I am a teenager and I want to start a dog walking business around my neighbor to you know, earn a little extra spending money. I am very responsible and have all the sched. And things sorted but I was wondering, how much should I charge for a week? Should it change based on how many times a day I walk a dog? Please answer.

$5. or $6. an hour at least should be good I would think.

That's a good answer but it would be hard to keep track of the time walking like if I was short a few minutes of an hour or longer. A price per week would be great

Okay, I put $3 for 1/2 an hour, $5 for an hour, $30 for 7 days a week once a day, $60 a week twice a day.

I would advise you to be specific as to hours or parts of the hours that you are going to be charging people. That way, you won't have people that will be trying to take advantage of you as far as doing the work for them.

It's possible, that in the course of doing the work and getting to know the people that are hiring you to walk their dog or dogs, that you might be able to come up with some other things that you might be able to do for them in the conversations that you have with your customers, such as window washing, sweeping outside areas, perhaps even house cleaning.

You are young. That is understood. But, there are still some things that you might be able to do in order to make some money while keeping within the scope of what you truly know how to do.

Hopefully, others will also come along to offer their advise here

Going rate in ny ranges between 10 and twenty dollars per visit. visit includes walk, feeding, and exercise (play) in addition to the walk. Total visit time no less than 30 minutes.

Each breed of dog depending on how big they are may take different times to "go around the block" so to speak.

What to do about "rain" and refunds.

What to do about winter when it gets dark early.

Wow I need to do that I wash pots and pans at a college and it takes me four hours to make that!

I was going to say that as long as you are give or take 5 minutes within the 30 minutes or hour that you should make it clear in your price that the rate is the flat rate that you charge for the 30 minutes or hour (as long as you are not consistently shorting them the few minutes)

These people would be counting on you to do the job. Meaning rain or snow hot or cold you are there to do your job. Even if you have a date or a big test to study for you have a job to do. It is a big commitment

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Originally Posted by love is abby

Thats a good answer but it would be hard to keep track of the time walking like if i was short a few minutes of an hour or longer. a price per week would be great

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I pay $17.00 an hour - that's 10 minutes travel time in each direction for my pet sitter. He spends 40 minutes with the dogs. I live on a fenced acre so he plays catch with them, they play with the hose, he sits with them, changes their water.

He has excellent references and has a very good head on his shoulders. I observed him with my dogs twice and also my neighbor can basically see him.

My dogs just love him to pieces and I can trust him to make sure they are healthy and safe and call me if they are not.

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Originally Posted by love is abby

I am a teenager and i want to start a dog walking business around my neighbor to you know, earn a little extra spending money. i am very responsible and have all the sched. and things sorted but I was wondering, how much should i charge for a week? should it change based on how many times a day i walk a dog? please answer.

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First, you are to be commended for showing great initiative at an early age.

There's been some great advice already given here. I just have a few comments.

I believe that an hourly rate is the best way to go. If you haven't already, walk the neighborhood (with an adult) and talk to your neighbors about your services and let them know who you are and what your competitive rate is.

One more question: Have seen anyone else that offers this dog walking services in your neighborhood? If so, call them and ask what their rates are.

Best wishes to you and your new business.

Good job on deciding to open up a business. You can charge anywhere from six to 20 dollars depending on the where you are located. Now if you were about to walk my dogs I would ask you to demonstrate your skills with the dogs by walking them. And if you did anything wrong I would not let you walk my dogs. But if you did do everything right I would pay you top money. So before you start I would recommend that you read the book by ceaser millan on walking the dog. I think it's called mastering the walk.

Best of luck!

This post is from 2008. The OP has not been back.

Please keep an eye on the dates when you answer.