A Dog Walking Side Hustle

My name is Jay Spires but my music alias is “Shaya Rhymes”. I work full time in healthcare, mostly as a behavioural therapist to autistic children but I’m currently a benefits advisor for health insurance.

My side hustle is dog walking, and I started this a couple of years back to help make ends meet while relocating to Florida. I ended up falling in love with it and it became my most efficient side hustle (I also drive Lyft and Doordash).

As I alluded to earlier, I also write music!

Efficiency is the main thing. I make more money from a dog walk than most food deliveries or Lyft pick-ups but more importantly, I enjoy being outside and spending time with animals so, it doesn’t really feel like work at all.

Since I’m working a set schedule in my main job, I set my availability for weekends and after work hours only which means I can walk dogs during my free time and wind down after work.

I also coordinate with my current regulars throughout the week, these take priority before I work with new clients.

I work through a third-party app called Wag which is an app designed to pair dog owners with dog walkers - they also do dog sitting and training, but I only do the dog walking aspect. Since starting through Wag, I’ve picked up a couple of regulars via word of mouth. I also get new clients from folks that see me walking other clients regularly - to clarify, the dogs are my clients, not the owners!

Be patient. It takes time to build up your reputation!
Communication is hugely important, make sure you talk through things thoroughly, and don’t hesitate to ask questions if it benefits the service you’re providing.

Also, make sure you go above and beyond for your pups, they love it!

I’m mostly only visible online promoting my music, @shayarhymes on Twitter or @shayarhymes47 on Instagram!

I often post pictures when walking with clients on my story or timeline if I’m not promoting my music.