[MeganCQ]

I'm going to law school in a little over a year in Washington, DC. I'm hoping to get a house with a backyard, which surprisingly enough seems like it may be financially feasible, and maybe I can convince a landlord to put in a doggy door in which case this question will be moot. (although maybe not because Morris is terrified of walking through doors that aren't totally open)

I've already started worrying about getting my dog out during the day because I know I'll be busier than I am now. I walk him for thirty minutes in the morning and 30-45 minutes at night, but right now I can easily come home around lunch time and take him out for a potty break. I'm not sure how much he depends on that break, but I don't want him to be uncomfortable and stuck inside all alone and needing to pee during the day. So I looked into dog walkers, but I would want them coming with regularity and professional ones are expensive and charge by the day. I also don't know if I would trust someone off of Craig's list.

I was perusing this topic on various websites, procrastinating homework, and I saw a mention of some online forum or business in which people trade dog walks. So, if I'm available at night and my dog-owning neighbor is available at lunch, we can take each other's dog's out and therefore no money has to exchange hands. Shockingly, I googled around to see if there was a term for this or a site that facilitated this kind of meet up/cooperation, and I couldn't find anything!

Does anyone know what those are called? I tried googling around for dog walk exchanges, dog walk trading, even dog walk co-ops, and found nothing based on those terms. Is there even a kind of formalized place in which to form relationships like what I described in the first place? Thanks!

 

[traciek88]

I agree Craigslist is a dangerous, wholly bad idea. I've never heard about widespread "walking trades", but if you did something like that it would have to be someone you really trusted. Honestly, if I ever did something like that I would have them sign a contract (and sign one myself or their dog), that if anything ever happened to the dog that person would be held responsible. And call me crazy but I would do a background check on them too. You hear so many awful stories of people stealing dogs to do all sorts of things with them. But maybe you could meet some people at a local dog park or animal shelter and develop a relationship with some people you trust. But I would gather as much info as possible on them to make this safe.