How to start a dog walking business

Are you thinking about starting your very own dog walking business? Dog walking is a great job for people who love animals and enjoy the outdoors. It provides a sense of freedom and independence and is undoubtedly a viable business venture to consider if you’re passionate about dogs.

Dog walking is an attractive business because of the high demand and relatively low barrier to entry. Dog walking business can also be highly profitable when setup and managed properly. So if you are looking for a new venture in 2022 and love working with animals. Give dog walking some serious consideration.

What is a dog walking business?

A dog walking business consists of providing a service to your clients. You are the person responsible for walking people’s dogs when they can’t do it themselves for a variety of reasons. Maybe they are working, away on holiday or have a medical condition that means they can leave the house.

As a dog walker; you typically provide a service in which you pick up the dog from the owner’s home, take them for a walk before returning them back home. Some dog walkers will choose to walk only one dog at a time while others will walker several dogs together. Whichever you decide, you must be confident around dogs.

Who can start a dog walking business?

Anybody can start a dog walking business, but it takes confidence with animals to make your business a success. You’ll need to control and manage different dog’s behaviour and be responsible when out in the local area.

Whilst there are no formal qualifications are needed to start a dog walking business they are always advantageous. Qualifications and experience will assist you in winning your first clients. After all, you’ll be the person responsible for looking after their family member while they are not around. You might find it beneficial to look at qualifications in the following areas:

• dog first aid
• animal behaviour, or
• pet care,

As well as getting your self qualified, you may also need to set up things like a business bank account and insurance to help get your business off the ground and enhance your professional standing.

What skills do I need to start a dog walking business?

It goes without saying that you’ll need experience of being around and managing dogs. One of the easier ways to gain valuable experience is by offering to walker close friends or family’s dogs for free. You might also find volunteering at a local boarding kennels or dog charity helpful too. These will help you to understand many different dog behaviour

A good way to gain experience is by offering to walk your friends’, family or neighbours’ dogs for free. Volunteering at a dog kennel or with a dog charity may also help you to understand dog behaviour and how different breeds act.

You’ll also need good communication skills, excellent time management and some basic business acumen so that you can understand how to make your business profitable.

How much does it cost to set up a dog walking business?

Every business has startup costs, and dog walking is no different. The main costs you’re likely to have when starting your dog walking business are transport, insurance, marketing and criminal checks.

It is important to have liability insurance, as this covers you in the event of a claim made by members of the public incase of an injury. The cost of liability insurance varies, but you should expect to pay up to £150 per year.

Marketing is one of the most important aspects of running any business and it can be one of the most costly aspects too.

The more visible your company, the more likely you are to attract new clients. In the early days, the cost to market your business can be quite high, so many companies try to narrow down their marketing strategies and techniques so that they are only spending money on what is working. However, there are many low cost marketing options available for small businesses. The most popular are probably community forums and Facebook groups since they are free to use. Some other options are supermarket community boards, blogs, or even flyers or newspaper ads.

Finally, whilst you’re not obliged to have a criminal record check, also known as a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) you will find without one you’ll stall the growth of your business. In many cases most pet owners won’t work with someone who doesn’t have one. A criminal record check costs around £23.

Do I need dog walking insurance?

Again, it isn’t a legal requirement to have dog walking insurance, but it’s a very good idea to get it. There are a lot of dog breeds that are a target for dog thieves, or a dog could suddenly decide to run off. You may even get injured by another animal or one of the dog’s you’re walking might cause injury whilst out in public under your supervision.

Dog walking insurance offers you protection in case something like this happens when dogs are in your care.

Final tips for starting a dog walking business

Starting a dog walking business is exciting but, for it to be successful, there are some things to final things you need to decide on first:

• A business name: The name you choose needs to clearly explain what your business offers. But make sure, the name isn’t used by any other dog walking business. Doing a quick Google search will tell you this.
• Pricing: As a dog walker you can set your own prices, do your research to see what other dog walkers in your local area are charging. If you choose to charge more than your competitors, you may not get much business.
• Marketing: Decide on and set a budget for marketing? If it’s not much, then look at free or low-cost ways to market your dog walking business, like word of mouth or social media. If you have more money to spend, consider printing flyers or advertising on local communities or news websites.
• Extra training: It might seem simple to start a dog walking business, but there are a number of options out there to help kick start your business even further. Taking a dog walking course, for example, will ensure you cover the basics needed to set up your business – as well as covering specific areas such as marketing and insurance.