would you let a stranger walk your baby?

[MeekosMummy]

This sounds like an odd question but

im going on holiday in a few weeks and my mum is staying at my home with Meeko so he doesnt have to stay in a strange place. My mother is getting on a bit now so I would not expect her to walk Meeko and have given her strict instructions not too because he can sometimes try pull to say hello to another dog (we are still in training!!) We have a decent sized front and back garden that he goes out to play in and run around too so wont be house bound

I have seen a pet service advertised locally in my area and they come to your home and walk your pet for you. They are CRB checked and one side of me thinks its a great idea as meeko will still get his daily walk but the other side of me thinks do i really trust somebody else with my baby especially somebody who doesnt know him and his temperement and commands/instructions or how he has been trained.

We are only going for 1 week so he would be OK without his walk but at the same time itl be nice for him to still go out.

so your opinions please :-) would you let a stranger walk your dog or leave him go without for a week?

 

[brutus77]

Personally I would leave him for the week. It's not that long of a time and I would worry the whole time I was gone. I would prefer him to be safe in my fenced yard. Although, maybe I'm just nuts and overprotective?? Let's see what everyone else thinks.

 

[Texas Carol]

Ummm...only after I spoke to them several times and got a gut
instinct about them based on their answers to my questions.

1. Are you familiar with bulldogs and what experience
with them, do you have?

Only a week...let him do without his walk, too much risk involved.

 

[dolphin]

I agree completely with [MENTION=9370]brutus77[/MENTION] a week isn't very long at all.

 

[JennieS]

I don't trust anyone with my rottens. Even when Ruthie stays at the neighbors when we go on vacation I tell them "let her out to potty and that's it". Even though some pet walkers are bonded and insured, i still wouldn't do it. I've had a pet sitter take care of our cats, but cats are not high value like Bulldogs. Meeko will be depressed and sad all week from missing you, he won't wanna walk anyway (hahaha). I would just let him hang out with your mom, maybe she can just walk around the yard with him a bit.

 

[RiiSi]

I have to say that no. I don't trust my boys to just anybody. Some may say I'm too careful to the point of being silly, but I don't care.

 

[MeekosMummy]

Well you all make me feel so normal being over protective and paranoid about people walking him haha hubby thinks im crazy xx

 

[Davidh]

If only a week, I would go without the walks. We use a pet sitter for ours, but we got references, and he was recommended by a friend of ours. He came over to meet the gang and we got a good feeling about him, and we have been using him for about 5 years now.

 

[Marine91]

I am with [MENTION=2071]Davidh[/MENTION] and [MENTION=5315]Texas Carol[/MENTION] I would have to vette the person out to be sure I could trust them.

 

[nubonics]

We found a need for a dog walker because there are times when we want to take an over night trip and not bring the pups along. We honestly went onto Yelp to read the reviews because we didn't know anyone when we moved to LA. After reading the best of the best we contacted about 5 of them and interviewed each one + asked for referrals. Our logic is: we are hiring you for a service so we want to make sure that you are the best fit for our dogs. We ended up hiring a wonderful dog walker who sends us pics and videos of our dogs when we are away. With that said, if you go this route, make sure you do your homework and don't settle for the first nice person you speak to.

 

[xxaprilrose]

I agree. a week should be fine. It's sad but during the winter (which the entire time I have had jovi except a few days) it has been snowing and below freezing so I havnt taken her for walks. Now that it is nice out she has a lot of fun running in the backyard. I think if the dog is in the backyard they should have plenty of exercise. Atleast just for that week :]

 

[2BullyMama]

Agree with every one.... A week without walks will be fine

 

[Ftse 100]

I wouldn't I would be too worried so I would prefer they just play ball or something like that to exercise instead of going out walking.

 

[My Otis]

I would say No as well, I do not trust anyone with Elmo, he is my Big Boy, I am so protective of him. Susan Moore

 

[ltpyro]

Personally I would leave him for the week. It's not that long of a time and I would worry the whole time I was gone. I would prefer him to be safe in my fenced yard. Although, maybe I'm just nuts and overprotective?? Let's see what everyone else thinks.

I agree, he can live a week without the walk. An alternative might be if you know someone else with a dog, maybe they could bring them over for a play date.