Insurance: the one non-negotiable
Ask for two things: public liability, which covers damage or injury your dog causes while in their care, and care, custody and control cover, which covers your dog being injured or lost. A walker with only public liability is not covered for the thing you're most worried about.
Ask to see the certificate and check the date. "I'm insured" without a document is not an answer.
Garda vetting: what it does and doesn't mean
Garda vetting checks criminal records and is normally arranged through an organisation rather than an individual — which is exactly why platform vetting matters. It doesn't tell you anything about dog-handling skill, so treat it as a floor, not a recommendation.
Questions to ask before the first walk
Ten minutes of questions saves a bad six months.
- Can I see your insurance certificate and vetting confirmation?
- How many dogs will mine walk with, and are they matched by size and energy?
- Where exactly will you walk, and will my dog ever be off lead?
- Do you transport dogs, and how are they secured in the van?
- Do you hold canine first aid training?
- How do you handle my keys, and who else has access to them?
- What happens if my dog is injured — which vet, and who authorises treatment?
- Can we do a paid trial walk before committing to a schedule?
Red flags
No insurance document. Cash only with no receipt. Vague answers about group size. Reluctance to do a meet-and-greet. No photo or message updates during a walk. Reviews that all appear in the same week on a page they control. Off-lead walking of a dog whose recall they've never tested.
How PawPals removes most of this work
Profiles only go live after ID verification and Garda vetting, insurance is carried through the platform on every booking, reviews are restricted to owners who paid for a completed booking, and messaging, photo updates and the GPS route all live in the app — so there's a record of what happened on every walk. Payment sits in escrow until the service is done.