A dog walker's bag looks like a random collection until you ask about each item. Then it turns out almost everything in there is a scar.
The spare lead is because a collar came off. The extra roll of bags is because an owner ran out. The vet wrap is because of a paw on a Sunday afternoon.
Here is the whole thing, and the reasoning.
The bag itself
Crossbody or a hip pack, waterproof, and smaller than you think.
Crossbody means it does not swing forward when you bend to pick up after a dog. A backpack is more comfortable for distance and worse for access, because everything you need urgently is behind you.
DOOG is Australian and makes exactly this category, which is worth knowing because most of the well-reviewed walking bags online are British or American and the freight makes them silly.
Whatever you buy, it needs to wipe clean. It will get muddy and it will occasionally get worse than muddy.
Leads, and the redundancy that matters
Your own lead, even when the dog has one. Owner leads are often retractable, worn, or the wrong thing for a dog you do not know yet.
A slip lead as backup. This is the one that earns its place. If a collar fails or a harness comes loose, a slip lead goes over the head in a second and you have the dog. Every experienced walker carries one and most have used it.
A long line for recall work, if that is part of what you offer.
Waste, done properly
More bags than you need, in more than one place. A roll in the bag and a roll clipped to the lead, because the roll in the bag is inside the bag when you need it.
A separate holder for used bags. This sounds fussy and it is the difference between a pleasant multi-dog walk and juggling. Walkers who do pack walks are unanimous on this.
And be honest about where they go. Carrying full bags to a bin is part of the job, and a bag left behind a tree is the single fastest way to lose a neighbourhood's goodwill.
Water
A bottle and a collapsible bowl, or one of the combined bottle-and-trough designs where you squeeze water into a lip the dog drinks from.
In an Australian summer this is not an optional item, it is the main one. Heat is the thing most likely to hurt a dog on your watch, and it moves faster than people expect. Know what a heat-stressed dog looks like and know where the shade is on your routes.
Check the ground with your hand before a midday walk. If you cannot hold it there for five seconds, it will burn a paw.
First aid
A small pouch, not a big kit. Realistically: self-adhesive bandage, gauze, saline, tweezers for grass seeds, a tick removal tool, gloves and a foil blanket.
Grass seeds and ticks are the two Australian ones. Both are seasonal and both are worse than they sound. A paralysis tick is a genuine emergency along the east coast.
Do a pet first aid course. It is a day and it changes what you notice.
Light and visibility
A head torch, because winter walks start in the dark and end in it, and because a torch in your hand is a hand you do not have.
Something reflective on you, and something reflective on the dog. Australian drivers are not looking for a black dog at six in the morning.
The boring things that are always there
Keys on a carabiner, clipped in, not loose in the bag.
A phone power bank. Your phone is your camera, your map, your record of the walk and your emergency call, and cold weather kills batteries.
Hand sanitiser and a small towel.
Business cards, honestly. People stop dog walkers constantly.
The American advice you must not follow
Almost every American guide to this subject recommends carrying pepper spray, often with a specific model.
Do not. Pepper spray, capsicum spray and mace are prohibited weapons in most Australian states and territories, and carrying one is a criminal matter, not a technicality.
If you are worried about dog attacks, the Australian answers are different: a citronella spray marketed for that purpose where legal in your state, a walking stick, an air horn, or simply carrying nothing and knowing how to break up a fight by wheelbarrowing rather than reaching in. Check your own state law rather than a forum.
What we would not carry
We would not carry a retractable lead. There is a reason professional walkers are almost unanimous about this, and it is the combination of no control at distance and a thin cord that cuts hands.
We would not carry treats for a dog whose owner has not agreed to them. Allergies, diets and training regimes are not yours to override, and it is the kind of thing that ends a client relationship.
And we would not carry more than we will use. Every walker starts with a full kit and ends with about eight items.
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