When the economy turned upside down and took her job with it, Queen Anne resident and former architect Lisa Winterhalter, had to consider her options.
But in the nine months she spent trying to find her way back into a suddenly narrowing field, Winterhalter had rediscovered an old passion - animals. And so she began a trek into a new career as a dog walker.
"I've always loved animals and I had wanted to work with animals," Winterhalter said, "and then I went into architecture."
After 28 years in a field she studied, Winterhalter found herself with friends at the dog park most days and she remembered why she enjoyed animals so much. The job market didn't have room for an architect, so Winterhalter thought it was time try something new.
"I was filling the gap by starting over," she said, "and if you're not going to do it all the way it's not going to happen. It was a leap of faith without a safety net."
Winterhalter became an apprentice at Sound Animals, 3439 16th Ave. W., this fall where she learned training techniques and how to recognize animal behaviors. And now Winterhalter's officially started her own dog walking/watch every kind of pet imaginable business - Trained Monkey Pet Service.
"I am enjoying it. I love being outside. I love the dogs," Winterhalter said. "My office is a big muddy pit we all stomp around in. But I think, what's really nice, I am in total control. It's fully on my shoulders."
Apart from finding a new line of work, and a new sense of independence, Winterhalter said the dog walking community has been extremely supportive. Another plus, her own dogs - two-and-a-half and one-year-old schipperkes, Kodiak and J-Lo. "I love the fact they see me every day," she said.
Rain or shine, or pouring rain, Winterhalter can be found with her new clients at Magnuson Park every week, and every day walking down Queen Anne Avenue North. So far, Winterhalter walks two Boston terriers, one corgi and a shepherd-chow mix. For now, Winterhalter plans to work on gaining more clients but in the future she hopes to start private training and form her own pack.
"It's better than sitting around and being discouraged, that's for sure," Winterhalter said. "The first few years might be lean, but there are people making good money and they're working hard. I get to decide how hard I want to work, and I get to have fun while I'm doing it."
Though she admits the leap is scary, Winterhalter said waiting around for the economy to have an upswing looks less inviting. And besides, maybe it was time to take a walk.[[In-content Ad]]
