Should pet owners be required to tip dog walkers?
Why I both understand tipping fatigue AND think people should tip anyway
Writer’s note: An extended version of this post was originally published in Substack’s “Window Shopping.”
My early, bad-tipping days are why I rarely if ever get upset when someone doesn’t tip me for being a dog walker (or dog boarder and dog sitter before I adopted my own dog). First, I’m getting paid more than $7.80, the minimum cash wage in Illinois. Second, I actually enjoy this side gig, so it’s not like I’m dragging myself around to walk pets. Third, because I’m such a loyal Yelper and former mystery shopper, I put a helluva lot more emphasis on my reviews than I do tips. Give me a four out of five-star review, and I’ll have an attitude. But give me a five-star review and no tip, and I’ll shrug it off.
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No one is obligated to tip you, but common decency should tell you to
I’m not always indifferent to tipping though. If I did something that was above and beyond, I damn sure want to be compensated for it. For example, last month, I walked into a pet owner’s home and saw a trail of trash from the kitchen to the living room. The dog had apparently torn a trash bag, ate a bunch of raw meat that fell off the counter and threw up in three spots.
I’ve got a stomach of steel, thanks to my own dog not getting along too well with dental treats. So, I walked the dog first to make sure he didn’t vomit again. Then, I came back to the pet owner’s house, grabbed paper towels, the multipurpose cleaner and a broom, and cleaned everything up. What was supposed to be a 20-minute drop-in became a 30-minute job. I would hope somebody would do this for me instead of leaving my own dog in filth until I came home. The response? The pet owner “forgot” to tip me. It was both frustrating and karma for that esthetician. I laughed. Me getting mad wouldn’t change anything.
“Window Shopping” subscribers, click here to read more.
Shamontiel is a dog lover to her core: 552 completed walks with 96 dogs, eight dog-housesittings and six dog boardings at the time of this publication.
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote” and “Window Shopping” too. Subscribe to this newsletter for the weekly posts every Wednesday. Thanks for reading!