Wealthy New Yorkers are paying 'dog nannies' up to $130 to take their dogs on hikes, and the day includes door-to-door service and groups tailored to each dog's personality
- Wealthy New Yorkers are paying professional dog walkers to take their dogs on day-long hikes upstate, The New York Times reported.
- Dog walkers from companies such as My Dog Hikes and Kristi's Kanines pick up the pooches from their SoHo or Upper West Side homes in a special, dog-equipped SUV and drive them to designated hiking areas so they can get some fresh country air.
- These day-long hikes typically cost between $85 and $130.
New York City dogs may have less space to stretch their legs than country dogs, but they just might be some of the most pampered pups in the country.
Wealthy New Yorkers are paying professional dog walkers from companies including My Dog Hikes, NYC Doggies, and Kristi's Kanines to take their dogs on day-long hikes upstate, as The New York Times reported. These hikes typically cost between $85 and $130.
With My Dog Hikes, which calls itself "New York City's #1 Rated Dog Nannies," the dogs are picked up in the morning between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. in an SUV specially equipped for dogs. The dogs are strapped into seatbelts and then driven up to an hour and 10 minutes to one of the company's "curated hiking areas" in upstate New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, according to its website.
Each dog is placed with other dogs in a "pack," which is carefully selected based on each pup's personality.
The hike lasts about five hours, after which the walkers drop off the dogs back at home in the city between 4:00 and 6:30 p.m.
"For city dogs who live in this very controlled, sterile environment, there's a lot of doggy impulses they have, but can never exhibit," Jennifer Wheeler, an owner of NYC Doggies, told the Times. "It's good physically, but it's even better psychologically for them to be off leash in nature, having a sensory experience. Not only do they transform on the hikes, but they become better adjusted to city life."