About Us
The Association was formed to make a distinction between those dogwalkers who had already abided by their own Code of Conduct and limit of dogs, and those who did not. By 1996 professional dog walking had become a booming industry with a number of dog walkers starting up companies with no regulations for themselves and no idea of the true requirements within this industry. The City of Toronto's Animal Control Division had been inundated with complaints about so-called professional dogwalkers. A complaint of too many dogs being walked at one time was the number one complaint. Other complaints of such nature were, professional dog walkers not picking up after the dogs in their care and dogs being walked off leash in areas that were not designated for off leash.
These complaints were reflecting upon those professional dog walkers, who set themselves with a limit and sought to continue their education in pet dog training and had a code of conduct for their business. But it wasn't enough to convince the City of Toronto that there really were professional dog walkers that were serious about their vocation and saw this job as their career.
Many professional dog walkers were personally affected by these complaints, and reputations suffered on account of these other dog walkers. One of the professional dog walker's affected, was Dianne Eibner. Together with a few other professional dog walkers in the City of Toronto, the Professional Dog Walkers Association was formed.
To date, Dianne has been the sole founding member to implement and manage the professionalism of the dog walking industry through promotion of the Code of Conduct and the set limit on the number of dogs that a professional should walk at one time. She also attended many City Hall meetings, making deputations on behalf of the association on the subject of what is required of a professional dog walker. The City was threatening to pass a new by law limiting the number of dogs any person may walk at one time, to three dogs. The City Council was flooded with letters from the clients of the professional dog walkers (that attended the meetings of the association), all opposing the proposed By-Law. The City had no choice but to defer the proposed By-Law. In the year 2000, the professional dog walkers association found its way onto the World Wide Web.
By the year 2002 we had become internationally renowned and by 2003, the association had become, The Professional Dog Walkers Association International - PDWAI. The domain name being www.pdwai.com and www.prodogwalker.com
With the help of the Board of Directors and other committed volunteers from the association, we will continue to make our commitment to promoting the professionalism of the dog walking and pet care industry.
After 6 years of steady involvement and commitment to the betterment of the dog walking industry, Dianne Eibner met Martin Deeley from the International Association of Canine Professionals. Collaborating their efforts to improve the standards for those who worked with canines professionally, was the best way to take the Professional Dog Walkers Association International to the next level.
In January 2007 the PDWAI made another bold move and merged with the IACP to maintain and enhance the growth of the Dog Walking Profession through education, support, networking and cooperation over the wide range of associated professionals in the dog world. This joining with IACP has produced an influential and motivated section founded on the original mission of the PDWAI.
For more info regarding IACP please go to http://www.dogpro.org/
Sincerely,
Dianne Eibner
Founder/Past President, PDWAI
http://www.ProDogWalker.com/
prodogwalker@distributel.net
Here at www.prodogwalker.com we supply information about furthering education, pet dog training, animal-human safety, and professionalism to those in the pet care industry.
Professional Dog Walkers provide a wide range of pet care services, such as dogwalking, grooming, training, boarding or cat visits, or pet sitting. Have a look at our Definitions to aid you in your search to find exactly what you are looking for.
Pet care is rapidly growing in popularity throughout the world. Here at www.ProDogWalker.com we provide information for those coming into the industry and encourage to continue one's education even after you are established. These days pet care business's are faced with lots of competition. When new dogwalking & pet care companies appear and do not have the experience or the status of a professional, this can leave the client with a negative impression and hesitant to hire a dogwalker or pet care provider due to poor quality from past experiences. This impression causes others to lose business and we may be painted with the same brush. As a Professional Dog Walker, your commitment to high standards of professionalism will make you different from the rest! Do not forget the reason why you got into this business in the first place - you love and wanted to work with animals!