How to start a dog walking business (worked numbers)
How to start a dog walking business, with our worked startup budget, solo and group walk earnings for the midday window, and the 11 clients that fill a week.
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- On our planning figures a dog walking business starts on about $1,000 of first month cash, and the kit and a pet first aid course pay back in under 20 walks.
- Most walking demand sits in a midday window of about five hours, so the length of that window sets the ceiling on a solo year.
- On our model solo walks leave about $28,800 a year before tax and group walks of three leave about $40,320, from the same five hours.
- A full week of group walks is only about 11 regular clients, so each one is worth thousands a year and keeping them is the business.
To start a dog walking business you need a registered business, liability insurance that covers the dogs in your care and the keys you hold, a pet first aid course, a price with a duration behind it, and somewhere for bookings to land. On our planning figures that takes about $1,000 of first month cash, and the kit is paid back in under 20 walks. The number that decides whether it becomes a living is different. Most owners want their dog walked while they are at work, so nearly all of your paid hours sit in about five hours in the middle of the day.
We build the software that small local service businesses run their bookings and rebooking on, and pet care is where we started, so treat this as our view rather than neutral advice. Every figure below is our own arithmetic on a stated model. Put your own prices and minutes in and re-run it.
All figures are in US dollars as a reference point. The arithmetic works the same in any currency.
How much does it cost to start a dog walking business?
Not much, and most of it is running cost rather than kit. These are our planning figures, not quotes, so check prices where you buy.
| Item | What it covers | Our planning figure |
|---|---|---|
| Kit | Spare leads and harnesses, waste bags, a treat pouch, a pet first aid kit, rain gear, a key safe | $300 |
| Pet first aid course | One course before the first client | $100 |
| Fixed running costs | Insurance, phone, software, replacing worn kit | $300 a month |
| Daily running costs | Fuel, card fees, bags, at about $15 a working day | about $300 a month |
| First month cash | Kit, course and one month of running costs | about $1,000 |
The $400 for kit and the course comes back in 16 solo walks at $25, or 19 dog places on a group walk at $22. The running cost of about $600 a month is the figure to plan around, because it arrives whether the diary is full or not. Registration fees vary by place, so add yours.
How many dogs can you walk in a day?
This is the number that sets your income. Owners at work want a walk somewhere between ten in the morning and three in the afternoon. That is 300 minutes. Everything you sell in those hours has to fit inside them.
A 30 minute solo walk is not 30 minutes of your day. Collecting the dog, the drive, and dropping it back add about 15 minutes, so each solo walk costs 45. Six of them fill 270 minutes and leave a little slack for traffic and a dog that will not come in from the garden.
A group walk changes the shape. Three dogs out together for an hour, plus about 40 minutes to collect and return all three, is 100 minutes. Three rounds fill the window and walk nine dogs instead of six.
How much can a dog walking business make?
The model, stated so you can argue with it. Solo walks at $25 for 30 minutes. Group walks at $22 a dog for an hour, three dogs at a time. Five days a week for 48 weeks, so 240 working days. Fixed costs of $300 a month and $15 a working day of fuel, card fees and bags, so $7,200 a year in all. Six hours a working day counted as work, the five hour window plus an hour of messages, invoicing and key handovers that nobody pays for.
| Day plan | Dogs walked a day | Sales a year | Costs | Left before tax | Per hour worked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Six solo walks | 6 | $36,000 | $7,200 | $28,800 | $20 |
| Two group rounds and two solo walks | 8 | $43,680 | $7,200 | $36,480 | $25 |
| Three group rounds of three | 9 | $47,520 | $7,200 | $40,320 | $28 |
| Group rounds plus two evening drop-ins at $20 | 9 walks, 2 visits | $57,120 | $7,200 | $49,920 | $30 |
The last row adds an hour a day outside the window, two short visits to let a dog out or feed it, at the same costs. The hours either side of the window are where a walker finds income the window cannot hold.
Some places limit how many dogs one walker may take at once, and some dogs should never walk in a group. Check both before you build a plan around three.
How many clients does a dog walking business need?
Fewer than you would think, and that is the part that matters most. Three group rounds a day is 45 dog places a week. A client whose dog walks every weekday takes five of those, and one who books three days a week takes three.
- All five day clients: 9 clients fill the week.
- A typical mix: 6 five day clients and 5 three day clients is 11 clients.
- Solo walks only: 30 walks a week, which is 6 to 10 clients.
Compare that with window cleaning, where a full diary takes about 150 homes, as we worked through in how to start a window cleaning business. A dog walker's whole year rests on about a dozen households.
So each one is worth a lot. A five day client on group walks is $22 times five walks times 48 weeks, $5,280 a year, about 11 percent of the full group year. Losing one to a house move, or to a new job that lets them work from home, costs about $440 of sales every four weeks until you replace them. That is most of a month's running costs. If you win one new regular a week, building to 11 takes about eleven weeks, and every client who leaves sends you back a week.
Do you need a license to start a dog walking business?
It depends where you work, so ask your local licensing authority what a pet care business needs before the first booking. Most places expect a registered business, as a sole trader, limited company or LLC, and liability insurance. Make sure the cover includes dogs in your care and lost keys, since you will hold both. Some parks and local authorities want a permit for commercial walking or set a limit on dogs per walker. We answered the same question for the trade next door in do you need a license to groom dogs.
How do you get your first dog walking clients?
- Start on your own streets. Every client you win close to home shortens the collect and drop time, and that time is what decides how many walks fit in the window.
- Give people a link, not a number. An owner deciding at 9pm will not ring a stranger. We made the full case in why online booking beats phone tag.
- Ask the vet, the groomer and the pet shop. A groomer sees the same dogs every six weeks and hears which owners are struggling with midday walks.
- Keep the ones you win. With about 11 clients, one lapse is a tenth of the business. The longer argument is in how to get repeat customers.
If you are weighing walking against grooming as a first pet business, the grooming version of this post, with its own startup figures, is how to start a dog grooming business, and the van route is in how to start a mobile dog grooming business.
What we do for a new dog walking business
The steps above need a price list with a duration on each walk, a booking link, a way to hold group places, confirmations and reminders, and somewhere for reviews to land. That is what we build.
Each walk, solo or group, is a service with its own price and duration in managing your services. The hours you take bookings in, and how many dogs can book the same slot, are set in setting your availability, so a capacity of three lets three owners book the same group hour. Walks for a regular on a fixed weekly pattern can be added by you in creating a booking, and they hold the slot exactly like a booking made online. Confirmations and reminders go out by email, as notifications lists. A deposit or full payment at booking, set in how you charge, keeps a slot from going unpaid. Reviews come to you first and show on your site once you approve them, and referrals gives every client a link to share at the dog park.
That is one of the live storefronts we run, seen on a phone, which is where a flyer's link lands. It is a grooming salon, not a dog walker. We have no dog walking storefront yet and would rather say so than show you a mockup. It is the same kind of business in the eyes of an owner: a pet, a priced service list and a button to book.
Two things stay with you. We do not plan your pickup route, and we do not run the key handover. You can put a test booking through the live demos to see the whole loop, or read how we built it for pet businesses on the pet groomers page.
The short version
A dog walking business starts on about $1,000 on our figures and pays back its kit in under 20 walks. The midday window of about five hours is the real limit, which is why group walks of three leave about $40,320 a year against $28,800 for solo walks in the same hours. A full week is only about 11 regular clients, each worth up to $5,280 a year, so the work after the first season is keeping them.
More on this trade will sit in the dog walking hub, and other trades' first customers are in get more customers.