Should I Give my Dog Walking Clients a Discount?

Should you give your dog walking clients discounts? It can be tempting to offer a lower price to try to gain clients or when a client is asks for a discount. But there are some times when it's not in your best interest to discount, so lets dive in!

Multiple Dog Households

If you're a pack walker, don't give a discount for multiple dogs in the household. You can only take a finite number of dogs, so a discount isn't warranted. You can fill the opening with a full price client instead, so don't be tempted to discount.

On the other hand, if you are walking just one client's dogs, it shouldn't take much extra time to leash up a second dog, and you couldn't fill that spot with another dog anyway. So not charging full price for the second dog makes sense, since it takes you the same amount of time and you're just making extra, not making less by discounting.

Frequency Discounts

Discounts for walking with you frequently (say for daily walks or a free walk every 10) will only work if you raise your pricing to cover the free walks or discount. So that means your base price will need to be higher to compensate for the discount so you can cover your cost of doing business. I personally don't discount in this scenario, I'd rather not have to worry about tracking discounts. 

Long Pet Sitting Stays

If you pet sit in addition to dog walking, clients may ask for a discount for longer stays. If this means you'll be turning away full price clients, say no! You don't want to have to turn down a higher paying gig. If you won't be losing out, I still don't recommend discounting, but it won't hurt as much as if you had to turn down other higher paying jobs.