01. Dog walking prices for a solo walk
A solo walk is one dog, one walker. For each business we took the cheapest solo walk it sells and recorded how long it is.
Across 22 businesses the median is $35, from $20 to $80. But that single number hides two different walks:
| Shortest solo walk on the price list | Businesses |
|---|
| 30 minutes | 12 |
| 60 minutes | 6 |
| 45 minutes | 1 |
| 15 minutes | 2 |
| Length not stated | 1 |
Where the shortest walk is 30 minutes, the median is $30 ($20 to $45, 12 businesses). And 15 of the 22 also publish an hour-long solo walk. For that hour the median is $53, from $30 to $80.
So how much do dog walkers charge for an hour? The middle of the published hour is $53, and only two of the 15 are under $40. Weekend loadings and travel fees sit on top, which we cover in section 06.
The 30-minute solo walk is rarer than you'd think
Our price index measures walking with one unit in every country it tracks: a 30-minute solo walk. Australia barely sells one.
We looked at 45 businesses that sell dog walking to the public. Only 8 publish a 30-minute walk labelled solo, private or one-on-one. Another 9 publish a 30-minute price for one dog without calling it solo, which brings the total to 17. The other 28 publish no 30-minute one-dog walk at all.
What they sell instead is the hour, or a group walk. That matches what we found in August, when only 5 of the 64 price pages we collected quoted a 30-minute solo walk (26 of those pages sold walks at all).
Short walks do exist: 17 of the 45 print a 30-minute price for one dog, and two sell a 15-minute walk. They're just rarely the main thing on the list, so if a short walk suits an older dog or a puppy, look for it by name.
02. Group and pack walk prices
Group walks are the other half of the market. Your dog heads out with a few others, and some businesses build the outing around a beach or an off-leash park.
Across 17 businesses the median group walk is $39.50, from $30 to $50. Ten of the 17 are an hour long, two run for two hours, one for 45 minutes, and four don't say.
Why is the group median higher than the solo one? Because the solo figure includes all those 30-minute walks. Compare like with like and the order flips: the 10 hour-long group walks have a median of $39, against $53 for an hour on your dog's own.
Eight businesses state a group size. Six of those say four dogs, one says three and one says up to six.
03. Pet sitting rates for a drop-in visit
A drop-in visit is the sitter coming to your home to feed, water, let out and check on your pets. If you're looking up dog sitting rates for a day away rather than a night, this is the service you're pricing.
Across 25 businesses the median visit is $35, from $25 to $50. Visit length is all over the place:
11 businesses state exactly 30 minutes, and their median is also $35 ($25 to $45)
3 sell a 20-minute visit
1 sells an hour
10 don't state a length at all
If the price page doesn't say how long the sitter stays, ask before you book. One Sydney sitter charges $25 for 15 minutes and $40 for 30, so the length changes what the number means.
Several sitters also print a second price for a longer visit or one that includes a walk. Those weren't counted here: every figure in this section is the cheapest standard visit.
04. Overnight dog sitting in your home
This one needs the most care. Overnight pet sitting here means a sitter who sleeps at your home and looks after your pets there. Sitters who take your dog to their own home were left out: that's home boarding, a different service with its own pricing. If that's what you're after, our boarding and daycare guide covers it.
Nine businesses publish a usable overnight price. The median is $88, from $45 to $130.
But 6 of the 9 are "from" prices. That makes $88 a floor rather than a typical bill: it's what the cheapest night on the price list starts at, before extra pets, weekends, travel or a longer stay come into it. One sitter covers 12 hours in the home, another includes two off-leash walks, another caps stays at two nights. They're not all selling the same night.
One more business publishes a per-night rate for long sits and says short sits cost double. We didn't do that sum for them. A price the business hasn't printed isn't in our figures.
05. Cat sitting rates
Cat owners mostly want the drop-in visit: food, water, litter, a check that all is well.
Across 14 businesses the median cat-sitting visit is $32, from $25 to $50. Six of those are cat-only prices. The other eight are a shared visit price on a page that names cats or litter, so it's the same visit a dog would get.
Visit length is even less likely to be stated than for dogs. Eight of the 14 don't say, four are 20 minutes and two are 30 minutes.
If you have more than one cat, check the wording. One business's cat price covers up to two cats, and that's worth knowing before you compare it with a per-visit price elsewhere.
06. Packs, weekly bookings and surcharges
The single-walk price is what we measured. It isn't always what regular clients pay.
Packs and standing bookings. Three businesses in the sample print a cheaper rate for buying ahead or booking every week. The saving per walk or visit runs from 7% to 16%: a $45 walk drops to $40 in a pack of five, a $35 group walk drops to $30 at five walks a week, a $30 visit drops to $26 in a pack of five. Two more businesses sell walks only that way, as weekly packages or a block of 10, with no single price at all.
Weekend and peak loadings. Six businesses add to the price on weekends, public holidays or in peak periods. The weekend loadings we saw run from $5 to $15. One sitter's peak-period visit is $30 dearer than a weekday one, and another adds 10%.
Travel. Four businesses charge extra outside their home area or beyond a set distance, such as 4km or 15km from base.
None of these show up in a headline price, so ask what you'll pay for your dog on your days.
07. Where these dog walking prices came from
The 88 prices come from businesses in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT. Every row of the short-answer table draws on at least five of those six.
| Service | Businesses by state |
|---|
| Solo walk | NSW 9, Qld 3, SA 3, ACT 3, Vic 2, WA 2 |
| Group walk | NSW 7, Vic 4, Qld 3, WA 1, SA 1, ACT 1 |
| Drop-in visit | NSW 9, WA 5, Vic 3, Qld 3, SA 3, ACT 2 |
| Cat-sitting visit | NSW 5, WA 3, Qld 2, SA 2, Vic 1, ACT 1 |
| Overnight in your home | NSW 3, SA 2, WA 2, Vic 1, Qld 1 |
We haven't split the prices by city. No city other than Sydney reaches six businesses in any row, and Sydney stops at six only because we capped it there so one city couldn't drown out the rest. A city figure built on that would look more precise than it is.
There are gaps. We found no Tasmanian or Northern Territory business publishing its own walking or sitting price, and Melbourne is thin. Most sole-trader walkers and sitters publish no price at all; they quote on enquiry, so they can't be in a sample of published prices.
On GST: one business quoted its price plus GST, and we added the 10%. Fifteen prices say they include GST and the rest don't say either way. A sole trader doesn't have to register for GST until their turnover reaches $75,000 a year (ATO), so a walker below that may not charge GST at all. Either way, every figure here is the price a client would actually pay.
For pet owners
Looking for a walker or sitter near you? Our directory of local pet businesses lists businesses whose services, prices and online booking are on one page. Before you book anyone, ask how long the walk or visit actually lasts and whether they're insured.
For walkers and sitters reading this
If you run a walking or sitting business, these figures double as a look over the fence. Owners are comparing, and most walkers and sitters don't publish a price at all, so a clear price list is already a reason to pick you.
Petboost is our product, and we make money when businesses use it, so weigh this paragraph accordingly. It's booking and payments software built for Australian pet businesses, and it covers the parts of this guide that cause the most back-and-forth:
Sell
walks in packs that pet owners can buy from their phone, with a credit coming off as each walk is booked.
Set up weekly or fortnightly
recurring walks so a standing Tuesday and Thursday books itself.
Put your full price list, visit lengths included, on a free
Business Showcase Page. Businesses on a live plan with online booking switched on are listed in our pet-owner directory.
Petboost's own fees are three separate numbers: the plan, a booking fee and Stripe's card rate. The pricing page lists each one. If you're weighing how to bill regular clients, our piece on moving off the monthly invoice goes through it.
Book a free demo to see packs and recurring walks set up, or start free.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a dog walker cost per hour in Australia?
Where Australian walkers publish an hour-long solo walk, the median is $53 (15 businesses, $30 to $80). An hour-long group walk is cheaper, a median of $39 across 10 businesses.
How much do pet sitters charge per visit?
A drop-in visit at your home is a median $35 across 25 businesses, from $25 to $50. Where the visit is stated as exactly 30 minutes, the median is also $35.
How much do pet sitters charge per night?
For a sitter staying overnight in your home, published prices start from a median of $88 a night (9 businesses, $45 to $130). Most of those are "from" prices, so the final figure can be higher once extra pets, weekends or a short stay are counted.
What are typical cat sitting rates?
A cat-sitting visit is a median $32 across 14 businesses, from $25 to $50. Six of those are cat-only prices; the rest are the same visit price a dog would pay.
Why can't I find a 30-minute dog walk price?
Because most Australian walkers don't advertise one. Of 45 walking businesses we checked, 8 publish a 30-minute walk labelled solo, another 9 a 30-minute price for one dog, and 28 publish no 30-minute one-dog walk at all.
Is it cheaper to book dog walks every week?
Often, yes. The businesses in our sample that print a pack or weekly rate take 7% to 16% off the single price, in exchange for buying ahead or committing to a regular day.
Sources
Petboost published price sample, walking and sitting, October 2026. How businesses were found: Petboost's August 2026 walking and pet-sitting price-page harvest, then Google Maps searches on 9 October 2026 for dog walking, pet sitting, cat sitting and overnight sitting across 90 suburbs and towns in every state and territory. What counts: published prices only, on the business's own website or booking page, each one re-read live on 9 October 2026; a business that quotes on enquiry has no price to count. One price per business per service, the cheapest qualifying one, with lengths, group sizes and "from" wording recorded. GST: one price quoted plus GST was grossed up by 10%; the rest were stated as GST-inclusive or did not say, and were read as the price a client pays. No more than 6 businesses per service from one capital city, using the ABS Greater Capital City boundaries. Median, never average. 88 prices from 43 businesses.
Petboost published price sample, what was left out: marketplace listings (a listing range is many sitters, not one business), training walks, walks sold only as an add-on to boarding or daycare, overnight stays at the sitter's home, prices that could not be re-read live, and one overnight price that would have to be calculated from the business's own rule. Businesses are not named, and no data from Petboost accounts was used.
