A "one-hour group walk" rarely means an hour of walking your dog. It's usually fifteen minutes of walking your dog plus forty-five minutes of pickups, drop-offs, and waiting. The walker is optimizing for throughput number of dogs covered per hour not for what your dog actually needs.
A senior beagle and an adolescent golden doodle can't share a pace. A senior beagle and an adolescent golden doodle can't share a pace.
A reactive rescue can't opt out of meeting another dog at the corner. A reactive rescue can't opt out of meeting another dog at the corner.
The walk goes where the route goes not where your dog wants to go. The walk goes where the route goes not where your dog wants to go.
They make sense for some dogs — specifically, social-adolescent dogs in the narrow band where a group setting actually fits. For senior dogs, anxious dogs, reactive rescues, high-energy athletes, and the long tail of dogs whose walk needs are individual, group walks aren't a more affordable version of the same thing. They're a different product, and one your dog probably can't opt out of mid-route.
