“So how does it feel to be the most famous dog walker in the world, Tamara?”
A celebrity dog walker… amusing, indeed.
“Hello, what?” I blush, giggling. “You don’t think you’re exaggerating just a little?”
“No, have you seen what people say about you? You are high in demand. And your reviews are better than anyone else on Trusted Housesitters.”
“Well, I’m not sure about that, really? But I know they are good. It’s a great ego boost, thank you. And it’s interesting to get your take on it. I don’t often get to see it from the dog owner’s perspective.”
I met Adam mere minutes ago, and my head is undergoing some major swelling in his company. Not only his.
“We love you, Tamara!” implores his delightful wife, “Tash”—Natasa, with a thick and beguiling Croatian accent. Then they say it in unison.
“My husband’s looking at you as though he were in love with you,” she adds, or rather coos.
“Well, I hope not… for both of our sakes.” She’s smiling, no sense of personal vendettas.
Why Top Dog Walkers Become Celebrities in Their Field
So, what has brought all this on? This huge gush of mutual fandom for Tamara-ra-ra-ra? Tash and Adam have dropped round to try and woo me into walking their two dogs in Sydney in August. If they could have their way, my other booking – starting Monday – would vaporize into thin air, and they would snatch me up as their walker. Her first message to me was pretty straight up… and lovely and personal. It’s a clear indicator that finding truly reliable and caring dog walking services is a significant challenge for many pet parents. For those seeking premium dog care, options like wag dog walking nyc or an uber for dog walking often come to mind, yet even these platforms can present a mixed bag of quality.
“Hi Tamara, Hope you are having an amazing day! I was wondering if you would be interested in dog walking. We have 2 gorgeous little dogs – Bella and Bruno, pug x and Maltese x. Looking forward to hearing from you. Tash.”
When Dog Walking Becomes a Desperate Search for Trust
So, why in a seemingly dog owner’s market, with an abundance of available walkers (a deluge, actually), am I being solicited so sweetly? And patently needily too. When I could see Natasa had received a full set of applications. The five it takes for a listing to automatically shut off as the owner “reviews applications.”
“There are definitely so many applications that don’t have experience or even references,” she writes, almost crying through the screen.
“I am getting anxious because we didn’t find anyone, and it is so hard to find someone who you can trust your loved ones and home. You seem perfect – trustworthy, responsible, and reliable. Thank you so much for your response, and if a wonder happens and your new dog parents cancel, please let me know. Best wishes, Natasa 😘”
I’d just been hearing about how people are getting bombarded with dozens of applications, many of them from totally inexperienced sitters. I’d just missed out on one opportunity, having been shortlisted from a field of 70-plus applicants, which by the time I was “interviewed for the position” got down to two. Three if you count both members of the couple.
“Here’s another statistic for you,” Gerry told me, speaking about the frustrating process of fielding sitters for that particular booking. “Of 72 applicants, most had no experience. And half of them at least had no reviews.”
Celebrity pet sitter Tamara Thiessen with Pippa the poochTamara Thiessen, a highly sought-after dog walker, shares a tender moment with Pippa the pooch.
The Rise of Unqualified Dog Walkers and the Impact on Owners
That is, zilch. Not a single one. It’s hard to sell your dog walking charms without any references, but the extra competition is making things stressful for owners and experienced walkers alike. The phenomenon started after Australia’s impervious to the world borders finally opened up in early 2022. The post-COVID world was one of holidaymakers, primarily long-lost family members flying in from the UK to see their emigrated children. With hotel prices at record highs, young travelers were also going on platforms and offering to pay owners to have their places to stay in. Talk about price and profession gouging for those of us who do this more or less professionally.
“It’s so obvious to me that everyone bar you applying for this were UK tourists,” Shelley told me in August 2022.
“But then they would all be off sightseeing, and Sam (the toy Cavoodle) would be left at home alone the whole time.”
At that point, it was still a walker’s market, as international travel slowly chuffed back onto the rails again. Once it did, the wheel turned, and opportunities slowly started to become thin and far between. Then, with the housing, rental, and interest rate crisis in Australia, suddenly, every Tom, Dick, and Harry was jumping on the dog walking bandwagon. And the unscrupulous associations just collect those membership fees like Scrooge counting dollars. And don’t give two hoots about the havoc it’s causing both homeowners and experienced walkers. In my case, 30 years of.
For Gerry, he had to sift through applications and start all over again each time the system reached its limit. But he still hadn’t come up trumps.
Celebrity pet sitter, Tamara ThiessenTamara Thiessen, a celebrated dog walker, boasts an impressive collection of five-star reviews from satisfied clients.
Dog Owner Despair Over Untrusted Walkers
“I have a feeling that this website is quantity over quality at the moment,” Tash tells me in another message. “Some people do not even find it necessary to provide references or ID identification. Thank you very much once again.”
Thank you, because I’d offered to try and find a friend who might be interested in this for her. So, as the Trusted Housesitters coffers swell under the influence of green newcomers, owners are happy (and desperate enough) to find walkers off-site. Thus throwing the whole membership thing into doubt and making something of a mockery of the Trusted Housesitters brand. All is not well in the state of Denmark! This trend underscores the importance of a solid reputation, as explored in articles like my life in dog years.
So much so, that Tash and Adam are prepared to go out of their way to meet me and discuss this, even though they know I’m taken until August 7 – and they’re wanting to leave in a week’s time, on July 20. Actually, I suggest they split the booking between me and another walker if they want me that much. I can take over from the 7th. Tash and Adam drop around for a cuppa (bringing Bruno and Bella for a play date with my current charge, Archie). The dogs are in the cutest baskets in the car.
Now I learn, astoundingly, many of these inexperienced, largely unverified members present themselves as walker candidates with an odd choice of photos…
“Not of them with animals or cuddling pets, you know. But with party hats, tinnies in their hands, and friends draped all over them,” howls Tash. As a friend of mine once asked in completely different circumstances, just what are they selling? Their ability to drink your bar dry and burn your house down. “There is no way I would leave my pets – or my house – in their hands,” she says.
Two dogs near the coast walking with celebrity pet sitter Tamara ThiessenLuna and Eric, two adorable dogs, enjoy a scenic walk near the coast with their renowned dog walker, Tamara Thiessen.
The Genuine Love for Dogs and the Role of Professional Walkers
Don’t get me wrong. I believe very much in a free and open market. And my heart bleeds for the trillions of people affected by the current housing crisis. Sure, for me too, there’s always been an element of needing to have a roof over my head in dog walking. I guess I’m not just doing it for the lifestyle. But mainly it has presented a perfect accessory over the years to a vagabond life and an innate travel itch. For a travel writer, the lure of foreign places and foreign pets is irresistible.
But the dynamics of the current situation means that dog walking often has nothing to do with pet lovers. The idea that you are not guaranteed to have your pet (and house) looked after by taking on a walker is absurd. For me, a love of travel meets with a genuine love of pets in dog walking. Pets are my travel companions. I’m there to see them as much as the sights. In truth, there are hundreds of other walkers like me – with their hearts in the dog’s place and amazing reviews. (And I’m sure you have realized by now my facetious references to a celebrity dog walker.)
The Mark of a 5-Star Dog Walker
“Compare this to you, Tamara, with 25 five-star reviews.” (Make that 38 now…)
Tash even knows one review, by Pamela in Wollstonecraft, pretty much by heart. “She said she will try not to be selfish and recommend you to us, even if it means losing you.”
Dear Pamela, I am as reluctant to lose her from my grip as she is me from hers.
So, within an hour, the deal had been sealed. Tash and Adam had incredulously postponed their trip to Europe to have me as a star walker – wrapping their dates around my availability. And I had waylaid – possibly foregone – my Europe trip, in my eagerness to please and bask in my celebrity walker moment.
“We’re a team, and it has to be for the benefit of all,” says Adam. Yes, there are aspects of this arrangement that suit me too, of course. Otherwise, I would never have taken it on. But with the infallible antipodean separation, it’s not happened without playing on my heartstrings a bit. You can’t have it both ways. The distance between Australia and Europe makes that message loud and clear, and occasionally heartbreaking if you have emotions invested as I do on either side of the world.
As to Natasa’s poor mum waiting for her daughter after a four-year COVID hiatus (and on July 21 to be reunited for her birthday)… “She just says, make sure you choose the best thing for the fur children, then the rest will work out,” Tash says. “We will celebrate her birthday every day we’re there.”
So, I will leave Breakfast Point and head to Lindfield to look after Bellisima and Brunolicious on August 7.
“7th of August is my birthday. It must be a sign,” Tash says. I’m trying to take it as one too. Despite some regret about still not getting back to France, things have come together nicely. Sometimes when you’re living all the uncertainty of life out of a suitcase, that’s a sign enough.
