Pet Walkers and Sitters

It is very important that your pets get the right amount of exercise in order for them to stay physically and mentally healthy.  Often this means that a dog should be walked for at least a ½ hour or 45 minutes per day.  Without this amount of regular exercise your dog could become tense or mischievous and look for ways to dispel his energies.

If you do not have time to walk your dog then you may want to hire professional dog walkers to provide this service for your pet.  Simply put, dog walkers come to your home are specified hours of the day and take your dog for his required walk.  Sometimes a dog walker will take your dog to a dog park to let him run off his excess energy. 

Often, also, a dog walking service will take several dogs walking at the same time. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as your dog learns to get along and socialize with other dogs at the same time.  It can be seen as your dog having a good time during his daily walking sessions.

Cats also need a certain amount of exercise to stay healthy, but cats generally tend to supply their own form of exercise so it is not always necessary to hire someone to ‘walk’ them.  Typically cats get their exercise by bouncing and jumping all over the house, on indoor cat trees and with cat toys.  However, some cats can be trained to walk on a leash and you may consider getting a pet walking service to let your cat get some outside exercise.

Similarly, if your pet is left alone a great deal of time while you are working, you may want to hire a pet sitter to keep your pet company.  A pet sitter can be hired for a dog or a cat.  The object is companionship for your pet while you are away.

The pet sitting service you choose should be committed to spending quality time with your pet walking them, playing with them, petting them and nurturing them—not simply being there in presence.  Of course pet sitters will also feed you pet for you, if required.  Some pet sitting services will also ‘sit’ with your pet for overnight or longer in your home if you need to go away.

You can hire someone you know, or someone who has advertised in the newspaper to perform these tasks but there are also many very good professional walkers and pet sitters.  When checking out which service you may wish to use, check to see that they are bonded and insured.  Many are also trained in first aid for dogs and cats.