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5 ways to make money with pets

Calling all animal lovers!

According to vet Dr Rob Zammit, it doesn't matter if you're a cat person, dog person, bird person or fish person - animal lovers of all breeds can use their love of pets to not only enrich their lives, but also their savings!

Here are his five top tips:

1. Fish tank maintenance

Fish have been greatly under-rated as pets but they require work to set up and maintain. Learning the art of fish tank maintenance and offering this service can lead to a reasonable income stream.

Build up enough of an enterprise and you might access an account with a wholesaler, earning you more income when you sell fish, equipment, food and the hundreds of knick-knacks that invariably are needed to keep a tank looking pristine!

2. Dog walking

Dog walking has become popular of late but you must check the rules in your state regarding how many dogs you can walk at one time.

My friend Cesar Millan used to walk 20 dogs at a time before the authorities told him it wasn’t legal, so he went into training! Dog walking can also be combined with pet feeding, and is especially helpful for people who want to leave a pet in their own backyard when they go on holidays.

3. Pet-sitting

One method of self-employment is house-pet sitting, as the best place for an animal to be when its owners are away on holidays is at home. But becoming a house-pet sitter can only happen if people have your trust.

Start with people you know, offering to look after their pet while staying at their home. Considering a good cattery will charge around $30 per day, your daily rate could be around $35 plus, more if there are many animals involved. Just make sure you know what veterinary surgery to rush to in cases of emergency.

4. Dog Training

Dog training is a big favourite among people wanting to develop a business in the canine world.

It will take time and study of dog behaviour, but there is a market waiting to be tapped. You’ll need to learn many techniques as there is more than one method to train a dog and each dog is an individual. You’ll also have to teach people! They need to know how to apply what you have taught.

5. Pet grooming

Mobile grooming services have increased greatly in the past decade and can be lucrative. To correctly manage it, do some volunteer work with a groomer and learn how to correctly groom a dog.

Each breed has its certain peculiarities and traits that you will need to understand. Courses in grooming are available, so talk to a vet or local pet shop and source a good grooming course in your area.