Guide

Dog walking contract sample, clause by clause

A dog walking contract sample, clause by clause, plus when an agreement can be legally enforceable. You still choose every number in the form. Read it first.

A dog walking contract sample should name both parties, the walks and the schedule, the rate and when it is due, cancellation, keys and access, vet care if you cannot reach the owner, what happens if the dog bites, weather, how either side ends it, and signatures. It can be a legally enforceable contract when it has mutual assent, consideration, capacity, and a lawful purpose, which is the list on the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute contract page. State courts may interpret individual elements differently. This sample is not legal advice. Copy the shape, then put in your own numbers.

Asking a client to sign feels awkward the first time. Do it before the first walk anyway. A verbal "same as last week" is how a cancellation fight starts. The one honest limit of this page: a sample, including ours, does not know your city's rules. Have a local attorney read the version you actually use.

What a walking agreement has to say

Care.com's guide walks through the topics walkers forget: job duties, a time window rather than a clock time, payment, keys, behavior, medical notes, insurance, and how you will talk to the client. A walker quoted there uses a two-to-three-hour arrival window, because a day of walks slips. The same guide says a veterinary release belongs with the contract, so someone can treat the dog if you cannot reach the owner.

The Care.com guide does not print a sample clause a walker can copy. A UK membership site, NARPS, lists the same jobs in its own order: legal names and phone numbers, the walks, the dog's health and behavior, emergency contacts and the vet, key handling, payment, a cancellation notice period, liability and insurance, how you will update the owner, and a termination clause.

Two published forms show what "filled in" looks like, and where they stop. The Royal Maids dog walking contract already picks a rule: cancellation with less than 24 hours' notice may be charged at the full rate. The Royal Maids contract has no weather clause and no late-fee line. The free Bishopton pet-sitting contract already picks different numbers: either party may cancel with 48 hours' notice, and a late cancellation incurs a 30% fee except for emergencies. LegalZoom sells a dog walking agreement you draft on their site. The LegalZoom page has no weather section.

Those are other people's choices. Yours belong in the blanks. How to price the walk itself is in the dog walking rates guide. How to word the notice hours and the fee is in the cancellation policy guide.

Is a dog walking contract legally binding?

A contract is an agreement that creates obligations a court can enforce. The basic elements are mutual assent (an offer and an acceptance), consideration (something of value is exchanged), capacity (a minimum age and a sound mind), and legality (a lawful purpose). Even informal agreements may be binding if those elements are present. Cornell's famous example is a deal written on a restaurant napkin, upheld because both sides showed assent and consideration.

People often ask for three things that make a contract legal. The legal encyclopedia page lists four, not a tidy trio. Offer and acceptance are the two halves of mutual assent, which is why some lists feel shorter.

If an agreement is missing the necessary elements, Cornell says courts will neither compel performance nor grant damages for nonperformance. That line is not a blanket no-enforcement or no-damages conclusion. In some states, a valid substitute can satisfy consideration, and in limited circumstances a court may still award reliance damages under promissory estoppel, or restitution or unjust enrichment, to prevent injustice. This page is not legal advice. A void contract is invalid from the start of its purported closing. That is not the same as voidable. Capacity rules often require a minimum age and a sound mind, and a contract signed by a person under that age, or not of sound mind, may be void or voidable. Duress renders a contract voidable: a threat that destroys free choice, not a missing signature line. Unconscionability is a defense against enforcing a term that is oppressive, especially when one side had no meaningful choice. A court may refuse to enforce that term. It does not mean every firm cancellation fee is void.

There is no nationwide list of six things that void a walking contract. Treat "six things that void a contract" as a search habit, not a statute.

Does it have to be in writing? Some contracts must be in writing and signed. The common ones are land sales, contracts that cannot be completed within one year, and sales of goods worth $500 or more. A week-to-week walking agreement is not automatically any of those. Writing it down is still how you avoid the "I never agreed to that" fight. A business attorney told Care.com that agreements should be reviewed by an attorney so they meet legal requirements. You can draft one without a lawyer. You should not skip that review if you plan to rely on it.

Sample clauses (illustrative)

The dollar amounts and hours in this block are illustrative. They are not a rate card and not a legal rule. Replace every figure with the number you actually charge.

Parties. This agreement is between Jordan Lee, walker, at 14 Pine Street, and Sam Ortiz, owner, at 88 Oak Avenue, for the dog named Maple. Only the owner, or someone the owner names in writing, may book or change walks.

You decide the legal names, phones, and which dogs are covered. A nickname on a text thread is a weak way to show who agreed.

Services and schedule. The walker will walk Maple on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, inside a two-hour window starting at 11:00, for 30 minutes, on a leash, and will send a short note after each walk. The walker does not train, groom, or stay overnight. Extra tasks, such as bringing in a package, are booked and priced on their own.

You decide the days, the window, the length, and what you will not do. A promised minute is how a late text becomes a complaint. Solo walkers who are building the week can sketch that window on a dog walking calendar before they write it here.

Rates and payment. The fee is $25 per walk, due every Friday by Venmo. A visit that runs long because the leash was not where the note said it was is billed for the extra time. A payment still open 7 days later adds a $10 late fee.

You decide the price, when it is due, how you are paid, and when a late fee starts. Do not hide a holiday rate in a text later.

Cancellation. The owner may cancel a walk at least 12 hours ahead at no charge. Inside that window the fee is half the walk. If the walker cancels, the walk is not charged.

You decide the notice and the fee. Write the same numbers you will actually invoice. Wording for that choice is in the cancellation guide linked above.

Keys and access. The owner gives one working key, or a lockbox code, at the meet and greet, and tests it before the first paid walk. The walker keeps that key for these walks only and returns it when the agreement ends. If the walker cannot get in, the walk is still billed, because the time was held.

You decide who pays for a lost key, which door the key opens, and whether an alarm code is included. Untested keys are a common way to lose the visit.

Vet care if the owner cannot be reached. The owner names a vet and a backup clinic, and a spending limit of $300. If the walker cannot reach the owner and Maple needs a vet, the walker may take Maple to that clinic up to the limit. The owner pays the clinic. This clause does not promise that the walker is a medic.

You decide the clinics and the dollar limit. Confirm the clinic's authorization requirements before you rely on this clause.

Behavior and who pays. The owner says what Maple does around other dogs, bikes, and the doorbell. If Maple harms the walker or another dog, or breaks a neighbor's gate, the owner pays the vet bills and the damage. The walker may end the agreement the same day after that. The walker does not promise it will never happen.

You decide the behavior line you will not cross. Say whether you walk more than one client's dog at a time.

Weather. The walker may shorten the outdoor time, or trade the walk for a yard break and indoor play, when the weather is outside the limits written here: no outdoor walk if ___, and no outdoor walk if ___. The visit time is still used. The fee stands unless the walker cancels the visit.

You decide the heat, ice, storm, pavement, and lightning limits, and write the rule you and the client agree. Do not leave this as "we'll see."

Termination. Either side may end this agreement with 7 days' written notice. The walker may end it the same day for a bite, for a key that never works, or for a payment still open after the late-fee date. Walks already done are still owed. Keys come back the day it ends.

You decide the notice for a calm ending, and which problems end it immediately.

Signatures. Signed by the owner and the walker on the date below. A change to the fee, the days, or the dogs is initialed by both, or it is a new agreement.

You decide whether you accept a photo of the signed page or only ink. Get it before the first walk, friends and family included.

What you still have to set

The clauses above point at blanks on purpose. A form that already prints 24 hours or a 30% fee has made the choice for you. You may want those numbers. You may not. Write the ones you will enforce, including on a week when you like the client.

The Dog Walking Service Agreement is the agreement you and each new client sign before the first walk. It starts with the client's details and the Key terms: every term that is yours to set, such as prices, cancellation hours and fee, late fee and weather limits. It is a plain-English starting point, not legal advice. It is $4.99.

A contract is not an insurance policy. If a walk goes wrong, the paper tells you who you agreed would pay. It does not pay the bill. What a walking policy actually covers is in the dog walking business insurance guide. If you are still setting the business up, the how to start a dog walking business guide is the wider list.