The economics of dog walking

Today, Stewart runs Ryan for Dogs, a boutique dog walking company in the Long Island City neighborhood of NYC. His business is one of ~29k dog walking outfits in the US that collectively employ some 51k dog walkers. There's no shortage of customers: By one count, there are now 89m pet dogs in America - and studies have found that ~40% of dog owners don't personally walk their canine companions on a regular basis. Dog ownership is increasing: 53% of American households now own dogs - a 22% bump since 2000. The average dog walking business pulls in ~$236k in revenue per year, per Census data. "Some dogs are super easy to walk; we call them 'free money' in the business. Others are - oh my God - just a real pain in the butt." A few years ago, a fellow walker in Brooklyn died after being yanked down a staircase by several leashed dogs. With the great shift to work-from-home schedules, many white-collar professionals who once hired out services for their pets while at the office all day have gone back to walking their own dogs.