Growing up I always wanted a dog, but my dad was a hard one to persuade, so we just stuck to occasionally looking after a childhood friends’ dog. Fast forward quite a few years later, when my mum comes home from work one day and tells us she’s found a dog to look after called Chewie. Me and my dad both turned to look at each other like who is this random dog my mum has found, and how will we even know if we will like looking after him and if he likes us? Turns out that this dog belonged to a customer who visited the shop she works at, and my mum always took a liking to this dog. One day when she offered to look after/walk him if they needed any help, the owner actually took my mum up on the offer. And that is the beginning of the story of how we became part-time dog sitters to Chewie.
Except, to be honest, dog sitting doesn’t really feel like a job at all. Rather, Chewie has practically become a part of the family. Although this did take a lot of persuasion as Chewie is an anxious dog, which included lots of meetups with Chewie and his owners, persuading him to walk down the street with us by providing many many treats, and giving lots of belly rubs, Chewie learnt how to trust and be comfortable with us. While dog sitting does come with some downsides, my least favourites are picking up dog poop and going on muddy and cold walks. Overall, the perks of getting to spend time with a dog outweigh all the messy bits. Especially, when it comes to Chewie, that dog loves a coffee shop, and so I end up spending most of my time with him taking him out on little walks to all different coffee shops in the area. Sometimes, we even go on little trips together on the train or bus, to explore different areas, and having a dog accompany me always feels much more fun than just going by myself. So really, I do just end up getting paid to take Chewie out for a coffee (well, a pup cup for him) and give him lots of cuddles and attention!
While I definitely felt lots of hesitation at first, looking after Chewie has become a great side hustle, that doesn’t even really feel like a side hustle at all! Me and my family have been able to experience all the benefits of owning a dog, without having to make the full-time commitment, and I would definitely consider continuing this side hustle in the future. If you would also like to try your hand at dog sitting, then I would recommend the site https://www.borrowmydoggy.com/ which matches owners with those looking to care for and spend time with dogs, which may just be an odd walk here or there, or overnight stays/holidays. While, ‘borrowmydoggy’ is more catered to those who just want to spend time with dogs without the commitment of ownership, you never know, you might just end up finding a doggy pal whom you can build trust with and become a regular dog sitter for!