our dog walker

Although we've had a dog walker for a couple of months now, tax season at work has kept me from singing his praises until now.  We found Mark Sedgwick of Walkabout Critter Care through an ad he posted at our vet's office.  As I've said in a previous post, there aren't many dog walkers who take clients in the outer Richmond area where we live (which I think is totally lame).  We were very lucky to come across Mark's card and to hear he was still expanding his pack.

Since I was super busy with work on the weekends, Papa and our roommate interviewed Mark and went through the initial introductions with Dash.  From what I heard the meeting went really well and Mark seemed like a great guy.  I was also pleased to hear his test walk with our mini Aussie puppy wasn't a complete bomb.  He said Dash had a great spirit and that he'd love to work with him more before bringing him into the pack.

I think he ended up taking Dash on two more private Saturday walks to strengthen the bond between them and figure out which treats Dash liked best.  I don't know how Mark did it, but he figured out that bribing our mini Aussie puppy with cooked chicken quelled his wandering (aka spazzy) dog park behavior.  I'm told Dash has better recall by using the treats, and is learning to follow the pack with Mark as his leader.

We currently have the little monster signed up for 2-3 hour adventures to Fort Funston on Tuesdays and Thursdays at $25 a pop.  Mark comes to our house, picks Dash up, takes him out, and drops him off without a trace.  I wish we could afford to send him more days of the week, but for now with the wedding budget this is a comfortable schedule for us.  Sometimes I wonder what they do out there, but for the most part Dash seems more relaxed on those days, and it definitely gives him 2-3 fewer hours at home to destroy the house!

I still haven't met him yet, but Mark Sedgwick has become like our guardian angel in a way.  He swoops in when no one is home and takes Dash out to release some of that never ending energy!!  I'm sure he's saved at least one thing from being chewed to death... and I get to come home to a (relatively) calmer puppy!