It is not a requirement to have pet sitter insurance to run a dog walking or pet sitting business, but it is highly recommended. You also want to consider getting a bond if you have employees who have access to your clients’ homes.

There are four main pet sitter insurance providers that service the US. Those insurance companies are covered below.

Pet Sitter Insurance Details: What is it and why do I need it?

Pet sitter insurance, or any kind of insurance, is not a very interesting subject. Most people would rather do almost anything else than get into the details involving liability coverage. So let’s get into the details.

You may need pet sitter insurance if you own any type of pet service business. This includes, but is not limited to, dog walking. pet sitting, dog daycare, grooming, pet taxi, dog training, pet portraits, and pooper scoopers.

Basically, if you are bringing pets to your location, or entering clients homes, to care for an animal, then you are involved in some form of a pet sitting service.

The topics you need to understand are liability, bond, and licensing. The bond and the “licensing” are straight forward topics which I cover towards the end of the article.

General liability insurance protects you and your business for injuries or property damage while working as a pet sitter. The insurance pays for legal representation and settlements for accidents or negligence caused by you or your employees.

The most important part protects for injury and property damage. and is specifically for any issues regarding the pets or the owners’ property.

Examples of negligence or accidents are lost keys, broken house items, medical expenses for the pet in your care, injury caused by a dog to other dogs or people, etc.

Here is a good article if you are thinking of starting a pet-related business. They cover insurance, bonding, and other aspects of a pet business. Also, take a look at my series How to Start a Dog Walking Business (5 articles in total).

Insurance & Liability

As a pet service provider, you need insurance for liability reasons. Some common reasons to have pet sitter insurance are:

• In the event, a pet in your care gets sick or injured
• If a pet in your care injures another pet or person
• You accidentally cause damage while in a clients’ home
• You forget to put a dog in a crate or room and damage results
• The keys to a home are lost and you need to call a locksmith

And there are many other reasons to have liability coverage.

There are 4 main pet sitter insurance agencies that cover pet businesses in the United States. They are listed below with as many details that I could find on them.

I also provide links that have more information if you enjoy reading about insurance. Otherwise, just pick the cheapest one if you are just starting your business.

Also, take a look at the page I found for comparison charts of pet sitter insurance providers for the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK.

But before that, you need to know about the “Care, Custody, and Control” aspect of liability insurance.

Care, Custody, and Control

This is a vital part of pet sitter insurance that is not always offered.

This protects you for accidents that happen while pets are in your “care, custody and control”. It covers the primary place of business which is important for pet businesses like dog daycare, boarding, and training.

Most insurers include this coverage though not all. Each company in this article does. If you are getting insurance from a company other than ones in this article, then check to make sure that this coverage is included.

Pet Sitters Associates (PSA)

PSA offers insurance for its members, and you can have your business listed in their pet sitter directory. Their membership and insurance cost $190 per year. If you need to be bonded then that is an additional $100.

Take a look at the Pet Business Insurance page for details on the plan. There are various add-on options that may, or may not, apply to you.

On that page, they have links to articles on how to start a few different pet service related businesses.

Or go directly to their Membership Application page for additional liability costs such as daycare or obedience classes. The page is set up as a worksheet that calculates all your policy options.

Business Insurers of the Carolinas

This is the insurer used by National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS) and Pet Sitters International (PSI), which are both large and well-known pet sitter associations.

They provide:

1. General Liability
2. Care, Custody and Control coverage
3. Bonding
4. Workers Compensation
5. And more…

You can get their insurance and bond directly thru them or from NAPPS or PSI.

NAPPS is a non-profit pet sitting association. Besides providing pet sitter insurance, they have a lot of resources for their members. The membership costs $135 per year which I assume includes the cost of insurance but contact them for all the details.

Check out this 12-page NAPPS PDF file that covers the bonding and pet sitter insurance in detail.

PSI is, in their own words, “… the world’s largest educational association for professional pet sitters.” Well, that’s impressive!

So similar to NAPPS, they also provide insurance and educational resources for their pet sitter members. Their membership costs $145 per year.

Note: I could not find details of their liability amounts.

Kennel Pro

Kennel Pro list offering pet sitter insurance for a lot of different pet businesses, but I believe that is standard. It appears they have been a specialty insurance company since 1933, so that makes them the oldest of the 4 companies on this list.

You have to request a quote, but it looks like their Silver package is $425 per year (OUCH!) I assume, the longer you have been in business, then the more you can charge. They must have a track record that justifies the higher rate.

But their Silver, Gold and Platinum coverage plans are specific to different pet service companies. It may be worth looking into the packages if their coverage is the best option for your business.

Pet Care Insurance

They are covered under an insurer named Veracity, a company that was formed in 2012. As the new guys on the block, they appear to be the cheapest at $129 per year. (I’d go with this one.)

Here is their pet sitter insurance page with the details of the coverage, testimonials, FAQs and informational videos.

Towards the bottom of the page is a table of the actual coverage details of the insurance. And then there is more information and links below that. They have a lot of information that will help you.

Bond

You do not need bond with your pet sitter insurance if you do not have employees. This is only needed if you have employees AND they are found guilty of stealing from one of your clients.

If a pet sitter is convicted, the insurance company with whom you have the bond will reimburse the client for the loss.

Don’t get this if you are just starting out in the pet service industry. As you grow and hire employees, then you should seriously consider this coverage.

The one reason you may want it is that it makes clients feel “good”. It provides a level of security and trust for the client.

License

There are no dog walker or pet sitter licensing agencies. If you see a company advertise that they are “Licensed” then it means one of two things.

First, they are possible including that title because they have taken some kind of training that assists them in their business. Pet sitters may take training classes or get certifications for pet CPR & First Aid, dog behavior and training, or classes involving starting a pet business.

Secondly, they may be referring to their business license. The business license is just a requirement for local government and has nothing to do with experience or expertise with animals.

Simply put, ignore the word “Licensed” in any part of a pet sitters business credentials. It’s great if a pet sitter has any training or certifications, but it’s not a necessary requirement.

If you are a dog walker or pet sitter, then you need a good reason why you are including that term as a credential. If you don’t have one, then don’t use it. Better yet, just don’t use “Licensed” as a credential

Summary

Here is my advice: Get insurance!

Insurance is protection for you when things go wrong. I’m good at what I do, but I have had 2 different dogs get away from me. I was lucky. Both situations ended with a healthy dog. Even though neither situation was my fault, things happen. And they happen in a flash.

If you are just starting out, go with the cheapest pet sitter insurance. Don’t bother with bond until, or if, you have employees. Also skip the memberships, unless you have the money to spare.

Comment below or email if you know of any other pet sitter insurance companies so that I can add them to the list. Or to share any stories relating to your pet business and how your insurance has helped you.

The post Pet Sitter Insurance: Pet Sitter & Dog Walker Business Requirements appeared first on Fairmount Pet Service.

Most of the skills that you need for dog walking are also skills that a person needs to look for when hiring a dog walker.

I list dog walker skills for those who are dog walkers and for people needing a dog walker. You want to read both lists of skills as they related to each other.

Dog Walking Skills: Requirements to Become a Dog Walker

There is no substitute for experience with animals. Any experience helps, though owning a dog is ideal. I was fortunate enough to get my first two clients while only owning a cat, though I did have dogs as a child.

But there are many other skills that you need. I separated them into mental, physical and managerial.

#1 Recognizing  Behavior Changes

I consider recognizing changes to a dog’s behavior as the most important skill when walking dogs. But this is only possible after you know the dog’s behavior in the first place.

If you are walking a new dog pay attention to odd behavior and let the owner know. It could just be a quirky characteristic of the dog (I love goofy dogs).

Go slow and pay attention to everything the dog does during the first week of walks. Most dogs are happy and there is not much to worry about.

Other dogs can be fearful until they trust you. For these dogs, try your best to control them on a walk but give them some freedom as well. They should start to trust you after a few walks.

It is easy to notice changes in a dog you walk multiple times per week. Text the owner if you think there is a problem, otherwise, leave a note. Responsible clients should let you know what is going on beforehand. But there will be times when you bring an issue to their attention.

Get to know the dog and pay attention. You are getting paid for your skills and experience, not just for walking a dog.

#2 Recognizing Physical Changes, Health Issues or Medical Emergencies

This is similar to the skill above in that you need to recognize when something is wrong, whether it is a new dog you are walking or a regular.

Things that I have noticed over the years are limping, lethargy, vomiting, or blood in urine or stool.

You get to know how the dog reacts every day when you walk through the door, which is usually excitement. If the dog seems different, then something has changed. It may be nothing major, but consider leaving a note anyway. And obviously, let them know immediately if it is a serious problem.

A common problem is if the dog eats something they shouldn’t. Once I had a dog eat some food that was wrapped in tin foil. He ate the foil along with the food. I let the owner know and the dog ended up being fine.

Another time a dog ate and swallowed an owners sock (yes, you read that correctly). I hadn’t seen the dog in over a year and she was overly excited.

After that walk, I did a quick Google search on how to make a dog vomit. A little bit of hydrogen peroxide will do the trick. The owner eventually went home and made an emergency vet appointment. But she tried the peroxide and that got her goofy dog to “release” the sock. That saved her a lot of money and possibly her dog.

I won’t give details for the vomit or blood stories, but it’s common to see a dog limping. Once again, leave a note and send an email that night to see how the dog is doing.

#3 Noticing Faulty or Inadequate Equipment

When you first meet the client and dog, make sure the harness or collar is easy to put on and fits correctly. Not only does that indicate that you know what you are doing but it also vital. If the dog can slip out of the collar or harness, it may do so the first time you walk them.

Another thing is to notice if a strap or buckle is broken or worn. I didn’t know that I could hear the proper sound of a quick-release buckle until I attached one that was broken. It just didn’t sound right. When I took a look at it I noticed that there was a large crack in it.

I was able to walk the dog because I attached the leash to the collar and the harness. That is a great feature of the Easy-Walk harness. The owner was unaware of the problem, and they bought a new harness when I let them know.

#4 Thinking Outside the Box

So there was a time when I had a pet sitting visit for a dog and I could not find the leash. I looked everywhere for it. What are you going to do? I was already there and the owner was gone for the entire weekend.

So I used my belt as a choke collar. I had to partly hold my pants up but it worked. I used one of my dog’s leashes for the remaining walks. The leash ended up being in the owner’s car. Quite often when I can’t find the leash, the owner has it in their car.

There is really no way to give you more examples nor would that even help. You will most likely experience things that I have not. You have to figure it out while making sure the dog’s safety is the priority.

Use your wits to figure out a solution to any, and all, problems you encounter.

#5 Reading Dogs’ Body Language & Communicating Yours

Let me describe a perfect day of dog walking. You have perfect weather and NOTHING goes wrong. You can’t do anything about the weather, but you do have control over how your walks go.

Your goal is to never have to call the owner with bad news. If you are an owner reading this, it sounds worse than it is. It is very rare that a major problem occurs.

But one of the biggest concerns is if another dog attacks the dog you are walking. I am intimately aware of this problem from many angles. Some of the dogs I walk are aggressive, I’ve encountered aggressive dogs, and have had my dog attacked by another dog.

Learn to spot a problem dog and avoid that dog. Cross the street if you have to. Don’t take a chance with someone else’s dog. Also, communicate with your body language if you are walking an aggressive dog.

#6 Have Quick Reflexes

There are times you need to react quickly.

Once in a while, I drop a leash. This happens with dogs who do not heal and tend to walk around me. Sometimes I drop the leash while changing hands to make the walking easier. I immediately step on the leash when that happens.

Owners with difficult dogs: relax! I take the precautions with those type of dogs and change hands very carefully.

There are also times you need to react quickly and pull the dog away from danger. This includes rounding corners, irresponsible bikers, trash day and others. Take a look at my article 5 Dog Walking Safety Tips for situations requiring quick reactions.

#7 Pet Ownership

I am very fortunate that I got my first dog walking client when I only owned a cat. My first client was a reference for my second client, my second for my third, and so on. And I believe I would have still gotten my first client, but having a cat did help. That and the fact that I grew up with dogs.

So you may be able to get clients without owning a pet, but owning a pet makes it a lot easier. It shows that you have what it takes to care for an animal.

I suggest adopting a dog if you don’t already have one. You can meet potential clients while walking your dog and maybe use your vet or groomer as your first reference. Pets are a great source of happiness and fun.

So, adopt a dog then read my article First-Time Dog Owner Tips for further insights into taking care of a dog. Check out Petfinder for pets up for adoption in your area.

#8 Have Patience & a Love of Animals

I forgot to include in the perfect day of dog walking to only walk “perfect” dogs. Unfortunately, there are dogs that will test your patience. This is mostly the result of dogs that are not trained.

Remember that you are getting paid to walk dogs. There are a lot of jobs worse than having to walk a difficult dog. I believe that I must be the go-to person if you own a difficult dog because I’ve had had difficult dogs.

Find the positives in the dog, and they all have positives, and deal with the difficulties. If you can’t do that, then you shouldn’t be a dog walker.

#9 Physical Stamina

I estimate that I walk 3-4 miles on an average weekday. That is 15-20 miles per week and that does not include walks on the weekend or walking my own dog.

Throw into the mix walking in extreme weather conditions. Walking in snow is very tiring and extreme heat sucks the energy out of you.

You can not be a dog walker if you have ill health unless you only walk small or well-trained dogs.

#10 Behind the Back Leash Hand-off

I hesitate to include this dog walker “skill”, but it has helped me.

Some of the dogs you walk will walk behind you and then go to the opposite side of you. The problem is you could get tripped up by the leash and fall. That could result in your injury, injury to the dog, dropping the leash, or all of those things.

You either have to spin in a circle or hand off the leash to your opposite hand behind your back. Let’s look at the different scenarios.

Situation #1: Single dog circling you. A dog that does not stay on one side of you is difficult to walk. If you have the leash in your right hand and the dog walks behind you and goes to your left side, then you either have to do a 360 turn or transfer the leash behind your back.

Changing hands behind your back is acceptable if it is a small dog that doesn’t pull. Otherwise, you should do the spin. A better option is to grab the leash lower and allow only about 3 feet of leash. Now the dog can’t walk behind you.

Situation #2a: Walking two dogs and one dog circles you. No matter which hands are holding the leashes, you will at times have both leashes in the same hand or in opposite hands. Doing a 360-degree spin is not an option because of the second dog and leash, so you will have to hand off the leash behind your back.

Situation #2b: Walking two dogs and both dogs circle you. This is bad. You need to reconsider having this client. You need to choke up on the leash so that they are both right next to your legs.

You either have to practice this or get yourself a belt connection for both leashes. That is an added cost. Consider asking the owner to train the dog(s), or at least buy an Easy-Walk harness.

#11 Never Stop Learning

I’m amazed at the fact that when I think I’ve seen it all, I experience something new. Always make mental notes about how you handle difficult situations.

Try to eliminate mistakes, but learn from any mistakes you do make. Just make sure they are not major mistakes.

Also, talk to dog owners whenever you get. Become active in pet groups or forums. And consider starting a blog about your dog walking and pet sitting. Researching articles will introduce you to every aspect of pet services and pet care.

#12 Management Skills

The final skill is the boring managerial skill of running a business. If you want to be a dog walker then you need to have scheduling software (Excel or Google Sheets is fine), calculate fees, collect and record payments, email all clients about holidays and rate changes, and the list goes on.

Then you may also want to hire dog walkers and sitters which means you need to create job postings, learn to interview people, and deal with your employees.

Here is another subject area where it would be wise to find dog walker and pet sitter groups and post a question anytime you need help with something. Here are some groups and forums I use:

• Pet Sitters Network (Facebook)
• Pet Sitters and Pet Owners (Facebook)
• Dog Walker to Dog Walker (Facebook)
• Reddit for cats
• Reddit for dogs
• Reddit for pets
• Reddit for pet sitting

Hire a Dog Walker: Skills & Qualities to Look For

There is only one time that I have needed someone to walk my dog. I had sprained my ankle on a Friday so bad that I could barely walk. I turned to my dog walking clients and two volunteered to help over the weekend until I could walk.

So for me, the people walking my dog were people I knew and were also dog owners. Moreover, their dogs were friendly with my dog. If only everyone could be that lucky.

#13 Experience and References

I believe the best things to look for when hiring a dog walker is experience, references, and reviews. If you have those three things in a prospective walker, I don’t think you need anything else.

When I meet a new client, I keep the questions to the basics. I ask about health and behavior issues. If there are no major issues, then the walking is easy. The only other thing I need is to know the type of harness and leash.

You are able to tell when you meet the walker if they know what they are doing or not. I’ve been doing this so long that I know what to ask and can give input on most any dog walking subject.

What is also very helpful is online reviews and references from clients. It’s similar to buying something online. I usually go with the highest and best reviews. Which stinks for new walkers, because they need clients before they can get reviews.

Referrals from other dog owners are one of the best ways to find a great dog walker.

If you are a new walker, definitely ask your first clients to act as references. This is a must if you don’t have any online reviews yet.

#14 insurance, Strength & Stamina

You also want to to go with a walking company that is bonded & insured. Personally, I have not needed to ever involve my insurance company, but it’s good to know that you are covered.

Some of the claims I remember seeing in newsletters are for things like a broken lamp or similar damages that a walker caused.

Depending on your dog, you want to make sure your walker can handle the walks. Little dogs are easy. If you have a dog that is 60 pounds or larger, then you want to go with a walker who is strong enough to handle him.

Skills Not Important for Dog Walking: Detailed Knowledge of Breeds, Training, etc.

You do not need to be an expert in dog breeds, dog training or other professional fields to gain dog walking skills. Although, some basic knowledge in all functional areas will help you be a better dog walker.

For example, knowing specifics of different dog breeds will influence how you walk dogs. Brachycephalic dogs should only be walked in short spurts during hot weather. You should avoid interacting with other dogs if you are walking aggressive breeds like a Jack Russell.

As for training, that is not what you advertise but knowing some basics will help. Specifically, you want to know how to prevent dogs from pulling on the leash while you are walking them. That is way easier said than done.

Summary

Experience with dogs is invaluable. If you always are thinking of the dog’s safety first, are responsible and in shape, then you have the skills to be a dog walker.

Owners, remember the 3 R’s when you are looking to hire a dog walker: Referrals, references, and reviews.

I hope this article helped you in identifying the necessary skills to be a dog walker, or to look for when hiring a walker. Please leave a comment below if you have anything to add.

The post 14 Dog Walking Skills: Become or Hire a Dog Walker appeared first on Fairmount Pet Service.

I designed my first dog walking business cards using Adobe Illustrator. That was years ago and now my version of Illustrator is so old that it won’t open in Windows 10. That’s alright because although it’s simple, I’m happy with the design.

But I did decide to modify the design and to do that I recreated it using Canva. Canva is a free online graphic design tool that I have used for my pet sitting and dog walking business card, my pet services logo, a dog walker flyer template and for various Pinterest Rich Pins.

Design Your Dog Walking Business Card

You can’t use a program to design a business card until you already have a design. And I can give you one tip right away: you need at least one graphic illustration on your card. A business card with only text is UNBELIEVABLY boring and very forgettable. Try one of these two methods to get design ideas.

First, look at any business cards you already have. Lay them all out and see which ones stand out. What you are looking for is the overall look and design. You need to see every part or section of the card as a separate element. But you also have to realize that all the elements work together for the total design. At the bottom of this post, I have some graphic design tips to help you with the basics. If you are totally new to graphic design, you may want to read that section first.

Your second approach is to search for examples of dog walking business cards online. Actually, any type of business card will do. You want to find graphic elements that stand out to you and that resonate with you. If they stand out to you, they should do the same for your potential clients. The elements to look for are illustrations, shapes, lines, and colors. Also, pay attention to font types.

Drawing the rough design on paper

After you found some graphic elements you like, draw a rectangle on a piece of paper (with a pencil and eraser) and draw your design. Add the text where you want, assuming you have decided what text you want.

Here a couple of my cards which I designed on Canva. I have a minimalist version which is the one I prefer. The other one has more text involving my credentials. I made my dog walker logo and my dog walker flyer template public so you can take a look at them on Canva, as well read my articles on the design for those.

And I mentioned how a card with no graphics doesn’t look that good. Here is my original business card design from 2009 with no graphics other than the color fields. I stuffed so much information on it that you don’t need to visit my website. I cringe looking at it.

Whether or not you have found a graphic illustration, just draw a circle or square where you want it to go. That way you will see where you have room for your text. Try a few variations of your design with the text and the illustration(s) in different positions on the card until you have something you like. Also, make a note of which text will have the largest font size and which text will be smaller. And don’t forget to decide on colors.

And that is your rough first draft of a design. Next, create a rough design but using Canva instead of pencil and paper.

Designing Your Dog Walking Business Card with Canva

Canva already has a lot of templates and one of the categories is Business Cards. However, you can’t use it. Canva is free (though they do have a paid premium version) but you have to create an account first. I use the free version and all the designs that I created and downloaded have a resolution of 96 ppi. That’s fine for web graphics, but not for something that is designed for print. So if you design a business card from one of your templates, then it won’t have the proper resolution which is typically 300 ppi.

I assume the premium version of Canva will allow you to choose the resolution. Here’s a workaround for the resolution problem:

• At the top right of the Create a design section, click on “Use custom dimensions”
• Business cards are 3.5” wide by 2” high. You want your custom dimensions to be 10.9375” wide by 6.25” high.
  • Trust me on this. If you are good with math, then those dimensions are the result of multiplying the 3.5 and 2.0-inch dimensions of a printed business card by 3.125, and 3.125 is simply 300 ppi divided by 96 ppi.
• After you are done with your design and have downloaded the file, you need to upload the file into Photoshop or a similar program. If you don’t have Photoshop or know anyone who does, then check out this article on 5 Free Web-Based Photoshop Alternatives.
• What you then want to do if you are in Photoshop is go to Image > Image Size. Change the Document Size Width to 3.5 inches which should change the height to 2 inches. Then change the Resolution from 96 to 300. You now have a graphic that is 3.2 x 2.0 inches at a resolution of 300 ppi – professional printing ready

That may sound complicated but it really isn’t. What the steps above do is create a large size business card which you reduce to the normal size. Just follow my steps and you will be fine. Create a custom dimension design of 10.9375 inches wide by 6.25 inch high and design your business card. Download the finished design, and then change the dimensions and resolution.

Specific Design Steps on Canva

To learn how to use Canva, you can try their design tutorials. Also, try searching on YouTube as I found some good videos on Canva there as well.

So after you created your custom dimension design you can start adding elements. Here are the steps I did when I designed my dog walking business card. If you want, you can follow my steps as if my design was yours. You can change or skip some of my steps or add your own for your design:

1. On the left-hand panel click Elements then Shapes.
2. Click the first square to add a black square to the design or canvas.
3. I first changed the black to a custom green color. Then I resized the square into a rectangle.
4. I moved the rectangle to the top of the design and resized it so it went to both the right and left edges of the design.
5. I copied the rectangle and moved the copy to the bottom of the design. That’s it for my color elements
6. Next, I added the graphic of a dog and cat silhouette. To do that click on Uploads on the left panel and select your graphic.
   1. I found my graphic for free on Pixabay. Try searching on there or any other free graphics site for the illustrations that you want.
   2. To upload any images into Canva, just click on Uploads then “Upload your own images”.
7. Next, resize and position your illustration to the size and position that you designed on paper. Keep in mind where you want your text to be when adding your graphic elements.
8. At this point, I was almost done except for the text. Click on Text in the left sidebar and select “Add Heading”. I then added “Fairmount Pet Service” though I did have to resize the font.
9. I then moved that text box to the top green section and change the text to white and increased the font size.
10. I copied that text box, changed the text to “Dog Walking, Pet Sitting & Boarding”. I decreased the font size and moved that text box to the bottom green section.
11. Finally, I added more text on either side of my graphic as you can see. I clicked on “Add a little bit of body text” three times.
    1. First for the email and website address.
    2. Then for my name and phone number.
    3. And finally for the “In Business Since 2008” text box.

And if you want to know all my settings and how I made them, here they are:

1. My custom green hexadecimal code is 346315. For any element where you can change the color, click on the color box along the top of the design. Then click on the “+” sign to open up a color wheel and select a color that way, or enter the exact color in the Color Code # field.
2. The white text at the top of my card is Abril Fatface font which is the default when you click “Add heading” which I like. As I mentioned I changed that text color to white and set the size to 56. All the options for text fields will be along the top bar of the design.
3. The white text at the bottom of the card is the same as the top except the size is 42.
4. My email and website text box and the In Business Since 2008 text is Arielle font at a size of 18.
5. And finally, my name and phone number are in Arielle at a size of 24.

That is it. My design has 8 elements. Two color elements, five separate text elements, and one illustration. Have fun with it. Mess around with colors and fonts and fonts sizes. Try adding different shapes as well (lines can look fantastic).

There are also some decent pet illustrations that are free on Canva if you don’t feel like searching online for them. I found 7 dog images, 2 dog paw prints, and 1 dog bone. If you also offer pet sitting, I found 4 cat images that I liked and a cat paw print. And I like all of them, some more so than others. You may like some that I didn’t like so take a look at them for yourself. To find them just go to Elements > Free Photos and use either “dog” or “cat” in the search box. Make sure to select Illustrations and not All or Photos and look for the word “free” on the images.

This is a creative process so get in a creative mood. On a Friday or Saturday night when you have nothing to do, grab some “beverages” of your choice, play some of your favorite motivational and creative music and get artsy-fartsy.

I have a separate large monitor for my laptop which is in front of my couch. I sit on my couch with my legs on some kind of cushioned leg stool thing, my keyboard on my lap and a wireless mouse on the cushion next to me. I turn the volume up on the speakers, push play for the music and I’m off designing – I’m all alone…in the creative zone.

Bonus: Some Graphic Design Principles

First, let me say that I am not a graphic designer nor have I ever taken any design classes. I am someone who teaches myself anything I want to learn. I am also a serious amateur photographer, so much so that I built a website of my photography. I’m okay, certainly not a pro. Unfortunately, working so much as a dog walker, I haven’t photographed in years.

I did a lot of searching online on various topics to help my website and blog. And one of the topics I searched for was “Graphic Design Tips and Tricks”. I found some really good articles on the basics and I ended up merging them together into categories. So keep that in mind that I am not a graphic designer when reading over these graphic design tips. None of the tips are mine. They are a compilation of tips I found online from really good articles which I will list below.

I am good with patterns and grouping things together. These groupings of graphic design tips go together and it’s easier to remember them as part of a group than individually. Hope they help.

8 graphic design tips that correspond to the following keywords: limitation, structure \ boundaries, consistency, and order.

• Keep it simple, keep the number of fonts, colors, and shapes you use to a minimum. Use only 1-2 fonts. (Limitation)
• Incorporate white \ empty space. Leave blank, white space in your design, and avoid having a cluttered design. (Limitation)
• Align your objects. Aligning your graphics with grids or frames makes a design look more professional. (Order, Structure)
• Aligning & ordering objects correctly makes for a clean design and eliminates the messiness or sloppiness from elements which are placed randomly. (Order, Structure)
• Use lines for a sense of order, as “separators” between elements to anchor items & create the sense of overall order. Try using half lines on either side of small text. Try a whole line below headers and above sub-headers, or between images and titles. (Order, Structure)
• Be consistent with your fonts and image effects (contrast, lighting, framing, etc.) Use the same look for a repeated set of designs. For example, use different tones of the same color for consistency by adjusting brightness for contrast. (Consistency)
• Make sure elements are correctly aligned, the text is legible, proper contrast, and space between elements that gives design features room to breathe. (Order, Structure)
• Repetition can tie together different elements and help them stay organized and more consistent. (Consistency, Order)

5 graphic design tips that correspond to the following keywords: research, planning, prepared, practical, careful, precise, skill, and craftsmanship:

• Study, read, research. Researching will guarantee a more thought-out result. (Research, Prepared)
• Plan your design and know what you want to accomplish before you start. (Planning)
• Have a file of good design that you create or see. Have examples of visually appealing, and high quality and creative designs. (Skill, Craftsmanship)
• Every element should have a reason \ purpose for being in the design. (Precision)
• Use italics carefully. Italics should be used in small sentences only. (Careful, Precise)

5 graphic design tips that correspond to the following keywords: beauty or attractive appearance, balance, harmony, and others or relationships.

• Start with a great color palette and beautiful colors. Make your colors visually attractive. (Beauty)
• Think about who you’re designing for. Know your intended audience. (Others)
• Use symmetry and balance. The balance should be stable, evenly loaded on the left and right, or above and below. Try using horizontal and vertical lines for symmetry to correspond with other design elements. (Balance)
• For balance and proportion, make sure the thickness of the elements match the weight of the fonts. Even spacing will offer an appearance that is professional and attractive. (Balance, Beauty)
• Related elements should be grouped together to create a relationship between them. (Relationships)

5 graphic design tips that correspond to the following keywords: contrast or polarity and duality, and variety and similarity.

• Use contrasting elements for grabbing Contrast is one of the most important parts of a design. Have a contrasting color background vs. the text, fonts, and graphics. Think in terms of positive & negative space in an image. (Contrast)
• Have different sized text and try different colors. (Variety)
• Choose a color scheme that has 1-3 primary colors with 1-3 secondary colors that contrast and complement each other. This will ensure your colors don’t blend together by choosing tones that contrast against one another. (Contrast)
• Use font family variants. For example, Arial, Arial Black, Arial Narrow, and Arial Rounded MT Bold. (Variety, Similarity)
• Adjust the brightness of an image that has text on it, or add a partially transparent color overlay to make the text stand out. (Contrast)

Here are the graphic design articles that I think are very informative:

The 17 Graphic Design Tips All Non-Designers Need to Know

10 Most Effective Graphic Design Tips For The Beginners

25 epic graphic design tips for non-designers

Okay, that was a lot of information for a thing that only measures a few inches across. Hopefully, you don’t run into any problems, but if you do add a comment below or email me. Also, I order my business cards from jakprints. I’m happy with their price, quality and delivery time. Maybe you can find cheaper cards, but I recommend them. Happy designs!

The post Dog Walking Business Cards: How You Can Design Your Own appeared first on Fairmount Pet Service.

Let me start off by saying that you shouldn’t spend a lot of time designing your dog walker logo. People are looking for someone to walk their dog, not for graphic design services.

I feel the same way about your website design. How often do people leave a website because of the design? Now, this is coming from a guy who needs to do some work on his website. Right now, writing articles is a higher priority than having a flashy web design, although I will be making improvements.

The one graphic design that you should spend a lot of time on is for your business cards. In my opinion, business cards are far more important than your website design or your dog walker logo. If you are interested in how to design your business cards, then check out my article Dog Walking Business Cards.

Currently, I follow 10 or so pet service bloggers and I visit all my competitor’s sites. And you should see some of their logos and web pages. They definitely wouldn’t win any graphic design awards. However, you have come here to learn how to design your own dog walker logo so let’s get to it.

My current logo is the image at the top of this post. I will show you how I “decided” on the design and how and where I designed it. But first, let’s take a look at some less than desirable logos of mine. It’s as important to know what not to do as what you should do.

My first logo design

Wow! How creative and original – my company name surrounded by dog paw prints. Impressive, huh? See, this is proof that your dog walker logo is not the main way you get clients. I created this design almost ten years ago. And since then, I have had over 300 dog walking, pet sitting and boarding clients. I only recently changed my logo to what it is now.

I know this is an article about dog walking logos, but when I started out I offered pet sitting as well. That’s why I chose “Pet Service” as part of my business name. As I mentioned in my first article on How To Start a Dog Walking Business, most dog walking companies offer additional pet services as do I.

At the time I created it, I had both Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. If you are not familiar with Illustrator, it is one of the premier graphic design programs. It is also really confusing to use. I couldn’t figure it out. So I used Photoshop to design my logo. They have text functions plus some simple graphics. That’s where I got the dog paw prints. Don’t use Photoshop to design your dog walker logo. I’ll show you a much better free website.

Some recent dog walker logo designs

So I’ve mentioned using Canva for designing graphics in a few of my articles. They do have a premium version but I have used the free version for everything I’ve needed so far. I might look into the paid version if I start doing more graphics.

Since I offer dog walking, pet sitting and boarding I got the idea of using a triangle. My first version had FPS in the center (for Fairmount Pet Service) with a cat and dog silhouette. I put the services along the sides of the triangle on the outside as you see. The version here is with all the elements light gray. I was thinking that the gray would make it blend in with the page. The text, triangle, and pet graphics are all available for free from Canva.

My next version was all black and white and I removed the dog and cat silhouettes. I also shortened the text to just Walking, Sitting and Boarding. And the final version I have here is one where I changed the text to white and the background to gray. I kind of like this one but neither of them are that good.

I decided to just get back to writing and work on it at a later time.

My current Pet Sitter and Dog Walker Logo

I found some videos on YouTube that mentioned a site called LogoMaker.com. The videos I watched mentioned that you can design your logo for free – it’s not free anymore. Though I did get the design for my final logo from using their sample logo creation tool.

Logomaker.com

What I did was follow all the prompts starting with the Make a Logo button on the home page. It takes you through 4 steps.

Step 1: I selected Animals and Pets for the type or subject. Then I entered my company name, the tagline of Dog Walking and Pet Sitting”. Finally, I clicked on Make a Logo.

Step 2: Choose a Logo Style – you can select up to 3 of 4 options. I selected Initial, Icon, and Badge.

Step 3: Choose Font Style – another 3 of 4 options. I chose Sans Serif, Serif, and Script.

Step 4: Choose Logo Layouts – once again you have three chose and I chose Icon Above, Icon Curved and Icon Left.

You are then shown 24 logos and it has 10 pages of them, but there are repeats from page to page. What I did was use Microsoft’s Snipping Tool to grab a screenshot of the first four pages. There were a few on each page that I like, but one stood out. There was a silhouette of a dog and cat inside a crescent moon. Loved it.

What I did next was crop out one logo from the four pages using Photoshop. If you don’t have Photoshop, no problem. This step isn’t necessary. What I wanted to do was isolate my favorites, sit at a distance and just look at them from a graphic design perspective. Even though there were other ones I liked, the crescent moon logo won.

How I Created My Current Logo

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that I used Canva for the final design. Here is what I did:

• The Text: That was simple though the LogoMaker.com text had my business name curved around the crescent. I couldn’t duplicate that so I just did regular text in the color of my website links.
• The Dog and Cat Silhouette: This one took some time. I searched on Google for something like “free dog and cat silhouette”. I didn’t have any luck until I found the graphic that you see in the logo. And I needed a graphic without a background or a with a transparent background. I can’t believe I found it on a site I already use for free photos, Pixabay.
• The Crescent: I shocked myself when I figured this one out. I must have recently watched a video on sacred geometry and the vesica pisces which involves drawing one circle partially over another circle. I first added a circle in the color of my website links. Then I added a second white circle. I had to resize the white circle (slightly smaller if I recall) and I just moved it over the green circle until a green crescent was formed.

Bamn – logo done! Not bad for a dog walker who never took any graphic design courses.

Now let me say that some of the other designs I liked on the LogoMaker site would have been more difficult to reproduce or even next to impossible with the options in Canva. Lucky for me, the design that stood out for me was relatively simple.

So how does all this help you design your dog walker logo? Just do what I did:

1. Sign up for a free Canva account and start messing around with it to get familiar with all the options. Canva has some design tutorials on their site plus there are some really good YouTube videos on how to use all the Canva design options with a free account
2. Go to the LogoMaker site and follow the steps that I outlined above. Just make your own choices when you need to pick 3 of 4 styles at each step.
3. Use whatever tool you need to take some screenshots of the logos that they provide (sorry LogogMaker). Windows has something called Snipping Tool so if you have Windows just search for that. I’m sure Macs have something similar.
4. Do your best to recreate your favorite design in Canva. When you are done, you can download the logo you created as either a png or jpg file (png is best).

Now I can’t help you with step 4 because I do not know what design you will try to replicate. But if you like the crescent moon thing, then you now know how to do it. If you do pick a difficult design that you can’t duplicate, then simplify it and get as close as you can. The crescent moon example from LogoMaker that I liked had a two-colored crescent. I didn’t know how to do that so I just created it with a single color. Do what it takes to get yourself a decent logo and then stop! Don’t get hung up on design, get back to the things that actually make you money.

Note on step 4: Consider creating multiple versions of the logo for every size version you will want. You may want a small one for the top left corner of your website. That’s what I want to do with my logo once I have time. Then there are larger sizes for dog walker flyers or maybe for your Homepage. And you’ll need smaller sizes for business cards, favicons, etc. There is a resize option but that is only for the paid version. Or you can make smaller sizes in Photoshop if you have it or know someone who does.

Now let me show you one more design and what you can do in Canva.

Here is a variation that I created as I was writing this article. This is an exact duplication of the two elements I saw in another logo design that I liked. Let me explain what I did:

1. I changed the position of the white circle and made it smaller to make a green circle line and not the crescent. Just imagine a dime on top of a quarter. You will only see the outer edge of the quarter – same idea here.
2. The next thing was I added two white squares, turned them into rectangles and used them to create the gaps at the top and bottom of the green circle.
3. Lastly, I added a line. I resized it to the length I wanted and copied it (the two long lines). I resized one of them to a smaller size and made three copies of it and that gave me the four small lines.

Those changes took me a few minutes. It’s that easy. You need to get creative and use your imagination. You can do it.

I wish you well in the designing of your own dog walker logo. Add a comment below or email me if you have any questions on this article or get stuck with your design.

The post Dog Walker Logo: Tips, Techniques and How-to Design Your Own appeared first on Fairmount Pet Service.

I created two “generic” dog walker flyer templates. By generic, I mean just the basics without any of the overboard graphic design elements. Some of the templates I’ve seen have way too many colors and design elements. You’re trying to get clients, not win a graphic design contest. I think some of the flyers online must be made by self-employed graphic designers and they went overboard on the design. If that’s what you want, then you will not like mine. But if you prefer simplicity and minimalism, then please keep reading.

Also, some of the templates I found were available for a small fee. Some were free but you probably have to provide an email address. I’m providing two, which are very similar, for free. All I ask is that you like and share this article and any of my other articles that you find useful. It would really help me out with ranking higher on Google and getting more people to my site. At least do this one since you’re here, but enough of sharing and liking – on with the design.

As I mentioned in my 3rd article on how to start a dog walking business, I used flyers top get my first clients. And I kept the design simple: Large text “Dog Walking & Pet Sitting”, a few graphics, a few sentences about my business and the tear-offs at the bottom with my email and website address. I kept the same simplicity for these flyers.

Now let me say that the flyers I designed have a REALLY basic design and could use some more elements. I would do more but I don’t use flyers anymore. You have to do some of the work yourself, I’m just getting you started. I created them for anyone who is just starting their dog walking or pet sitting business.

Design Your Dog Walker Flyer Template Using Canva.com

You should look into using Canva for your flyers, business cards, and business logo. I will include below some links to YouTube videos on how to design in Canva. You may have to create a free account to save the flyer after the making changes.

Here is the link to my dog walker flyer template design. I set it to public so all you need to do is click on Edit or Use as a template to change the text and other elements. Then save and download. I set up that template to be 4.5 x 6.5 inches. With that size, you can upload it to a Microsoft Word document or a Google Doc and have 2 flyers. You want to set the MS Word doc to landscape and create 2 columns. You can paste or import the design to both columns, resize to go to the edge of the margins and print. I set up the Google Doc template the same way. Each print will give you two flyers that you just need to cut out and trim the edges.

The Design in Canva

I have the “Dog Walking & Pet Sitting” in a large font at the top, my logo below it, some brief text, and finally the tear-offs that have my email address and website address. If you do not have a website, then create a Facebook account for your business. You don’t have a lot of options on Facebook, but there is a Services tab where you can list a few services and rates. Check out my Facebook business listing if you want to see an example.

You obviously, want to change the text and logo to represent your business and information, but the basics are there. Change the text color to what you like. My logo is not the best graphic for where it is and the white background of the logo doesn’t work with the background of the flyer. You could also add another sentence or two about credentials or anything else you think is important.

Also, consider watching the Canva YouTube videos I list below and design something completely different. Canva also has Flyer templates which you could use as well, although I didn’t like any of them. But you if you choose my template, definitely modify my design to suit your own business. Use my template as a starting design, and go from there.

You need to do the work so that you can get used to all aspects of running a business on your own. It gives you a lot of satisfaction knowing that you can do whatever it takes to succeed.

So here are the specifics of my Canva design:

• The large bold text at the top are the services I provide. I added Pet Sitter but you may want to remove that if you don’t offer that service. The text color is black but you can set it to any color. You probably shouldn’t use more than 2 colors for text when designing graphics – keep it simple.
• I also added my company name below that with a smaller font size but I did not do this part in the Google Doc.
• My logo is below that. You may want to consider using a wider graphic or use more than one graphic. My logo takes up too much height and not enough width. So I added some dog paw prints on either side. Replace my logo with yours and keep or change the paw prints.
• Next, I have a few lines of text about my services and rates. You could add your credentials or whatever else you want here. Some good options would be “References available”, or “Pet CPR and First Aid Certified”, or whatever you think is important.
• I added a horizontal line before the tear-off for a visual effect and a break. The color of the line is green to match my links color – change the color to whatever you want.
• Then I added the tear-offs at the bottom. I added them as 2 lines of text (one for my website and one for my email) then I rotated the text 90 degrees. You should edit one of them for your information, delete the rest, then make multiple copies of it and align them with each other.
• Finally, I added a background which I probably should have done first. I found a background that looked pretty good. You could change the background to another pattern or of any color. You could also have a photo or graphic as the background. The problem with a photo or graphic is that the design becomes cluttered and it will take more time to design everything so that the text stands out. It’s up to you on what you want to do for the background.

The Google Docs Dog Walker Flyer Template

So I first created a simple dog walking flyer template in Canva. Then all I did was recreate it using Google Docs. However, there were a few things that I could not duplicate. The main thing I couldn’t do was figure out how to duplicate the vertical tear-offs at the bottom. What I had to do was create one of them in Canva then add it to the Google Doc.

Here is the link to the Canva graphic tear-off and I made it public and editable like the flyer.

I also was not able to add the background or paw prints. Going through this process, I believe it would be best to just copy or insert the Canva flyer into both columns of the Google Doc.

The Google Doc flyer has two columns and is set to landscape. It’s a little tricky figuring out how to do that, so if you can’t figure it out add a comment below or send me an email from my contact page. I think I had to use the Search field in the Help menu. Try searching for Landscape and Columns.

What I did after copying the flyer design in Canva was to add the Canva flyer to one of the columns as an image. So you could choose how you want to design the two columns. Either all with Google Docs plus my Canva tear-off graphic or just insert the Canva flyer into both columns.

I also set the Google Doc dog flyer template to be shared so just make a copy of it and edit as you need.

NOTE: SOME PEOPLE SEEM NOT TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE GOOGLE DOC BUT I DO RECEIVE EMAILS FROM GOOGLE ABOUT THE REQUESTS. I HAVE TRIED ONCE AGAIN TO MAKE IT PUBLIC – IF YOU HAVE ANY ISSUES FOLLOW THE GOOGLE PROMPTS TO CONTACT ME OR USE MY CONTACT FORM.

My Steps for the Google Docs Dog Walker Flyer Template Design

• Large text at the top listing the service.
• Next, I inserted a horizontal line.
• Then I inserted my logo next. Once again, it needs to be wider or have additional graphics on either side of it in my opinion.
• Below that, I added the additional lines of text about services and rates.
• I added another horizontal line.
• Then I went to the Insert menu to insert the Canva vertical text for the tear-offs and made copies of it. I also had to add a space in between a few of them to get them to line up with the horizontal line.
• Finally, I then copied all of that and added it to the second column. Do the same if you do not want to try designing with Canva.

But I did reverse that last step. I deleted everything from the 2^nd column and uploaded the flyer from Canva. You could do the same but add the flyer to both columns. It depends on what you are most comfortable with doing – designing the full thing in Canva or solely using Google Docs.

At this point, just print out as many copies as you want and start posting them around your neighborhood. Each print will give you two flyers of approximately 4.5” x 6.5”. You’ll have to cut them out and trim off the margins and maybe the header and footer.

One note about the Canva file downloads. You can download the flyer you created (or any graphic) as either a png, jpg, pdf-standard or pdf-print file. All downloads have a pixels per inch (ppi) of 96.

Printing of high-quality photos and graphics is usually done with files that are 300 ppi but I believe 200 ppi is fine. Note, the actual printing is done at 300 dpi or dots per inch. I don’t really understand that distinction – it’s a little confusing. I think the 96 ppi for printing with a laser printer to be stapled to a telephone pole is fine. The first flyers I ever created was by using MS Excel and pasting the flyer into a Word document and then I printed them. I’m sure the resolution was NOT 300 and they looked fine. Print out one copy and see how it looks.

My Opinion on How to Design your Dog Walker Flyer Template

Microsoft Word or Google Docs just is not suited to do the actual design. They are great for pasting or inserting the design and then printing it, but that’s it. Definitely, design in Canva then add the graphic to a word document for eventual printing. And I believe I know a better method than what I did.

Instead of creating a two column document, try instead to double your flyer on the same graphic. I should have made my Canva flyer twice the width, but the same height. I then could have created the entire flyer on one half of the canvas, then duplicated it on the other half. Then I could have pasted the entire graphic into a word doc in landscape mode. No messing around with the two column thing. I could have also added a vertical line in the center of the graphic in a slightly different color to identify where to cut them in half. That was an idea I had in reviewing the designs, maybe you can try it.

Where to post your Dog Walker Flyers

The first place you want to post them is on street light and telephone poles. Bring some tape and a stapler or staple gun. I would place them at corners where people have to stop before crossing the street, not in the middle of the block where they may not notice.

Also, look for poles that are close where dog owners are likely to walk – like in front of dog parks. And that leads us to the next place – dog parks. Go to the parks and see what is the most common routes that people take to the park. Place the flyers on poles leading up to the park.

Another option is places like Whole Foods or local coffee shops, Any place that has a bulletin board for people to post notices. That’s why the smaller sizes I designed are better. A full 8.5 x 11 flyer may not fit on a bulletin board, plus is kind of rude to take up all that space. My flyers measure less than half of that size. Other places may be in apartment buildings, community centers, etc. Think outside the box and get creative.

Here are the YouTube videos I found useful for using Canva

How To Use Canva – Tutorial!

How to Create a Designer Quality Infographic in Minutes Using Canva (For Beginners)

Canva Tutorial: Create Beautiful Graphics Quickly, Easily, and for Free!

Canva Tutorial|Canva Tutorial For Beginners|How To Use Canva

I hope this helps you design your own dog walking flyer template. Remember, once you have the template, you can modify it as often as you want at a later time. The most important thing is not to go crazy with the design. You need to get them around the neighborhood so that you can start getting clients and start earning money.

Good luck and leave a comment or send me an email if you have any questions.

Update on graphic design

I rarely use Canva anymore. I discovered a free graphic design program called Inkscape which you can download to your desktop or laptop.

There is a little bit of a learning curve but there is no limit to how much you can design, especially if you are a beginner at design like myself. For tutorials on how to use it, check out the Inscape playlists for TJ FREE and Logos by Nick on Youtube.

The post Dog Walker Flyer Template and How to Design One Yourself appeared first on Fairmount Pet Service.

I wanted to create a quick and easy reference for all the steps that you should consider when starting a dog walking business. The steps range from your first decisions when first starting, to managing the business after you have many clients.

I have summarized the main points from the previous five articles with a brief explanation of why each point is important. At the end of the article, I add some final thoughts on how to start a dog walking business and start making money.

Also, I have a more detailed pdf file for download with the basic steps on how to start a dog walking business. I also will have an eBook and online course on how to start your dog walking business. They both will be very detailed and with many insights that I did not include in this series of articles. They will both be available sometime in 2019. Here are some basics steps to follow:

1. You need to determine whether or not you will offer services other than dog walking.
   1. Most companies offer additional services. The most common are pet sitting, boarding, and pet taxi.
2. How far are you willing to travel? What kind of transportation will you use?
   1. The farther you travel, the fewer visits you will be able to do, so get a map and get a rough idea of the limits of your service area. I need to get to my dogs in about 5 minutes. Any longer and I will be on the late end for the last dogs.
3. Hours of operation
   1. What times of the day are you not available or do not want to work? This will determine whether or not you can offer various services. Dog walking is in the middle of the weekday. Pet sitting involves weekends, holidays, mornings, and nights. Boarding is similar to pet sitting – 3 walks per day plus feedings. And you have the dog with you when you are home.
4. How much will you charge for your services?
   1. This is when you research the competition to see what other services are offered in your area and what other companies charge. You have to meet or beat the rates of established companies. You can raise your rates after a couple of years.
5. Professional Experience, Requirements, and Certifications
   1. Do you have any pet experience? If not, can you get some? Try volunteering at rescues or shelters. Also, you need to look into getting a pet CPR certification and Bond and Insurance. Your competition most likely has all those things – so should you.
6. Getting Clients
   1. There are various methods that you need to do right away so that you can get clients and start making money. The easiest are flyers and talking to people you meet. After that start using online techniques: get on social media and get your business listed on various sites.
   2. You’ll need to come up with a business name and logo but get the clients as soon as you can.
7. Dog Walking and Pet Sitting Tips & Tricks
   1. There are do’s and don’t and things to watch for when walking dogs. You need to identify problems before they happen. The tricks come with experience, but definitely check out my article specifically on this topic.
8. Gear and Supplies
   1. You will need great footwear, poop bags and treats, foul-weather gear, etc.
9. References, Reviews, and Testimonials
   1. You need your clients to not only act as references for you but to also create online reviews for your business.
   2. You can then use those reviews as testimonials on your website.
10. Management
    1. There are a number of daily and weekly things that you need to manage: walk and sitting schedules, payments, emailing clients, etc. I use an Excel spreadsheet but you can use Google Sheets. It’s easy to forget how much someone owes you, whether or not they overpaid or underpaid, etc.

I hope that list helps you out. But always remember that the well-being of the pets you care for comes first. If you have that as your main focus, then you will be able to handle anything. And that is easier said than done.

There will be difficult times, I guarantee it. You can do it. Just imagine every pet as your own pet and you’ll figure out any problems that arise.

Here are links to the previous five articles:

• How to start a dog walking business
• Setting up a Dog Walking Business Pt 2: Research the Competition
• How to Start Your Own Dog Walking Business, Pt 3
• Starting a Dog Walking Business Part 4: Tips and Tricks
• Starting a Dog Walking Business Part 5: Testimonials & Management

Here’s an infographic of the main points and feel free to contact me if you have any questions:

The post How to Start a Dog Walking Business: Summary, Final Thoughts appeared first on Fairmount Pet Service.