Would you like it if your neighbor offered to walk your dog?

[Anonymous]

My toddler absolutely loves dogs. I feel like we are always waiting for a neighbor to come out to walk their dog. Wonder if neighbors would want us to walk their dog for them. DH thinks it would be weird to offer. I know when I used to work, my coworkers would be stressed about getting home to let the dog out.

[Anonymous]

Depends how close you are to them and how dependable you are. Presumably you’ll need a key to their house, and they likely won’t want a strange neighbor going into their house. If you end up bailing on them often they won’t want to depend on you, since it’ll be more of a hassle than anything.

Also, what kind of dog is it? A medium or large dog will need a longer walk, which your toddler may not tolerate. It’s also difficult to walk both a toddler and a dog.

What will you do once the novelty wears off and you don’t want to walk their dog anymore?

[Anonymous]

The problem is the toddler, OP. It's really nice of you to offer, and I can't imagine people being offended by this request, but many would have to say no, if they are responsible dog owners and care about safe dog-child interactions. A responsible dog owner would need to have:
1. a very mellow dog, probably an older one;
2. already seen multiple instances of their dog interacting with your child in a safe manner;
3. be assured that you can handle both dog and child by yourself.

[Anonymous]

I just took my kids to pet smart at that age. They liked seeing animals and there would usually be a customer with a dog shopping. I wouldn’t want to commit to caring for someone else’s pet. That’s a lot of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is the toddler, OP. It's really nice of you to offer, and I can't imagine people being offended by this request, but many would have to say no, if they are responsible dog owners and care about safe dog-child interactions. A responsible dog owner would need to have:
1. a very mellow dog, probably an older one;
2. already seen multiple instances of their dog interacting with your child in a safe manner;
3. be assured that you can handle both dog and child by yourself.

confirm I love my dog and toddlers and he is totally sweet with them, but this would be a nightmare scenario waiting to happen. Who knows how my dog will react to even people he knows when I'm not there. I like letting him say hi to little people and he is always an angel but I need to have my hand on his harness and my eyes on the situation the whole time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is the toddler, OP. It's really nice of you to offer, and I can't imagine people being offended by this request, but many would have to say no, if they are responsible dog owners and care about safe dog-child interactions. A responsible dog owner would need to have:
1. a very mellow dog, probably an older one;
2. already seen multiple instances of their dog interacting with your child in a safe manner;
3. be assured that you can handle both dog and child by yourself.

As the owner of two dogs and a toddler, I'd take this a step further and say that I trust my dogs with my toddler, but I would never risk YOUR child by agreeing to this. What if a crazy dog jumps a fence and attacks the dog? What if my dog gets startled and the stars align that my dog snaps? You are 100% welcome to hang out in my yard with my dogs or join our walk, but my dogs are animals and my responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is the toddler, OP. It's really nice of you to offer, and I can't imagine people being offended by this request, but many would have to say no, if they are responsible dog owners and care about safe dog-child interactions. A responsible dog owner would need to have:
1. a very mellow dog, probably an older one;
2. already seen multiple instances of their dog interacting with your child in a safe manner;
3. be assured that you can handle both dog and child by yourself.

confirm I love my dog and toddlers and he is totally sweet with them, but this would be a nightmare scenario waiting to happen. Who knows how my dog will react to even people he knows when I'm not there. I like letting him say hi to little people and he is always an angel but I need to have my hand on his harness and my eyes on the situation the whole time.

I'm PP you responded to. That's exactly what I do. Alert and hand on harness. Imagine, OP, that you're crossing the street with your child, a bird flies right under the dog's nose, the dog reacts reflexively and bounds after it, you have the split-second choice of letting go of the leash or letting go of your toddler. My 7 year old has been dragged into the street by my dog, who went after some random critter. Now I don't let her hold the leash. My point is that you have to understand the potential dangers.

[Anonymous]

Op, you shouldn’t be waiting for your neighbor to come out and walk their dog. They may be stalling because they want some time to themselves for this. As others have said you don’t know the true temperament of a dog when your time and interaction is quite limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is the toddler, OP. It's really nice of you to offer, and I can't imagine people being offended by this request, but many would have to say no, if they are responsible dog owners and care about safe dog-child interactions. A responsible dog owner would need to have:
1. a very mellow dog, probably an older one;
2. already seen multiple instances of their dog interacting with your child in a safe manner;
3. be assured that you can handle both dog and child by yourself.

confirm I love my dog and toddlers and he is totally sweet with them, but this would be a nightmare scenario waiting to happen. Who knows how my dog will react to even people he knows when I'm not there. I like letting him say hi to little people and he is always an angel but I need to have my hand on his harness and my eyes on the situation the whole time.

I'm PP you responded to. That's exactly what I do. Alert and hand on harness. Imagine, OP, that you're crossing the street with your child, a bird flies right under the dog's nose, the dog reacts reflexively and bounds after it, you have the split-second choice of letting go of the leash or letting go of your toddler. My 7 year old has been dragged into the street by my dog, who went after some random critter. Now I don't let her hold the leash. My point is that you have to understand the potential dangers.

+1 my dog adores my toddler and the feeling is aggressively mutual. I still am all over my kid and the dog like white on rice when they’re around each other and I wouldn’t trust my dog with another toddler. It’s just that there is no going back if something bad happens. You want your kid to say hi to my dog and give some pets when we’re walking? I’m in. You want to take my dog when I’m not around? No way.

[Anonymous]

OP my 3 yo loves animals and I’ve actually thought about taking up pet sitting gigs so he can get his fix! Dogs are a bit unpredictable but bring on the cats!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just took my kids to pet smart at that age. They liked seeing animals and there would usually be a customer with a dog shopping. I wouldn’t want to commit to caring for someone else’s pet. That’s a lot of work.

Op here. Wonderful idea!

Are there any pet stores that have more animals?

The petsmart by us only sells food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, you shouldn’t be waiting for your neighbor to come out and walk their dog. They may be stalling because they want some time to themselves for this. As others have said you don’t know the true temperament of a dog when your time and interaction is quite limited.

Op here. They are not stalling. My daughter only discovered dogs last week. She got to pet one and now she gets so happy when she sees one. Problem is we live in a neighborhood where houses are far apart. Not many people walking around.

I’m going to scope out pet stores. She is going to love it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just took my kids to pet smart at that age. They liked seeing animals and there would usually be a customer with a dog shopping. I wouldn’t want to commit to caring for someone else’s pet. That’s a lot of work.

Op here. Wonderful idea!

Are there any pet stores that have more animals?

The petsmart by us only sells food.

I don't know where you live but the Petco in Rockville has an adoption event every Saturday afternoon (and maybe Sundays too). I'm sure a Petsmart would have something similar.

[Anonymous]

I would not allow someone to walk my dog with a small child, without me being present. Too many risks even with a sweet- natured dog.

[Anonymous]

Go to the dog park. Your child is too young to go in, but we often have families at ours hanging out on the other side of the fence.