Dog Walking Rate Calculator
Enter the take-home pay you want, your costs, how many walks you fit in a day and how long each takes with the driving. The calculator returns the price a walk has to be, what each owner pays in a group walk, and block prices with your discount applied.
Your numbers
Insurance, fuel, leads and bags, first aid, booking software, marketing.
Your week
Per walk, there and back.
Result
Charge per walk
$25
$22.22 covers it exactly. Rounded up to a figure you can quote.
- Turnover you need in a year
- $32,000
- Walking slots in a year
- 1440
- What each slot must earn
- $22.22
- Solo walk
- $25
- Your time, including driving
- $17.78 an hour
- Block of 5 walks
- $112.50 ($22.50 each)
- Block of 10 walks
- $225 ($22.50 each)
- Block of 20 walks
- $450 ($22.50 each)
Block prices are the per-walk price less the discount, so the block always earns at least the discounted slot price.
Sell blocks and set up repeat walks in one place
BookingMachine lets owners buy a block of walks, book them on a repeating schedule and pay online, and shows you the day's round in order.
How the walk price is worked out
Your year has a fixed number of walking slots: the walks you can do in a day, times the days you work, times the weeks you work. The income you want plus the costs of running the business has to come from those slots, so each slot has a price it must earn. That is your solo walk price, rounded up to a figure you can quote.
In a group walk the same slot is shared between several dogs, so each owner pays a share. The calculator divides the slot price by the number of dogs you usually walk together, not the maximum you could, and rounds up. A full group then earns more than the slot needs, which is the reward for the extra work of handling several dogs.
Pricing blocks of walks
Blocks of 5, 10 or 20 walks paid up front give you money in the bank and customers who stay. The discount is the price of that certainty. Keep it small, since each walk still takes the same time, and set a period the block must be used within.
Count the driving. A thirty-minute walk with fifteen minutes of driving each way is an hour of your day, and the hourly figure in the result reflects that.
Questions
How many walks a day is realistic?
Count the time, not the dogs. Each walk plus its driving and handover is a slot, and the slots have to fit between the hours owners want, which cluster around the middle of the day. Most solo walkers manage five to seven slots; group walkers fewer slots with more dogs in each.
Should a group walk be cheaper per dog than a solo walk?
Yes, because the slot is shared, but not as much cheaper as the share suggests. Handling several dogs is more work and more risk, and the group is not always full. Price it for your usual group size and the full days make up for the quiet ones.
What discount should I give on a block?
Enough to make paying up front worth it and no more. Around 10% on ten walks is common. Make the block expire, so it is a commitment to walk regularly rather than a stock of cheap walks.
Should I charge extra for a second dog from the same home?
Charge something: two dogs are more work than one, but far less than two separate walks. Half the single price for the second dog is a common approach.
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Sell blocks and set up repeat walks in one place
BookingMachine lets owners buy a block of walks, book them on a repeating schedule and pay online, and shows you the day's round in order.