I come from a big dog family. As a child, my first was an English Springer Spaniel named Blaze, who had a mean streak that ran from snout to tail but only with strangers. My parents always had dogs, and still do. Ten years ago, my wife and I surprised our two young daughters with a Portuguese water dog. They named the puppy Moses, and just minutes before sitting down to write this post, the two of us went on a long jog up the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It is one of my life’s pleasures to run alongside him, urging him to sprint until he outpaces me. He always knows when to slow before I topple head over heels. More important, he has been a best friend to our girls.

When Moses was a puppy, we hired a dogwalker to take him out in the early afternoons when everyone was away from home, whether working or school. Dan was a quirky, intelligent, heavily tattooed individual in his early thirties whose very presence seemed to calm my yippy, hyperactive dog. A father as well, Dan would take Moses out in our neighborhood while wheeling his baby daughter in a stroller alongside. Years have passed since we last employed Dan, but to this day, Moses is gentle as cotton around children.

A month ago, I took Moses out for a walk on a winter day when I was reminded of Dan—and his work. With the frigid gusts stinging my face, I sure would have liked his services that day. That led me to an internal monologue about who was the first dog walker, how did this become a profession, why, and where. Soon enough, I was back in my office, googling and searching. Ultimately, I discovered a New York Times article from January 15, 1899, answering my every question. No doubt the young lady they profile was not the world’s first. Surely there were slaves in ancient Egypt who took care of the pharaoh’s hounds and picked up his poop. After all, dogs were of such importance at the time that they were mummified and buried alongside their owners.

I digress. Anyway, I made a short Facebook post about New York City’s first dog walker, and it blew up my social networks, reaching over a million folks. Such popular demand led me to include a somewhat longer post here on Work/Craft/Life. Much of it comes from an excerpt of the Times piece, which was a delightful piece of writing for its meager placement on page 20 of the newspaper, below the fold, and entitled: “Constitutionals for Dogs.”

“Walking up Fifth Avenue last Friday morning was a pretty, trim-looking girl, who attracted the rather admiring attention of passers-by from the enjoyment she seemed to take in what was apparently a morning constitutional. It was a thoroughly uncomfortable day. A constant drizzle was falling, half rain and half sleet, which froze as soon as it touched the umbrella or the pavement, but the girl was apparently oblivious to the weather

She wore a trim little gray suit, with the skirt at ankle length…She had no umbrella and she walked freely and easily, her cheeks rosy with exercise and her hands-free, except as she held a leash at the other end of which was a handsome Irish setter dog.

The girl was apparently having more fun out of the walk than the dog, who did not seem to be enjoying himself particularly. That was not surprising for what respectable and self-respecting hunting dog would like to be obliged to trot along Fifth Avenue every morning with an attendant to give him the exercise he could give himself so much better if he were only allowed the privilege? So the dog looked despondent and the girl happy for he was being led where he did not want to go, and she was leading him just where she had been told, and was eminently well satisfied, for it was a matter of business with her, and she was being paid for it.”

Earlier that cold winter, a lady of means had gone to the New York Exchange for Women’s Work on 30th Street to ask its placement clerk: “Haven’t you someone on your books I can get to exercise my dog for me?”

Established in 1878 by two wealthy New York women, Candace Wheeler and Mary Choate, the Exchange was initially set up for the tens of thousands of impoverished widows from the Civil War who needed to earn a living to keep their families afloat. Typically, these women would make handicrafts at home, then the Exchange would facilitate their sale. Over time, the organization widened the range of people they helped—and the kinds of work they offered, but they certainly did not have a posting for a dog walker. However, soon after the aforementioned lady’s visit, the Exchange added it to their list.

It did not take long before a young woman, who had recently arrived in the city, came to the Exchange looking for some part-time work. According to the Times article, she had a full-time job scheduled to begin in the spring, likely maid work. Still, until then, she could use some extra money. Upon seeing the listing to walk a dog, which paid $10 a month for an hour’s walk a day (a tidy sum at the time), she jumped at the opportunity.

“Now the young woman’s mornings are all engaged wandering up and down Fifth Avenue exercising society pets… It is a good thing for the young woman. It is a blessing for the dogs, as it is the best thing they can get inside the city limits, and it is with great satisfaction to the fond owners of the dogs. So there is a new profession, and at least one woman is helping to support herself by means of it.”

Hope you enjoyed this sliver into the life of New York’s first dog walker. We’ll talk again in a week. As always. Same time, same band, same place.

Yours,

Neal