Knowing the right questions to ask when checking references for a dog walking service in Los Angeles can make or break your experience with the dog walker you hire. A friend who lives close by, yet who is outside of our Rufus and Delilah Dog Walking service area, asked for help finding a dog walker for her dogs. After following the steps in my previous articles on Tips For Finding A Dog Walker In Los Angeles and What To Look For When Hiring A Dog Walker in Sherman Oaks, I asked my friend if I could call the references we were given for the two different dog walking services in Los Angeles. I thought who better to know what questions to ask when checking references for a dog walker than a professional dog walker with close to 12 years of experience.
Check out my top 12 list of questions to ask when checking references for a dog walking service in Los Angeles.
- What kind of dogs do you have?
- How often do they walk your dogs?
- Did they meet you with you for a complimentary consultation before you hired them?
- Did they have you complete a detailed intake form on caring for your dogs and home before the visits started?
- Are your dogs and your home as expected when you return after each schedule visit?
- Do they have a backup plan in the event of a personal emergency or illness making it so the sitter booked to walk your dogs cannot make it to your house for a scheduled visit?
- How long have they been walking your dogs?
- How recent was the last time they walked your dogs?
- What do you like the most about their dog walking service?
- Have you ever had any negative experiences when working with them?
- Do they leave you a daily note after each visit so you know the sitter was there?
- Would you refer them to care for your best friend’s dogs?
I truly believe if you ask all of the above questions to a minimum of 3 to 4 different clients, you will be able to make a well informed decision on whether you would like to hire the dog walker. Based on the calls I made asking the above questions I was able to weed out the sitter I didn’t want my friend to use for her dogs and to confirm which one to move forward with in setting up a complimentary consultation.
Do you have suggestions for other questions to add to our list when checking references for a dog walking service in Los Angeles?