AS WE ARE A NEW ORGANIZATION, many walkers are not yet vetted members. It takes trust, meaningful benefit and benevolence, good governance and time to build an association with CDWA’s scope, and to grow its industry membership. We are working very hard on achieving these milestones.
All Walkers are encouraged to become vetted members. And Pet Parents are encouraged to refer their candidates to us.
Trust is Important to Dog Walkers and Assurance Matters to Pet Parents
The Walking profession does attract people who want a fast job, without having to qualify for it. As a result, there are many who don’t take the job seriously, and who don’t know about, or observe, best practices. This has well-known ramifications to the security and well being of dogs and pet parents.
However, the more professional Walkers do train themselves, demonstrate ethics and actively reinforce the industry’s best practices. Those Walkers want to distinguish themselves from those who don’t do the work required to be best-in-class. They are progressive, transparent, skilled and achieved. They possess the education, qualifications and expertise needed to assure the public. CDWA exists to sing their praises from the rooftops.
At this point, the public doesn’t know who is who. That is the problem CDWA aims to solve. Our vetting process guarantees that pet parents can access a trustworthy, skilled, best-in-class practitioner, with confidence, on the first try.
Hiring a Dog Walker
While CDWA ramps up, please refer candidates to us for formal vetting, endorsement, assessment and entry into this industry-wide quality assurance initiative, prior to hiring. Doing so guarantees your candidate is a professional and positive contributor to you and your pet’s quality of life. Please allow one month for the process.
No time? Please see our Suggestions for Interviewing a Walker.
See Vetting + Standards for more information on our approach.
