Christchurch council is reviewing its dog walking bylaws. Photo: (Matt Nelson)
A professional dog walker fears her business could be in jeopardy if Christchurch City Council limits the number of dogs she can walk at any one time.
The council is about to review its canine bylaws and whether to cap the number of pooches one person can have under their control at any one time.
There is currently no restriction.
In May, in Auckland a terrier died after being mauled by four dogs that were loose on a pack outing with a professional dog walker, who also had other dogs tethered to their waist.
Checkers Dog Walking owner Julia Knoef told Checkpoint there could not be a fixed number of dogs for dog walkers.
"I think unfortunately applying a one size fits all approach to dog walkers across across the spectrum, from your private dog walker right through to your experienced commercial dog walker would be unrealistic and unfair," she said.
She said for walkers with many dogs, processes were put in place to build a pack.
"For professional dog walkers, what we'd normally do is we'd get those dogs very carefully before we agree to take them out, even individually, but certainly before we take them out as part of a smaller group to start with and then gradually build that into a pack of, you know, up to six or or more dogs for the more experienced and trained professionals."
Knoef said the council's main points were around whether an individual could ensure that a large group of dogs were under effective control at all times.
"I would agree that the answer to that is it's unlikely to be the case at all times for all dog walkers, so I can see what they're aiming for," she said.
Knoef said she wished there was a qualification or certification for dog walking.
"Like many other people in my shoes, I would love for the industry to be regulated and for there to be a series of checks and balances and hoops to jump through, when you're first building up your business.
"Also to recheck on an annual basis to ensure that we are operating safely within the public domain and also that we all have the best practice policies and procedures in place to work safely."
She said if the industry was regulated, like other councils have instigated across the country, it would be a way to check a person's experience.
"Looking at what different councils are doing around the country ... there is a bit of variation. I know that Wellington have approached it from a regulation perspective, which I would sort of fully support if the Christchurch council decided to to follow suit."
In Wellington, all commercial dog walkers have to do a course and pass an exam to be able to walk dogs in public spaces.
"First they have to do a course, they need to pass an exam or test showing that they are familiar with all the local bylaws and the Dog Control Act, and then they also need to be assessed by a dog control officer," she said.
The assessment is a way of checking dog walkers have perfect recall of their dogs and to ensure they are under control.
"A licence is granted based on a set number of dogs for that individual, for a new dog walker, for example, that might be a smaller limit for an experienced dog walker as we have some in Christchurch with 20 plus years experience that may have a much higher limit."
She said if the council decided to put a limit on the number of dogs they were able to walk, she would have to potentially raise prices.
"Another option would be to employ a sidekick to come on walks with me so that we would between the two of us, possibly be able to walk eight dogs.
"A third option would be to look at leasing some private land and so we're not in the public domain and limits wouldn't apply."
However, depending on the temperament and the breed of the dog, dog walking in larger groups sometimes did not work, she said.
"People look at their own dogs and they might have a 50 kilogram Doberman and so there's no way anyone could walk six of these, and I would agree with that. I'd never agreed to walk six Dobermans in a group together. I couldn't physically restrain them.
"From a case by case basis, we can look at the dogs that we walk in a group and ensure that the mix of dogs, the sizes, the temperaments, the age, the energy levels, do work well together and so we can have effective control of them."
