Dog walking services are thriving in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and NW DC

Talk about office politics.

In Tom Simpson’s workspace, Babson thinks he can get out of anything, Bobby talks you off and Poppy seems a little shy. Happ gets along with everyone, Fenway is the social butterfly of the group and Charley just wants to fit in.

Simpson, 62, works with four-legged clients as part of Community Happy Dogs, his dog walking business. Serving Chevy Chase, Bethesda and Northwest Washington, D.C., the thriving Simpsons business transforms dogs from haphazard tree sniffers into a harmonic symphony of docile canines, gliding down posh residential streets to the steady clipping of nails that click on the ground, up to 10 at a time . His pack is so well trained that even when another barking dog passes the pack, not a single pup makes a sound or movement in response.

Toms refined it down to a science, says Chevy Chase customer Elizabeth Wilner, whose 2-year-old English Labrador, Happ, walks Simpson during the week. He’s a bit of a neighborhood phenomenon.

Simpson quit his previous company, Marketing Now Inc., to launch Community Happy Dogs in 2018. The Chevy Chase native and his wife, who have five adult children, enjoy traveling, eating and exercising when they are not working . But business has exploded, so much so that he now employs three additional dog walkers, one of whom, according to Simpson, earned $82,000 last year.

They are all world class, he says.

Simpson has strong athletic roots; he says he was once a very competitive men’s hockey player. He walks about 24 dogs a day, covering about 10 miles.

Dogs thrive on it — it’s their bliss, he says. A tired dog is a happy dog.

Simpson and his employees walk as many as 10 dogs at a time for half an hour or an hour each. On a 30-minute walk, he guarantees the dogs will log at least 11/2 miles, or 3 miles in an hour. Dog owners pay $27 for a half hour or $44 for an hour of service. Each four-legged friend is collected from home and driven to meet with others for the sake of efficiency.

It’s kind of like a clown car, says Wilner. I don’t know how Tom does it.

Once the clock chimes in and the walking begins, the pups’ parents will be notified via text messages and photos. Simpson learned the ropes from canine behaviorist Cesar Millans in educational materials and from volunteering with the Humane Rescue Alliance in D.C.

[My program is] transformative, says Simpson. Dogs with bad behavior improve dramatically.

How is Simpson doing? First, the pack avoids sidewalks, preferring quiet streets and the Capital Crescent Trail to minimize distractions. He also makes it clear to his menagerie of goldendoodles, French bulldogs, Havanese, and Cavapoos that he’s the alpha, and that everyone walks toe-to-toe, meaning they never walk ahead of Simpson, but assume a subservient position.

When we leave the house, they need to know they are safe and protected, says Simpson.

He never leaves the house without his spacious candy bag, hand sanitizer, pepper spray, a flashlight and, of course, lots and lots of small plastic bags. Simpson trains dogs to walk together, not bark, and stay on task during quick jaunts around the neighborhood.

It’s really incredible what he does, says Melissa Randolph, whose 3-year-old Doberman, Jellybean, is often menacing and antisocial. Randolph and her husband were walking in Bethesda, saw Simpson training another dog and asked him to come and train at their house.

By the time he left, she was at his feet, says Randolph. Incredible in just an hour.

Simpson encourages owners to take their dogs for a 30-minute walk in the morning, which he says helps bond the animals with their parents.

Exercise and discipline are more important to a dog than affection, he says. When we found out what is super important to them, we were able to achieve incredible things with the dog.

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