Local Left Office Job to Walk The Dog

Kristen Skulte never meant to spend her life on insurance and so when she realized 10 years had passed since she accepted a job in the financial services industry, she asked herself, ‘what am I doing?’

“I thought ‘this is crazy.’ This isn’t what I want to do,” said Skulte, a New Hampshire native who has lived in Farmington with her husband for seven years.

Figuring out what it was she did want to do wasn’t hard.

“I felt like the world was my oyster. I could do anything I wanted to do and I picked my two passions: exercise and animals. I put the two together and this is what I got,” Skulte said, as she and a neighbor’s dog took a lap around a block near her home.

That’s how “Walk The Dog,” Skulte’s own dog-walking business, was born. For the years she was at work in a cubicle or away on business trips, her own black lab was at home waiting for someone to play and walk with. Skulte thinks there are lonely dogs all over town, also waiting.

“There’s definitely a need in this area,” she said. And so she took the leap. She quit her job, did some research and created a brand. She made flyers and cards and hit the streets, talking to neighbors and friends and offering her services.

She took a veterinary technician class, got certified in pet first aid and went back to volunteering at Star Meadow Animal Hospital. Through that and through reading, Skulte’s gained some understanding of animal behavior – how dogs are socialized and how their wild ancestors’ habits translate for suburban pets.

Mostly, she said, dogs need two or three walks a day and certainly the exercise and attention will improve their health and behavior.

“So many of the dogs that come into the dog hospital are overweight and that contributes to so many problems,” she said. And she added, dogs don’t walk themselves.

“My biggest competitor is not other dog walkers – it’s Invisible Fence. People think if they’re left out in the afternoon it’s a substitute for exercise but it’s not.” And some owners bring their pets to daycare, but that can be expensive, Skulte said.

She visits many of her clients twice a day, usually for half an hour, though she offers hour-long walks, too.

“I have a couple that could probably walk all day,” she said.

For more information, visit walkthedogct.com.