Chicago Dog Walking

We all need a helping hand sometimes…

While you’re going to provide the absolute best walks for your dog, my intention is that I can be a close second!

If you live on the southwest side of River North in Chicago I’m willing to bet you might already know me. We may not have ever met, but you have probably seen me out walking countless dogs in the neighborhood. That’s what the passing of my BFF Mugsy (pictured above) in April of 2022 turned into – a dog walking business that was as much healing to me as it’s been helpful to my clients.

After Mugsy passed, I found myself with an abundance of time and love to give and somehow someway turned my grief into a wonderful business serving the southwest side of River North’s dog community. If you’re located on the southwest side of River North or in the West Loop/Fulton Market area and you’re looking for a reputable dog walker (or a backup in case your regular walker isn’t available), I might just be your person.

Please note that I no longer do overnight dog sitting, but you’re welcome to reach out to me and I can send you over a few names and numbers of people who do!

The need-to-know details!

• Pricing:
  • Walks are $1 per minute with a minimum of 15 minutes – anything beyond 15min is your choice!
• Duration:
  • Walks: Walk duration is your choice – if you need a quick 15min potty walk, I can do that. If you’d like more of a 30min tour de Chicago, I can also do that.
• Payment: Payment via Venmo or cash is preferred.
• Scheduling: I do walks on weekdays during the hours of 11am and 2pm. In some cases, walks outside of these times can be accomodated, and you’re welcome to ask! In general, the more notice I can have the better, but same day requests can potentially be accommodated. We can schedule as needed, or do something more consistently (ex. daily 30min walks Monday through Friday). This is all arranged via direct texting.
• Rescheduling/Cancellations: Life changes and I completely get it, I just ask that if you need to cancel or reschedule with me that you do so ASAP. Because travel and back-to-the-office are becoming a thing again, there’s a good possibility the dates/times you reserved me were also requested by someone else after you. Your kindness in giving me as much notice as possible frees up the space to help another dog-parent! In addition, I also have another business as a life coach and am often scheduling professional and personal tasks around the time I’m scheduled with dogs, so the more notice I have of reschedules/cancellations the better! Thank you in advance!
• Breeds and sizes: All breeds, ages, sizes and needs welcome!
• Backup Walkers/Sitters: I love to think I’m invincible, but sometimes I do get unexpectedly ill or have an emergency that would cause me to cancel your service, perhaps the same day with very short notice. To save any stress, I always recommend having an “in case of an emergency” backup walker or sitter in case those instances should arise!
• Dog park and off leash walks disclaimer: I understand this might be a dealbreaker for some, but I don’t do dog parks and will not take your dog into one. I don’t trust them – moreso, I don’t trust the other owners and dogs within the dog park. It’s like the wild west in there and while I totally get that it’s amazing exercise and socialization under the right circumstances, my highest priority is the safety and wellbeing of your dog. You know your dog the best, you know their signals, you know which dogs they do great with and which ones they don’t, you know when they’re uncomfortable/about to assert boundaries, etc. I don’t. The same goes for any off-leash areas. With me, your dog will be on a leash on a solo walk (unless you have more than one dog in your home that walk together). The last thing I want to do is call you to say “hey something happened and you need to get home right now” or “we’re on our way to the emergency vet.” Again, I completely understand if it’s a dealbreaker on your end, but it’s just a risk I’m not willing to take. Thank you for understanding!

The longform version of how M&M came to be… (Read more)

Dogs are my kind of humans. If there’s a crowd of people and 1 dog, I’m the person that pays no mind to the people and goes straight for the dog.

Hello, I’m Misty. Nice to meet you!

To give you a small snippet of my background and why I can be trusted with your best friend, I want to introduce you to my best friend.

This is Mugsy. Mugsy was my 13 year old pittie/lab mix. Everyone in River North knew us, and mostly everyone stopped for him. Mugsy was a gentle giant, because of his age and slower pace, but also because he just loved adventures. He loved being outside, he loved his daily trips to Petco, he loved food and cookies of all varieties. He was just a happy boy, and I loved doing everything in my power to make sure he stayed as happy as possible.

He was more than my best friend, he was my constant companion, my adventure buddy, my people magnet, my Netflix and chill, my protector, my boss – he was “the guy” in my life.

Mugsy also had been diagnosed with metastatic soft tissue sarcoma in December of 2020. Through the love of so many people – including a family friend who has a small raw dog food company who handmade his food (ask me for the info if you need it, she’s amazing), an integrative medicine vet who had him on herbal protocols versus traditional chemotherapy (again, ask for the referral – she’s incredible) and a whole lot of TLC and love from all walks of life, Mugsy far outlived his life expectancy.

You’re never ready to lose your best friend, and even though I miss him every day, I’m grateful for the extended time with him I didn’t think we were going to get. With his diagnosis, I was prepared for him to not live through the summer of 2021, and he did. Then I wasn’t sure he’d make it through the fall, and he did. Then the winter. Then the spring of 2022 came and things shifted. Even though Mugsy was preparing me for life without him, we still treated every day as the best day ever just in case it was his last, just like we had been doing for months and months prior.

He was my highest priority and I was happy to be at his disposal. Whatever he needed, whenever he needed it. It was my joy to do for him, just as dogs always do for us. Mugsy was one of the most constant energies in my life and had been with me through the worst periods of my life including, the death of my mother, a divorce, career transitions, a home break in, losing his fur-sister to cancer, a move from the country to the city (3 moves in less than a year to be exact) and countless other things. Through it all, there he was – the happiest boy ready for the next adventure.

After his passing in April 2022, my whole world flipped upside down. My centrifugal force was gone. My structure was missing. A huge part of my life that (literally) made me wake up and get out of bed in the morning was gone. His spirit was ever present, and the lessons I learned always there, but as they tend to do, Mugsy took so much of my heart with him.

In the weeks that followed Mugsy’s passing I barely left my apartment. I work from home, and except for the occasional errand, I didn’t have a reason to leave. Grief played a huge part of that, yes, but it was also not having a REASON to leave. There’s something about having the structure of your day needing you to do this or that. Mugsy gave me that structure, and I found myself being far more attentive, productive and open because of it. Without having to care for him, I felt reclusive and shut down.

I now found myself with an abundance of once sparse resources, like time and energy, and a deep longing to get back outside to play and see all our friends. Mugsy would’ve wanted it that way. And so, as it tends to go, a dog walking business was born to fill that hole. So many people helped me love Mugsy while he was alive, especially since moving to Chicago, and I’d love to help you do the same with your furbaby.

If you’re saying, “This all sounds wonderful, how do we get this party started?!” I’m so glad you asked =)

I’m excited that you’re excited! Step 1 is to fill out the form below. From there, we’ll schedule a meet and greet so you and your pup can vibe-check me and everyone can make sure it’s a great fit! From there, we party on Wayne =)

I’m excited to meet you and your BFF!!