Do dog walkers need a licence in the UK?

No. In England, dog walking is not a licensable activity under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018. The government's statutory guidance for local authorities explicitly places dog walkers and dog sitters outside the licensing scope. Home boarding and dog day care do require a council licence, but walking does not, which means anyone can begin offering it tomorrow with no check of any kind. The vetting is left to the owner.

What should I ask a dog walker before hiring them?

Ask to see their insurance certificate, and check it covers care, custody and control rather than only public liability. Ask how many dogs they walk at once and whether that stays within their insurer's limit. Ask what qualifications and first aid training they hold, how your dog will be transported, how they will hold and store your keys, and exactly what happens if your dog is injured or runs off. Then ask for it in writing.

Do dog walkers need insurance?

There is no law requiring a self-employed dog walker to hold insurance, which is precisely why you should ask to see it. The cover that matters most is care, custody and control, which covers your dog while it is in their charge; ordinary public liability alone may not. Many policies also cap the number of dogs that can be walked at once, commonly six, so a walker exceeding their own limit may not be covered at all.

How many dogs should a dog walker walk at once?

There is no single legal limit across England, though insurers commonly cap cover at six dogs and many councils set lower limits in their public space rules. Fewer is generally better for safety and for the amount of attention each dog gets. Sandra's Place keeps groups to a maximum of four dogs per walker.

Is my dog walker legally responsible for my dog while walking it?

Yes, in several respects. Whoever has charge of a dog at the time can be held responsible under laws covering dangerous dogs and livestock worrying, and the Animal Welfare Act 2006 duty of care applies to anyone responsible for an animal, including a walker looking after someone else's dog. That is a good reason to use someone who understands the law they are working under.

Guides

What to Look For in a Dog Walker

Handing your keys and your dog to someone else is a big thing to do, and it usually happens on the strength of a friendly message and a nice photo on Facebook.

I'd rather you asked me difficult questions than didn't, so here's what I'd genuinely want a friend to check. Some of it doesn't flatter my own trade.

Start here: there's no such thing as a licensed dog walker

This is the part most owners don't know, and it matters more than anything else on this page.

In England, dog walking isn't a licensable activity. Home boarding needs a council licence, and so does dog day care, but walking needs nothing at all. The government's own guidance for councils puts dog walkers outside the licensing rules entirely.

So there's no inspection, no minimum standard, and no register. Anyone can decide tomorrow morning that they're a dog walker, and by lunchtime they are one. Nobody checks.

Be wary of anyone advertising as a "licensed dog walker". For walking alone, there's no such licence to hold. If someone mentions a licence, it's worth asking politely what it's actually for. A boarding or day care licence is a real thing and a genuinely good sign, but it isn't a walking qualification, and it shouldn't be waved about as though it were.

Insurance, and the specific words to look for

Because there's no licence, insurance is the first real check you can make. There's no law forcing a self-employed walker to have any, which is exactly why you should ask to see the certificate rather than take a yes on trust.

The phrase that matters is care, custody and control. That's the part covering your dog while it's in their charge. Plain public liability covers damage your dog does to someone else, which isn't the same thing at all.

Worth knowing too: most policies cap how many dogs can be walked at once, commonly six. A walker over their own limit may not be covered, which means neither are you.

Ask how many dogs, and don't be shy about it

There's no single legal limit across England, though plenty of councils set one in their local rules. Insurers set their own.

The practical point is simpler. The more dogs on the lead, the less any one of them is being watched, and the harder it is to do anything about it if something goes wrong. I keep my own groups to four dogs at most, which is as many as I can genuinely keep an eye on.

Qualifications, and first aid especially

Loving dogs isn't a qualification, and anyone can say it. Ask what they actually hold.

First aid is the one I'd push hardest on, because your walker is the person who'll be there if your dog chokes on something or cuts a pad open miles from the car. My dog first aid guide covers what that actually involves, and it's a fair thing to ask any walker to talk you through.

Meet them first, with your dog there

Anyone happy to take your booking without meeting your dog is telling you something. Watch how they greet each other, whether they crouch down or loom over, and whether they ask you anything about your dog's habits.

Watch your dog too. Dogs are usually a better judge of this than we are.

Your keys and your house

Most walkers need access to your home, which is a bigger deal than the dog side and gets discussed far less.

How are keys labelled? Your address on a keyring is a bad idea, and a coded tag is the answer
Where are they kept between walks, and who else has access to them?
Will they let you know if a walk gets missed, and how?
Have they had a DBS check? It isn't required for this work, but plenty of walkers get one, and it's a perfectly reasonable thing to ask

What happens when something goes wrong

This is the question I'd ask above all others, because a good answer comes straight out and a poor one waffles.

Do they hold your vet's details, and your emergency contact, in writing, before the first walk?
Who decides to go to the vet, and who pays on the day if they can't reach you?
What would they do if your dog slipped a lead and ran? (My guide on what to do if your dog goes missing is roughly the answer I'd want to hear.)
How would you be told, and how quickly?

How your dog gets there

If your dog is being driven to a walk, ask how they travel. Crated, harnessed and seatbelted, or loose in a boot are very different answers, and it's worth knowing which one you're agreeing to.

Ask where they'll actually be walked, too. I've written up my own favourite spots around Peterborough, and any walker worth using will have firm opinions about where they take dogs and why.

They're legally in charge, so it helps if they know it

While your dog is with a walker, quite a lot of the law sits on their shoulders rather than yours. Whoever has charge of a dog at the time can be held responsible for it worrying livestock or being dangerously out of control, and the Animal Welfare Act duty of care applies to anyone looking after an animal, not only its owner.

My plain-English guide to dog law goes through it properly. A walker who knows this already is a walker who's thought about the job.

Get it in writing

Rates, cancellation terms, what happens in bad weather, who's liable for what. None of it needs to be complicated, but it should exist before the first walk rather than being worked out after a disagreement.

Myth

The cheapest walker is the best value, since it's only a walk round the block.

Fact

A very low rate usually means bigger groups, less time per dog, or no insurance to pay for. None of those are savings, they're just costs that land somewhere else, usually on your dog.

Quick red flags

Won't show you an insurance certificate, or gets prickly about being asked
Vague about how many dogs they take out at once
Happy to start without ever meeting your dog
No written terms of any kind
Can't tell you what they'd do in an emergency
Advertises a "licence" for dog walking that turns out not to exist

How I'd answer my own questions. I'm fully insured, I keep groups to four dogs per walker, and I hold a Level 3 Diploma in Dog Grooming, Walking & Training alongside diplomas in Animal Care and Dog First Aid. Every dog's vet and emergency contact details are written down before we start, everything is set out in a straightforward Service Agreement, and my home is council licensed for boarding to the Higher Standard (Licence No. 132982), which is a boarding licence rather than a walking one. Walking stays local to Peterborough and the nearby villages, so your dog's time is spent walking rather than sat in a car.

If you'd like to ask me any of the above, please do, I'd far rather you did. Message me and we'll arrange a proper introduction. If you're weighing up boarding as well, my guide to choosing a dog boarding service covers that side, and how often your dog needs walking will help you work out what you're actually asking for.

Where this advice comes from

The licensing position is the government's own, and worth reading if you'd like to check it yourself:

GOV.UK: dog day care licensing, statutory guidance for local authorities, which sets out that dog walkers and sitters fall outside the licensing scope
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018

Checked against the sources above in August 2026. This is general guidance for owners rather than legal advice, and licensing rules differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.