Always treat your dog walker like you would any other service professional.

If you're a dog owner with a busy schedule or a job that requires frequent out-of-town trips, it's likely that you have a regular dog walker who sees to your pet's needs whenever you're unable to do so. While it may be common for to take a dog walker for granted, it's important to remember that dog walkers are professionals who take their jobs as seriously as you take your dog's well being. To make sure that your relationship with your dog walker remains healthy for a long time, you should follow some basic guidelines of courtesy and professionalism.

New York journalist Nina Munk has written for national magazines from Forbes to The New Yorker, and is the founder and chief executive of Urbanhound: the city dog's ultimate survival guide. She's also the proud owner of an urban hound named Mack, who lives happily in Manhattan's Gramercy Park with Nina, her husband Pablo and their new baby boy. Here Nina offers advice for maintaining a good professional relationship with your dog walker:

• Emergency numbers. Keep all emergency phone numbers conspicuously posted in your home. These include the number for the vet, your contact numbers, and several alternate contact people.

• Health updates. Make sure to keep your dog walker alert to any changes in your dog's health, attitude, or behavior. If your dog has a hurt leg, or has been particularly aggressive of late, these things will effect how your dog walker does his or her job. Your dog walker should always have the same information about your pet as you do.

• Equipment and supplies. Keep all equipment and supplies, like leashes, collars, food and medication, well organized and always in the same place. Your dog walker doesn't have time to go searching your home for the things needed to do his or her job.

• Other errands. And lastly, never ask your dog walker to perform unrelated tasks for you, like returning videos or picking up dry cleaning. Most dog walkers are very good at taking care of your pets, and sending them on other errands is not only not part of their job description, but can be insulting. After all, you wouldn't ask your plumber or electrician to stop on the way to your house and get you a pizza, would you?

Urbanhound
www.urbanhound.com

National Association of Professional Pet Sitters
www.petsitters.org

Pet Sitter Links
www.groomingschool.com/pet_sitter.htm

Dogpark.com
www.dogpark.com

The Humane Society of the United States
www.hsus.org/ace/352

American Humane Association
www.americanhumane.org

Next: Doggie Day Trips