(310) 383-3000
Pacific Palisades to Beverly Hills
info@thedogwalker.org
Licensed, Insured, Bonded, References
Established 2000
Daily Dog Walks
Mountain Hike Adventures
High Energy Exercise & Play
Hotel Visits
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Gavin Behr, The Dog Walker
 Been Hiking Dogs in LA Since 2000 One of Gavin's Favorite Photos:
One of Gavin's Favorite Hobbies:
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When can my puppy start on the Mountain Hikes? What else does our dog need to go hiking? What area do you cover for MOUNTAIN HIKES? What area do you cover for LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD WALKS? What time do you pick up / drop off? How do you get the dog if nobody is home? How often should my dog go hiking? Can you take care of our dog when we go out of town? What is your Cancellation Policy? Can you refer us to an awesome DOG TRAINER? How can my doggie get TWO FREE HIKES or WALKS? What are the Basic Risks for dogs in the Mountains? Should my dog have the Rattle Snake Vaccine? Is my dog Too Small to go on the Mountain Hikes? Do you ever go to the local Dog Parks? Can we buy a "The Dog Walker" GIFT CERTIFICATE for a friend's dog? What type of Charity / Donations can THE DOG WALKER provide for my Fund Raising Event? Which community & charity fund raisers has The Dog Walker donated to? Do you recommend Pet Insurance? Can you refer us to a good Mobile Pet Groomer? Can you refer us to somebody who can pick up the DOG POOP in our backyard? Do you pick up & walk dogs from Pet Friendly Hotels? Which PET FRIENDLY HOTELS do you recommend? Do you offer a Pet Taxi Service?
We can help you with in-home visits right away. When can my puppy start on the Mountain Hikes? At 4 months and upwards they are ready to join in the fun and adventures. Please check with your vet and make sure your dog has had all the necessary shots before being with other dogs! We strongly recommend your puppy be spayed or neutered. Please discuss this with your trainer and / or vet ASAP. We do not take older dogs on the Mountain Hikes who have not been fixed yet. What else does our dog need to go hiking? Most vets will probably recommend that your dog has a BORDETELLA SHOT and be on FRONTLINE. Please make sure that your dog has a snug fitting collar that will not slip off with current NAME and PHONE NUMBER tags. We go every day. We also hike when it is raining and on all public holidays. We always show up for your doggies hike, no matter what the weather is like and no matter which holiday it is. When it is raining we request that you leave a towel by the front door so that we can wipe your doggies paws afterwards if need be! What area do you cover for MOUNTAIN HIKES? Our main area is between the 405 Freeway and PCH, North of Wilshire and up to the Santa Monica Mountains, which covers Brentwood, Santa Monica and the Pacific Palisades. We also go East of the 405 into Beverly Hills, picking up along Sunset Blvd as far as the Beverly Hills Hotel / Coldwater Canyon Dr. What area do you cover for LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD WALKS? We cover Southern Malibu, Topanga, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Brentwood, Bel Air, Mar Vista, Venice, Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey, Westchester, Palms, Culver City, Rancho Park, Cheviot Hills, Westwood, Century City, Beverly Hills, W Beverly, W Hollywood, W Los Angeles. What time do you pick up / drop off? We have three vans with various pick up times, so we will do our best to accommodate your requested pick up times. We do require that the doggies be home at least an hour prior to their regular pick up time and may return at least an hour later than their regular drop off time. Mostly we do arrive on schedule. We do not accept “TIME SENSITIVE” owners. How do you get the dog if nobody is home? Preferably we should have a key, unless the doggie is in the yard or has a doggie door. Even if there is normally somebody at home, we strongly recommend giving us a key as you may be delayed on an unexpected errand and we cannot get to your dog, who is now desperately trying to scratch their way through your front door, trying to get to the van and their other doggie friends. How often should my dog go hiking? That depends on you and your dogs needs …. We go hiking every day … so they are welcome to join us as often as they want. Our dogs are all on a regular schedule, but we will do our best to help when you have an emergency or your doggie is demanding an extra (unscheduled) walk. Can you take care of our dog when we go out of town? YES! You have two different options to choose from: West of the 405:
East of the 405:
Feeding: No extra charge to feed, as long as it is easy dry food. When and How do you like to get paid? We like to get paid Monthly. We can either e-mail or mail you an invoice for your dog’s activities at the end of each month. You can pay by either:
Paying by Credit Card is the easiest way as you never have to remember to write or mail a check. If you have any further questions re PAYMENTS, or to give us your Credit Card info .. please feel free to call me (Gavin) anytime on (310) 383-3000 or e-mail me at: info@thedogwalker.org House Sitting on Major Holidays is not considered confirmed or booked until paid for in full in advance! What is your Cancellation Policy? Most of our doggies have been with us for a long time and are on a regular schedule, which we really appreciate, so we do not charge for hiking / walking cancellations. We do request that you call us as soon as possible beforehand to let us know! Hopefully we can reschedule to make up the hike / walk another day. Can you please refer us to an awesome DOG TRAINER, as our dog has some “issues” that we cannot get under control by ourselves? Yes, I most certainly can. Please call Amy Peer who is a wonderful independent local Dog Trainer and will definitely be able to help you. Amy has been helping my Clients and their Doggies since I started 9 years ago. Please read her bio here and then do yourself and your doggie a huge favor and give her a call. You and your doggie will be so much happier after a few sessions with Amy. I highly recommend her as do so many other doggie owners all over Los Angeles. How can my doggie get TWO FREE HIKES or WALKS? When you sign your doggie up for our regular walks or hikes you will get TWO FREE HIKES or WALKS. Then help spread the word about The Dog Walker to your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers and to your doggies Vet Office, your local Pet Stores and Dog Groomer etc. When each new doggie signs up and mentions your name, we will give your doggie another TWO FREE HIKES or WALKS. Your friend’s doggie will also get TWO FREE HIKES or WALKS when they sign up for our regular Mountain Hikes or Neighborhood Walks. (This special offer does not apply to short term vacation dogs) Please forward this link http://www.thedogwalker.org/special.html to all your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers etc who have nice friendly doggies that live in the Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Brentwood and in Beverly Hills (along the Sunset Blvd & Mulholland Dr Corridors) What are the Basic Risks for dogs in the Mountains? Playing in the mountains is great for your dog, as they get to run, play and get tons of exercise, socialization and have loads of fun. There are some inherent risks that we do our best to minimize but are impossible to avoid 100% of the time on every hike. On the Santa Monica mountain hikes, we might encounter the following: Fox Tails are out there in the summer time. We strongly agree with the owners of dogs with very thick, curly or long hair who clip their dogs hair down to help prevent foxtails from sticking to the hair and becoming hidden beneath it. After the hikes we do try and remove any Foxtails that we can see, but to help guard against foxtails, many doggie owners give their dogs a thorough “grooming” after their dog has possibly come into contact with these plants. This includes combing through the dog’s coat with a fine-tooth comb. Owners should also examine the dog’s entire body, especially the undersides of the paws, the armpits, stomach and inside the ears. If you suspect your doggie has a Fox Tail embedded, they should be taken to see their vet. Cuts and Scrapes can occur while your doggie is out having fun in the mountains. Just like young children running and playing outside come home with cuts and bruises, doggies, especially young energetic puppies may come home with a cut or scrape from running at top speed through the bushes while being chased or chasing another energetic doggie friend. We try keeping them out of those bushes when travelling at top speed…but that is not always possible. Rattle Snakes are found in the Santa Monica Mountains, but we very very seldom encounter them and all our Mountain Hikers will do their best to keep your doggies safe and will do their best to take care of the situation should a snake be encountered along the way. Gavin has been handling snakes from around the world for 43 years now. Ticks can also be picked up by the dogs in the local mountains. They seem to be more common at the beginning of winter time when the first rains come. They are also not very common where we hike the dogs and can be easily removed with the correct tool. In the unlikely event that your doggie does pick up a Tick along the way, our Hikers will gladly remove any ticks that either you or they notice on your doggie. You should occasionally run your hands through your doggies hair and feel for any unusual “bumps” and then look to see if it might be a tick. Let us know if you ever find one. Kennel Cough: Please make sure your dog is vaccinated against this. There is an injectable Bordatella vaccine, and one that is given intranasally (squirted into the nostrils). Neither vaccine will totally prevent infection with Bordatella. For the injectable vaccine, 2 doses must be given 3-4 weeks apart, and protection does not occur until 1-2 weeks after the second injection. More commonly, for best protection, an intranasal vaccine containing both parainfluenza and Bordetella is used. Intranasal vaccines create localized immunity that greatly reduces the incidence of clinical signs and illness. The vaccine may be used in puppies as young as 3 weeks of age, only one dose is necessary to provide protection, and protection occurs as early as 3-4 days following vaccination. There are several precautions and warnings that need to be observed pertaining to this vaccine. Some dogs will develop mild signs similar to tracheobronchitis when given this vaccine. Very often, the symptoms will last for several days and the dog will recover without treatment. Dogs that are vaccinated can also shed the virus and cause other dogs to become mildly infected and show mild signs. This shedding usually lasts less than 72 hours. In addition, it takes up to 4 days after vaccination for dogs to develop protection. When you combine these facts, you will see why it is strongly recommend that a dog not be given intranasal vaccine within 72 hours of coming into contact with other susceptible dogs. Do not give the vaccine the day before a dog show, boarding, etc. Try to give at least four days before contact with other dogs and preferably 7 days. This way you will protect your dog from becoming infected by other dogs, and protect those dogs from becoming infected by yours. Running away is a possibility as we hike the dogs in the Santa Monica Mountains. The mountains stretch all the way to Santa Barbara and beyond, but in 10 years of hiking we have NEVER EVER LOST a dog and not got it back. Dogs like to stick with either their buddies in the pack or with their walker. On the rare occasion a doggie can wonder off and disappear from sight for a few minutes. There have been times where a dog has been missing for 20 minutes or so, a few times for a few hours and once overnight…BUT we have ALWAYS found them again. Not being able to find a doggie is a very scary and traumatic event for both the owner and for us. We therefore do our best to make sure that never happens and do not accept doggies for the hikes that are known bolters as our Mountain Hikes are all OFF LEASH HIKES. We keep all new dogs ON LEASH at first, then if they seem fine to be let OFF LEASH we let them off to run and play with the other dogs. IF they wonder too far from their Walker, we will put them back on leash for a while and then try letting them off again later on. If they do not respond well and do not stick with the pack … we will let you know and require that they go on neighborhood walks instead. The younger the dog, the faster they seem to adapt to sticking with The Pack. Dogs who love playing with other dogs also generally stick to The Pack right away as do dogs who love attention from Humans as they stick right next to their Walker all the time and vie for their attention. Squirrels, Rabbits and Deer can lead any dog astray … but as soon as they lose sight of the fleeing suspect …they stop and return to The Pack. Should my dog have the Rattle Snake Vaccine?
Unfortunately I cannot give you a Black and White / Yes or No answer. Is my dog Too Small to go on the Mountain Hikes? Well the smallest doggie we take is this Yorkie named Angel and we also take a Papillion as well….so you decide !!! Do you ever go to the local Dog Parks? We never take any of the Mountain Hike doggies under our care to any Public Dog Parks. Can we buy a "The Dog Walker" GIFT CERTIFICATE for a friend's dog?
Yes, we do sell Gift Certificates. Would you like to have a "THE DOG WALKER" booth at our Pet related event and how would it benefit us? Yes, we would love to do that. What type of Charity & Donations can THE DOG WALKER provide for my Fund Raising Event? We would love to be part of your Fund Raiser. Which Community & Charity fund raisers has The Dog Walker donated to? We have donated FREE WALKS or HIKES to the following fund raisers: Do you recommend Pet Insurance?
Yes, we now do recommend getting Pet Insurance. Can you refer us to a good Mobile Pet Groomer?
Yes, I definitely can. Please call Eddie at Town & Country Mobile Pet Services who has a great fleet of Mobile Vans covering most of Los Angeles and a Grooming Store in Santa Monica and will definitely be able to help you with getting your doggie groomed. Can you refer us to somebody who can pick up the DOG POOP in our backyard?
Yes. Please call Roger at Pet Butler. Do you pick up & walk dogs from Pet Friendly Hotels?
Yes, we will gladly pick up your doggie from your hotel.
When your are forced to leave your doggie behind in your hotel room,
we’ll take great care of your “baby” so that you can relax and enjoy your vacation.
A happy dog is a tired dog. When you are away from the hotel, try our convenient service.
We will entertain & exercise your doggie, feed them and give them the necessary potty breaks they need!
If you have full days planned and are worried about how your doggie will handle staying alone in a strange hotel room,
we can assure a happy dog. We will even call you after the walk with an update on the well being of your four legged family member. Which PET FRIENDLY HOTELS do you recommend?
Pet Friendly Hotels: Do you offer a Pet Taxi Service? Yes, when you either do not have the time, are out of town, sick in bed or have a broken leg etc and cannot take your doggie to the groomer or the vet etc. We will gladly pick them up and take them safely to their appointments and bring them home again, when needed. Prices will vary, depending on Distance and Time in traffic. All services must be reserved by a VISA or MASTERCARD. There is a 24 hour cancelation policy. For further information or to reserve your PET TAXI, please call us: 310.383.3000 |
