What To Do When Your Kid Wants To Start a Dog-Walking Business

As kids grow, they develop an interest in various activities like games, sports and sometimes even business. In this fast developing world, kids are capable of so many things once they are given the opportunity and aid by adults, most especially their parents. A kid who loves pet may be very excited at the prospect of taking dogs on long walks. This could be a great avenue to help your kid to start a business. The opportunities involved in dog walking are numerous and your kid will continue to reap the benefits from it even as he or she grows. This business offers a lot of benefits to your kid and here are some of them:

• Dog walking can pay much more than a dog sitting and can become a regular job for your kid if he bonds with the dog. Kids can always have clients because dogs are very common household pets and so many families have them but they sometimes would need a dog-walker who loves dogs and can bond with their dog to take it out.
• Dog walking is a great summer job for your kid when schools are on vacation. He or she can also walk dogs during school days but this has to be according to schedule. Kids could walk the dog after school or during weekends.
• Walking dogs can also be a fun exercise for your kid and the dog as well. It usually does not take much time and your kid will be able to do his homework and other activities at the same time. You would not have to worry about the job affecting their studies and other extra curriculum activities.
• It is a homely business and so, it does not require you to spend money on getting it started. You won’t have to pay for uniform or any other thing. You also do have a boss over your son that will be hauling policies, etc. Although you will have to invest a little, it would not be much.
• Unlike other jobs, dog walking is suitable for kids of various ages. So if your kid is below fourteen and wants to start a business and he loves dogs, this would be a good option for him.

Here are a few other things that your kid can learn and gain from dog walking:

1. Goal setting and achievement

They will learn to set goals through the business. For instance, they can set a goal to acquire a certain amount of profit in a particular period. By achieving such a goal, they would have learnt the importance of goal setting.

2. Reliability

There is an agreement between your kid and the client and so your kid is aware that his services are relied upon and knows of the consequences of failing to be reliable.

3. Self-motivation and organization

This will have to do with the ability to be able to manage the existing clients and finding new clients.

4. Responsibility

They learn this by caring for the dog and picking up after it poops. It is not a job for someone who does not love dogs because it takes a lot of effort.

5. Negotiation

By the act of pricing and negotiating terms with clients, your kid will be able to make his or her point. So if your kid is kind of shy, this will help them to open up as they interact with clients.

6. Money lessons

Saving, budgeting, and learning the value of money, now that they have money to spend. This is a very good quality that a kid should learn. If a kid does not know the value of money, there is a likelihood of abusing it which will lead to the inability to save.

7. Life skills

Caring for a pet fosters life skills and it makes the child more cooperative and sharing. Having a pet improves children’s role-taking skills because they have to put themselves in the pet’s position and try to feel how the pet feels. And that transfers to how other kids feel. This is such a positive transfer of feelings which is great for the kids.

8. Health benefits

There are health benefits to having pets around kids. Pets in your childhood, it turns out, were not just for playing around but were good for your heart, they were good for your physical, mental, and emotional health. So, if your kids are dog walking, then he or she is also reaping the same benefits as you did when you were a kid. Pets also teach about nature and life.

9. Commitment

They learn to be committed by showing up each day and on time.

10. Responsibility

They are able to manage their own schedule and calendar each week, even if a parent forgets to remind them. Through this act, you will realize that your kid is taking responsibility and is capable of disciplining him or herself.

11. Mood management

Interacting with clients respectfully and performing the walks with a good attitude even if they do not feel motivated helps to manage their mood.

12. Empathy

They show empathy and selflessness, by making sure the animal has enough water as needed and keeping it safely on its leash at all times.

13. Better interaction

Dog walking gives them the opportunity of interacting with adults other than family or teachers.

So, if your kid comes to you with the idea of starting a dog walking business and you just realized that you don’t know anything about it, don’t panic! This article will give you all the tips you need to help your kid begin his or her business.

Steps on How to Guide Your Child:

• Check the laws governing child labour in your area to determine how many hours he can work each day walking dogs. It is very important to note the laws governing activities kids may do, so that your kids business would be legit and to avoid problems.
• Identify your target audience. You could offer to walk the dogs of the elderly who are unable to take their dogs out for a walk anymore.
• Open a custodial account with your child where they may be able to deposit their business profits. This will help them develop an attitude of saving and accountability. Make sure to create a budget worksheet to record earnings and manage expenses.
• Create business cards and flyers that will aid in the advertisement of your kid’s dog walking services. Make the cards attractive with photos of dogs and contact information of your home. Do not let potential customers call the kid directly on their cell phone, due to safety reasons.
• When starting out, kids would be wise to purchase a spare leash or harness for the dogs they walk, a good supply of plastic poop bags, and a water bottle and portable bowl to keep the pups hydrated. This is where a little investment would be needed to help him or her provide better services.
• In relation to safety, work out a route for your child to follow when picking and walking dogs. This tip must be explained to the child so that he or she is aware of the reason and follows the route whenever he or she walks the dogs. Tell your kids to walk dogs in well-lit and well-populated areas that they know well, keeping an eye out for aggressive dogs, fast-moving bicycles, and cars.
• Set a good price for your kids. To know what price to charge, you would need to do a little research on how much other kids walking dogs charge. Then that will aid you to charge well.
• When your child lands a new client, check to see whether the dog’s size works for your child. A strong or heavy dog that can pull harder than your child can handle might create a problem when a squirrel, scooter, or skateboarder whizzes by.
• If your kid doesn’t have a cell phone, provide him or her with one. Or you may give him or her a GPS monitoring device so that you will be able to keep track of their whereabouts when visiting houses and walking dogs for customers.

Finally, help your child distribute his or her dog walking advertisement to potential customers in your neighbourhood. Some suggestions of distribution techniques would be to go door to door, post flyers on community bulletin boards and visit dog parks to find clients. This distribution should be limited to trusted community members and try to screen potential customers too.

In conclusion, It wouldn’t hurt for kids to also know some basic first aid for dogs too. That dog-walking youngster may one day become a veterinarian, open up a grooming business, run an animal shelter, or take on some other related business or career.

Remember that it is about helping your kid to do what he or she loves and by doing so, you will help them develop their potentials.