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I quit my job to become a professional dog walker and pet caregiver it made me happier than I have ever been in nearly 20 years

Dog walking isn’t usually thought of something as a job at least in a major way but it has changed my own life in more ways than one. I used to work at a five star like firm in Manhattan; dreadful hours, upper middle pay, but I hated the work environment and it was so draining. In fact it was so bad I often would end up crying in the bathroom because my boss was such an asshole I just couldn’t tolerate it anymore. Micro-management in corporate New York is such a thing but nobody wants to have that conversation.

At my previous job I was making about $32 h/r but often would be forced to work in a stuffy office; no real benefits, an annoying boss, and often forced to work weekends even though I was never on the schedule for such. And then I was randomly introduced to the idea of dog walking and being a pet caregiver.

I like to keep things blatantly honest so here it goes. Sure being a dog walker and working for yourself in almost any fashion is hard in itself because you now have to do many of the things an employer would for you for yourself. I was okay with this though. It was a fair trade off to ditch a stuffy office and a boss who had a constant stick up his ass for no real reason.

One of the downfalls to working for yourself is probably health insurance. Sure I have to now pay for that myself but again also a fair trade off because the insurance I have now is actually better tthan the one at my last financial job. That’s a wild job in itself considering I was working for a top investment firm but the employer provided benefits (because I didn’t have seniority apparently) were ften subpar and not worth the headache or the time.

Here’s a breakdown of how life changed:

I presently now work about 4 days a week about 6 hours a day (with an hour lunch break so technically 7.)

  • I presently make about $28 h/r + tips (on most days I average about $180 in tips. I do not have to share these with anyone.)
  • My now health insurance costs me about $150 a month for full coverage.
  • I do not work weekends unless a client has prepaid and booked me well in advance.
  • I can now choose to split my day. I typically work from 8-10 am and again from about 2-7.
  • I can now take generous wellness time; time for myself, spend more time at home, and freely go to therapy (which was a big one for me.)
  • I now have more time to spend with my kids.
  • I do not have a manager or a boss. I can freely make my own schedule and my clients adhere to my service hours. This has made being home for my kids much easier and I couldn’t be happier. Plus my kids love when I board dogs for obvious reasons.
  • Sometimes I even take my kids along with me to get them some exercise in and they get a chance to play with dogs all day. It works out great for everyone.

I did not have a parachute when I did this. Instead I learned to budget even more than I already was; shop where appropriate, coupon apps, and the like. It took me roughly about 5 months to begin making good money and no longer had to put so much effort into tightening my wallet.

Sure it’s a bit more work than most are accustomed to but for someone like me it was a fair trade off considering I was looking to detach myself from the overly-demanding corporate overlords of New York City. Often though it doesn’t feel like a job and instead something I actually really like doing. It has in turn made my own relationship with my Yorkie Samuel and cat Ginger much better.

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