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By Vicious Housewife
Aug 17, 2011
Having been a dog walker once, I really enjoyed reading the stories of dog walking adventures in the book. The writer opened with a strong story about her motivation for going into dog walking as an attorney and computer person, and then led the reader into the basic structure of starting and running a small business, in this case, a dog walking business. There were a lot of practical tips for the reader,and ways to handle types of situations that might come up when you are dog walking. Some you would never expect. The preliminary few pages you get to see as a preview on Lulu dont give a good picture of the usefulness of the entire book. It's worth the price.
This is a helpful book! The first two chapters are more autobiographical than instructional, which might throw you off-- especially since they describe some intense experiences. After that, however, Ms. Axsmith focuses on the nitty-gritty of professional dog-walking. Her notes on "dog psychology" and how to deal with it are especially perceptive, and she provides a lot of useful tips on the psychology of dog owners, too (see the chapter "Keeping the Client Happy"). And the style of the book is pleasantly quirky, with personal asides about the annoyances and glories of the work. Overall, a nice and snappy overview of walking dogs as a business.
In an entertaining, story-telling style, Axsmith gives down-to-earth, practical advice that provides a true picture of what is necessary to run a dog walking and services business and make it a solid success from the start. Axsmith includes information on dog social interaction and psychology (extremely important); how to handle clients, even problem ones; marketing and profitable add-on services, and many other tricks of the trade. Most importantly, she provides a true picture of income and expenses so that anybody going into the business will know exactly what to expect. Just to show how successful her methods are, Axsmith grosses OVER $40,000 ANNUALLY with her dog walking business! (Over $40,000 gross receipts extrapolated from her income listed for November 2007 on pages 85 and 86.) Stefani Peters, Morgantown, PA
As a seasoned dog-walker, I found Ms. Axsmith's book an insightful, fresh approach to this topic. Her approach is thorough. Her methods can be easily and effectively applied by dog-walking professionals and those who are looking to break into this specialized area of pet care. Her passion for the canine world comes through in each page of this book. A recommended buy to dog owners and caregivers of all breeds.
