The ‘rich’ dogs of Nairobi: Of Sh120,000 for dogsitters per month to walk man's best friend

Like babies, some pets need ‘sitters’. Unlike dogs in Eastlands where the canines get their front teeth knocked through occasional stoning, a ‘designer’ dog needs proper feeding, exercise and grooming.

While in the past Nairobians hired people to take care of their pets, lately, mobile phone applications have simplified matters. Take an online application called Pet Holiday for instance. This application connects pet owners in the same neighbourhood to help them source handlers or help a dog owner get a dogsitter.

Dogsitters feed, clean and walk the dogs while the owners are away. What the owner needs to do is to ascertain that the sitter’s home is pet friendly. Joyce Njagi, a single mother of two has been earning a living for the last three months housing and walking dogs when their owners travel.

Joyce who lives in Rongai started this business as a hobby until a friend recommended a website. “I love dogs and would beg my neighbour to leave me with hers whenever she travelled overseas. One day, she suggested that I should turn it into a serious business venture,” Joyce who makes up to Sh120,000 a month told The Nairobian.

She says she found out about the Pet Holiday application through a Facebook page. She charges Sh30,000 per dog and can have up to four dogs a month.

“I was just browsing a Facebook page called Adopt a Dog Nairobi when I bumped into the application.

At first, I brushed it off as a mzungu thing before deciding to give it a try,” Joyce who has since closed down her boutique to concentrate on this business, reveals. Jahni Khai, a frequent traveller says that this app has saved him a lot of money. In the past Jahni, was forced to hire someone to stay in his house to look after his dog.

“I was wasting a lot of money, besides risking the theft of my household items to strangers. Pet Holiday is a life saver because the people on that app are passionate about dogs,” he says. Abel Munyasia, a dog breeder has also been using the Pet Holiday app and business is booming.

“I started this business long before the application, but since I discovered it last year, I have even had to hire two more people to help me walk the dogs during the day,”Munyasia, who charges Sh20,000 per dog, reveals. In a week, he can make up to Sh100,000, but uses about Sh30,000 to buy food and pay his assistants who take home Sh5,000 each.

“Most owners are very specific about the food brands for their dogs, and so I can’t feed all dogs the same meal. My assistants come in handy when it comes to cleaning and feeding them,” he says.

Angelica Wanza is also a dogsitter. After completing her university education last year, she could not find a job and that’s when she heard about the application through a friend.  “I was living with my parents in Spring Valley but had to move to Mountain View because I had too many clients and my bedroom was too small to accommodate them all.

I got a house with a compound where I can go about my business without inconveniencing anyone,” Angelica who is now popularly known as ‘Wa’Mbwa” told The Nairobian.

She is guarded about the business with good reason: “I once had a stubborn client who claimed that his dog fell sick because I did something to it while under my care. She even threatened to call KSPCA (Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals). Since then, I’ve been very careful with whom I work or even talk about my business,” she said.