Updated October 2026 · Make This Useful

Pet sitting and dog walking contract

A pet sitting or dog walking contract has to say what you do when something goes wrong and the owner is out of reach: which vet, how much you may spend, who to call next. Then come each pet’s care notes, any bite or escape history, keys, leash rules, holiday rates and cancellations. Get the spending limit signed before the first visit and have the owner tell their vet, because a clinic may wait for the owner’s consent.

Fill in the pet contract

Your business nameYour phone, email or addressCustomer nameService addressServices includedPriceScheduleStart datePayment terms

Fill in the pets, behavior, vet and keys clauses with the owner at the meet-and-greet, before the first booking. Delete the walks clause for drop-in visits to cats and other pets that stay home.

Term 1Wording for term 1This agreement covers these pets: ____. For each one, you have written down food and amounts, treats allowed, medication with doses and times, and habits we should know: ____. We follow those notes, ask you by text before changing anything, and send you a note or photo after every visit.
Term 2Wording for term 2Tell us now about any bite, fight, escape or strong fear, even an old one: ____. If a pet bites, fights or slips its leash with us, we let you know that day and may end group walks, or all walks, for that pet. We clean up accidents we find but don’t pay for what your pets chew or scratch.
Term 3Wording for term 3If a pet is hurt or ill, we call you, then your backup contact: ____. If neither answers, you allow us to take the pet to ____ or the nearest emergency vet and approve care up to $____; please tell your vet ahead of time. The vet bill is yours, and our time on the trip is $____ an hour.
Term 4Wording for term 4You give us a key or door code (____), the alarm code (____) and the name of a neighbor with a spare key: ____. If a key or code fails, we call you and then them, because a missed visit means a pet without care. Keys come back and codes can be deleted when this agreement ends.
Term 5Wording for term 5A walk is ____ minutes outside, timed from your door, alone or with up to ____ dogs from other homes. Your dog stays on a leash the whole walk, even where off-leash is allowed, unless you give permission here: ____. Please leave a harness or collar your dog can’t back out of.
Term 6Wording for term 6In storms, ice or heat above ____°F, we cut the walk to a bathroom break and spend the rest of the visit inside with your dog, at the usual price. If the roads become unsafe to drive, we call you before any visit is missed and agree on a plan, such as the neighbor with the spare key.
Term 7Wording for term 7Cancel a walk by ____ the day before and there is no charge; later than that, it is billed in full. Visits on these holidays cost $____ more each: ____. A trip cancelled less than ____ days before it starts is charged ____% of the booking, because we turned other bookings away for those dates.
Term 8Wording for term 8If you’ll be home later than planned, text us as soon as you know, and we carry on with the same visits at the same rate. If we haven’t heard from you within ____ hours of your planned return, we keep caring for the pets, bill those visits, and call your backup contact.
Term 9Wording for term 9Walks are billed ____ and due within ____ days; trips are paid ____ before you leave. If a bill goes ____ days past due, we add $____, and new bookings wait until it’s paid. We never stop visits partway through a trip over money.
Term 10Wording for term 10You can stop regular walks with ____ days’ notice, and we give you the same if we stop. Nothing ends during a trip: we keep up the visits until you, or the backup contact you named, take the pets back.

Pet sitting and dog walking agreement

Between ____________ (____________) and ____________, ____________.

Services included: ____________
Price: ____________
Schedule: ____________
Start date: ____________
Payment terms: ____________

Your pets and their care. This agreement covers these pets: ____. For each one, you have written down food and amounts, treats allowed, medication with doses and times, and habits we should know: ____. We follow those notes, ask you by text before changing anything, and send you a note or photo after every visit.
Behavior and bites. Tell us now about any bite, fight, escape or strong fear, even an old one: ____. If a pet bites, fights or slips its leash with us, we let you know that day and may end group walks, or all walks, for that pet. We clean up accidents we find but don’t pay for what your pets chew or scratch.
Vet care and emergencies. If a pet is hurt or ill, we call you, then your backup contact: ____. If neither answers, you allow us to take the pet to ____ or the nearest emergency vet and approve care up to $____; please tell your vet ahead of time. The vet bill is yours, and our time on the trip is $____ an hour.
Keys, codes and backup. You give us a key or door code (____), the alarm code (____) and the name of a neighbor with a spare key: ____. If a key or code fails, we call you and then them, because a missed visit means a pet without care. Keys come back and codes can be deleted when this agreement ends.
Walks and leash rules. A walk is ____ minutes outside, timed from your door, alone or with up to ____ dogs from other homes. Your dog stays on a leash the whole walk, even where off-leash is allowed, unless you give permission here: ____. Please leave a harness or collar your dog can’t back out of.
Bad weather. In storms, ice or heat above ____°F, we cut the walk to a bathroom break and spend the rest of the visit inside with your dog, at the usual price. If the roads become unsafe to drive, we call you before any visit is missed and agree on a plan, such as the neighbor with the spare key.
Cancelling and holiday rates. Cancel a walk by ____ the day before and there is no charge; later than that, it is billed in full. Visits on these holidays cost $____ more each: ____. A trip cancelled less than ____ days before it starts is charged ____% of the booking, because we turned other bookings away for those dates.
If your return is delayed. If you’ll be home later than planned, text us as soon as you know, and we carry on with the same visits at the same rate. If we haven’t heard from you within ____ hours of your planned return, we keep caring for the pets, bill those visits, and call your backup contact.
Paying for walks and visits. Walks are billed ____ and due within ____ days; trips are paid ____ before you leave. If a bill goes ____ days past due, we add $____, and new bookings wait until it’s paid. We never stop visits partway through a trip over money.
Ending regular service. You can stop regular walks with ____ days’ notice, and we give you the same if we stop. Nothing ends during a trip: we keep up the visits until you, or the backup contact you named, take the pets back.

____________: signature ____________ date ____________

What should a pet sitting contract say about vet emergencies?

Name the vet and the nearest emergency clinic that’s open at night, a backup contact, and a dollar limit you can approve when nobody answers. Have the owner call their vet to put you on file, and keep a photo of the signed page on your phone. Above the limit, keep calling, and agree in advance whether the clinic should stabilize the pet while you wait.

Ask about the pet’s age and health when you set the limit. The owner of a young, healthy dog may write a modest number; the owner of an old cat with kidney trouble may want a higher one, or a note on how far treatment should go. That decision is theirs to make calmly at the meet-and-greet, not yours at a clinic counter in the middle of the night.

How should a dog walking contract handle leashes and group walks?

Leash on for the whole walk unless the owner writes permission, and off only where that’s allowed. For group walks, write how many dogs walk together, and walk each new dog alone first, so you see how it handles traffic, other dogs and a dropped leash before it meets the group. Ask for a harness or martingale collar on any dog that has backed out of a collar before.

Clip the leash on before you open the front door, and unclip it only once the door is shut behind you; a dog that bolts past someone it barely knows is hard to call back. Keep a recent photo and the microchip number on your phone for every dog you walk, so a lost-dog post goes up in minutes.

What should a pet sitter charge for late cancellations and holidays?

Price a cancellation by how hard the dates are to rebook. A regular walk cancelled the night before is easy to absorb; a trip cancelled four days out isn’t, because you turned other clients away for it. Say you charge $32 a visit, two a day: a week-long trip is 14 visits, $448. Half of that for cancelling inside a week is $224, written into the signed contract.

Give holiday visits their own rate, booked and paid early. At $40 a visit instead of $32, the same 14-visit trip over Christmas week is $560. Write down what happens if the owner’s flight is delayed, too: the visits carry on at the same rate until they’re home, and if you can’t stay on, the backup contact takes over.

Frequently asked questions

Is a dog walking contract different from a pet sitting contract?

They share most terms: the pets, the vet authorization, keys, behavior and payment. A dog walking contract adds walk length, leash and group rules and bad-weather walks; a pet sitting contract adds trip dates, holiday rates and what happens when the owner comes home late. If you do both, use one agreement and delete what a client doesn’t book.

What should you check at a pet sitting meet-and-greet?

Try the key and the alarm code yourself while the owner watches, and take the backup key holder’s number. Find the food, medication, leash and cleaning supplies, and ask how each pet reacts to the doorbell, strangers and other dogs. Walk the dog once with the owner beside you, ask for proof of rabies vaccination, and fill in the contract together before you leave.

Does a pet sitter need a lawyer to write a contract?

Not for walks and home visits on terms like these. What protects you is an owner who wrote down the pets’ needs and the vet limit, then signed the page at the meet-and-greet. Boarding dogs in your own home is a different arrangement: check your city’s rules and have a lawyer read your boarding terms once.