When I was a young dog walker, one of my clients brought home a Belgian Malinois puppy. Beautiful dog. Alert. Intense. Wired in a way that demanded engagement. They were cat people. They loved the idea of having a dog. What they were not prepared for was what that particular dog required. Within weeks, the puppy was living behind a baby gate in their bathroom because they did not know what to do with him. He barked. He chewed. He paced. He needed direction, structure, and wor

A Hoboken Dog Walker’s Perspective After 15 Years on These Sidewalks Hoboken is intense for dogs. Narrow sidewalks. Constant foot traffic. Other dogs every block. Delivery trucks. Scooters. Lobby doors. Street level windows facing busy streets. After 15 years as a professional dog walker in Hoboken, I have seen the same patterns repeat across breeds, buildings, and neighborhoods. Reactivity rarely appears overnight. It builds slowly through repetition in a high input environm

A complete guide to raising a happy Hoboken dog from a dog walker with 15 years of experience. Bringing home a puppy in Hoboken is exciting… and quietly terrifying. Between sidewalk hazards, parvo risk, potty training in a walk up, and figuring out how to work a full time job with a baby animal at home, most new owners feel overwhelmed within a week. I’ve been walking dogs in Hoboken for 15 years. I’ve watched hundreds of puppies grow up in this town. I’ve seen the ones who t