Talk Walk Woof For A Living

This is a side hustle that can quickly turn into a full-time career. I’m amazed how many people are actually making a decent living with dog walking.

You may think it pays little, and is very time consuming, but apparently it is rewarding work and pays very well.

I know guys that worked with one dog for months, and eventually through word of mouth, he got so much gigs he hired a team to do it for him.

How To Get Started

You will need to be in some level of fitness, not only must your legs be conditioned, but you need the upper body strength to control the dogs.

I remember watching a video of an older woman walking her Pitbull, the dog lost control when he saw a cat and lunged while leashed. The woman flew forward, landed on her face and her lights got knocked out.

You will obviously need poop bags and leashes with the same length to keep all the dogs within your radius of control.

You may need a permit depending on the city you’re working in, in California for example you need a license to walk 8 dogs, and the leash must be less than 8 feet in length.

Now personally the dog walkers I know don’t have license, I don’t condone it, but none of my acquaintances ever had to pull out their license. You have to have a really bad day for a cop to request proof of permit, it’s usually in a piece of paper not a card unfortunately.

Side Tip

You should get some sunblock, it’s always a good idea to keep your skin protected. Imagine walking 4 hours a day in the sun, the damage will accumulate and hasten your aging process.

Now if you don’t want greasiness on your skin I would recommend La Roche, I wish I was sponsored but i’m not famous enough for it.

Marketing

You should advertise locally. I’ve seen people post flyers and use snail for pet care services. It actually works better than digital marketing, as it is a drowned out medium and it’s almost a shouting competition, and I can assure there will always be someone that will scream louder and longer than you.

Operations And Pricing

Working with one dog is easy, you just go to your client’s home and pick up the dog, walk for 30 minutes and accept payment. If you want to make a good living you have to do 4-8 dogs at a time.

This is how it works, the pricing model in the dog walking industry varies based on the city, so it’s between 15-30 dollars per a half hour walk. If you walk one dog every hour you would make 15 per a hour, basically minimum wage. To counter that you need to walk 4 dogs at a time at least.

You will need to set up time to pick up dogs that lives reasonably close to each other. Made easy my Google maps.

You then need to go to your favorite dog walking location and just walk 30 minutes, simple as that.

Watch It Grow

I knew a few dog walkers that also works as a dog sitter. You’ll be amazed how much people make from sitting. A guy I knew made 80 dollars a day sitting one dog, it was light work, he just fed and walk the dog like you would with any pet. The dog was also familiar with him so the dog wasn’t anxious at all. I’ve heard horror stories from dog sitters that dogs they are unfamiliar with, results in the dog defecating on everything.

Why Pay? Why Don’t People Do It Themselves?

People are busy, typically people that can afford to shell out 15-30 dollars a day for something as simple as dog walking are busy making money. These clients typically are amazing clients that don’t nickel and dime their services.

Friend Story

I knew a guy that got a husky, that he needs to walk 5-8 times a day. If he doesn’t do that, the dog will act up and will rip everything in the house to shreds. One day he was sick he made his mom walk the dog, the dog went nuts when he saw a yorkie and yanked his mom into the pavement wrecking her elbow and hip.

Coming back…..

You can see why people will pay for such a simple task. Dog walking is such a well known gig, competition can’t even cover all the available businesses out there.

It will be hard initially because you will only have a few clients and they may be spread out to the other side of the city, where the commute will eat up some of your time. Give it 2 years and you will be stabilized with clients in the right places and you can make on average $60/hour.

Also if you like long walks this is the perfect gig for you.

I write this newsletter to help those that want to make additional income outside of their careers. If you have friends that need help making more money please be a dear and send them this newsletter.

www.reddit.com/r/Sneakysidehustle

www.quora.com/profile/MythToLegend

Similar