On-Demand Dog Walker App Development Cost & Key Features

Last Updated on January 21, 2022

Dogs are a therapeutic gift from God to us humans. Statistics suggest that over 44% of Americans own a dog which backs our statement. Dogs are true friends of humans and humans appreciate this quality of dogs which is why they out of their way to give whatever they desire. This also creates an opportunity for on-demand dog walking apps. After a long day at work, a person comes home and he finds his dog sitting at the door with the excitement of going out on a walk. Since the person is exhausted it becomes hard for him to stand up to the expectations of his daily. However, dogs need to look after humans and hence on-demand Dog walking apps provide you with a solution.

Why We Need On-Demand Dog Walking Apps?

Yes, dogs are fluffy and cute but they bring added responsibilities with them. You need to look after them in a consistent manner, provide them food, train them, groom them, take them to the vet, play with them and most necessarily take them out a walk as it rejuvenates them after being at home all day.

It is impossible to outsource all these responsibilities of yours, however, you can outsource the most important one which is talking the dog a walk. The availability of various on-demand dog walking services allows users to hand over their dog in the able hands of these dog walking service attendants who will look after your dog like it’s his own. Especially, for professionals having a rigorous work schedule these dog walking services work like a charm. So, a dog owner finding it hard to make out time for his dog should give these dog walking apps a try.

What Is An On-Demand Dog Walker App?

An on-demand dog walker app is a two-sided marketplace. We will try to define it with the following steps.

• In the initial step, the dog owner sends a request for taking his dog out on a walk.
• One of the dog walkers working with the app accepts the request in real-time and confirms the booking.
• Now when his dog is out on a walk, he can easily track the location of his dog through Geolocation services. He can even ask for photo updates from the dog walker.
• After a jovial walk, the dog walker returns the dog to his owner and receives the payment for his services through the app.
• In the final step, the dog owner can rate the dog walker according to the services he provided and can even write a review.

How Does An On-Demand Dog Walker App Work?

The working procedure of an on-demand dog walking app is quite routine and easy to accomplish. Firstly, the dog owner needs to register themselves with sufficient details about them and their pet. There is an option to add extra details about the dog like his harness, collars, medications, vets, etc. now, as the registration is done, he can search for a dog walker nearby him and when he finds a match he can hand over his dog to the walker to his dog out on a walk.

In current times, dog-walking apps are becoming more and more popular among dog owners and there is every reason for it to be as it is a great platform to spend time with dogs apart from earning money.

Statistics and Figures Associated With Dog Walking Apps

Before entering into any business it is paramount to look at the current and future stats and figures to find out whether that business is worth spending on or not. However, the on-demand dog walking business is growing at a rapid pace and because of its surging popularity, we need to have a look at two different types of statistics. The first one is the number of households that own a dog and the second one is the average number of hours a person works every week of the month.

If we dive into a survey of APPA, we will find out that 63.4 million households in the USA own a dog and this brings us to another statistic which tells us that at least 40% of workers put in a shift of over 40 hours every week.

Now when we merge these two stats we find out that these dog owners are working over 8 hours every day. Apart from their working hours, they have to find out time for completing their social and household things. You can guess what we are coming on, there is not enough time left for them to spend it with their lovely dogs.

Number of Pet Owners In The United States in 2019-20, (in millions)

According to another survey from the American Pet Product Association, American citizens spend a total of $23.4 billion on their dog’s food, over $15.73 billion on their vet care, $14.39 billion on supplies and OTC medication, $5.24 billion on pet services that include grooming and boarding and $2.19 billion purchasing pets for their households. These figures are huge which indicates that U.S. households are too fond of pets, especially dogs. The popularity of blogs for dogs and cats is increasing rapidly as well. However, working hours and other important stuff are acting as a hurdle between them and their pets.

Frequency of dog walk or run outside the home or garden for 10 minutes or more?

This has created a perfect opportunity for on-demand dog walker apps to swoop in and people are growing on these apps. There are many reasons to become fond of these apps, however, some top reasons include being time-saving & efficient, the rapid increase in business for dog sitters and daycares and it is simple yet an effective way of earning.

Monetization Opportunities Associated With On-Demand Dog Walker App

When someone decides to develop an application, he always would want that app to monetize. Most of the dog walker marketplaces trust the business model of the service aggregator platform. These platforms are pretty successful which is why we are having a look at some of the important ones.

1. eCommerce Integration

eCommerce integration simply means that e-commerce software is connected with other software solutions like CRM and ERP. This creates a channel of back and forth flow of data like sales offers, customer contacts, orders between the systems in an automatic manner.

In simple words, it is electronic commerce in which products are being sold and bought over the internet. Exchanging of data related to prices and inventory is also done through ecommerce along with the completion of online transactions.

2. Commissions

Commissions are equally successful for both new and existing platforms. The commission revenue model gets a significant part of each payment completed directly on the official website. The way how this revenue model works easily makes it the most profitable revenue model among all the revenue models.

3. Advertisement Selling

Another easy method of monetizing your application is showcasing relevant ads to the available users of your application. A short and simple way of doing this is getting paid partnerships with several dog foods and dog toys companies in the market. It is a no-brainer to suggest that you should make sure that the company you are coming into a partnership with is reliable and does not promote any harmful products for animals.

Popular On-Demand Dog Walker Apps In The Market

For the dog walker app market to succeed there needs to be a lot of players in the market who are doing well to sustain a competitive environment in the market. There are quite significant apps in the market that have caught the eye of users. In this section, we will go through some of those on-demand dog walker apps.

1. Wag – Dog Walkers & Sitters

Wag has been on top of the pile of on-demand dog walking for quite a while now and it keeps improving daily. Wag was developed in the year 2014 and because of its potential, it was named the Uber of Dog walking apps.

However, in recent times its reputation has been in choppy waters and despite this major hurdle, this company raised a mammoth $300 million in venture capital funds from Softbank in 2018.

Users looking to get a service for their dog can book the desired walker from the app and within 15 minutes, the walker will be at the doorsteps of the user. The app doesn’t limit itself to services only, it also provides dog notes and important instructions for the walker, reports of a walk, live notifications, and a lot more.

2. Rover – Dog Sitters & Walkers

Rover has been in this market for 9 years as it was founded in 2011 and in this period it has become one of the leading apps in the sphere of Uber for dog walking.

The process of hiring a dog walker or a dog sitter becomes quite easy through the rover app. Users can get in touch with the dog sitters and dog walkers through messages within the application. Making payments effortless through the application and is just one of the benefits that this app provides.

The user has full access in case they want to know about the path the walker is taking the dog from. Other additional features come along with it like to do pee or poo, food and water, and personal notes for guardians and walkers.

3. Barkly Pets – Dog Walkers

Barkly Pets came into existence in 2011 with a clear objective in mind which was to offer dog parents quality care services for their pets. Barkly pet is a prime example of an on-demand dog walking app development. Apart from the services they offer, you can also consider other brilliant on-demand app development ideas for your business.

Barkly pets provide other additional services like 24/7 customer care services for your customers. Users have the option of meeting the walker in person before giving the responsibility of their dog to them. Managing all the invoicing, bookings, and scheduling within the app becomes quite effortless.

General Features To Include In A Dog Walking & Dog Sitting Mobile App

For Pet Owners Panel

• Create a Personal profile
• Search and Filter nearby dog walkers
• View Dog Walker Profile
• Dog Walk booking and scheduling
• Dog Walk report
• Push Notification Alerts for dog walking and sitting appointments
• Live Streaming (optional) of their puppy or dog walking
• Give Ratings & Reviews
• Schedule/Cancel Appointment
• Track your dog
• Payment/Bill Estimation
• Referral Earnings
• Doggy Playdate
• Curated Professional Advice
• History and Trends
• Community Feature

For Dog Walkers Panel

• Real-Time Requests
• Get booking requests
• Customer Information
• Profile Creation
• Set Availability
• Navigation routes for reaching the pet owner
• Earnings Summary
• Walkers can track their appointments & earnings

For Admin Panel

• Manage Bookings
• Manage Customers/Dog Walkers
• Push Notifications
• Advanced Analytics
• Real-Time Tracking of dog walkers
• Manage Payments

Advanced Features To Consider For An On-Demand Dog Walking App

Advanced features are an essential part of an on-demand dog walking app as they provide an impressive look to the app apart from improving the functionality of the app. So, let us have a look at some of the essential advanced features of the app.

1. Social Sign Up/Log In

This is the page that will welcome you upon entering the app. If you are a new user then you can sign up with the app by providing your personal information through email verification or social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram, or others. If you are already a user then you can log in to your account by entering the username and password.

2. Live Dog Tracking

This feature is one of the most unique as it provides the user with the option of keeping an update of the dog and his location at any particular time when he is out with the walker. The user can virtually keep an eye on his dog through this option.

3. Push Notifications

This feature keeps the users updated with all the new changes being made to the app through constant reminders and alerts. Special offers, discounts, new updates are also passed on to the customers through this feature.

4. In-App Call

This feature, as it suggests by its name, provides users with the option of talking with the walkers and dog sitters on the call. Requirements and necessities of the dog owners can be conveyed easily through calls which makes this feature extraordinary in every aspect.

5. In-App Chat

This feature is quite similar to that of an in-app call option with the only difference being that through this feature you can chat with the walkers and dog sitters instead of talking on the call. It is not convenient for every user to talk on the call which makes this feature a must-have for them.

6. In-app Navigation

With the help of in-app navigation, the user can search for dog walkers and dog sitters nearby their area to take their dog on a walk. Geo-location feature is a must for any kind of on-demand app and similar is the case with the dog walker app.

7. Real-Time Analytics Dashboard

The real-time analytic dashboard can be described as a performance tool to analyze, report, and track a company’s overall data in real-time with the assistance of data visualizations. All real-time dashboards are updated automatically and this provides the user with instant access to important data.

8. Mobile Wallet

Flexibility in mobile wallets is a great asset to have in your dog walker application. The more the options, the easy it becomes for the users to process the payment. As users from different parts of the world tend to use the app and since mobile wallets are different everywhere having various options of mobile wallets is a great thing to have.

Required Tech Stack For Dog Walking App Development

Technology Stack plays a major role in getting an on-demand dog walker app developed and therefore we will have a look at some of the vital ones which it comprises.

• Programming languages: Objective-C, Swift, Java, Kotlin
• Toolkit: Swift, Apple Xcode, Android Developer Tools, and Android Studio
• SDK: IoS SDK

Team Structure Needed To Develop A Dog Walking App

The team that works behind the scenes to create an app is the most essential aspect of app creation. So, let us have a look at the hierarchy of the posts that make it happen.

• Application Manager
• Project Manager
• Mobile Application Designer
• Front-end and Back-end developers
• Analyst
• Quality Assurance Lead

Cost Estimation Of Dog Walking App Development

Cost estimation of a Dog walking app depends on a lot of factors,

• Type of dog walking app
• Different functionalities and features of the app
• Designs and app development team
• Marketing and deployment of the app
• Maintenance and upgrades
• Select an app platform, ios or Android

Read More: Cost To Develop An App

Conclusion

Dog walking apps turn out to be great if they are created keeping the proper guidelines under consideration. Dog walking apps are a great innovation for the people who own a dog but are busy in their lifestyle. Dog walking apps allows dog owners to enjoy their life without worrying too much about their pets. So, in this period of transition in the online section, you should look to jump up on the opportunity of creating a dog walking app with the assistance of a reputed app development company.