The Dog Train

When our usual dogwalker recently went on vacation I called several services to find someone to help for a week. Most companies had no use for a week long job, but Jessie and Dean got right back to me. Despite being busy, Dean managed to carve out 45 minutes a day to walk our girl. I met with Dean to give him keys and immediately felt really good. He is calm, sweet, and clearly a caring dog lover. Over the week he walked, he emailed and texted me updates, which was great. I told him when our regular walker retires next year, he is my first call. I felt really comfortable with Dean, and while our dog wasn’t talking, I’m guessing she was pretty happy with him as well.

Jessie walked my dog in Chelsea for almost three years until I moved out of the city. Her service was dependable and reliable.
My dog loved her so much and responded to her so well. She made my dog a better walker, and socialized her with other dogs. She tolerated my difficult schedule and always offered alternate arrangements when she was not available.
Highly recommended.

I was in corporate housing in Chelsea and moved last week to the UWS as my permanent location. Sadly, Jessie is no longer walking my pup as we’re out of her coverage area. :-(Jessie is truly an angel, she still txts with me and answers my questions since my little pup has gone through such a drastic change, and now a new place & another dog walker. Not all dog walking professionals offer this level of service & attention, Jessie cares for your dog like they are her own. Even the doormen at my old apt mentioned to me how nice she is and how much my dog liked her. Jessie is a gem and your dog will be so lucky to hang out with her!

After moving apartments, we lost Jessie as our walker since her schedule is based in Chelsea. Thankfully, her partner, Dean took over and has been equally great (I thought it impossible, but it’s true!). This only makes my opinion of The Dog Train higher!

I had a great experience with the Dog Train! More than just dog walking, Jessie gave me tips on how to train my pups to be more well-​behaved. Sadly, I moved to faraway Brooklyn and haven’t found a walker who’s nearly as reliable there. But I’d definitely recommend the Dog Train to anyone who wants a great walker who knows dogs!

Easy call on recommending Jessie. She’s been around pets her whole life, and it’s clear that animals recognize that because they love her.
She’s always on time, and will not only walk your pet but help them behave a bit better if they’re a little unruly. It all comes natural to her, so your pet is in good hands, guaranteed.

I’ve had such a great experience with Jessie from the Dog Train.
My doggie loves her, and so do I!
Jessie is completely reliable, communicative, and always easy to get in touch with. I’ve used her as my dog walker 5 days a week for the last 9 months and have never had a single issue. It’s nice to feel comfortable letting someone have a key to your home, and it was invaluable to have a caring dog-​lover guiding my dog through her first months in a big city.
I would highly recommend Jessie and the Dog Train to anyone with a dog they truly love and care about!

Prompt, professional, and friendly. Nothing but great things to say in the 7 months we’ve had our pup walked.
Spends time to learn how your dog likes to be walked, any additional training they may need or any other special circumstances.

Entrusting Mr. Barkypants, my first-​born son, to a dog walker is akin to how I imagine it might feel to someday entrust a less furry child of mine to a nanny: He/​She sure as hell better be committed, conscientious, able to survive blizzards*, and love Mr. Barkypants as his/​her own. Using this (perhaps slightly unreasonable) standard, I interviewed many, many dog walkers before I found Dean Gray of The Dog Train, a dog walking and training company that Dean and his business partner own and operate. Though I haven’t yet had to put them to the blizzard test*, it is clear that Dean is an excellent dog walker and human being, more generally.
Importantly to me, Dean and his business partner are the only dog walkers in their small company and they generally only walk one dog at once (or three dogs, together, at the most, who have had time to acclimate to one another). I feel strongly about not having just any random person walk Mr. Barkypants: I’ve witnessed how some walkers who work at larger operations treat (or rather mistreat) the 5 – 10 dogs they walk at once. Sadly, it doesn’t seem uncommon for some dog walkers, on the Upper West Side at least, to roughly yank leashes or yell and scream at dogs, or to refuse to stop walking to allow one of their charges to use the little dog’s room, or to tie dogs up to a post in the park while the walker enjoys a cigarette and long chat with his friends. I am confident that Dean does NOT do this; Mr. Barkypants would probably behave very differently with him than he does.
Interestingly, though Mr. Barkypants isn’t terribly fond of strangers and he is particularly non-​fond of strangers who are male and who wear hats, he took to the hat-​wearing Dean like he took to liver treats from the first or second walk on. Dean has a gentle, quiet, calm, non-​domineering manner with dogs (and humans, really). He isn’t embarrassed about speaking to dogs in goofy voices — a talent I quite appreciate. Moreover, wrt his human dealings, too, Dean is prompt and as honest as Abe: He lets us know when he isn’t able to walk a full hour (because of severe weather or sickness) and deducts from his pay despite our asking him to take the full amount.
In truth, I do find Dean’s business partner, Jessie, to be less conscientious. In contrast to Dean, who deducts whenever he does not walk the full hour — even if it’s due to circumstances beyond his control like extreme heat — in our experience, Jessie consistently shaved time off of walks. I know this is not unusual for dog walkers in Manhattan, but it just highlighted for us the difference between a truly excellent walker and a more run of the mill one. In one instance, she also did not call us when she was unable to open the inner door of our home, until after the time for the walk had passed, claiming that she had called Dean for our number and that he didn’t have it. (He does have it and texted it to her.) If she’d called when she’d arrived, we would’ve been able to arrange for her to get in the door. She insisted on charging us for the walk, anyway, because she had stopped by. Luckily, we have Dean almost all the time.
Rates, by the way, are extremely reasonable for Manhattan dog walking, especially since Mr. Barkypants gets Dean all to himself on walks.
According to their website, Dean is bonded and insured as a dog walker and is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. Dean is also Animal Behavior College certified. I haven’t hired Dean for dog training, since Mr. Barkypants is already perfect. ;) But I can speak with knowledge about Dean’s excellent credentials as a dog walker. He *will* treat your dogs with respect and patience — or at least I’m pretty sure they will based on how they’ve treated my first born son. I can’t recommend him enough.
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*I’ve walked for an hour and a half through snowstorms while sleep deprived at midnight (uphill both ways, barefoot ;) to give my baby a good walk. Anyone who takes him out better give a shiznit — or better, yet, two.