Anyone who gives these guys one star because they didn't return your phone call immediately isn't doing a valid review. (Seriously, MQ? Seriously? This is why you rate them a one-star?)
We learned the hard way what to ask when looking for a dogwalking service.
1. Find out how many people work for the service, and what the ratio of walkers to clients there are. If there's just one of them, how do they handle emergencies and overflows?
2. What do they do when hiring new employees? Do they put them in the field and let them go? Do they walk the dogs? Run them? Stand outside and just let the dog go to the bathroom?
3. Do they listen to you and your needs? Do they pay attention? Do they trot out a resume of experience regarding your dog's behavior patterns or do they listen to your input?
4. How do they take payment? Is it via check or do they have professional automatic billing services lined up? Do they have insurance?
I failed to ask these questions of our previous service.
With our previous service, a webcam in the house showed four different days when the walker spent five minutes "walking" the dog outside and twenty minutes "playing" - which mostly involved her writing a note and texting on her phone.
The breaking point was when we came home one day and found our poor puppy covered in his own poop - she had fed him cheese against our wishes and left him alone for six hours after being told we'd be coming home later. To say I was beyond furious isn't putting it mildly.
It should go without saying that the service was terminated, and thus did we begin a search for a NEW dogwalking service.
We found Strut the Pup.
Strut the Pup has been everything our previous "dogwalkers" were not. Professional. Dependable. Insured. Actual walkers of dogs. They know dogs, and they know how to listen to the needs and wants of their two legged clients as well as their four-legged ones.
Meaghan and her crew are professional, polite, and courteous to both the two-legs and the four-legs. Our current "walker" takes our massive puppy out for as fast a jaunt as he'll go in the thirty minutes they have together. We come home and our mastiff is completely pooped out. The notes left are always detailed and friendly; we've NEVER had a late appointment, when we're working from home they come in, towel off our dog, and cheerfully put him to bed. We took the webcam down - there's no need for it anymore.
Since we've worked with Strut the Pup, our boy has never had a pee accident. He's paying attention to our commands. They give him the treats he's allowed to have. He shows active joy and waits by the front door on the weekends waiting for his walking buddy to show up (to his profound disappointment). He is passed out when we get home. He actively engages with people. He listens to commands.
They have dogpark excursions which our boy, still a stone doofus by all accounts, cannot attend due to the fact he loses all four braincells around other dogs and won't come when his name's called, and in one instance when an overzealous pet parent may have clipped one nail a little close, even made a run to the pet store to get the styptic powder to staunch a nail that cracked open again on the afternoon run. They go the extra mile - and if you don't get a call back immediately, it's probably because they're actually OUT on that extra mile with a dog.
Aside from all of that, though, is the simple fact that Strut the Pup has their staff and their dogs sorted. They train new hires for WEEKS before sending them out solo. They understand dogs and canine mentality. Most of all they're active and fit walkers who don't view a dogwalk as a slow leisurely amble in the park, but the opportunity for a dog to be an active critter during the day.
In short, Strut the Pup does what a dogwalking service is SUPPOSED to do - they exercise the dogs in a timely manner, with professionalism. They are business professionals with standards, and they're fantastic.
*And they're certainly worth waiting to get back to you without getting your nose out of joint. read more