How to start your own dog walking club

By Josh Weiss-Roessler

Do you get lonely when walking your dog in the mornings or evenings? Interested in making the walk a social experience for your pooch by involving other people and dogs? Just want to meet more pet parent friends in your area?

Whatever your reasons, starting a dog walking club in your city — or even just your neighborhood — can be a fun and rewarding experience for your and your pup. And the best part is that it’s incredibly easy to do! But where do you begin?

Think about your goals
Do you only want to find people who have the same breed of dog that you do? Are you trying to socialize a pup that’s not completely friendly? Do you want a come one, come all kind of experience? The kind of group you want to form will influence the types of people and dogs you seek out, so it’s important to decide on these goals going in.

Video: How To Start Your Own Dog Walking Business - Tips to Get started Fast!

Start close to home
If you want to find dogs (and people, of course) to walk with, the best place to start is by talking with dog owners whom you know to see if they’re interested. You can also put up signs around your neighborhood, at work, and other places that you frequent. One place that can be a goldmine is the dog park, so the next time you’re letting your pooch run free, chat up other dog owners and see if they’re interested or know others who would be.

Approach dog groups
Anyone in an even moderately-sized city should have no trouble tracking down a few dog rescue organizations and speaking with members about creating a dog walking club. They’re almost guaranteed to know some people who might be interested, and may even be willing to help you get the word out to other dog lovers. A great resource for finding these groups (and like-minded folks) is your veterinarian, and even nearby pet stores may be able to help.

Go digital
After you feel like you’ve exhausted your in-person connections or once the group is up and running and you need some way to coordinate, the web is a goldmine. Build profiles for your group on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites.

Join Dogster and post pictures on Pinterest, Instagram or similar photo sharing sites to get the word out about what you’re doing. And use a site like Meetup to easily schedule walks with group members. Truly ambitious people may eventually want to start a blog or a website about the group, but that’s something that can be done at a later date.

Do you belong to a dog walking club or have you tried to start one? Tell us your story in the comments.

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