A few weeks ago the dog walker I used for years suddenly moved to another part of Brooklyn I had to go out and find another dog walker in my part of Brooklyn. I did the usual things like search engines and that didn’t bring me much luck. I asked around the neighborhood and that didn’t work either. I put a flier up in my local grocery store and got a few responses from people but not anyone I would trust my dog Rusty to.
Another place I tried was craigslist, there was a lot of ads for dog walkers and pet sitters in Brooklyn but only a few were in my part of Brooklyn. I found that finding a dog walker online would not be the best route to go. Some of the ads were very shady looking. Most of the ads were for dog sitting services in Brooklyn. Once again not a service I was looking for.
I was in the Brooklyn Botanic garden at the cherry blossom festival and afterwards I wandered into Prospect park where a bunch of people were walking their dogs. Since I am only in the neighborhood a few months I really don’t know many of the people yet. I got to talking to a few people and they had a few numbers of dog walkers they used but then I stumbled into Marcy who was walking two little dogs for one of her clients. I had no idea she was a dog walker until I asked her if she had a number for a good dog walker in Brooklyn. I felt at ease with her as she was very laid back and very good with the dogs. You could see she was a good dog walker.
Her rates were cheap – 15 minute walk – $10.00 – 30 minute walk -$15.00 – 45 minute walk -$20.00 – 1 hour walk -$25.00. Not too bad at all and if I went out of town she would watch Rusty at her house. She only has a few clients so I know Rusty would get the attention and love he deserves. I didn’t even ask her for references as she was my type of people.
She told me she had worked in a few pet stores and was very knowledgeable on dog care and pet care in general. She told me she would have no problem watching Rusty while I went away on vacation in the Hamptons, that was the deal maker for me. I hired her on the spot. I met her the next day in Prospect park near the boathouse where I talked to her for a while and she got familiar with Rusty. They seemed to hit it off so I was happy with my choice. She also trains dogs and has a discount at the local pet store for grooming so it is a win-win for me.
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