How to become a dog walker in the UK
There is no national dog walking licence. Sort your insurance, register as self-employed, and you can start earning £11 to £25 a walk. On Petme you set your own rate and keep up to 90% of every booking.
Petme is live across UK cities. Build a profile, get verified, and take walk requests near you.
What a dog walker actually does
A dog walker collects dogs from their homes, walks them on safe routes, and returns them fed, watered, and settled. Most of the work is a midday round for owners on long office days whose dog cannot wait until the evening. You handle leads on busy streets, read each dog's temperament, manage recall in the park, and send a quick photo so the owner knows all went well. The walkers who fill a calendar claim two or three neighbouring areas, learn the local greens, and turn a first booking into a standing weekly slot. It is flexible, outdoor, and largely built on the same regulars week after week.
Build a tight round
A couple of neighbouring areas let you chain bookings on foot or by public transport without wasting time in traffic.
Know your parks
Local route knowledge, safe off-lead spots, and reliable recall are what turn first-time bookings into weekly regulars.
Own the midday slot
The longest commutes make the steadiest demand. A dependable lunchtime walk is the request owners rebook every week.
Do you need a dog walking licence?
There is no single national licence to walk dogs in the UK, and nothing stops you starting as a self-employed walker tomorrow. The rules that do exist are set locally. Walking up to around four dogs at once is generally accepted anywhere, but walking more, often up to six, usually needs a licence from your council, and the exact limits and fees vary from one authority to the next. Wandsworth runs a professional dog walker licence scheme, and walking commercially in the Royal Parks requires a separate permit on top. Before you take on group walks or work in a managed park, check your own council's rules and any park authority. You will also need to be confident with the dogs you accept: sound lead handling on busy roads and a calm manner with nervous or reactive dogs count for more than any certificate.
The cover professional walkers carry
Two types of cover are standard for anyone walking dogs for money. Public liability insurance protects you if a dog you are walking injures someone or damages property, and most councils and many owners expect around £2m of it before they will work with you. Care, custody and control cover sits alongside it and protects the dog itself, for example if it is hurt, lost, or causes harm while it is in your charge, which a standard public liability policy usually excludes. Pet-professional insurers bundle both, and it is worth arranging cover before your first paid walk rather than after. On top of your own policy, the Petme Protection Plan offers up to £20,000 for eligible vet costs, so a serious vet bill during a booking does not fall on you or the owner alone.
Public liability
Covers injury or damage to third parties. Around £2m is the level councils and owners usually look for.
Care, custody and control
Covers a dog hurt, lost, or causing harm while in your charge. A public liability policy alone will not.
Registering with HMRC as a walker
Dog walkers work as self-employed sole traders, which means you are responsible for your own tax rather than being on anyone's payroll. Register with HMRC by 5 October after the tax year in which you start earning, then file a Self Assessment return by 31 January online each year. The £1,000 trading allowance means very small earnings need no tax return at all; once you go past it you pay income tax on your profit, not your turnover. Keep simple records of every booking and expense: you can deduct 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles you drive for work, plus leads, poo bags, phone use, insurance, and training. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax starts phasing in from April 2026 for people with income over £50,000, so a walker with a large book will move to digital quarterly updates. These are the general rules; check gov.uk or speak to an accountant for anything specific to your situation.
Register by 5 October
Tell HMRC you are self-employed by 5 October after your first earning tax year, then file Self Assessment by 31 January.
Claim your costs
45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles, plus gear, insurance, and phone. The £1,000 trading allowance covers the smallest earnings.
What you can realistically earn
Dog walking on Petme runs roughly £11 to £25 per walk depending on where you are. London sits at the top of that band, with most regional metros around £11 to £18 and the leafier, professional suburbs at the higher end. What lifts a weekly total is not the headline rate but the round: a walker with a full set of regular midday clients across two or three areas earns far more than someone taking the odd one-off. You set your own rate, and because you keep up to 90% of every booking more of each walk stays with you than on a platform that takes a bigger cut. The Petme Protection Plan offers up to £20,000 for eligible vet costs, and owners pay 0% booking fees, which keeps your rates competitive and your clients rebooking.
For a city-by-city view of rates and demand, open the UK dog walking hub below and see the real bands where you live.
Start walking dogs on Petme in four steps
1. Build your profile
Download Petme, add photos, a short bio, and the areas you cover. A clear profile turns a local search into a booking.
2. Sort insurance and HMRC
Arrange public liability and care, custody and control cover, and register as self-employed. Check whether group walks in your area need a council licence.
3. Verify your ID
Complete identity verification so owners can trust your profile before they book.
4. Set your rate and walk
Choose your hours, set your rate, and accept walk requests near you. Owners pay in the app and your earnings land in your bank after the walk.
Becoming a dog walker in the UK, answered
The questions new walkers ask most about licences, insurance, tax, and earnings.
How do I become a dog walker in the UK?
Do I need a licence to walk dogs in the UK?
What insurance does a dog walker need?
Am I self-employed as a dog walker, and how does tax work?
How much do dog walkers earn in the UK?
What do owners here look for?
How do I get my first dog walking clients?
Start walking dogs in the UK
Set your own rate. Protection Plan up to £20,000, cashback that keeps your clients rebooking, and fast payouts to your bank.