Do Dog Walkers Make Good Money?

As of 2017, there were approximately 89.7 million dogs owned in the United States alone. That’s a lot of dogs, and not every owner has time to walk them. So, there’s definitely a demand for dog walkers out there.

So you might be wondering: do dog walkers make good money?

Yes, dog walkers can make very good money – easily $25 per walk. Apps like Rover, Wag, and BarklyPets help connect you with pet owners in need of dog walkers. These companies take a percentage of your pay, ranging from 3% to a whopping 40%!

In this article, we’re going to show you how much earning potential dog walkers really have, and then you can decide for yourself if it seems worth it and which company you want to work for!

How To Make Money As A Dog Walker

Becoming a dog walker is a pretty easy process, especially since there are so many apps coming out that help you connect with potential customers.

In this article, we’re going to focus on three dog walking apps and how much you can really make through them. Those apps are:

• Rover
• Wag!
• BarklyPets

Let’s dive in deeper and take a closer look at each.

Rover

Rover was founded in 2011 by Greg Gottesman, Aaron Easterly, and Philip Kimmey. With a value of $300 million as of September of 2016, they’re a financially stable company, and one of the biggest dog walking apps out there.

Rover specializes more so in dog sitting; however, they do offer dog walking, and you can do that if you like. 

Signing up with Rover is very easy, it involves filling out some basic information on the website and getting started. You do have to pay for and pass a background check before you can get started.

For Rover, you get to choose your own prices. That being said, you can make a decent amount depending on what you set your prices at. But, how much does Rover take from your pay?

If you’re going through Rover, they will take a hefty 20% fee out of your pay. And, with the fact that the average rate people charge is between $20 to $50 for a 30-minute walk, that is them taking $4 to $10 per walk.

To give you an example, if you were to charge $30 for a 30-minute walk, and you walked three dogs a day, five days a week. If you did that, you would earn $450 a week, which would amount out to $23,400.

So, after the 20% fees, you would earn $18,720 a year. 

That’s a decent amount of money, especially if you were doing this as a side job. No, you wouldn’t get rich off of those numbers alone, but considering the fact that you would be only working 7.5 hours a week as opposed to 8 hours a day, that’s a pretty good amount.

And those numbers aren’t unrealistic, either. Dog walker Jackie Beck earned an “extra $399.52” in her first month, walking one dog 3-4 times a week. 

Related article: Rover Review – Legit Dog Walking App or Scam?

Wag!

Wag! was founded in 2014 and, as of now, is available in 43 states and 110 different cities.

Signing up for Wag! is basically the same as Rover. They offer walking and dog sitting services, but unlike Rover, Wag! Is more focused on the dog walking aspect. 

One downside is that you don’t get to set your own rates, Wag! sets them for you. For a 30-minute walk, Wag! charges pet owners $20; an hour walk costs $30. This, however, is not what you get paid to walk for them. 

Wag! charges these 30-minute and one-hour rates to customers and they take a massive 40% out of it before you get your portion. This means that, for a 30-minute walk, you would make $12, and you would make $18 for a one hour walk. 

This is a huge fee, and it seems even worse when comparing it to other companies. But if you go into it expecting to make $12 to $18 per walk, then it doesn’t really seem so bad. 

And according to Wag’s CEO Joshua Viner, walkers on average make the higher end of that spectrum – around $17.50 per walk.

So, if you did four one-hour walks, five days a week, then you would be making $360 a week. This would equal about $18,720 a year.

When you compare Rover and Wag!, and you followed the numbers previously mentioned, you would make the same amount working 7.5 hours a week for Rover or working 20 hours a week to make that same amount per year from Wag!.

That means that with Wag!, it would take almost three times the amount of work to make the same amount as their competitor.

Related article: Is Wag! a Legit Dog Walking App?

BarklyPets

BarklyPets is the newest of the three, as it was founded in 2015 by Chris Gonzalez, Dave Comiskey, and Jim Camut. 

BarklyPets is available in some cities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, which is actually where the company started. 

BarklyPets is just like the others. With a simple application process, you will be getting started in no time. 

BarklyPets doesn’t offer anything besides dog walking. This, however, makes it easier if you only wanted to be a dog walker. That way you don’t have to deal with navigating an app made for more services.

At BarklyPets, as with Rover, you get to make your own prices. But with BarklyPets, there is no fee taken – aside from a 3% credit card fee. This means that you get to keep almost all of your money that you make. 

If you were to charge $25 per walk and do four walks a day, five days a week, you would be making $500 a week and $26,000 a year. Take out the 3% credit card fee and you get to walk away with $25,220.

This is much better than the other options because you get to make your own rates, only have to be responsible for dog walking, and only have to have a 3% fee come out.

All that means is that, with BarklyPets, you have the potential to make the most money.

Related article: Barkly Pets Review – Legit Dog Walking App?

Conclusion

Altogether, you can make some good money as a dog walker, considering the low amount of work that you really have to do with it.

If you love dogs and would love to get paid to hang out with them on an afternoon stroll, then maybe dog walking is the thing for you! And if you want to boost your earnings, you could explore other ways to earn money walking and combine some of these methods.

Either way, hopefully this article has helped you determine whether or not you want to be a dog walker, and if so, which app you would want to sign up for!