Make your living walking dogs

Take the Dog Walking Academy to:

Start a new career

Trade in your stressful, stale, or unsatisfying work for a living doing something you love—spending time with dogs.

Grow your business

Already walking? Learn a few new dog tricks, gain a marketing edge, solve pesky problems, and grow your business to new heights.

Learn your way

Attend our 3-day in-person course or go at your own pace in our online program—whichever best suits you and your schedule.

Get the best staff

Save training time, set your company apart, and get more from your dog walking, pet sitting, dog daycare, and boarding kennel staff.

Why attend the dogbiz Dog Walking Academy

Love what you do

Whether you’re just starting as a dog walker or have been walking dogs for a decade, we’ll help you get the most from every moment. Walk with confidence and ease, enjoy safe control of your dogs, and let go of your business worries.

Bypass business hassles & make more money

Learn how to sidestep and fix the common start-up, marketing, rate, and policy mistakes that keep dog walkers from making a strong, reliable living walking dogs. Why learn from your own mistakes if you don’t have to, or make less money than you could?

Solve perplexing dog problems

Ever wondered why dogs do what they do? Found yourself unable to get a dog to start or stop doing something? Struggled with a stressful behavior problem? You’ll leave class with answers and solutions to all your canine dilemmas.

Set yourself apart

Stand out to potential clients, referral sources, or employers by investing in the “Harvard” of dog walking schools. Your CPDW (Certificate in Professional Dog Walking) seal proclaims your professionalism and commitment to the best possible care of the dogs entrusted to you.

Maximize safety

From canine first aid/ CPR to emergency protocols and understanding how to avoid and break up dog fights, arm yourself with the understanding, skills, and confidence to handle anything that comes your way.

Be a pro

In an unregulated industry, anyone can be a dog walker. But to be a professional dog walker requires professional education and training. We’ve continued to set the bar for dog walking education since we launched the first class of its kind in 2004.

Is the DWA Right For You?

Our students are a diverse group of dog lovers:

Starting their first career

More dog lovers these days are following their passion and choosing dogs as their first career, right after high school or college.

Looking for a career change

Lawyers, accountants, tech workers, ad execs, baristas, teachers, political consultants, writers, engineers, retail workers, waiters, HR directors—we’ve seen students seeking second (or third or fourth) careers from virtually every industry you can think of.

Seeking a retirement career

Whether for extra income or personal satisfaction and health, dog loving retirees are choosing an active retirement walking dogs.

Highly experienced career dog walkers

Professional dog walkers understand that to grow up living with and loving dogs isn’t enough, and choose to augment their hands-on experience with up-to-date, science-based learning about dog behavior and handling.

Dog business employees & job seekers

Many dog walking, dog daycare, pet sitting, and boarding companies send their employees to the Dog Walking Academy to fast-track their training in dog behavior, handling, and safety. And many of our students attend in order to better compete for these jobs.

If DWA sounds right for you:

What DWA grads say

“This course has inspired me to breathe new life into something I’ve been doing now for almost seven years, and to take it to the next level. I would absolutely recommend this course to experienced and inexperienced dog walkers.”

– Sara Munro, Built to Behave, Santa Barbara, CA

“The Dog Walking Academy was an eye-opener. I went in expecting to learn about dogs and dog behavior, and I did. I also came out having learned about being a business person in a very specialized industry.”

– Todd Perlman, Metro Dog, Richmond, CA

Tuition & Registration

$850*

The typical full-time professional dog walker makes between $40K and $150K per year, depending on location, style of service, and size of business. We’d love to help you do the same.