating hours) but maybe that's just the area I live in. I imagine there are different trends in different areas