Dog Walking, is it worth doing?

[Evei]

No offence, but I would not pay a sixth former to look after a dog. /QUOTE]

 

I would as long as they had the relevant insurance and knowledge. At 18/19 sixth formers in my eyes are young adults and can be as responsible as anyone else. Some are our future teachers, doctors, nurses I would like to think they are mature and intelligent enough to look after a dog. Some are doing animal care courses at college.

 

I think it is a good idea for the OP as long as they cover themselves from an insurance point of view. The CRB check is not esssential but personally I would always require to see one as they have the keys to your house so you have to trust them.

[calistor]

I think it's a good idea!

[Brian Hanson]

Hi, i am currently in sixth form and i am finding it very difficult to find a job at the moment.

I was thinking about offering a dog walking service but i just simply do not know if it is worth doing.

Would people pay me to take their dog(s) for walks in the mornings and evenings?

If so how much would they be willing to pay for say 30 minutes - an hours walk??

 

 

A disabled friend of mine pays a dog walker 20 quid to take her two dogs a walk for half a hour. I think 20 quid for a half hour walk is over doing it, 5 quid would be more reasonable.

[ECFS1]

i'd suggest posting a simple leaflet that you could design on your computer and post round your local area to see what interest there is. Once you have one person on board word of mouth in the area could go a long way. Worth a try.

[steve-300683]

No offence, but I would not pay a sixth former to look after a dog.

 

What happens if you lost the dog whilst texting on your Blackberry?

 

I would only pay someone well trained in caring for dogs.

 

Sorry to sound harsh.

 

I would completely ignore this person and go for it if you think your capable then it will show.

[anywebsite]

... and even this requires CRB check and liability insurance, and if you're driving to a client's house, your car insurance will need to be 'for business' too

 

A CRB check for walking a dog? Really? If that's true then the country has gone totally insane.

[indizine]

A disabled friend of mine pays a dog walker 20 quid to take her two dogs a walk for half a hour. I think 20 quid for a half hour walk is over doing it, 5 quid would be more reasonable.

 

You are assuming this dog walker has zero overheads then? And wishes to be self employed and make zero proft? You cant be s/e and charge just £10 an hour.

 

This dog walker may be subject to paying tax and NI like anyone else, not to mention their insurances for running such a business and their petrol for getting to the client and back. After charging £5 for half an hours work after paying out the above, just how much do you think they would be left with?

[ECFS1]

You are assuming this dog walker has zero overheads then? And wishes to be self employed and make zero proft? You cant be s/e and charge just £10 an hour.

 

This dog walker may be subject to paying tax and NI like anyone else, not to mention their insurances for running such a business and their petrol for getting to the client and back. After charging £5 for half an hours work after paying out the above, just how much do you think they would be left with?

 

This is true, many people don't take into consideration who is playing by the book and the ones who are not. People just look at the cheaper option with not thinking about how come they are so cheap.

[anywebsite]

You are assuming this dog walker has zero overheads then? And wishes to be self employed and make zero proft? You cant be s/e and charge just £10 an hour.

 

This dog walker may be subject to paying tax and NI like anyone else, not to mention their insurances for running such a business and their petrol for getting to the client and back. After charging £5 for half an hours work after paying out the above, just how much do you think they would be left with?

 

You can walk 8 dogs at once if they all live close to each other, but that's dependent on finding the clients. £5 isn't going to be worth many people's time if it's just to come & walk those two dogs for half an hour, especially if they have to travel to do it. If there's travelling time to get there & to your next job then it's an hour of your time to walk the dogs for half an hour.

 

I saw on TV that some people in London were doing it full time, walking 8 dogs at once all day & raking it in, but they wont have been charging £5 either, I think it was about £20 each.

 

It'd be worth printing some flyers & delivering them round your local area, see if you get any interest. It could be worth doing if you get a few clients that live nearby & walk multiple dogs at once. If you can get enough clients then it could be a good full time business, but it's probably harder to find the clients in Sheffield than in the posh parts of London.

 

I don't think you need a CRB check for walking dogs, I'm not an expert, but I thought they were just for working with children & vulnerable people. You'll probably want insurance. You'll need to contact HMRC to tell them you're self employed & you'll need to do a tax return each January (for the year ending the April before). First thing to do is find some clients.

[upset]

I am looking into this and whilst a CRB check is not technically an essential, as in there are no rules on who can and cannot walk dogs, it is good to have - you will presumably be trusted with keys and entering a person's home to collect and return their dog - a CRB check could go a long way to showing you are trustworthy.