What to ask before hiring a Philadelphia dog walker

Philadelphia, PA

Hiring a dog walker is a strange transaction. You hand someone a key to your home, and then they are alone in it with a member of your family. Most people do this after a ten-minute phone call and a look at a website.

We've been walking dogs in Center City and South Philly since 2018. The questions below are worth asking whoever you hire, and a good company will have ready answers to all of them.

1. Are your walkers employees or independent contractors?

This is the question that determines most of the others, and almost nobody asks it.

An independent contractor sets their own methods and practices (including safety, scheduling, and how they interact with your pup) and is responsible for their own taxes and usually their own insurance. A company that uses contractors legally cannot train them, cannot require a particular way of handling your dog, and cannot direct their work — doing so would make them employees. That is not a loophole; it is the trade the company made to keep costs down.

An employee can be trained, held to standards, supervised, and covered by the company's insurance and workers' compensation. It costs the company considerably more.

Neither answer is disqualifying. But if the answer is "contractors," the follow-up is: then who trained the person walking my dog, and what happens if they're hurt on my property?

2. Who will actually be walking my dog — and what happens when they're off?

Be suspicious of "the same walker every time." People take vacations, get sick, and change jobs. Any company promising perfect consistency is either very small or not being straight with you.

The better answer describes a system. Ours: your dog gets a primary walker, and over time usually a small group of people who know them. When someone is out, the cover comes from our own trained staff rather than whoever is available. We try to tell you in advance when the walker changes, although on a day spent restaffing a last-minute absence we don't always manage it.

What you want to hear is a company that has thought about coverage. What should worry you is a company that hasn't, or one that promises something no operation can deliver.

3. Is the walk one-on-one, or is my dog going out with other dogs?

Group walks are cheaper, and for some dogs they're genuinely fine. For a reactive dog, a nervous dog, a senior, or a puppy still learning leash manners, they're generally a bad idea — and the walker managing four leashes cannot give any one dog much attention.

Ask directly, because it isn't always volunteered. We walk one-on-one, always.

4. What does "insured" actually mean here?

Nearly every dog walking website says "insured and bonded." Far fewer can tell you what the policy covers.

The things worth asking about: damage to your home, injury to your dog while in their care, injury to a third party if your dog bites someone on the walk, and whether the walker themselves is covered if they're hurt at your property. That last one matters more than people realize — if an uninsured contractor slips on your steps, the conversation about who pays can end up involving your homeowner's policy.

5. How do you vet and train the people you send?

Background checks are the floor, not the ceiling. Ask what training happens after hiring: leash handling, reading body language, and more.

6. What do I get after each visit?

A good answer is a report: when the walker arrived and left, where they went, how your dog was, and photos. A GPS-mapped route is now standard among companies that take this seriously, and its absence tells you something.

The deeper reason this matters isn't the photos. It's that a company willing to send you a timestamped record every single day is a company confident the walks are actually happening as booked.

7. How do you handle keys and entry?

Ask where your key is stored, who has access to it, how it's labelled, and what happens to it if the person who had it leaves.

8. What's the full price — including the parts that aren't on the price page?

Ask about holiday surcharges, last-minute booking fees, cancellation windows, and what happens if you're away and need a longer visit. A company that publishes all of this is easier to budget for than one that quotes you a headline rate.

9. How do I reach a person?

Not a chat widget or a help center — a person who knows your dog's name and can change tomorrow's schedule. Ask how quickly they respond and what the hours are.

One more thing, and then we'll stop.

The answers we'd give to these questions are on our website. But the reason to ask them of anyone is simpler than a sales pitch: this is a person in your home, with your dog, while you are somewhere else. Ten minutes of questions is a small price for knowing how that works.

If you're in Center City or South Philly and want to talk it through, we offer a free meet and greet — a manager comes to your home, meets your dog, and answers all of this in person.

Learn more about us at www.pupsonpassyunk.com