“Must love dogs” and “Enjoy running and/or walking (rain or shine)” are among the qualifications included in a job listing posted to Craigslist recently.
The ad, created by the San Antonio-based pet services business My Best Friend, is for a professional dog runner.
But Shary Willis, who is doing the hiring, wants applicants to know: being a professional dog runner requires a lot of running.
Willis, who founded My Best Friend nine years ago, is one of five dog runners on staff. Five days a week, roughly six hours a day, Willis runs with her four-legged clients. She works them out for an average of 30 minutes each, and takes breaks when she’s driving to the next canine on the day’s lineup. She estimates she runs between eight and 10 miles per day and averages about nine-minute mile pace.
“I’m not Wonder Woman,” Willis, 40, told Runner’s World by phone, and she added that she cross-trains regularly to ward off injuries. “I just have a lot of stamina.”
Willis joined the Army after high school and learned to love long distance running. After she left the military, the single mom of two kids thought, “What can I do with the things that I love? I love being with my kids, I love animals, and I love being fit. So I started [running dogs] on my own for a few years, and it just ballooned. It has not stopped since.”
Every month, Willis and her team train about 200 active clients. Like their human owners—many of whom Willis said are runners themselves—the dogs follow specialized routines based on their breed, age, and current fitness levels. The service charges $19 for each run.
Candidates for the job of dog runner are put through a three-part interview process. The final portion is a trial run.
“We’ll take [applicants] out on a three- or four-stop route and say, ‘Let’s see if you can hang,’” Willis said. “And they have to be able to handle up to three dogs at a time.
“One of the issues that I get is people come in and say, ‘I want to work 40 hours a week.’ I’m like, ‘You physically can’t,’” she added. “Six weeks down the road, if they prove their stamina and aren’t wearing out, then we talk about adding more jobs.”
Willis said she expects her new employee to handle up to 25 clients per week. (The starting salary is $10 per run.) Since she posted the listing on January 3, applications have been pouring in.
My Best Friend isn’t the only company that employs professional dog runners.
My Best Friend isn’t the only company that employs professional dog runners. , Lightweight Running Shoes focuses its services on training canines to help them “lead an overall happier life,” while Best Running Watches Running Paws, which Shoes & Gear The New Yorker’s “Making Money” series in 2013.
Dogs make great training buddies—regardless of whether you’re getting paid. Go here to find out which breeds make the best partners, and learn how to turn your pooch into an endurance animal.
