If
you love taking care of animals then Pet Sitting or Dog Walking might
be an ideal opportunity for you. Many people need sitters when they
go away on holiday or long trips. The set-up usually consists of you
looking after the person's house and pets while they are away. Alternatively
you could have the pet stay at your house if this is appropriate.
If
Pet Sitting doesn't appeal to you then you could offer your services
as a Day Carer or Dog walker - many people who are out at work all day,
elderly, unwell or infirm need people to walk their dogs and/or feed
their pets. You do need to be reasonable fit to be able carry out this
type of work as you will be walking quite a few miles per day. Other
basic requirements include comfortable walking shoes, a readiness to
work outdoors in all types of weather and a genuine love of animals.
Pay ranges from £50.00 - £400.00 per week depending on the
services you provide and how many hours you work. Typically a dog walker
will charge between £7 - £15.00 per hour, per pet for their
services. If you are used to handling dogs then you can take more than
one dog on each run, which will double, triple and quadruple your income.
Although
Dog Walking doesn't require any special skills, there are some laws
and regulations that you need to abide by. Primarily, you must remember
that whilst the dog is in your care, you are responsible for it (and
its actions), thus if it causes any damage whilst you are out walking
it then you will be liable, not the owner. So, you may want to take
our some insurance to
safeguard you against any legal claims. Hiscox offer a good range of
insurance policies for the self-employed with tailor made quotes to
fit your personal requriements.
Only
take on dog walking if you are confident that you can handle all types
of dogs. And don't walk more than one dog at a time if you don't feel
confident enough. The last thing you want to do is lose your client's
pet! You will also be required to clean up after the dog you are walking,
this is law enforced so do make sure that you have a poop scoop and/or
sufficient biodegradable poop scoop bags to clean up the waste and dispose
of it responsibly.
A
cost effective way to advertise your pet or house sitting services is
by having leaflets/cards printed for local distribution. Placing an
ad in your local newspaper, newsagents and supermarkets will help generate
interest and clients. We
highly recommend VistaPrint
for a great range of marketing products. They offer FREE business cards
(you only pay approx £3.00 for postage and package) as well as
notecards, postcards, flyers and posters. They constantly have special
deals and deliver a quick and efficient service.
We
are in the midst of researching recommended Pet Sitting/Dog Walking
agencies to join so do bookmark this page and come back for updates.
Meanwhile,
you could advertise your petsitting or dog walking services on free
online classifieds - such as Gumtree.
Click on the link to place your advertisement or to look for petsitting
work. Another good source of advertising is Preloved.
They offer for Business Users a free two month trial and a flat fee
of £20.00 per month thereafter (correct at time of publication).
If you cancel your membership before the two month period is up you
will owe nothing. This is a good way to see if this classified works
for you.
This is an ideal job for anyone who enjoys working
with animals, and it's worth remembering that once you become established
as trustworthy and reliable people will recommend you to family, friends
and acquaintances, which will give you a constant flow of work.
|
Do you want a FREE website
to promote your Dog-Walking or Pet-sitting business?
Moonfruit
will give you:
- 20MB Storage Space
- 1GB Monthly Bandwidth
- up to 15 Pages
- Over 4000 Templates to choose from
- Free Hosting
- Advert Free
- Picture gallery and more
All for FREE. Find
out more...
|
Did you like this article? Don't forget to share
it
with your friends. THANK YOU!
