A walker is responsible for controlling the dogs and grouping dogs is a skill, developed once you walk them and learn their temperament, says Wisenberg.

Even so, some dogs don’t make the grade and aggression will get them banished from groups and into “specialized services” – private walks at $25 for half an hour.

It takes a special personality to walk dogs, says Dianne Eibner, who has been walking dogs in Toronto for two decades.

“You need to be calm, confident, have lots of energy and the commitment to stick with it through rain and sleet and ice,” she says.

People skills come in handy, too.

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