Guides
How to start a pet sitting business without the guesswork
Starting a pet sitting business means pricing each service, insuring the work, and getting the paperwork right before the first key changes hands.
What to take away
- Price each service separatelya 30-minute walk, a drop-in visit, an overnight stay, and a holiday visit carry different costs and different demand. Typical US rates in 2026 run $20 to $30 for a 30-minute walk and $50 to $90 for an overnight.
- Care, custody and control coverage is the policy that responds when an animal is hurt in your care; general liability alone usually does not. Budget $200 to $600 a year for both.
- Toronto dog walkers need a Municipal Code Chapter 349 permit, and most jurisdictions license or register the business itself.
- Every client home needs a written service agreement and a key handling rule you can describe in one sentence.
- Track visits completed, visits lost to walker unavailability, and referral share monthly; those three numbers tell you whether to hire.
This article covers business setup and pricing only. It is not veterinary, legal, tax or insurance advice. Confirm licensing with your municipality, contracts with a lawyer licensed in your province or state, tax registration with the CRA or IRS, and coverage terms with your broker.
Steps to open
- Pick the services you will actually deliver.Walks, drop-in visits, overnight stays in the client's home, and pet taxi are four different businesses with four cost structures. Start with one or two. Rover and Wag! list rates for all four in most US metros, so you can see what your market already pays. Rover keeps about 20% of each booking and Wag! about 40%.
- Set your service area and travel rule.A 20-minute drive between visits caps how many you can run in a day. A walker working 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with three 20-minute drives fits about six 30-minute visits, not twelve. Draw the boundary before you advertise.
- Price each service from your own numbers.Add visit length, drive time, and unpaid admin time to get true minutes per visit. Multiply by your target hourly rate, then add mileage and supplies. The IRS standard business mileage rate was 70 cents a mile for 2025; check the current figure.
- Get the insurance before the first key.Ask a broker for care, custody and control coverage plus general liability, and get the certificate in writing. Pet Sitters Associates, Business Insurers of the Carolinas, and Pet Care Insurance all write policies for pet sitters. Specialty policies typically cost $200 to $600 a year.
- Register the business and check licensing.Your state or provincial business registry handles the entity, and LLC filing fees typically run $50 to $500. An EIN from the IRS is free. Your municipality handles permits, and Toronto dog walkers fall under Municipal Code Chapter 349.
- Write the service agreement.It should name the services, the visit windows, the cancellation rule, and the key handling rule. Add the emergency contact and your authority to approve vet care. Pet Sitters International and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters sell template contracts, and a local lawyer will review one for $200 to $500.
- Set up scheduling and invoicing software.Time To Pet, PetSitClick, Precise Petcare, and Scout are built for pet sitting, and most plans run $20 to $60 a month per user. Jobber, Square, or QuickBooks cover a one-person operation. This is what stops double bookings and forgotten invoices once you pass roughly ten regular clients.
- Get trained, checked and certified.The American Red Cross Cat and Dog First Aid course is online for around $25 to $50, and a Checkr background check typically costs $30 to $50. Pet Sitters International's Certified Professional Pet Sitter exam is the credential clients recognize. The basic kit is a slip lead, treat pouch, poop bags, and a pet first aid kit.
- Market locally before you pay for ads.A free Google Business Profile with photos, a Nextdoor recommendation thread, and a post in your city's pet Facebook group bring clients at no cash cost. Rover and Wag! leads cost commission instead.
- Run two weeks of paid test visits.Deliver to real clients, log actual minutes per visit, then reprice before you take on more.
Pricing the four core services
A 30-minute walk is not a 30-minute cost. It is 30 minutes of walking plus the drive there, the drive back, key handling, and the note you send the owner. Add those and a "30-minute" walk often books 50 minutes of your day. Six walks then fill close to five hours.
True cost of a 30-minute walk
- 30minutes of walking
- 50minutes of your day booked
- 3xholiday demand vs normal
- 0rate below your floor is a subsidy
Overnight stays invert the math. You are paid for presence, not for active work, so the rate has to cover a full night away from your own home plus the next morning's visits you cannot take. US sitters typically charge $50 to $90 a night as of 2026.
Holiday visits are the same service at three times the demand. Many operators add a holiday surcharge rather than a separate rate, usually 20% to 50% on top, and publish the holiday list in advance so clients can plan.
Work the arithmetic in your own numbers: (visit minutes + drive minutes + admin minutes) / 60 x your target hourly rate, plus mileage and supplies. That is your floor. Anything below it is a subsidy you are paying.
| Service | Typical US rate, 2026 | What moves the number |
|---|---|---|
| 30-minute walk | $20 to $30 | metro area, drive time, whether you walk two dogs at once |
| Drop-in visit | $25 to $40 | visit length, feeding, medication |
| Overnight in the client's home | $50 to $90 | hours on site, morning care, distance |
| Holiday visit or overnight | 20% to 100% above base | demand on the date, staff availability |
Insurance, licensing and keys
General liability covers your business against claims about your operations. Care, custody and control coverage responds when a client's animal is injured or lost while in your care. Pet sitters usually need both, and the second is the one clients ask about. A solo policy typically runs $200 to $600 a year.
Licensing runs on two levels. The business registers with your state or province. The activity may also need a municipal permit: Toronto dog walkers operate under Municipal Code Chapter 349, and other cities set their own rules. Check with your own municipal licensing office rather than assuming.
Key handling is the operational risk clients notice first. Decide now whether you hold keys, use a lockbox such as a KeyGuard, or use a smart lock code that changes. Write the rule into the agreement and follow it without exception.
For the paperwork side, see these resources.
- SBA business guide covers planning, launch, permits, insurance and hiring.
- IRS starting a business covers entity choice, tax IDs and recordkeeping from day one.
What the job involves
The BLS Animal Care and Service Workers profile describes animal handling, sanitation, customer communication and recordkeeping, and notes the physical and injury risks of the work. Read it before you quote a rate; it is a fair description of a full walking day.
Worked example
An operator opens with one walker, a scheduling app, and six regular clients on twice-weekly walks at $25 each. That is about $300 a week before mileage and supplies. Week one, one walk runs long because the dog will not come back inside. That is normal and priced in.
Week three, the walker calls in sick on a day with four booked walks. The owner covers two and reschedules two. The lost revenue is the cost of running without a backup, and it is the reason to keep a second walker on call before the calendar is full.
By the first holiday season the calendar is fuller than the walker list. The decision is whether to hire, raise the holiday rate, or cap bookings. The operators who last priced the long visits properly, kept the permit current, and asked every happy client for one referral.
Common questions
Do I need a permit to walk dogs?
It depends on your city. Toronto dog walkers need a permit under Municipal Code Chapter 349; other municipalities set their own rules or none. Call your municipal licensing office and ask before you take a paying client.
What insurance does a pet sitter need?
Most brokers recommend general liability plus care, custody and control coverage. The second responds when an animal is injured or lost in your care. Ask your broker for the certificate and read the exclusions.
How many clients before I hire?
When walker unavailability starts costing you booked visits more than once a month, you need a backup. Track lost visits as a number; it is the clearest hiring signal you will get. Past roughly ten regular clients, one walker usually cannot cover a full week alone.
Should I charge a holiday surcharge?
Most operators do, because holiday demand is concentrated and the work is the same. Publish the holiday list in advance so clients can book around it, and set the surcharge as a percentage you can explain. Typical surcharges run 20% to 50%, with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year at the top of the list.
