Dog walking looks simple from the outside. You show up, you clip a leash, you go. What you’re actually doing is spending several hours a day responsible for another person’s animal, in their home, on public streets, in whatever weather Baltimore decides to throw at you that day. You need to be prepared for the dog, for the neighborhood, and for yourself.
Great example: I was walking my own pack in Druid Hill Park this morning and Thumper — who is both literally and figuratively nosy — was sniffing something innocuously when he yelped, put paws to face and collapsed to the ground. He’d been stung by a paper wasp, and the litter he’d been sniffing was actually part of a nest that had fallen from one of the trees. His shepherd mix snoot was rapidly double its normal size, and I had to be thinking about treating him as soon as we escaped the angry wasps in the vicinity. (I got stung just a few seconds after he did.)
Thankfully, I come prepared.
Here’s what we carry.
What every one of us has
For the dogs:
Poop bags. Non-negotiable. More than you think you need. Then a few more.
Water and a collapsible bowl. Your dog’s water dish at home doesn’t help them on a July afternoon on a shadeless block in Hampden. We carry both and we use them.
Extra leash. Clips fail. Leashes fray. A backup costs nothing and has saved walks.
Treat pouch and treats. Regular treats for good behavior, high-value treats for recall emergencies. These are different things and we keep them separate. Pill pockets, because you may have to dose a pup in the field.
Musher’s Secret paw balm. Hot pavement in summer, road salt in winter. Paws take a beating year-round. Musher’s is what sled dog handlers use — beeswax-based, no weird ingredients, does exactly what it says. Old-school alternative: Bag Balm, originally made for cow udders, adopted by everyone from dog owners to marathoners. Both available at Howl, our neighborhood pet supply shop on Chestnut Avenue in Hampden — and honestly your first stop for most of what’s on this list.
Smart Towel. Muddy paws, wet dogs, summer cool-downs. Small, light, indispensable.
Pet first aid kit. Gauze, vet wrap, tweezers for ticks, Benadryl for allergic reactions and bee/wasp/hornet stings. We hope we never need it and we always have it, obviously it was important today. We’re all certified in Pet CPR and First Aid. I’m used MyCPR NOW — it’s online, affordable, and something every pet owner should honestly consider doing themselves.Ref Cross offers classes too.
You can get a lot of what we carry locally at Howl in Hampden and in Mt. Washington (by the Whole Foods).
For the community:
Narcan inhaler. We’re in Baltimore. We’re in people’s neighborhoods every day. We’re trained to use it and we carry it because someone might need it and we might be there. Our ethics and politics specifically involve an understanding of harm reduction in a world that doesn’t always treat its most vulnerable citizens with the care they deserve. No judgment. If you want to get trained yourself — and you should — the American Red Cross offers a free 45-minute online course on recognizing and responding to opioid overdoses. Takes less than an hour and could save someone’s life. And you can get Narcan for free at any CVS.
Basic first aid kit. For us, for anyone nearby who needs it. We’re also certified in human CPR and First Aid through the American Red Cross.
Phone. Obviously. But also: camera, GPS, emergency contact, client communication — and more so you get to see your baby on their walk. Having fun, being themselves with us.
Business cards. Every walk is a chance to meet a neighbor who has a dog. Ours are printed by Work Printing — local, fast, and the only shop we trust with our collateral.
Stickers. Because everyone likes stickers and kids especially like stickers and that’s just a fact. Ours come from Sticker Void — also on our local partners page.
Hand sanitizer. You’re picking up poop for a living. Wash your hands.
A pen. You will need to write something down. You will not have a pen. Carry a pen.
Ryan’s kit
The bag is a Chrome Kadet 9L sling, which lives on me for the bike. (The 15L Kadet Max is on the list for when the camera needs more room.)
The bike is the other part of the kit — it’s how I cover the route efficiently, stay in the neighborhood, and get between walks without burning time. I use Baltimore Bicycle Works for maintenance when I can’t handle it myself, and gear purchases. They’re fast, reputable, and — like us — a worker owned co-op. We trust their ethics because they’re the same as ours.
On the bike: a solid Kryptonite U-lock (small so it can’t be jacked open), a lightweight removable rear fender for rain days, Knog Blinder lights — white front, red back — and a small repair kit with an extra tube, a pump, and a CO2 cartridge. Flats happen. Being stranded between walks is not an option.
Keys deserve their own mention. When you’re managing client keys you need a system. I use a Keysmart — Swiss Army style, holds a lot of keys silently, expandable. Every key is labeled with the client name or building abbreviation, no addresses. Accidents happen. On the keychain: a Gerber Shard, which is a pry tool and flathead driver that takes up no space and earns its place constantly. And an AirTag — on the keychain, in both bags, and on my dogs. If it can get lost, it has a tag. Not a big fan of Apple’s union busting, but it’s hard to exit the ecosystem and they work.
Shoes matter more than people think. I have plantar fasciitis and I learned the hard way that bad shoes turn a long walk day into a bad pain day. Superfeet insoles, shoes I’ve actually broken in and that can be worn on and off the bike. Non-negotiable.
Beyond the universal kit, I carry:
Tascam DR-05XP. For neighborhood audio, ambient sound, content capture. I’m always listening for something worth keeping.
Nikon Z8. Not always, but often. The content doesn’t make itself.
Power bank. Long days kill phones. A dead phone on a walk route is a problem.
AirPods. For the stretches between walks. Podcasts, but mostly music, phone calls, thinking out loud recorded. I like the Pro version because the transparency setting means I can hear what’s happening while still enjoying tunes with your dog.
Leatherman Wave Plus. The tool I actually carry is older than some of our clients’ dogs — maybe even some of our clients, but the Wave Plus is what I’d hand someone starting out. Fixes more things than you’d expect.
A book and notebook. Downtime between walks is real. I use it. The Enoch Pratt Free Library’s Hampden branch is a regular stop when I need something new to read — free, walkable, and underrated. Normals and Atomic Books are both on the route too when I want to actually buy something and support people who know what they’re talking about.
Sketching pens. Same reason. Journaling, doodling, trying to spend less time on my phone.
A snack. For me. Not for the dogs, though they will try. I like to carry some protein, some carb, and maybe a little something sweet and tart. Should be fruit; is more often Bottlecaps or Sweet Tarts or Starbursts. Plop down in Druid Hill Park’s Zen Garden and take a moment to refuel body and mind.
A reusable mug that attaches to the bag. I run on coffee like most cyclists do. May as well reduce my trash footprint by avoiding the single-use as much as I can. If I’ve got a break between walks I’m often at Common Ground or at Sophomore because they both rule and sit smack dab in the middle of where I’m usually walking dogs.
Sunscreen and bug spray in summer. Druid Hill Park is beautiful and the mosquitoes know it. And I want to keep my face beautiful for more than just the dogs.
Tick key. We’re in parks and green spaces every day. Check yourself. Check the dog.
Raincoat. The walk happens in the rain. Might as well be dry. That’s an REI link and while I love the jacket, I’d love it more if they hadn’t been union busting.
Cooling towel.
The point
None of this is complicated. It’s just the difference between showing up prepared and showing up hoping for the best. The dogs don’t get a say in whether it rains or the pavement is hot or someone on the block needs help. We do. So we come ready.
