How a 24-year-old finds success as a dog walker, with other services like weddings and overnights
Twenty-four-year-old Sam Lagana doesn’t care if you think dog-walking isn’t high profile enough for a career path.
“I get to hang out with dogs outside all day,” she said over coffee. “Most people just get to sit inside.”
By 8:30 a.m. on a Thursday in the spring, Lagana, founder of The Dog Dasher, had already left her apartment off of 7th Street to walk a dog in NoDa and another in Elizabeth (one got really excited over a dental chew), before grabbing coffee at Not Just Coffee at Atherton Mill.
That was just the beginning of 10 appointments for the day. After coffee, she planned to head home to walk her own dog, Blink, and to walk the rest of her dog clients from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. The 4:30-10 p.m. (or midnight) chunk of her schedule was blocked off for her work as a server at The Fig Tree.
She loves serving, too, by the way, hugely for its flexibility.
“Most people would have to quit a day job to start a business,” said Lagana, who moved from Syracuse to Charlotte on a whim with a friend two years ago after graduating an online college program. She started working at The Fig Tree and launched Dog Dasher in summer 2017. She had already conjured up a client base at her apartment complex simply from meeting people walking her own dog, and from the boost of an email blast to residents about her availability as an onsite dog walker.
“Recently, in the past couple of months I don’t even have time to breathe,” she said.
But that’s what makes her feel successful. Lagana has about 15 regular clients Monday through Friday, and 30 total for various services. Those services include walks (starting at $15), runs (starting at $20 – she’s passionate about running), overnights (starting at $50), cat services (starting at $15), wedding services (starting at $50), and pet dashing (meaning transportation courtesy of her Jeep, starting at $15).
For overnights, Lagana typically keeps the dogs at her apartment, where she lives solo.
“They just get more attention that way,” she said, and Blink gets along with every dog.
The wedding services are newer – she added those when she was inspired by various friends who were planning their weddings and incorporating their dogs into the ceremony.
“The biggest thing is, we want our dog at our wedding but we only trust our dog with certain people, and those are the people that we don’t want occupied at our wedding,” she said.
At her first wedding appointment next month, she’ll be in charge of transportation for the small flower girl/dog, holding her during the ceremony and watching her during the wedding photography.
At this point, Lagana can handle it all. From dealing with dog hair all over her car for dashing, to hefting a 90-pound, stubborn fur baby into her Jeep, to coaxing one particular client into his crate with his preferred helping of string cheese. And for most situations, she said, peanut butter tends to do the trick (especially if a timid dog is hiding under the bed).
But her recent feeling of success wasn’t a result of peanut butter.
“I started feeling that when I started getting clients outside my apartment complex,” she said, and because her days are now filled with client needs.
She has her sights on growth in the future, including hiring her first employee and having her mom move down from Syracuse to join the business. For now, she’ll keep busy. Really busy.
“I can’t ask for more,” she said. “It’s great.”
Photo courtesy of Sam Lagana
This story was originally published April 6, 2018 at 12:00 AM with the headline "How a 24-year-old finds success as a dog walker, with other services like weddings and overnights."