I consider myself and the 9 people I have working with me to be professional dog walkers and pet sitters.

It is important that you as a consumer evaluate the company that you choose to look after your pet very carefully.

We at Barking Along have very specific rules of conduct when it comes to walking and sitting the dogs. Because I alone do the scheduling, I can make sure that there are never too many dogs on the group. My maximum on a group walk is six dogs. Each walker is walking between 15-30 dogs a day in groups of 4-6 and some dogs are walked individually based on their needs.  The same rules apply to our boarding dogs.

All the people who work with Barking Along go through an extensive training program which includes;

• "walk throughs" or tours of all the parks we frequent with the routes to take and explanations of where the dogs can be on and off leash.  Where the water is and how to avoid it although many of our dogs want to go in the water we prefer they do not get ear infections and hot spots.

• how to greet other dog owners and maintain a safe environment. The general rule of thumb is that people do not bring dogs to the park that are aggressive. The park experience is for both exercise and socialization. Both are equally important. A dog that is walked and exercised regularly is generally a better neighbour than one that is couped up all day and is only let out in the backyard to do their business. Dogs need to run and run hard. Although it is rare I do make sure walkers are trained on how to break up any aggressive behaviour if they do come in contact with a difficult dog.

• how to handle non dog owners, children and joggers. We train the Barking Along walkers to understand that non dog owners do not always appreciate our right to be in the parks. However, it is our responsibility to ensure that we respect their space and do not make their park experience uncomfortable. We stay far away from any know areas where people congregrate such as picnic areas, jogging trails, children's playgrounds and pools. If we do have to walk by these areas we always ensure that the dogs are under our complete control and on leash.

• all walkers are trained in emergency pet care first aid taught by a licensed veterinarian.

We ensure that all of our dogs are always up to date in their vaccinations including bordettela and they must all be on a flea prevention program during flea season. Dogs that are sick are never taken to the park but are moved to a private walk for the time frame that it is required. These measures help to ensure a healthy dog population.

We also require that all dogs are licensed by the city and we do not walk dogs that are not neutered unless they are still puppies and the owners have told us that they do intend to have the procedure done at the appropriate time. All dogs are tagged with special Barking Along tags as an added safety measure.  We have received calls about client's dogs from as far away as Beverly Hills, California.  Barking Along was there to save the day.

We also supply all of our walkers with doggy pickup bags. We believe strongly in keeping our parks clean. The last thing we want is to step in anything ourselves. We find that purchasing boxes of specialty sized bags pack easier into fanny packs and pockets making it easier to ensure that we always have baggies for picking up.

Walkers must drive appropriate vehicles where the dogs are comfortable. Minivans, hatchbacks, station wagons and SUV’s are generally the vehicles of choice.

Barking Along is a registered business and does have proper liability insurance and all the walkers are bonded. These measures firstly indicate that Barking Along is a going concern and not a fly-by-night operation. The Bonding also ensures that the quality of our walkers is assured.

Barking Along has the manpower to monitor all of its people through constant spot checking and regular meetings to make sure everyone is following the same instructions. We have refresher meeting particularly in the spring and early summer as Dog Walkers have the luxury of having the parks almost to themselves all winter and we have to remember that the people will soon be returning to enjoy the beauty that we all cherish so much about our parks.

I have been watching this business  and industry since 1990 grow exponentially. Statistically, more people are getting dogs and the demographics are seeing many to be two income families working longer hours. Our services are affordable and pet owners want their pets to have a good quality of life which they equate with a midday break and romp in the park.

I do know that we have an excellent reputation amongst the dog walkers, and veterinarians in particular. We have never had problems with Parks and Recreation and in fact have a great working relationship with many of the managers of each area. We have never had a problem with Animal Control because we respect their role and try our best to abide by the rules and bylaws.