Choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your
life. Words I probably wouldn’t have believed 18 months ago, but now I know are
true. It’s almost a year since enquiries
started picking up for me and I began to meet clients and their dogs that now
form the bedrock of my business. It has taken longer than I thought and been a
lot of hard work but like most things in life well worth the effort. A friend
said ‘Grow slow, grow strong’ so that’s hopefully what I am doing. I don’t want
this blog to sound in any way preachy (I am well aware that mine is a fledgling
business and could easily go tits up If I am not careful) I just thought it
would be nice to share a little of what motivates me and how it has helped me
so far.
At the time I was thinking of starting Pack Leader Dog
Adventures we were on holiday in Florida and I was genuinely blown away by the customer
service there. I have heard some people say it is a bit too much sometimes, too over the top. I couldn't agree less. I
smile, say hi and try to be friendly to everyone I meet ( I have a sales
background maybe that helps maybe I’m just nice haha ) so to find people who
treat every customer that way was refreshing and made me want to put a big
emphasis on customer service. As Tom Peters would put it ‘Wow them!’
The service itself would have to be excellent. I want my service to provide the appropriate
amount of exercise that a dog needs whatever that might be. All dogs are
different obviously but it seemed to me there could be a demand for a service
that offered a higher level of exercise than what I would call a normal walk
(on leash). The owner will do that anyway as a given so while I am getting paid
to take the dogs out I may as well go somewhere different and do something they may not do. I admit this may not be appropriate
for all dogs but there are plenty dog walkers around so I may as well do
something different, it’s my business after all and I want to enjoy it too. My experience
with my Bordeaux Barry (see previous blog) where we ran, cycled used back packs
etc made me think there was more I could do with dogs than just walk.
I have found if you give
a dog a job or maybe better to say practise an exercise that utilises some of a
dogs breed specific skills, nose work, retrieving, load carrying etc you get a
focus and willingness from the dog to take part even if the skills are not
traditional to that breed. I don’t think its natural or traditional for my cocker
spaniel pup to enjoy finding rose oil scented cotton buds in my yard or for my
Bordeaux to jog alongside me as I slowly cycle for 10 mins (both dogs can do
either tasks) but they do get incredibly focused and obviously enjoy it. Why? Because it’s different and interesting and it
makes them think and concentrate. I have only started learning and there is so
more to learn but I am learning on the job and making mistakes everyday (two a
day some days) It takes time, patience and loads of enthusiasm but the goal is a
more focused dog (or group of dogs) that doesn’t bother other dogs or people
when we are out walking and hang around with me because they want to because
they find me interesting.
So there you go happy, well exercised, interested, well behaved dogs will
hopefully make for happy customers. The business is different to what it started
out I am trying to move more towards training now. But I am always trying to put the dogs first and learn as much as I can to
make it more interesting for them, and guess what when I do that its more interesting
for me too!
For more pictures of what we get up to each day check out the Pack Leader Dog Adventures facebook page below
