宠物寄养行业面临冲击，这位遛狗师灵活应对
在新冠疫情侵袭纽约市之前，作为宠物保姆和兼职健身教练的珍·泽恩每周会工作七天，在纽约市的切尔西区遛狗、照看宠物。2012年，泽恩开始了自己的宠物保姆工作，2016年搬到纽约后，她还是做着这项工作，而且生意好到她都不需要有自己的固定住所，因为上一家的工作刚做完，紧接着就要到下一家去照看宠物。
在谈及4年前搬到纽约来时，泽恩说：“我当时的目标就是不付房租，代人照看房子。我真没想到这门生意能做成。”
但随着疫情的爆发，她和自己在健身房的同事也都丢掉了工作。在纽约，虽然宠物照看和遛狗是不可或缺的服务，但这方面的工作也受到了很大冲击，不过泽恩在疫情期间依然有工作可做，某种意义上说，她挺享受现在的工作状态。
近期，《财富》采访了泽恩，了解疫情对其收入和未来看法的影响，以及她现在的工作状态。
为简明起见，以下对话有所删改。
《财富》：新冠疫情爆发前，你的工作是怎样的状态？
泽恩：疫情爆发前，我每周会工作七天。可以说只要想工作就会一直有活干。要是想休息的话还得提前计划才行。一般情况下，我大概有10到15个工作预约。有些遛狗师只在假期工作，有些只在工作日工作。也有一周都在工作的。我就每天都遛狗，周一到周五的工作占到了总工作量的60%，另外40%是在假期。
我喜欢假期，因为重大假日一般是一年当中工作最多的时候。比如阵亡将士纪念日、独立日、圣诞节和感恩节一般都是一年中最忙的时候。对于那些在工作日从事遛狗工作的人来说，这份工作的作息更接近于常规工作。对我而言，无论是工作日还是假期的工作我都很喜欢。
疫情什么时候开始影响到了你的工作？
大约在2月中下旬，因为很多企业都让员工在家工作了，导致我们在周中的工作量开始减少。当时，我的客户差不多每周都会少一个。他们会跟我说：“啊，因为我现在在家工作，所以不用麻烦你过来帮忙了。”之后随着纽约及全球各地纷纷推出居家令，所有假期的工作预约也都取消了。
这种情况很吓人对吧，毕竟你也没有固定的住处？你有可以去的地方吗？
幸好我有个相处非常融洽的男友，最近我一直住在他那。我也曾想过如果没跟他交往会发生什么情况。纽约部分宠物保姆现在的工作只是帮助那些离开纽约的人看顾他们的猫。我想可能那些养狗的人大多在出城时把狗也带走了。但还有很多猫需要有人照看。我觉得要是我真没地方去，或许会有某位老主顾愿意让我住在他们家吧，希望如此。或者我也可以回俄亥俄，跟家人住在一起，或者住在其他什么地方。
针对疫情你采取了哪些防护措施？
主要就是按照大楼管理方的建议做些最基本的防护。一些客户还是会当面把狗狗交给我，只是我会佩戴口罩。然后就是洗手洗得更勤了。遛狗时我一直用的是自己的绳套，所以我也没戴手套。
我是这么考虑的，如果狗狗会感染病毒，那我的客户肯定也已经感染了，那么狗狗身上也会沾上病毒。当然这都是假设的，我觉得其实不太可能发生。不过也肯定会有遛狗师害怕碰到这种情况。比如有些人在把狗带到家中时会给狗洗澡，还会采取其它一些防护措施。我觉得我可能对这件事没那么紧张。
纽约发布的居家令对你的业务有什么影响？还能遛狗么？
对于遛狗师这个行业是否属于必要行业，一开始其实说的并不是很清楚。现在，它已被正式纳入必要行业名单。因为我们有些客户是依然坚守在岗位上的医务工作者。我有个客户是债券行业的，她现在比疫情前还忙，因而想要有人来帮她遛遛狗，好让她能完成自己的工作。所以我们这个行业一直都很重要。最近，我认识的一些遛狗师停工了，也许是因为他们与高风险人群生活在一起，也许是因为害怕，亦或是因为要乘坐地铁通勤。我可以步行到我服务的区域，所以我永远都不会停工，但有些人是已经停工了。
居家令生效的前两周，大家因为不知道会发生什么情况，所以多少有些不敢出门。而我还是会每天出门，居家令已经推出两个月了，也没怎么在街上碰到咳嗽的人，大家也都戴着口罩，所以我现在还挺放心的。我觉得跟他人保持六英尺的距离也并不是一件难事。商店和各座大楼也都采取了一定的防护举措，比如：不用跟门卫说话，电梯也有载客限制，诸如此类。这段时间我就是这么过的，所以感觉还行。
你的工作量下降了多少？
和往常相比下降了大概75%到80％，甚至85％。我尽量每天接两单工作，有时候多些，有时候少些。
我的大多数老客户要么现在不在纽约，要么处于居家办公的状态，所以我还没见到过他们。我还通过Wag（一款遛狗应用程序——译者注）按需提供遛狗服务，这部分客户我也不认识。他们大多都是宅在家里，而我不会乱问些七七八八的问题。
那些不在纽约或者居家办公的客户会继续给你付钱么？
他们想付钱，但我没要。
对于业务下滑你有多担心？现在的收入只有正常状态的20％到25％，这份工作还能干下去么？
现在的收入对我来说是够的，因为我很节俭。生意好的时候，我存的钱也比较多，再就是目前也不用交房租。这也是我没有申请经济援助的原因之一，因为收入足以支撑我的开支。只要不动我的存款就行，这就是我现在想要维持的水平。所以对我来说，只要能达到这一水平，我都不会有什么问题。
但我相信很多人，尤其是那些兼职担任遛狗师的艺术家或者学生，他们中可能有些人不会回纽约了。
大约18个月前，我为纽约的宠物保姆和遛狗师创建了一个Facebook小组。看起来那些业内的老人还都在工作。大多数人的工作量都下降了70％到80％。我觉得现在最难熬的实际上是那些刚入行的新人，他们基本上失去了所有的客户和收入来源。
新冠疫情期间，纽约的狗文化有什么变化吗？
变化还是有一些的。纽约人爱狗，也许每个人都爱狗。经常有人会过来逗逗你牵着的狗，跟狗狗玩玩，也不会问东问西。我还记得3月初有一次，一位女士摸了摸我牵着的狗，她的表情好像在说：“啊，别担心，我刚洗的手。”我觉得要是有人想逗狗玩，如果拒绝的话反而挺奇怪的。不过，现在人们不像以前那么喜欢逗狗了，但是如果你是牵着两条狗出去遛，每条狗都用3英尺的绳套牵着，那就正好是6英尺了。
爱狗人士还是会和狗一起玩。在麦迪逊广场公园附近，虽然狗狗公园关闭了，但是人们会把狗牵到草坪上，那里有一小片区域现在成了小型狗狗公园。所以人们还是可以和狗一起玩，只不过可能不像以前那么频繁了。
现在，你跟养狗人士聊天的话题有什么变化么？
我觉得现在除了疫情好像也没什么可聊的。别的事大家好像也不太上心，在纽约尤其如此。疫情影响着生活的方方面面，甚至连星巴克开不开门都得看疫情发展情况。太不一样了。
即使是和我男朋友，我们聊的也都是疫情的事。这个话题现在真的是已经聊烂了。
这段时间你在遛狗时碰到过什么奇怪的事么？
我是亚裔，对亚裔来说这段时间挺煎熬的。我有个华裔女性朋友，她比我还惨。她最后离开了纽约，离开前她是在SoHo区服务，她说自己在那里每天都会收到差评。我只从几个脑子不好的客户那里收到过差评，这种情况挺少见。现在，天黑以后我也不出门了。以前晚上人多，还挺安全，但现在不一样了。不过现在人们也开始慢慢走出家门。封城的头4个礼拜街上几乎空无一人，现在出来的人渐渐多了起来，商家也陆续开门营业了。
这次疫情对你个人有什么影响？
老实说，我是个很内向的人，对工作的热情也一般。只是因为喜欢才做了遛狗师。撇开新冠疫情不谈的话，空空荡荡的街道和不用排队的感觉也不错。我挺享受这段空档期，不过我也希望生活能早日回复正常。街角的小意大利餐厅刚刚开门，所以我们就想，“现在是上午10:30。我们应该点个披萨庆祝一下。”
你认为新冠疫情会彻底改变遛狗师和宠物保姆行业么？还是会回到疫情前的状态？
这个问题问得好。从纽约遛狗师的角度来说，我觉得有很多客户其实可以在家工作，他们日常工作比较灵活，如果想离开纽约也完全可以。所以就行业的变化而言，还是要看有多少客户不再需要宠物照看服务，也要看封城期间宠物收养者的情况，以及有多少潜在遛狗师会就此离开这座城市。我觉得市场会出现一次重新洗牌，但最后所有的问题都会解决。我听说2008年（经济危机）后也发生了很大变化，不过可能也没这次的变化这么大。但我觉得对于享受奢侈服务的人来说，2008年发生了很多变化。我觉得高收入群体最后还是会回来，对他们而言，雇人帮自己遛狗仍然是划算的。
至于那些在疫情期间收养了宠物的人士，暂时还没看到他们有什么照看宠物的需求。通常来说，很多人喜欢在12月份抱养小狗。所以一般在1月和2月会有一波“小狗潮”。现在的好处在于，狗狗都被主人带着出来了，如果我愿意的话，完全可以在保持社交距离的同时跟他们聊聊，看看他们在疫情过后会有什么需求。（财富中文网）
译者：梁宇
审校：夏林
在新冠疫情侵袭纽约市之前，作为宠物保姆和兼职健身教练的珍·泽恩每周会工作七天，在纽约市的切尔西区遛狗、照看宠物。2012年，泽恩开始了自己的宠物保姆工作，2016年搬到纽约后，她还是做着这项工作，而且生意好到她都不需要有自己的固定住所，因为上一家的工作刚做完，紧接着就要到下一家去照看宠物。
在谈及4年前搬到纽约来时，泽恩说：“我当时的目标就是不付房租，代人照看房子。我真没想到这门生意能做成。”
但随着疫情的爆发，她和自己在健身房的同事也都丢掉了工作。在纽约，虽然宠物照看和遛狗是不可或缺的服务，但这方面的工作也受到了很大冲击，不过泽恩在疫情期间依然有工作可做，某种意义上说，她挺享受现在的工作状态。
近期，《财富》采访了泽恩，了解疫情对其收入和未来看法的影响，以及她现在的工作状态。
为简明起见，以下对话有所删改。
《财富》：新冠疫情爆发前，你的工作是怎样的状态？
泽恩：疫情爆发前，我每周会工作七天。可以说只要想工作就会一直有活干。要是想休息的话还得提前计划才行。一般情况下，我大概有10到15个工作预约。有些遛狗师只在假期工作，有些只在工作日工作。也有一周都在工作的。我就每天都遛狗，周一到周五的工作占到了总工作量的60%，另外40%是在假期。
我喜欢假期，因为重大假日一般是一年当中工作最多的时候。比如阵亡将士纪念日、独立日、圣诞节和感恩节一般都是一年中最忙的时候。对于那些在工作日从事遛狗工作的人来说，这份工作的作息更接近于常规工作。对我而言，无论是工作日还是假期的工作我都很喜欢。
疫情什么时候开始影响到了你的工作？
大约在2月中下旬，因为很多企业都让员工在家工作了，导致我们在周中的工作量开始减少。当时，我的客户差不多每周都会少一个。他们会跟我说：“啊，因为我现在在家工作，所以不用麻烦你过来帮忙了。”之后随着纽约及全球各地纷纷推出居家令，所有假期的工作预约也都取消了。
这种情况很吓人对吧，毕竟你也没有固定的住处？你有可以去的地方吗？
幸好我有个相处非常融洽的男友，最近我一直住在他那。我也曾想过如果没跟他交往会发生什么情况。纽约部分宠物保姆现在的工作只是帮助那些离开纽约的人看顾他们的猫。我想可能那些养狗的人大多在出城时把狗也带走了。但还有很多猫需要有人照看。我觉得要是我真没地方去，或许会有某位老主顾愿意让我住在他们家吧，希望如此。或者我也可以回俄亥俄，跟家人住在一起，或者住在其他什么地方。
针对疫情你采取了哪些防护措施？
主要就是按照大楼管理方的建议做些最基本的防护。一些客户还是会当面把狗狗交给我，只是我会佩戴口罩。然后就是洗手洗得更勤了。遛狗时我一直用的是自己的绳套，所以我也没戴手套。
我是这么考虑的，如果狗狗会感染病毒，那我的客户肯定也已经感染了，那么狗狗身上也会沾上病毒。当然这都是假设的，我觉得其实不太可能发生。不过也肯定会有遛狗师害怕碰到这种情况。比如有些人在把狗带到家中时会给狗洗澡，还会采取其它一些防护措施。我觉得我可能对这件事没那么紧张。
纽约发布的居家令对你的业务有什么影响？还能遛狗么？
对于遛狗师这个行业是否属于必要行业，一开始其实说的并不是很清楚。现在，它已被正式纳入必要行业名单。因为我们有些客户是依然坚守在岗位上的医务工作者。我有个客户是债券行业的，她现在比疫情前还忙，因而想要有人来帮她遛遛狗，好让她能完成自己的工作。所以我们这个行业一直都很重要。最近，我认识的一些遛狗师停工了，也许是因为他们与高风险人群生活在一起，也许是因为害怕，亦或是因为要乘坐地铁通勤。我可以步行到我服务的区域，所以我永远都不会停工，但有些人是已经停工了。
居家令生效的前两周，大家因为不知道会发生什么情况，所以多少有些不敢出门。而我还是会每天出门，居家令已经推出两个月了，也没怎么在街上碰到咳嗽的人，大家也都戴着口罩，所以我现在还挺放心的。我觉得跟他人保持六英尺的距离也并不是一件难事。商店和各座大楼也都采取了一定的防护举措，比如：不用跟门卫说话，电梯也有载客限制，诸如此类。这段时间我就是这么过的，所以感觉还行。
你的工作量下降了多少？
和往常相比下降了大概75%到80％，甚至85％。我尽量每天接两单工作，有时候多些，有时候少些。
我的大多数老客户要么现在不在纽约，要么处于居家办公的状态，所以我还没见到过他们。我还通过Wag（一款遛狗应用程序——译者注）按需提供遛狗服务，这部分客户我也不认识。他们大多都是宅在家里，而我不会乱问些七七八八的问题。
那些不在纽约或者居家办公的客户会继续给你付钱么？
他们想付钱，但我没要。
对于业务下滑你有多担心？现在的收入只有正常状态的20％到25％，这份工作还能干下去么？
现在的收入对我来说是够的，因为我很节俭。生意好的时候，我存的钱也比较多，再就是目前也不用交房租。这也是我没有申请经济援助的原因之一，因为收入足以支撑我的开支。只要不动我的存款就行，这就是我现在想要维持的水平。所以对我来说，只要能达到这一水平，我都不会有什么问题。
但我相信很多人，尤其是那些兼职担任遛狗师的艺术家或者学生，他们中可能有些人不会回纽约了。
大约18个月前，我为纽约的宠物保姆和遛狗师创建了一个Facebook小组。看起来那些业内的老人还都在工作。大多数人的工作量都下降了70％到80％。我觉得现在最难熬的实际上是那些刚入行的新人，他们基本上失去了所有的客户和收入来源。
新冠疫情期间，纽约的狗文化有什么变化吗？
变化还是有一些的。纽约人爱狗，也许每个人都爱狗。经常有人会过来逗逗你牵着的狗，跟狗狗玩玩，也不会问东问西。我还记得3月初有一次，一位女士摸了摸我牵着的狗，她的表情好像在说：“啊，别担心，我刚洗的手。”我觉得要是有人想逗狗玩，如果拒绝的话反而挺奇怪的。不过，现在人们不像以前那么喜欢逗狗了，但是如果你是牵着两条狗出去遛，每条狗都用3英尺的绳套牵着，那就正好是6英尺了。
爱狗人士还是会和狗一起玩。在麦迪逊广场公园附近，虽然狗狗公园关闭了，但是人们会把狗牵到草坪上，那里有一小片区域现在成了小型狗狗公园。所以人们还是可以和狗一起玩，只不过可能不像以前那么频繁了。
现在，你跟养狗人士聊天的话题有什么变化么？
我觉得现在除了疫情好像也没什么可聊的。别的事大家好像也不太上心，在纽约尤其如此。疫情影响着生活的方方面面，甚至连星巴克开不开门都得看疫情发展情况。太不一样了。
即使是和我男朋友，我们聊的也都是疫情的事。这个话题现在真的是已经聊烂了。
这段时间你在遛狗时碰到过什么奇怪的事么？
我是亚裔，对亚裔来说这段时间挺煎熬的。我有个华裔女性朋友，她比我还惨。她最后离开了纽约，离开前她是在SoHo区服务，她说自己在那里每天都会收到差评。我只从几个脑子不好的客户那里收到过差评，这种情况挺少见。现在，天黑以后我也不出门了。以前晚上人多，还挺安全，但现在不一样了。不过现在人们也开始慢慢走出家门。封城的头4个礼拜街上几乎空无一人，现在出来的人渐渐多了起来，商家也陆续开门营业了。
这次疫情对你个人有什么影响？
老实说，我是个很内向的人，对工作的热情也一般。只是因为喜欢才做了遛狗师。撇开新冠疫情不谈的话，空空荡荡的街道和不用排队的感觉也不错。我挺享受这段空档期，不过我也希望生活能早日回复正常。街角的小意大利餐厅刚刚开门，所以我们就想，“现在是上午10:30。我们应该点个披萨庆祝一下。”
你认为新冠疫情会彻底改变遛狗师和宠物保姆行业么？还是会回到疫情前的状态？
这个问题问得好。从纽约遛狗师的角度来说，我觉得有很多客户其实可以在家工作，他们日常工作比较灵活，如果想离开纽约也完全可以。所以就行业的变化而言，还是要看有多少客户不再需要宠物照看服务，也要看封城期间宠物收养者的情况，以及有多少潜在遛狗师会就此离开这座城市。我觉得市场会出现一次重新洗牌，但最后所有的问题都会解决。我听说2008年（经济危机）后也发生了很大变化，不过可能也没这次的变化这么大。但我觉得对于享受奢侈服务的人来说，2008年发生了很多变化。我觉得高收入群体最后还是会回来，对他们而言，雇人帮自己遛狗仍然是划算的。
至于那些在疫情期间收养了宠物的人士，暂时还没看到他们有什么照看宠物的需求。通常来说，很多人喜欢在12月份抱养小狗。所以一般在1月和2月会有一波“小狗潮”。现在的好处在于，狗狗都被主人带着出来了，如果我愿意的话，完全可以在保持社交距离的同时跟他们聊聊，看看他们在疫情过后会有什么需求。（财富中文网）
译者：梁宇
审校：夏林
Before COVID-19 upended New York City, Jen Tserng, a pet-sitter and part-time fitness instructor, worked seven days a week, walking dogs and caring for pets in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood. Her pet-sitting business, which she’s been building since 2012—and since 2016 in New York—is so reliable that she doesn’t even have an apartment: she simply moves house-sitting gig to house-sitting gig.
“My goal was to just not pay rent and house-sit," says Tserng about coming to the city four years ago. “I didn’t really think it would work out, but it has.”
When the pandemic struck, she and her fitness colleagues were out of jobs. Her pet-sitting and dog-walking business, which is considered an essential service in New York, has taken a significant hit too, though Tserng has continued to work through the pandemic and in some ways, even enjoy it.
Fortune spoke with Tserng for a new series, The Coronavirus Economy, about how the pandemic has affected her income, her thoughts on the future, and how she has been handling work.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Fortune: What was your job like before COVID-19?
Tserng: Pre-pandemic, I was working seven days a week. I pretty much had work whenever I wanted it. I’d have to actively schedule time off if I wanted it. A typical day, I would probably have about 10 to 15 appointments. Some dog walkers only do the vacation stuff like cats and then some people only do the Monday through Friday. Some of us do all of it. My workload was probably about 60% Monday through Friday, daily walks, and then about 40% vacation visits.
What I like about the vacation stuff is that your major holidays are going to be pretty much the busiest time of year. So Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Christmas, Thanksgiving—those are going to be the busiest times of the year. If people do more of them Monday through Friday, dog-walking grind, that’s going to be more consistent and similar to a regular work schedule. So I like both the consistency and the variability in doing both of those.
When did the virus start affecting things for you?
COVID first started to impact the business around mid or late February because more companies were sending clients home to work, and they didn’t need as much of the Monday through Friday stuff. I would lose maybe one client a week. They’d say, “Oh, I’m working from home now so you don’t need to come.” And then, of course, once New York’s stay-at-home order and the worldwide orders started happening, all the vacation visits were canceled.
That must have been scary since you don’t have a permanent home. Did you have a place to go?
Thankfully, I have a boyfriend, and he’s been very accommodating as far as staying with him. I have thought about what would have happened if I hadn’t been dating him. Some of the work that we pet-sitters in New York have right now is watching cats in particular for people who’ve fled the city. I think a lot of the dog people who left the city took their dogs with them. But there’s a few cats around that still need care. And I feel like if I didn’t have some place to go, then probably one of my regular clients hopefully would let me stay at their place. Or I could have gone home to stay with my family in Ohio or something like that.
Are there precautions you’re taking because of the virus?
I’ve been mostly going off what the buildings are recommending, which honestly hasn’t been a lot. I still do face-to-face handoffs with some clients, I just wear a mask. And I wash my hands more frequently. I don’t use gloves. I have always used my own leashes.
For me, I’m thinking if a dog were to have the virus on it that would mean my client was sick and they were shedding COVID onto the coat of the dog. I just think that whole chain of events, while hypothetically possible, is unlikely. There are definitely dog walkers who are afraid of that. For example, people who take dogs into their homes, some of them are giving the dogs baths and taking other precautions. I think I’m a little more laid-back about it.
When New York issued its stay-at-home order, what did that mean for your business? Was dog walking allowed?
There was a little bit of confusion as to whether we were essential workers. Now, dog walkers are officially included in the list of essential workers. Some of us have clients who work in health care who are still working. I have a client that I picked up who works in bonds, so she’s actually busier than she was pre-COVID, and she likes to have someone come and take the dogs out so she can finish her work. So we have always been essential. I know a lot of dog walkers who have decided to close down anyway, maybe because they live with someone who is high-risk or they’re scared or they commute on the subway. I can walk to my service area so I never shut down, but some people have.
The first two weeks after the order went into effect, because people didn’t really know what to expect, it was a little unnerving being out there. I’ve been going out every day, so I feel more comfortable with it now that it’s been two months in and realizing that people in the streets are not really coughing and are wearing masks. I think it’s relatively easy to stay six feet from other people. All the stores and buildings have certain things in place: I don’t really have to talk to the doorman, they have elevator capacity rules, things like that. So I feel okay about it now that I’ve been doing it for a while.
How much was your business down?
I would say I was down to about 20% to 25% of my normal volume, maybe even like 15%. I’m trying to do an average of two visits a day, sometimes more, sometimes less.
Most of my daily clients either left the city or they’re working from home so I haven’t seen them. I also work through Wag, which is on-demand walking, so I don’t know those clients well. A lot of them are home, and I don’t ask.
Your clients who left the city or are working from home—did they continue to pay you?
They offered, but I didn’t accept.
How worrisome is the drop in business for you? With 20% to 25% of your normal revenue, will your business be able to survive?
For me, that’s enough to pay my bills because I’m very frugal. When business was good, I had a relatively high savings rate. Of course not paying rent helps with that. That’s part of the reason why I haven’t applied for assistance, because I have been making enough to cover my expenses. As long as I’m not dipping into my savings, that’s the level that I’m trying to stay at right now. So for me, I’ll have no problems reopening whenever we get to that.
But I believe that a lot of people, especially if they were working in the arts or if they’re students and they walk dogs part-time, I imagine some of those people won’t be coming back to the city.
I started a Facebook group for New York pet-sitters and dog walkers about 18 months ago. It seems like the people who are more established, they’re still working. Most of us have gone down to about 20% to 30% of bookings. I think it’s the people who weren’t established, who basically lost all their clients and all their sources of income, who are struggling more.
Has the city’s dog culture changed in this time of the coronavirus?
It is a little different. New Yorkers love dogs, maybe everyone just loves dogs. A lot of times you just get people just coming up to the dog and petting them and not asking or anything like that. I remember specifically, it must have been in early March, one woman reached out to pet the dog, and she’s like, “Oh, don’t worry, I just washed my hands.” I thought it was really strange to say. Like, I just don’t want you to touch the dog in general. Now people are not as likely to do that, but also if you have two dogs on a leash, and three feet of leash on each side, that’s six feet.
Are conversations with dog people different now?
I feel like you can only talk about the coronavirus. There’s not really anything else that is relevant, especially when we live in the city. And pretty much everything that we do is based on that, even if it’s something like, “Is Starbucks open today?” This is so different.
Even with my boyfriend, we talk about the coronavirus every day. You’d think we’d be sick of it by now.
The people who want to be sociable with dogs, they’re still making it happen. Around Madison Square Park, now that they have closed the dog parks, people are taking the dogs into the lawn areas, and they’re just having their own little dog parks there. So people are still socializing their dogs, maybe not as much as before, but they’re still doing it.
Have you had any strange dog-walking encounters during this time?
I’m Asian, so it’s not a great time to be Asian. I haven’t experienced that as much as one of my girlfriends who is also Chinese. She ended up leaving the city, but she said daily in her service area of SoHo she was getting comments. I’ve only gotten comments from a couple crazy people. It’s not by any means a regular occurrence. I also am not out after dark, because I feel that safety in numbers is no longer there. But people are starting to come out again. The first four weeks after everything closed, it was a little empty around, but people are starting to come back out; businesses are starting to open back up.
How’s the pandemic been for you personally?
I’m actually very introverted, and I don’t necessarily like working. I’ll do it because I like what I do. So I actually kind of enjoyed having these pretty empty streets, not having to wait in lines, I mean, global pandemic aside. So I’ve kind of enjoyed the breather, but I am looking forward to life getting back. Little Italy on the corner just opened up, so we were like, “It’s 10:30 a.m. I think we need to have pizza to celebrate.”
Do you think this will change the dog-walking and pet-sitting businesses for good, or will it go back to what it was before the pandemic?
That’s a really great question. I feel like as dog walkers in this city, a lot of our clients have the ability to work from home, they have a lot of flexibility with their schedules, and they have the opportunity to not be in the city if they don’t want to be. So I think things will eventually shake out between the clients who no longer need care and also the people who have adopted an animal during lockdown and then potential dog walkers leaving the city. I think there’ll be some reshuffling of the service areas, but I think it’ll all work out. I hear that after 2008, things were a lot different, probably not this different. But I feel like a lot of things changed in 2008 as far as people using a luxury service. I think the higher earners will come back, and it’s still going to be worth it for them to pay someone to walk their dogs.
I haven’t seen any requests yet from people who adopted pets during the pandemic. Generally, December is a popular time to get a puppy. So we had a little bit of a puppy boom in January and February. The nice thing about it now is if I wanted to network, those dog owners are out with their dogs, so you can kind of have a socially distanced conversation with them and see what their needs might be after this.
