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The Sunday Telegraph
28 October 2007
At age nine, Alex Bedwani's parents didnt think he was ready for the responsibility of having a pet, so he asked if he could borrow other people’s dogs and play with them.
By age 12, he had so many animals on the books of his dog-minding business that he was hiring older to children to work for him. Now 19, Mr Bedwani has just set up a national website – findadogminder.com.au.
“My parents thought I wouldn’t be able to meet the commitment of having a dog – I think they got a shock,” he said.
“And when I started the dog minding business they though it would just be a five-minute wonder, let him get over it – but their plan failed miserably.”
The doggedly driven nine-year old began following dog owners home and dropping notes in their letter-boxes, offering to look after their pets in this home, overnight, or for as much as week.
“My parents ended up with more dogs in the house then they’d bargained for,” Mr Bedwani laughed.
“By 1999, I had 50 different dogs on my books, the following year it was over 100. I started running out of space and having to turn people down, so that’s when I started using other people.
“I think I was about 12 when I started hiring other minders, because I just didn’t have the space. I was a boss at quite a young age, I guess. I was charging people $20 a night, and giving half of that to the minders.
“I remember I was making $100 a week when I first started out, which was pretty good for a 10-year-old, and it grew from there.”
Mr Bedwani said caring owners preferred his business to a kennel because of the personal attention he gives their pets.
“kennels are a very mass-produced kind of experience and the dogs are locked up most of the day, whereas with dog minding in a family home they get the love and attention the owners would give themselves,” he said.
The job had its hazards in the early days, when Alex was smaller then some of his charges.
“I’ve been thrown on the ground and dragged along a few times and it felt like the dogs were walking me,” he said.
“I had a few german shepherds who did that and Labradors like to pull like the wind.”
Mr Bedwani came up with the idea to go national – and set up his website, on his 18th birthday.
“It took me three months to find a web developer and get it sorted and it now has every postcode in Australia in its database,” he said.
“You can log on to the directory and become a dog minder or you can find one in your area.
Searching is free, but if you want someone’s details you have to pay a subscription fee.
“We’ve got minders in each state so far, we don’t have thousands but it’s growing.”
As well as running his website Mr Bedwani is studying arts at university, but is unsure what his future holds.
“I definitely don’t want to work for someone else, that’s for sure,” he said
“So I’ll see where this website takes me, but I’ve got a few other tricks up my sleeve.”
-Stephen Corby
www.sundaytelegraph.com.au
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