It would be an understatement to say that I'm a tad overprotective of my elderly dachshund, Rosie. I adopted her from Muttville (the Senior dog rescue) last September, and she came with some baggage. She was definitely not pleased that I had to leave her to go to work, is a talented escape artist, and also has a medical condition that requires 5 types of eye medication, administered throughout the day. On top of that she has signs of disc problems in her neck (as do 4 out of 5 doxies), and because she's tiny, I wouldn't consider having her walked off-leash. The task of finding an on-leash walker was daunting, I think because it's not as lucrative as off-leash walks for walkers. I tried a couple of walkers who were referred to me, but I felt like their priorities were messed up- they spent more time talking about their rules and payment arrangements than interacting with Rose (and Rose didn't seem to love them, either). Rosie is the sweetest girl you'd ever meet, but I felt like the walkers thought they were doing me a favor giving her midday leash walks.
Enter Erin. First, and most importantly, she walks dogs because she loves dogs. And she knows a lot about dogs. And guess what? The dogs love her! I could immediately tell she would put Rosie's needs first, and take excellent care of her. Even better, Rosie adores her. She was very flexible about my weird schedule, willing to fill in at the last moment, and ridiculously inexpensive to the point where I've been urging her to raise her rates.
If Erin's willing to take your dog on, you are lucky. She provides leash walks, day care and boarding. Another thing I noticed was that Rosie was always hyper when I got home 5 hours after the other walkers took her out- I think they walked her for maybe 20-30 minutes. Erin walked Rosie for closer to an hour, and her health improved as a result. I also felt like I came home to a calmer dog.
Thanks for everything you do for us, Erin! read more