Des Moines, IASet your own routes and hours across Des Moines and take only the walks that fit your day. Walks in Des Moines run $14 to $27 per 30 to 60 minute walk, and you keep up to 90% of every booking.
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We provide the tools, support, and protection you need to build a thriving pet care business.
You decide what to charge. Our pricing suggestions help you stay competitive while maximizing earnings.
Work when you want. Accept bookings that fit your lifestyle. No minimum hours required.
Every booking includes up to $22,000 through the Protection Plan. Care for pets with confidence.
Our app handles messaging, payments, and scheduling. Focus on what you do best: pet care.
Get discovered by pet owners in your area. Our search helps clients find the perfect sitter.
Get paid within 2 business days after each booking. Keep up to 90% of every booking.
July averages a high of 85.6F in Des Moines, so asphalt burns paws by mid afternoon and rounds shift to morning. January averages a high of 30.9F and a low of 13.8F, and about 9 inches of snow falls that month, so packed ice decides which sidewalk you take. Sunset comes at 4:47 pm in early December, which puts the last walk of the day in the dark.
Des Moines has a mean commute of 18.8 minutes, so owners are gone from early morning until after five. The gap between 11 and 2 is where most walk bookings sit. Des Moines Public Schools starts August 24, and pickup shifts some rounds later. Summer travel and the holidays thin the weekday book.
East Village sits just east of downtown across the Des Moines River, so two jobs there stay on foot along the Principal Riverwalk. Sherman Hill is a 15 block area northwest of downtown that runs from 15th Street west to Martin Luther King Jr Parkway, so a walk out of downtown reaches it before the parkway. Beaverdale is roughly ten minutes further out, and that drive eats a midday gap.
Owners here mostly keep Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Australian Shepherd. Knowing how those breeds behave, and saying so on your profile, is what turns a first booking into a repeat client.
A typical Des Moines job is one dog, half an hour, keyed in through a lockbox while the owner is at work. You clip the leash, take a loop of quiet side streets, refill the water bowl and leave a note. From December through February you wipe salt off paws at the door.
You meet the owner and the dog, agree the pickup time and the route, and check the harness, the leash and whether the dog pulls or reacts to other dogs. In Des Moines that meet-and-greet is where most repeat clients are won.
Leash on, waste bagged, water offered on longer loops, and a check of the pavement before you head out on a hot afternoon. Owners want to know the dog was walked, not driven around a parking lot for twenty minutes.
Paws wiped, water topped up, the dog settled inside and the door locked as you found it. Then a photo and a line about how it went. That message is what turns one booking into a standing weekly slot.
From sign up to your first booking in just a few simple steps.
Download the app, add photos, write your bio, and select the services you want to offer.
Complete our verification process. Once approved, your profile goes live.
Choose your rates, availability, and the types of pets you're comfortable caring for.
Accept booking requests, provide great care, and build your client base.
Adjust the sliders to estimate your potential monthly earnings.
Based on typical boarding rates in the United States
Typical Petme rates in Des Moines. You set your own price for each service, and keep up to 90% of every booking.
$14 to $27 per 30 to 60 minute walk
$14 to $28 per 20 to 30 minute visit
$24 to $44 per day
$33 to $68 per night
$33 to $68 per night
Run the numbers on Des Moines. Three standing clients at four walks a week is 12 walks; at $21 a walk that is $252, and you keep up to 90%. Most of that comes from the same three doors every week.
Principal Financial Group's headquarters sits at 711 High Street and the company runs several more buildings downtown. The Greater Des Moines Partnership's 2026 major employer list puts Principal at 5,000 to 9,999 staff with Des Moines as its main location, so thousands of owners are out on a weekday, which is what fills the midday dog walking book here.
Iowa does not license pet sitters or dog walkers; the state's commercial-kennel license covers boarding and grooming facilities, not a solo walker. Boarding or day hosting several dogs at home may fall under that license, so check before offering it. Des Moines requires dogs to be leashed on a restraint no longer than six feet in public, and the city has no general business license requirement for a solo walker. Pet-care earnings are self-employment income, reported on Schedule C against the platform's 1099.
Owners read profiles the way they read reviews of a daycare. Four things get you the first booking.
A profile that says which Des Moines neighborhoods you cover beats one that says "anywhere". Owners search for someone close, and a short travel time is what makes a recurring walk work.
Owners want the same walker at the same time each day. Say which weekday windows you can hold, and you will be chosen over a walker with a wider but vaguer calendar.
Which breeds you have walked, whether you are fine with a strong puller or a reactive dog, and what you do when one dog will not walk. Specifics win. So does a photo of you with a dog.
Dog walking on Petme in Des Moines runs $14 to $27 per 30 to 60 minute walk. You set your own rate, and you keep up to 90% of every booking.
Yes. Petme recruits sitters across Des Moines year-round, from Downtown Des Moines to East Village, and owners send booking requests directly to sitters in their area. There is no vacancy list to wait on: you create a profile, set the areas you cover, and accept the requests you want.
No. Petme sitters must be 18 or over, so under-18s cannot take bookings yet. From 18 you need a smartphone with the Petme app, to pass ID verification, and a profile that describes the pets you have cared for, including your own.
Principal Financial Group's headquarters sits at 711 High Street and the company runs several more buildings downtown. The Greater Des Moines Partnership's 2026 major employer list puts Principal at 5,000 to 9,999 staff with Des Moines as its main location, so thousands of owners are out on a weekday, which is what fills the midday dog walking book here. You walk where you already know the parks, the quiet routes, and the local leash rules.
Yes. You decide where to walk, when, and for how long. No assigned routes, no minimum hours, no shift rosters. Many Des Moines walkers build a regular loop through Downtown Des Moines and East Village and accept or decline requests as they come in.
It works as flexible income alongside a job or studies. You pick your availability and scale bookings up or down, and a compact route around Downtown Des Moines keeps travel time low between walks.
Every confirmed Petme booking, including walks, includes $22,000 in Protection Plan for the dog in your care, at no cost to you or the owner. The same cover applies whether you walk in Downtown Des Moines or East Village.
Yes, dog walking in Des Moines runs all year, but the day changes shape. January averages a high near 31F with ice underfoot, so winter rounds get shorter. July heat pushes walks to early morning. The midday work holds through both seasons.
You need to be 18 or over, have a smartphone with the Petme app, and pass ID verification. Owners choose on reviews, availability and a complete profile, so it is worth describing the pets you have looked after, including your own, and naming the Des Moines areas you cover.
Owners in Des Moines mostly keep Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Australian Shepherd, Goldendoodle. Saying on your profile which of those you have walked helps owners choose you, because most are looking for someone already comfortable with their dog's size and energy.
Yes. You set which parts of Des Moines you cover, so you can keep dog walking to Downtown Des Moines, East Village and the streets around them. Owners inside that area send booking requests to the sitters who cover it, and you accept or decline each one.
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Browse verified Petme pet sitters near you in Des Moines: 0% owner fee, cashback on every booking, and $22,000 Protection Plan.
Host dogs during the day. Set your own headcount, hours and rate, and keep up to 90%.
Drop-in cat visits and in-home cat care. Set your own rate per visit and keep up to 90%.
Board, host daycare, and do drop-ins too. Set your own rates and keep up to 90% of every booking.
