2020 has been a really confusing, stressful and scary year so far. Many people are working from home, and will be for the foreseeable future. You can walk them whenever you, or they, want. You can spend all day with your beloved pup.
The off leash parks have reopened, and dog walkers are allowed to restart their businesses. But you’re home all day now….why would you need a dog walker? There are a lot of really good reasons to continue using your dog walker. Today’s topic:
Social Distancing:
- We can bring 6 dogs with us: Dog walkers can manage and are allowed to bring up to 6 dogs with them into the off leash parks. This means one person for every six dogs, two people for every 12 dogs or 3 people for 18 dogs. If 18 people brought 18 dogs in to the off leash park, social distancing would be harder to maintain—and that’s just assuming every one dog comes with only one person…many times they are coming with an adult and some kids, or two adults—so it’s entirely possible that there could be more humans than dogs in the off leash area.
- Our dog behaviour knowledge: Dogs have their own language. It’s there if you understand it. Unfortunately, many people don’t. This could lead to two or even more owners having to step in when behaviour escalates. As dog walkers, we are knowledgeable in dog behaviour. We’ve already recognized a dog to avoid even before they start playing with our dogs. We can step in before they start interacting and redirect our pup to someone more suitable without any involvement of the other owner, thereby maintaining social distancing.
- We come prepared: Managing multiple dogs is our job. It’s what we do day in and day out—we’re experts at it. And as such, we come prepared for it. We bring treats and toys. These tools allow us to facilitate recall and redirection without physically managing the dogs.
- Dog Walking is our job: We’re at the park to work, not socialize with our friends. Our eyes are on the dogs, and we’re engaging with them.
