Guide

How to Advertise Dog Walking and Get the First Clients

Advertise dog walking in this order: neighbors and flyers, pet shops, Nextdoor, Google, Facebook groups, then apps, and what to post on each.

Advertise dog walking in this order: neighbors and a flyer, then vets, groomers, and pet stores, then Nextdoor, a Google Business Profile, local Facebook groups, and an app such as Rover last. Neighbors and a flyer cost paper, tape, and your time. Google lets a service business manage how it shows up on Maps and Search at no charge. Nextdoor says claiming a Business Page is free and posting from it is free.

That order is about cash and setup, not a promise that the first channel fills your week. A post still needs you to answer the text and do the meet and greet. Set the rate before you print it, using the notes in dog walking rates.

Start with neighbors and a flyer

Time To Pet tells a new walker to start with friends, family, and neighbors, because those people already know your character. Tell them the service, the streets you will cover, and how to text you. Ask them to pass one flyer to a dog owner they know.

The flyer is one page. Put your business name, the walks you offer, the area, a price or the word "from," a phone number, and a photo only if you have permission to show that dog. How to lay that page out, including tear-off tabs and a QR code, is in how to make a dog walking flyer. If the name on the page is still a placeholder, pick one in dog walking business names before you print a stack.

What to hand a neighbor:

Hi, I started weekday dog walks on our block. Midday solo walks and a small pack. Text me if you want a meet and greet, or pass this to someone whose dog is home alone.

Tape a copy on your own door only if your building allows it. A coffee-shop board is the same flyer, plus a sentence asking the staff if the board is for local services.

Time To Pet also names flyers as a traditional channel once word of mouth is moving. Use the flyer as the leave-behind, not as the whole plan.

What to leave at the vet, the groomer, and the pet store

Pet Sitters International says veterinarians, groomers, trainers, and pet supply stores see dog owners every day, and a recommendation from them carries weight because owners are cautious about who comes into the home. Go in person. Ask if you may leave a short stack. Offer to pick up leftovers so the counter stays clear.

PSI's introduction package is business cards, a service brochure, your website and contact line, and a note on your experience. A one-page flyer can be that brochure when you are starting. The card, if you have one, is the piece someone puts in a pocket. The flyer is the piece that stays on the counter.

What to say to the person at the desk:

I walk dogs in this neighborhood on weekdays. May I leave a few flyers for clients who ask about midday walks? I will check back and take away any that are still here.

Do this at the clinic your own dog uses, the groomer on your route, and one pet store. Three visits beat a vague plan to "network."

What to post on Nextdoor

If dog walking is your business, post about it from a Business Page. Nextdoor's policy update says promoting a business, service, or paid opportunity must be done from a free Business Page, not from a personal neighbor account, and that claiming the page is free, posting from it is free, and verification takes a minute. The same update says a casual dog walking offer can still go up from a personal account up to once a month, under your own name, when you are just being a neighbor and not running a business.

Nextdoor Groups are different: admins decide what promotion is welcome in their community. Read that group's notes before you post there. Opportunity Alerts are an optional paid subscription, and Nextdoor Ads are a separate optional product. You do not need either to claim the page.

What to post from the Business Page:

Weekday dog walks in [neighborhood]. Solo walks and a small pack. Text [phone] for a meet and greet. Photo is a client dog, posted with the owner's OK.

Post the service, the area, and how to reach you. Skip a daily copy of the same ad in the main feed. Neighbors can still recommend you from their own accounts. That recommendation is the post Nextdoor says works better than self-promotion.

What to put on a Google Business Profile

A Business Profile is for a storefront or a service-area business that meets customers in person, and you manage how it shows up on Maps and Search at no charge. Google says you can list hours, a website, a phone number, and a location, and that the location can be a street address, a service area, or a place marker. Use the service-area option when you walk at clients' homes and you want the pin off your house.

You can also post photos, collect and reply to reviews, and send people to a website, social page, or booking link. Google mentions location-based ads if you want a larger audience; those ads are separate from the profile.

Pet Sitters International lists the same core fields for a walker: business name, service area, phone number and email, website link, photos of pets you care for, and client reviews. Fill those before you worry about ads.

What to put in the description:

Weekday dog walks in [neighborhood]. Solo and small-group. Text to book a meet and greet. Rates on request.

Add a photo of you with a dog only when the owner said yes. Reply to every review, including a short one.

What to post in a Facebook group

Pet Sitters International tells walkers to participate in local Facebook groups, and to show up there as part of the community, not only as an ad. This article does not quote Facebook's group rules, because that help page did not return a page we could read. Open the group's pinned post and follow what the admins wrote.

What to post, once, in a group that allows service notes:

Hi, I am [name]. I walk dogs in [neighborhood] on weekdays. Happy to answer questions here. Text [phone] if you want a meet and greet.

Then stay in the group and answer dog questions you actually know. Repeat a promotional post only when the group's rules and admins allow it. If the group forbids promotion, do not post the offer there. Ask the admin in a message, or skip that group.

What to put on an app profile

An app such as Rover is last in this list because it is a marketplace, not a bulletin board, and you should read that app's current fee page before you type a rate. This article does not quote a service fee. Rover's fee page did not return a page we could read, so a percentage here would be a guess.

What to put on the profile:

• The walks you actually offer, in the same words as the flyer.
• The neighborhoods you will travel to.
• Photos you have permission to show.
• A rate you already checked against the fee, so the amount you keep still matches the number in dog walking rates.
• A line that the first visit is a meet and greet.

Copy the flyer text into the profile so a person who saw both does not get two different offers.

A week of posting, not a pile of ads (illustrative starter routine)

This routine is illustrative: a starting order to adapt, not a sourced requirement or a proven quota. Day one: tell ten people you know, and hand each of them a flyer. Day two: visit one clinic, one groomer, and one pet store. Day three: claim the Nextdoor Business Page and the Google profile, and fill the name, area, and phone on both. Day four: one Facebook group post, if the rules allow it. Day five: the app profile, after you have read the fee page.

Pet Sitters International says marketing is a year-round job, and that referrals stay one of the common ways members meet new clients. After the first paid walks, ask those owners if you may use them as a reference, and if they will pass your flyer to one other person. That ask is the second wave. The channels above are the first wave.

If you are still setting up the business around this advertising, the sequence in how to start a dog walking business covers the steps that come before and after the first post.

When a flyer is the piece you hand over

The leave-behind in every channel above is the same page: name, services, area, price, phone. The Find Clients Set: flyer, price list and Instagram post set is a printable flyer that finds dog walking clients, a one-page menu of your walk and drop-in prices, and ready-written social media posts and stories, and the price is $10.99. You print the flyers yourself.

A reader who buys nothing can still follow the order above and write the posts in the boxes. The limit is attention: a flyer on a board does not introduce you. You still walk in, ask, and answer the phone.