A few months before I became pregnant I started thinking about small home businesses I could do if I become a SAHM. I was an art major, but I have been an office manager for a financial services firm for 7 years. I became excited about doing something different with my time, maybe even something to utilize my talents. I also love, LOVE animals. So all the normal ideas came to mind: murals, room painting, paintings of people's children...things like that.

After some research I thought about making gourmet dog treats. While looking into that I thought, "Hey, what about a dog walking business?!"

I love the outdoors, walking (I walk/run my 3 year old Chocolate lab 2 times a day). We send our dog to doggie daycare 1-2 times a week and have often thought how great it would be to have someone walk him in the middle of the day. I thought maybe after the baby is 4-5 months old I could hand out flyers in my neighborhood, post ads on craigslist, put flyers in grooming shops and see if there is any feedback. There is insurance, bonding and a certification you can get at around $100 per year. I figure I could walk a few dogs a day.

What do you all think?

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IT'S A BOY!!!

I think it's an amazing idea. You could contact these people and ask them some questions.
Dog Gone Walking Enter

Since you aren't competition. (It's in Canada) they might be happy to share their experiences on how they got it started.

Here is the professional dog walking association. It might give you more ideas.
www.ProDogWalker.com

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I don't have a dog, but seems like some people might think hiring a dog walker would be a good idea...if we lived closer i would ask about your painting skills for murals!!! Good luck with whatever you decide!

You have some great ideas. I will say in the last year I have seen several cars/vans/suvs with advertisements for murals. I commissioned one to do a canvas painting replicating a photo I took in Hawaii. It now hangs in our living room (anniversary present for DH and I to each other). When I painted my son's room I had many friends say they would have hired me to do their kids rooms had they known. My problem is that I could only work on the painting when they were asleep or they would have their hands in it. I don't paint so it took me FOREVER to do the four walls. So if you were thinking of room painting - maybe wait until the kids are in school full time. If you are thinking of canvas paintings to be hung in the rooms (they can take them with if they move) then it would be a great SAH job.

Dog walkers are huge on the east coast - especially for those people that live in condos or apt buildings where their pets don't get outside much. Keep in mind that you would have to travel to their homes to pick up the dogs and with gas prices that might get spendy and not worth how much you can charge (if out of your walking distance).

Pet sitting is another facet - weekend or weekly - then you can figure out if you want to go to their home to care for the animal(s) or bring them to your house (depending on the type of animal and your kids safety of course). You could advertise at PetSmart or PetCo if they allow it, vet offices/hospitals, groomers, etc. In CA there are all sorts of specialty shops for dogs too. My parents used to buy our dog natural treats at the street fair once a month - made by a lady in her home.

Good Luck!

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PLEASE go to http://mommysavers.com/boards/mommys...ncer-walk.html to learn about preventative measures for all women - cancer does not discriminate!

Ladies, I apologize I must close this thread. It keeps getting hit by spam, and this will make it less of a target.

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~Missy~Mommy
Meghan8.Samantha7,Cameron4