What does a dog walker/pet sitter do?

A dog walker or pet sitter walks the dogs of their clients following the agreed-upon schedules and routes. Dog walkers accompany dogs during the vacation absences and work hours of their clients. Their job includes offering dogs water and food as well as dispose of their waste products. They also take them to the veterinarian during emergencies. Typically, they stay in the owners' homes. To become a good dog walker, one must develop stamina, honesty, flexibility, and organizational skills.
Dog walker/pet sitter responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real dog walker/pet sitter resumes:
- Help managed the company and train new walkers
- Care for dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, & guinea pigs at all stages of life.
- Fed and give water, give medication if necessary.
- Volunteer on a farm and work closely with chickens and pigs.
- Provide pet sitting services including daily dog walking, feeding, administer medication and overnights
- Pet services comprise of basic and specialize dog care including administering medication and following precise instructions left by the owner
- Bathe, groom dogs, including nail clipping and anal gland expression.
Dog walker/pet sitter skills and personality traits
We calculated that 73% of Dog Walker/Pet Sitters are proficient in PET, Walkers, and Water Plants. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Customer-service skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Dog Walker/Pet Sitters that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- PET, 73%
Pet services comprised of basic and specialized dog care including administering medication and following precise instructions left by the owner
- Walkers, 13%
Feed and take the shelter's dogs on 30-60 minute walks, as well as oversee other dog walkers.
- Water Plants, 5%
Care for animals, check mail, water plants, make sure homes are secure.
- Fresh Water, 4%
Fed animals twice daily and made sure they had access to fresh water at annulled times.
- Administer Medications, 2%
Administer medications and provide transportation to vet visits.
- Client S Homes, 1%
Visited client s homes during scheduled times to walk and feed pets.
"pet," "walkers," and "water plants" are among the most common skills that dog walker/pet sitters use at work. You can find even more dog walker/pet sitter responsibilities below, including:
Compassion. The most essential soft skill for a dog walker/pet sitter to carry out their responsibilities is compassion. This skill is important for the role because "animal care and service workers must be compassionate when dealing with animals and their owners." Additionally, a dog walker/pet sitter resume shows how their duties depend on compassion: "provide professional, compassionate, stellar customer service to all who visit, call, volunteer, and donate. "
Customer-service skills. Another essential skill to perform dog walker/pet sitter duties is customer-service skills. Dog walker/pet sitters responsibilities require that "animal care and service workers should understand pet owners’ needs so they can provide excellent customer service." Dog walker/pet sitters also use customer-service skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "managed costumer files including pet information, customer information, addresses, house keys and calendars for ongoing clients. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for dog walker/pet sitters to perform their duties. For an example of how dog walker/pet sitter responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "animal care and service workers are often responsible for maintaining records and monitoring changes in animals’ behavior." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a dog walker/pet sitter: "provide owners with detailed report card of their pet s walk. ".
Patience. For certain dog walker/pet sitter responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "patience." The day-to-day duties of a dog walker/pet sitter rely on this skill, as "all animal caretakers and animal trainers need to be patient when working with animals." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what dog walker/pet sitters do: "ensured pet safety with love and patience. "
Physical stamina. Another common skill required for dog walker/pet sitter responsibilities is "physical stamina." This skill comes up in the duties of dog walker/pet sitters all the time, as "animal care and service workers must be able to kneel, crawl, and lift heavy supplies, such as bags of food." An excerpt from a real dog walker/pet sitter resume shows how this skill is central to what a dog walker/pet sitter does: "recorded and report any changes in dog behavior as well as any physical problems with the dog to supervisor and owner. "
Problem-solving skills. Lastly, "problem-solving skills" is an important element of what a dog walker/pet sitter does. Dog walker/pet sitter responsibilities require this skill because "animal trainers must be able to assess whether animals are responding to teaching methods and to identify which methods are successful." This resume example highlights how dog walker/pet sitter duties rely on this skill: "assisted pet parents in finding solutions and pet products related to fish, birds, reptiles, and small animals. "
The three companies that hire the most dog walker/pet sitters are:
- CARE104 dog walker/pet sitters jobs
- Fetch! Pet Care2 dog walker/pet sitters jobs
- Pet Sitter
1 dog walker/pet sitters jobs
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Dog walker/pet sitter vs. Animal daycare provider
An animal daycare provider is an individual who deals with animals and provides care to animals whose owners are temporarily unavailable. Animal daycare providers must assist and facilitate activities based on the curriculum set out by the animal daycare facility. They are required to have walks with the animals they are taking care of and should help in cleaning their cages or sleeping area. Animal daycare providers must also ensure that the animals they monitor have adequate food and water.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a dog walker/pet sitter are more likely to require skills like "pet," "walkers," "water plants," and "fresh water." On the other hand, a job as an animal daycare provider requires skills like "child care," "nutritional meals," "cpr," and "social development." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Animal daycare providers tend to reach similar levels of education than dog walker/pet sitters. In fact, animal daycare providers are 2.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Dog walker/pet sitter vs. Animal care provider
An animal care provider is someone who provides care and attention to pets. Usually, this person is part of a veterinary clinic and offers all kinds of care pets ranging from grooming, medical attention, and hygienic care. The animal care provider is an essential contact person for animal lovers, which makes the position important. Part of an animal care provider's responsibilities is exercising animals, monitoring their health and nutrition, treating wounds, sicknesses, and other ailments, and giving owners advice on how to take care of their pets better.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that dog walker/pet sitter responsibilities requires skills like "walkers," "water plants," "fresh water," and "client s homes." But an animal care provider might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "husbandry," "animal housing," "customer service," and "laboratory animals."
In general, animal care providers achieve similar levels of education than dog walker/pet sitters. They're 1.0% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Dog walker/pet sitter vs. Kennel attendant
A kennel attendant is responsible for the daily care of boarded dogs and kennel maintenance. Some of the duties that you will perform will include cleaning cages, scheduling boarding appointments, and monitoring the behavior of these dogs. In addition, it is your responsibility to clean spilled food and animal waste and to dispose of trash on time. Other duties include walking animals if required, ensuring that the animals are always comfortable, and evacuating them when an emergency arises.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a dog walker/pet sitter is likely to be skilled in "walkers," "water plants," "client s homes," and "topical medications," while a typical kennel attendant is skilled in "animal handling," "facility laundry," "animal hospital," and "animal restraint."
When it comes to education, kennel attendants tend to earn similar degree levels compared to dog walker/pet sitters. In fact, they're 2.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Dog walker/pet sitter vs. Animal caregiver
An animal caretaker is primarily in charge of the welfare and safety of animals in a particular area. They may work at veterinary shops and clinics, private institutions, kennels, animal shelters, and even zoos. Although their responsibilities vary on the animals and their place of employment, it typically includes feeding, bathing, grooming, exercising, and petting. There are also instances where they must clean and sanitize cages, prepare meals, administer vitamins and medication, and monitor their behavior.
Types of dog walker/pet sitter
Updated January 8, 2025











