The economics of dog walking | Hacker News Reader

The economics of dog walking

thehustle.co

53 pointspseudolus42 comments

This stood out:

Someone who works for himself and can walk 2-3 dogs at once can make $100k. And if they’re really good, they can make $200k+.

Hiring additional walkers can exponentially increase these figures: Stewart knows a few dog walkers with small operations who reel in $500k+ after expenses.

Surely it's a textbook case of linear growth? That was literally annoying.

Walking the dog is a privilege, not a chore. You only have these precious creatures for 15 years or less.

And @sokoloff, you're not alone. The dog park we used to go to had a guy who had no dog (his died) and just liked to come there every day.

At a local park, they have a big sign, maybe 4 ft high and 10 or so wide. I saw this one ace dog walker with about six dogs all sitting on the sign and posing for a picture. I aspire to that.

From my understanding, many uses of this are extra walks during the day while the human companion is at work, not as a substitute for morning and evening walks, but I might be wrong. I'm sure elderly people may have other exceptions, for example.

O/T slightly. We "dogsit" dogs for fun using the Rover app. The amount we charge and ultimately receive after Rover's cut is hilariously small for what the pet owner receives in return. Even if we quadrupled our rate, it still wouldn't be "worth it" for someone trying to make a living, or even a second income.

I always assumed people would use Rover to find a trustworthy walker, and then just pay them in cash and cut out Rover. I guess you lose out on insurance in case your dog is injured during the walk but that doesn't seem worth it for how much they take.

I was assuming people just want to hang out with a dog now and then regardless of how much it pays.

Our prior dog died this summer and I considered doing some dogsitting for exactly this reason. When I looked into these easy, online/app-based services, it wasn't worth the coordination effort (with the humans) and was easier to just go interact with dogs and owners on the sidewalks and at the local dog parks when I needed my dog fix.

Hey so this was/is us. We raised two dogs from puppies, and when they both died of old-age related issues, we couldn't bring ourselves to bond with another dog/pet. Logistics aren't bad (my wife handles comm). Some people though want to meet us before the transaction which is a pain because of the amount of money involved and inconvenience.

This is us. We just love dogs. Building a business model off of people willing to sacrifice their time and money just to love on dogs is ... a little nuts.

And they probably take so much exactly because they will probably earn only on the first few transactions before the relationship is taken offline

We've had a couple repeat requests, but through the app not outside. We're not "dog walkers" so maybe that's the difference as most of our customers are on vacation, or are going on vacation which doesn't happen on a regular basis.

How much of a cut do they take? I have used three Rover sitters and they all wanted to cut out the middleman after a few times.

In general my fear is that the gig economy will lead to high margin middlemen instead of super efficient facilitators.

I believe it's 15% however my beef isn't with the fee but rather "the market" pricing. The value I deliver as a passionate dogsitter is probably worth several hundred dollars a day. The dog lives in our home, is showered with love, we take and send photos throughout the day to the owner and typically the dog sleeps in our bed (not to mention we usually buy the dog a toy). The rate we charge, based on what others are charging should mean your dog is locked is small room, akin to a kennel and fed/walked regularly.

We've not had enough repeat business to develop "outside" relationships, but I'm sure that's coming down the road as we've made plenty of dog owners (and dogs) super happy.

Sounds like they need a sort of "Uber Black" section in the app to serve that market.

Isn't this an unrelated issue to your original point? (not being able to make a living)

It sounds like you've just mis-matched the quality of your service vs the quality the market (that you're advertising in) is seeking.

I know when I leave town for a few days, I'm ok with my dogs just getting a clean crate, food, and a walk every day. They don't love it, but as long as they're clean, safe, and fed - I don't really have any problems with them being bored. They certainly don't need to sleep in your bed.

There might well be a market for the level of service you're providing (there is - I have family who do 2 week board and trains, and the price starts around 2.5k per dog) but it's not Rover.

"you've just mis-matched the quality of your service vs the quality the market (that you're advertising in) is seeking."

I would sort of agree, however the dog-owners clearly expect a very high level of service but curiously don't question the super low price being charged. We have dog kennels in the area, I know and they know what the going rate is.

They choose us because kennels can be rough. But at the same time, they pay us LESS than the kennel.

Also we didn't decide our prices in a vacuum. We looked at the market, and set our rate based on that. "The market" in this case is nuts and unsustainable for providers (IMH0).

I've had two people give us tips who clearly recognized the ridiculous pricing model, but sadly most are more than happy to pay just the low fee.

All that being said because this is a hobby I'm merely looking at it with slight amusement and concern for those trying to make a living.

> The value I deliver as a passionate dogsitter is probably worth several hundred dollars a day.

You'll find that while owners like the things that you're offering, they're not generally willing to pay for those things. At a certain price point, they'll just turn around and find someone else or even use a boarding facility. The ones who are willing to pay the rates you seem to be talking about are going to want you to stay in their home. If you add training and grooming, you can start seeing higher rates; but only because you're selling more services directly. For just boarding, even with lots of out-kennel time and photos? Almost certainly not. You may not realize it, but outside of Rover, those are pretty typical. Source: Even with lots of past trust built up, our clients have a cap they're willing to pay that is less than "several hundred dollars per day."

"The value I deliver as a passionate dogsitter is probably worth several hundred dollars a day. "

In principle this may be true but for most dog owners this would be prohibitively expensive. I bet if you figure out how to market to the super wealthy you may get away with these rates.

> The value I deliver as a passionate dogsitter is probably worth several hundred dollars a day.

Yes, but the joy of sitting my wonderful dog is worth at least several hundred dollars a day as well, so it all evens out.

I would not trust my dog to a walker who walks them as part of a pack of 6. It would be pure torture for her as:

1. She's a working breed, so walking doesn't really do anything for her. It's very mild and generally unstimulating exercise (same for humans really. Walking is the most boring exercise you can think of)

2. Doesn't get along with other dogs very well. Especially the ones that are very curious and don't get the hint.

3. More risk for my dog, since the person's attention is split 6-ways. Can one person even physically control 6 dogs if they react and pull? Maybe a very large and strong man. But I'm not going to risk it.

But I suppose there are 6-packs of dogs that you can arrange to have a decent experience being walked at the same time, it really depends on the breed and temperament.

Just want to applaud whoever designed the graphics for this piece. Must have been a lot of fun :)

I was expecting a piece on boston dynamics...

Came here to post the same, yes :D

Clickbait: The entire business is earning $100k+ in revenue.

I was wondering if this was an advert from the business or publisher to get pageviews. Great data about the market though.

I bet its better than working as a consultant.

this is my ten year plan (one of many / a thing i dream about). gtfo out of tech and walk dogs and write.

“I like to deal with dogs,” he says, “not people.” Says it all.

It's trite, but my own perspective isn't much different when I consider what lead me to "tech" work.

Ironically, I'm finding that the more experience you have in tech, the more your job is about interacting with people and connecting people who often aren't inclined to be social.

What does it say?

I like to deal with machines, not people.

There is definitely a lot of money to be made if you have figured out how to cater to wealthy people. Basically the same service can be charged five times as much if you make a few tweaks to keep the wealthy happy.

Pet trusts: It is sad how pets are treated like kings, compared to people - but is easy to see why

Made me think of this thread, no wonder people want to walk dogs https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29867290

No doubt - In SF, the elite treat their dogs better than the working class. I use to live in next to a doggie day care that cost +$1000/month.

It's a bit of a false equivalence, no? People who treat their pets well aren't necessarily the same people who treat others badly. These two things aren't mutually exclusive.

Maybe, just generally pointing out the discrepancy.

Unless people who treat their pets well also treat other humans badly, there is no discrepancy

Interesting, is this also an assumption?

I can totally see people put their children and interests ahead at the expense of others, the "selfish gene".

Just extrapolating, humans are not the most morally consistent creatures.

This is the first interesting thing thehustle has put out in... 24 months? Years ago they mostly did interesting, somewhat silly, stories like this. Then they doubled down on the same blogy micronews content every other company pushes out and became one of many. They got acquired so I guess it worked out, for the founders at least.

Nice to see them returning to form.

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