Short answer
Charge for the whole visit, not just the walk. Hours = walk minutes plus drive, key and handover minutes, divided by 60. Multiply by your loaded wage plus overhead per hour to get break-even, then divide by (1 − margin). Example: a 30-minute walk with 15 handover minutes is 0.75 hours and prices at $30.00.
- A $20 wage you pay yourself, loaded 20% for self-employment tax and days off, costs $24 an hour.
- $5,760 of yearly overhead over 1,440 sellable hours adds $4 to every working hour.
- At a 30% margin, every sold hour must bill $40, so a 30-minute walk with handover prices at $30.
- Cutting handover and drive from 30 to 15 minutes drops the same walk from $40 to $30.
- Count dog-sitting hours as active care plus a stated share of on-call time, then price them like walks.
On this page
- How much to charge for dog walking: the per-walk formula
- Dog walking price calculator
- Dog walking price list: 20, 30, 45 and 60-minute walks
- How route density changes the price of a 30-minute walk
- How much to charge for an extra dog
- How much to charge for pet sitting and dog sitting per day
- Is $20 for a 30-minute dog walk good? Is $100 a day good for dog sitting?
- The common mistakes: markup instead of margin, and pricing only the walk
- Excel formulas for a dog walking price sheet
- Calculator, app or spreadsheet: what to use for dog walking prices
- Step-by-step
- FAQ
How much to charge for dog walking: the per-walk formula
Price each walk from the minutes it costs you, door to door, then add overhead and margin. The walk length is only part of the time you sell.
- Hours = (walk minutes + drive, key and handover minutes) ÷ 60.
- Labour = hours × loaded rate, where loaded rate = the wage you pay yourself × (1 + burden %).
- Overhead share = hours × (yearly overhead ÷ sellable hours).
- Break-even = labour + overhead share. Poop bags and treats are tiny, so they sit in overhead here.
- Price = break-even ÷ (1 − margin).
A going rate from another city cannot tell you whether a walk pays you. The figures below are arithmetic on stated assumptions; replace each one.
Wage and burden (assumed): you pay yourself $20 an hour. Self-employed people pay self-employment tax, which the IRS self-employment tax page puts at 15.3% (12.4% Social Security plus 2.9% Medicare). This page rounds the burden up to 20% to cover that tax plus a few unpaid sick days. It is an assumption, not tax advice. The loaded rate is $20 × 1.20 = $24.
| Item | Per year (assumed) |
|---|---|
| Pet-business liability insurance | $540 |
| Bonding | $120 |
| Booking and payments app | $480 |
| Phone and data | $600 |
| Vehicle: fuel, wear, extra insurance | $3,600 |
| Leashes, bags, treats, marketing | $420 |
| Total | $5,760 |
Sellable hours (assumed): 6 paid hours a day × 240 days = 1,440 hours. The calculator counts 8 hours per billed day, so enter 180 days (180 × 8 = 1,440). Overhead is $5,760 ÷ 1,440 = $4 an hour. Margin (assumed): 30%.
So break-even is $24 + $4 = $28 per working hour, and the price is $28 ÷ 0.70 = $40 per working hour. That answers "how much to charge for dog walking per hour" from the operator side: $40 for each hour you spend on the job, including the driving.
Dog walking price calculator
Enter your walk hours, wage, burden and overhead to see break-even and the price to quote. It opens on the 30-minute route walk below, so it shows $30.00.
Type hours as decimals: 45 minutes is 0.75. Leave materials at zero. The same maths is on the free job pricing calculator page, with no signup.
Dog walking price list: 20, 30, 45 and 60-minute walks
On these assumptions, with 15 minutes of drive, keys and handover added to every walk, a 30-minute walk prices at $30.00 and a 60-minute walk at $50.00. Each row is one computed job.
| Walk | Hours billed | Break-even | Price at 30% margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 minutes | 0.58 (35 min) | $16.33 | $23.33 |
| 30 minutes | 0.75 (45 min) | $21.00 | $30.00 |
| 45 minutes | 1.00 (60 min) | $28.00 | $40.00 |
| 60 minutes | 1.25 (75 min) | $35.00 | $50.00 |
The 20-minute walk is not two-thirds of the 30-minute price, because the 15 handover minutes are fixed on every visit.
Worked example: one 30-minute walk on a route
30 walk minutes plus 15 minutes for driving between houses, collecting the key, leashing up and a note to the owner is 45 minutes, or 0.75 hours.
Worked example: 30-minute walk on a planned route: 30 walk minutes + 15 minutes drive, keys and handover = 0.75 hours (assumed inputs)
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Workers (input) | 1 |
| Hourly wage paid (input) | $20.00 |
| Labour burden % (input) | 20% |
| Materials (input) | $0.00 |
| Overhead for the year (input) | $5,760.00 |
| People in the field (input) | 1 |
| Billable days a year (input) | 180 |
| Target margin % (input) | 30% |
| Jobs a week (input) | 40 |
| Hours on the job (input) | 0.75 |
| Loaded labour rate (per hour) | $24.00 |
| Crew-hours | 0.75 |
| Labour cost | $18.00 |
| Overhead per sellable hour | $4.00 |
| Overhead share | $3.00 |
| Break-even cost | $21.00 |
| Price to quote | $30.00 |
| Profit on the job | $9.00 |
| Price if you MARK UP instead | $27.30 |
| Margin you actually keep with markup | 23.08% |
| Lost per job by marking up | $2.70 |
| Lost per year by marking up | $5,616.00 |
Computed with the same formulas as the free calculators on this site. Change any input in the calculator above to see your own numbers.
Check it: labour 0.75 × $24.00 = $18.00. Overhead 0.75 × $4.00 = $3.00. Break-even $21.00. Price $21.00 ÷ 0.70 = $30.00, leaving $9.00 of profit on the walk.
A client on five 30-minute walks a week pays $30 × 5 × 52 ÷ 12 = $650 a month at this price.
Try it with your numbers — free
The free calculator does this whole method in about a minute: loaded labour, overhead share, break-even and the price to quote at your margin. No signup, nothing to download, and your numbers stay in your browser.
Open the free job pricing calculator →Get the free spreadsheetWant it built around your own rates, services and branding? Done-for-you custom calculator ($497).
How route density changes the price of a 30-minute walk
Drive time is billed time, so the same 30-minute walk costs more when it sits alone on your map. Booked on its own with 30 minutes of driving and handover, it prices at $40.00 instead of $30.00.
Worked example: The same 30-minute walk booked on its own: 30 walk minutes + 30 minutes drive and handover = 1 hour (assumed inputs)
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Workers (input) | 1 |
| Hourly wage paid (input) | $20.00 |
| Labour burden % (input) | 20% |
| Materials (input) | $0.00 |
| Overhead for the year (input) | $5,760.00 |
| People in the field (input) | 1 |
| Billable days a year (input) | 180 |
| Target margin % (input) | 30% |
| Jobs a week (input) | 40 |
| Hours on the job (input) | 1 |
| Loaded labour rate (per hour) | $24.00 |
| Crew-hours | 1 |
| Labour cost | $24.00 |
| Overhead per sellable hour | $4.00 |
| Overhead share | $4.00 |
| Break-even cost | $28.00 |
| Price to quote | $40.00 |
| Profit on the job | $12.00 |
| Price if you MARK UP instead | $36.40 |
| Margin you actually keep with markup | 23.08% |
| Lost per job by marking up | $3.60 |
| Lost per year by marking up | $7,488.00 |
Computed with the same formulas as the free calculators on this site. Change any input in the calculator above to see your own numbers.
Several walks in one neighbourhood shrink the drive between them. The table holds the walk at 30 minutes and changes only the minutes around it.
| Drive + handover | Hours billed | Break-even | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes (same street) | 0.67 | $18.67 | $26.67 |
| 15 minutes (planned route) | 0.75 | $21.00 | $30.00 |
| 30 minutes (one-off booking) | 1.00 | $28.00 | $40.00 |
You can quote the route price inside your service zone and the one-off price outside it, or keep one price and treat the difference as margin earned by grouping walks.
Gaps between walks also cut sellable hours. Sell 5 hours a day instead of 6 and overhead per hour rises.
How much to charge for an extra dog
Price the extra dog from the extra minutes it adds. On an assumed 5 minutes per extra dog (leashing, feeding, cleanup), a second dog on a 30-minute walk adds $3.33.
| Dogs | Hours billed | Break-even | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.75 | $21.00 | $30.00 |
| 2 | 0.83 | $23.33 | $33.33 |
| 3 | 0.92 | $25.67 | $36.67 |
Five minutes is a placeholder; time a few real walks. If a second dog stops you fitting another walk into the hour, price the lost walk, not the extra minutes.
How much to charge for pet sitting and dog sitting per day
Pet sitting uses the same formula. The hard part is deciding which hours count, so state it as an assumption and price from there. On this page's inputs, a drop-in visit prices at $26.67, a day with the dog at your home at $100.00, and an overnight in the owner's home at $300.00.
- Active care hours are the hours you work for that pet: walks, feeding, meds, play, cleanup, travel.
- On-call hours are time you must be present but are not working, such as sleeping at the client's house. Counting them at full rate overprices. Counting them at zero ignores that you cannot take other work. This page counts them at an assumed 25%.
| Service | How the hours are counted | Hours | Break-even | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drop-in visit (feed, water, potty, play) | 25 min on site + 15 min drive and handover | 0.67 | $18.67 | $26.67 |
| Day sitting, dog at your home | 2.5 active care hours; the rest of the day is your own | 2.5 | $70.00 | $100.00 |
| Day sitting at the owner's home | 8 hours present, all counted + 0.5 hours travel | 8.5 | $238.00 | $340.00 |
| Overnight at the owner's home | 4 active + 12 on-call at 25% + 0.5 travel | 7.5 | $210.00 | $300.00 |
Worked example: Overnight dog sitting in the owner's home: 4 active care hours + 12 on-call hours counted at 25% (3 hours) + 0.5 hours travel = 7.5 hours (assumed inputs)
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Workers (input) | 1 |
| Hourly wage paid (input) | $20.00 |
| Labour burden % (input) | 20% |
| Materials (input) | $0.00 |
| Overhead for the year (input) | $5,760.00 |
| People in the field (input) | 1 |
| Billable days a year (input) | 180 |
| Target margin % (input) | 30% |
| Jobs a week (input) | 40 |
| Hours on the job (input) | 7.5 |
| Loaded labour rate (per hour) | $24.00 |
| Crew-hours | 7.5 |
| Labour cost | $180.00 |
| Overhead per sellable hour | $4.00 |
| Overhead share | $30.00 |
| Break-even cost | $210.00 |
| Price to quote | $300.00 |
| Profit on the job | $90.00 |
| Price if you MARK UP instead | $273.00 |
| Margin you actually keep with markup | 23.08% |
| Lost per job by marking up | $27.00 |
| Lost per year by marking up | $56,160.00 |
Computed with the same formulas as the free calculators on this site. Change any input in the calculator above to see your own numbers.
The gap between the two day rows is the hours rule, not the dog. Write the rule on your price sheet so you quote the same way every time.
Holiday surcharge
A holiday surcharge is a choice. Assume you want time-and-a-half on holidays, so the wage input becomes $30. The loaded rate becomes $36, the 30-minute route walk breaks even at $30.00 and prices at $42.86, which is $12.86 above the normal price. Use your own holiday wage.
Is $20 for a 30-minute dog walk good? Is $100 a day good for dog sitting?
Compare each offer with break-even, then with the price at margin.
$20 for a 30-minute walk. With 15 handover minutes, break-even is $21, so $20 loses $1 on every walk before any profit. On a tight route with 10 handover minutes, break-even is $18.67; $20 then clears it by $1.33, a margin of 6.67%, against a price of $26.67 at 30%. Lower overhead changes this.
$100 a day for dog sitting. It depends on the hours you count. If the dog stays at your home and needs 2.5 active hours, break-even is $70 and $100 is exactly the 30% price. If the owner wants you in their house for 8 hours plus travel, break-even is $238.00, so $100 covers under half of it.
The same test answers $40 or $50 a day: divide the offer by $28 to see how many working hours it covers at break-even, or by $40 for hours at a 30% margin. $40 covers 1 hour at margin. For hourly billing and burden in more depth, see the freelance hourly rate calculator and the labour burden guide.
The common mistakes: markup instead of margin, and pricing only the walk
Adding 30% to cost is not a 30% margin. On the 30-minute route walk, cost × 1.30 bills $27.30 and keeps 23.08% of the price.
That is $2.70 short per walk, and $5,616.00 a year at 40 walks a week. The fix is to divide: break-even ÷ 0.70. The markup vs margin guide has a conversion chart.
The second mistake is pricing only the walk minutes. At 40 walks a week, 15 unbilled handover minutes per walk is 10 hours of unpaid work.
Excel formulas for a dog walking price sheet
Layout: B2 = walk minutes, B3 = drive and handover minutes, B4 = wage you pay yourself, B5 = burden %, B6 = yearly overhead, B7 = sellable hours a year, B8 = target margin %, B9 = extra minutes per extra dog, B10 = number of dogs.
Hours billed per walk
=(B2+B3+(B10-1)*B9)/60B2 = walk minutes, B3 = drive and handover minutes, B9 = extra minutes per extra dog, B10 = dogs.
Break-even per hour
=B4*(1+B5)+B6/B7Loaded rate plus overhead per sellable hour. Enter B5 as a percentage.
Price per walk
=ROUND((B2+B3+(B10-1)*B9)/60*(B4*(1+B5)+B6/B7)/(1-B8),2)Break-even for the visit divided by (1 − margin).
Sitting hours counted
=C2+C3*C4+C5C2 = active care hours, C3 = on-call hours, C4 = share of on-call counted (e.g. 25%), C5 = travel hours. Use the result in place of the walk hours.
Copy the price row down with B2 set to 20, 30, 45 and 60 for the price list above.
Calculator, app or spreadsheet: what to use for dog walking prices
Use any tool that makes you enter hours and overhead before it shows a price. For one quote, the free calculator is enough. For a saved price list, use a spreadsheet.
| Option | Cost | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Local competitor price lists | Free | A market sanity check only |
| Free job pricing calculator | Free, no signup | Pricing one walk or sitting job at a time |
| Free Job Pricing Starter spreadsheet | Free | Loaded labour, overhead, break-even and margin on one sheet in Excel or Google Sheets |
| Pet-care booking app | Monthly subscription | Scheduling, client messages, payments |
| Done-for-you custom build | $497 one-time | Your rates set once, a branded client quote page and a job log, in Excel and Google Sheets |
The app runs the calendar; the sheet sets the prices you type into it. The guide to pricing a service uses the same steps.
What to put in your dog walking price sheet
- Timed drive and handover minutes for route walks and one-off walks.
- One row per walk length: 20, 30, 45 and 60 minutes.
- Extra minutes per extra dog, and a dogs-per-walk cap.
- Your wage, burden %, yearly overhead and sellable hours.
- Your rule for counting sitting hours, including the on-call share.
- Target margin, applied by division.
Reprice when insurance, fuel or your wage changes.
Step-by-step: How Much to Charge for Dog Walking: Price Each Walk From Your Own Costs
- Time the whole visit. Add walk minutes to drive, key and handover minutes, then divide by 60 to get hours billed.
- Load your wage. Multiply the wage you pay yourself by (1 + burden %) to cover self-employment tax and unpaid days.
- Spread overhead by the hour. Divide yearly insurance, bonding, app, phone and vehicle costs by the hours you can actually sell.
- Find break-even. Multiply hours by loaded rate plus overhead per hour. Never quote below this number.
- Apply your margin. Divide break-even by (1 − margin). For 30%, divide by 0.70.
- Build the list. Repeat for each walk length, extra dog and sitting service, using your stated rule for counted hours.
Run your own numbers — free
The free calculator does this whole method in about a minute: loaded labour, overhead share, break-even and the price to quote at your margin. No signup, nothing to download, and your numbers stay in your browser.
Open the free calculator →Get the free spreadsheetWant it built around your own rates, services and branding? Done-for-you custom calculator ($497).
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge for dog walking?
Charge break-even for the whole visit divided by one minus your margin. With a $20 wage, 20% burden, $4 an hour of overhead and a 30% margin, a 30-minute walk plus 15 handover minutes prices at $30. Replace each input with your own.
How much to charge for a 30-minute dog walk?
On this page's assumptions, $30 on a planned route with 15 minutes of drive and handover, and $40 if the walk needs 30 minutes of driving on its own. Break-even is $21 and $28 respectively. Your wage, overhead and drive time change both figures.
How much to charge for dog walking per hour?
Price every working hour, including driving, at break-even divided by one minus margin. Here that is ($24 loaded + $4 overhead) ÷ 0.70 = $40 per working hour. A 60-minute walk with 15 handover minutes is 1.25 hours, so it prices at $50.
Is $20 for a 30-minute dog walk good?
On these inputs, no. A 30-minute walk with 15 handover minutes breaks even at $21, so $20 loses $1 per walk. On a tight route with 10 handover minutes it breaks even at $18.67, and $20 leaves a 6.67% margin. Lower overhead changes the answer.
Is $100 a day good for dog sitting?
It depends on the hours counted. If the dog stays at your home and needs 2.5 active care hours, $100 is the price at a 30% margin. If you must be in the owner's home for 8 hours plus travel, break-even is $238, so $100 falls well short.
How much to charge for pet sitting overnight?
Count active care hours, a stated share of on-call hours, and travel. With 4 active hours, 12 overnight hours counted at 25% and 0.5 hours travel, the night is 7.5 hours, breaking even at $210 and pricing at $300 at a 30% margin.
How much more should I charge for a second dog?
Charge for the minutes the second dog adds. At an assumed 5 extra minutes, a 30-minute route walk goes from $30 to $33.33. If the second dog stops you fitting another walk into the hour, price the lost walk instead.
Is there a free dog walking pricing calculator?
Yes. The free job pricing calculator on this site takes your hours, wage, burden, overhead and margin and shows break-even and the price to quote, with no signup. The free Job Pricing Starter gives you the same maths as an Excel or Google Sheets file.
Sources
- IRS: Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) — 15.3% self-employment tax rate (12.4% Social Security + 2.9% Medicare)
I'm not a contractor, landlord or accountant. I build the pricing maths, and every number on this page shows its working so you can check it instead of trusting it. Guides are drafted with AI assistance; every worked figure is computed by the same code as the free calculators. How these guides are made → · Watch the breakdowns on YouTube →