I Took a Walk with 15 Dogs
Oliver Diekmann’s dog died. Heartbroken, the 40-year-old German from the northern town of Minden pondered what to do. Simply buying a new dog to replace his former companion seemed inappropriately callous; but he knew that he loved being around dogs and that these animals needed to be a part of his life in some way.
So in 2013, Oliver quit his job as a technical manager and started a dog-walking business: Dogwalking in Berlin. But his service doesn’t just involve clipping leashes onto a few pups and taking them for a quick jaunt around the neighbourhood. Oliver, inspired by a friend who had started a similar company earlier, offers a comprehensive training and care program. With his service, he personally trains each dog, providing them with much-needed socialization (both with other animals and with humans), and he teaches them to be calm and well-behaved — skills that may not come naturally to pets that spend most of their day cooped up alone in tiny city apartments.
In 2019, he also started running his Airbnb Experience — online or in-person activities led by local experts all over the world — and allowing visitors into his unique canine-filled universe. I joined Oliver and two others on a warm June morning in Grunewald Forest, the largest green space in Berlin, in the west of the city.
At 10:30 in the morning, the sun was high up in the sky, dappling the ground with soft light. I showed up first and chatted with the other participants — two women from Israel and Thailand respectively — when they arrived. While I sipped my coffee and prepared my camera equipment, I learned that both were passionate dog-lovers visiting Berlin for tourism.
Oliver pulled up in a large, nondescript, white van. He then introduced us to his pack, an eclectic crew of 15 canines all belonging to different owners. He let them out of the van one by one, explaining that, according to German law, an individual can take up to 17 dogs at once — which would be a tall order for a normal person, but Oliver is unperturbed by his giant pack.
The first thing I noticed as we started our journey into the forest was the silence. Even though 15 animals had just been released and allowed to run freely through the forest, all the dogs were quiet — not a single bark could be heard. The only sounds were of birds singing in the trees above and our soft footsteps moving along the ground. Oliver informed us that, although there was plenty of wildlife in the forest, we wouldn’t see any.
“They can hear and smell the pack moving towards them from miles away,” he explained.
As we walked along the dirt path with our guide, I watched his interactions with the animals. The whole pack was unleashed except for three who were on “noodles”, slippery yellow leashes that slide easily along the forest floor but can be grabbed quickly if needed.
“This one is new to the pack,” Oliver points at a black-and-white mixed-breed pup, one of the noodled dogs. “I want to see how he reacts to the others first,” he explained.
One pack member, a beautiful husky with startling blue eyes, lags behind the others.
“Keto!” Oliver calls her, and she briskly walks over to him. “She’s a very smart dog, so she thinks she’s a bit above the others,” he jokes as he rounds up the group from the back.
When I ask him if there were any issues with alpha dogs in the pack, he shakes his head.
“There is not really an ‘alpha’ here,” he says. “As I train them, they come to understand that I am responsible for them — but I’m not their master either. Dogs are naturally protectors, but if I can show them that they don’t need to protect the pack or the territory, that I will do this for them, then they will relax and be calm.”
Oliver’s business has boomed in recent months, especially as COVID-19 cases went down. As the lockdowns subsided and people began to return to the office, they found themselves with less time to care for an animal.
“The number of dog-owners increased when the pandemic started,” he explained. “There were so many people in the past who normally wouldn’t have dogs. But they do now because they are at home and have time. So they buy a dog, but they don’t really know how to care for them or train them to be well-behaved.”
These “pandemic dogs”, who became used to constant attention and the regular presence of their owners, now experienced anxiety and boredom from suddenly being left alone for hours every day.
Businesses like Oliver’s provide a great solution for both the animals and their humans. He offers door-to-door service, shuttling each pet from their homes to the forest every morning, Monday through Friday, for a 90-minute walk. Here they can socialize, spend time outside and in a different environment, learn to be calm, and “just be dogs,” Oliver says.
After their hour and a half of scheduled playtime and exercise, he then cleans and performs basic grooming for each canine and drops them off at their homes. Oliver notes that they are often so tired after the walk that they just sleep for the rest of the afternoon. And when their owners return from work, they are refreshed and energized, and they’re able to spend quality time with their humans.
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We’ve now reached a clearing from where a pond is visible. But another pack is already there, so Oliver calls each dog to his side, one by one, to wait for this pack to leave. The dogs sit obediently and wait in anticipation for their turn. One in particular is inching closer and closer to the pond.
“Penny,” he warns the mischievous white senior dog, as she creeps forward. He calls her a few more times as the other pack departs — and without turning to check for Oliver’s permission, she sprints across the grass and into the water, followed by the others.
“She’s normally well-behaved, but today she is extra excited,” Oliver explains. Her owners are an elderly couple who can’t take Penny for long walks, and Oliver had been away on vacation all last week.
“So she really missed her daily walks with the pack,” Oliver laughs, as he watches the dogs run gleefully through the muddy water.
I asked him for his thoughts on bringing strangers into the pack for his Airbnb Experience. I wondered if it was stressful to not only integrate 15 to 17 different canines, but also one to three new people every day into his walks.
He mentions feeling apprehension when he first started, but so far, he has only hosted excellent participants who respect the animals and love their time with them.
“I have some guests, mostly from Asia, who get on FaceTime so their whole family can see that they are out with these dogs! They absolutely love it, so I definitely don’t regret starting the experience.”
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We are now heading back to the parking lot. The sun is high in the sky, and it’s heating up — but the dogs show no signs of fatigue after their long journey.
We approach an open space, just off the path, and Oliver suggests that each participant take a photo with the animals. The two women are delighted. Oliver gathers the animals around the Thai girl first. Simply by calling each dog’s name and manoeuvring them gently, he’s able to place each animal around her and get them to look into the camera. As we take turns getting our personal portraits with the 15 dogs, they remain seated, waiting patiently for the photo shoot to be over.
Only until Oliver’s turn (I insisted on getting some shots of him with his pack) do the animals start becoming restless. And once he moves, the pack immediately follows suit.
The three of us are awestruck. Getting a single pet to sit for a portrait is one thing; getting 15 to be still and calm for several photos is nothing short of a miracle.
As we approach the van, Oliver shares the real motivation behind the launch of Dogwalking in Berlin, as well as his Airbnb Experience: “I really, really love dogs and want to spend as much time with them as I can.”
But his work doesn’t only benefit him and his participants — it also improves the lives of the animals he loves so deeply.
“When they don’t go with me into the forest,” he explains, “they just sit alone at home and wait for their owners for the whole day, and maybe into the evening as well. That’s not really a good life. But when I pick them up and bring them into the forest and give them a safe space to play, they feel comfortable and they feel good. So I give them a very happy life, and that in turn makes me happy.”
Oliver runs his Airbnb Experience, “Take a walk with a great pack,” out of Berlin. Follow him on Instagram and contact him here.
*Quotes have been edited for clarity and flow. Read about other Airbnb and travel experiences I’ve done all over the world!
