Man’s Best Side Hustle? A Look At Making Money From Dogs With Rover

A man’s best friend or a man’s best side hustle? If you love dogs and want to get more exercise in, you’re in luck because I’ve discovered a way to get paid for making new furry friends by using the dog walking app Rover.

I’m going to show you how you can make money from hanging out with dogs. I tested out Rover to see if it’s worth using this app to make extra money. I was pleasantly surprised by the demand on the app and the various opportunities for making money.

Let’s talk about making money with Rover…

Did you know that nearly 1 in 5 households adopted a pet during the pandemic? This means that there are many dog owners out there. This also means that these dogs need someone to walk them, stay with them, and care for them when their owners are back at work or busy living with life returning to normal.

With life getting more expensive by the day, it’s more important than ever to focus on bringing in more money. That said, many side hustles are a complete waste of time. You end up working long hours in exchange for pennies. This is why I’m always on the lookout for new side hustles that are worth it.

I decided to download Rover to see what the hype was about. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with my experiences thus far. We’ll look at dog walking with Rover and how you can immediately use the gig economy to bring in money.

What’s Rover all about?

Rover is an app for folks who want someone to care for their pet.  Some would even say that Rover is the best dog walking app. Here’s the official description from the Rover website:

“Rover connects pet parents with a nationwide network of dog lovers who can’t wait to watch their dog. Search for nearby dog sitters, day care providers, and dog walkers who’ll help care for your pet—at their place or yours. By removing common pet care obstacles, Rover ensures dogs nationwide are happy and well-cared for even when their human is away, and empowers dog lovers to live happy and fulfilling lives.”

There are many ways you can make money from Rover, and this is an income stream with flexible options that fit every schedule.

How can you make money from Rover?

• Dog walking. You get paid to take a dog for a walk. The walks range from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the owner’s request. Some owners will request multiple walks per day or a walk with multiple dogs.
• Dog boarding. You host a dog for a set time when the owners are away.
• House sitting. Some owners would prefer if you stayed at their place instead of sending their dog away so they pay for house-sitting services.
• Dog daycare. Some pet owners want someone to watch their dog during the day or for a specific period.
• Pet check-ins. You visit the pet to ensure that they have food and are alright.

Why is Rover so popular?

Why are so many people turning to an app like Rover to care for their furry friends?

• There are so many pets. Many worked from home during the pandemic, so they got a pet to keep them company since they finally had free time for one. With life resuming to normal and people no longer being home all day, they need someone to care for their furry friends.
• It’s tough to find a reliable person to watch your pet. Finding someone you can trust in your home and with your pet isn’t easy. Rover does a background check and vets people to ensure you’re finding a trusted person.
• Pet owners want the best for their pets. A pet is often a family member, so the owners want the best for them. I’ve heard from many pet owners who just want to find someone they can trust with their dog.

Here are some interesting numbers about the pet care market.

Which is the best option for making money with Rover?

As we mentioned earlier, there are many ways to make money with Rover.

Dog walking.

This is simple enough. You take the dog for a walk. The walks range from 30 minutes to an hour. You can set your rates, and people will choose between the 30-minute or one-hour walk.

During the summer, it got extremely busy for me. There were days when I had five dog walks, and I barely had time for my writing. I decided that I would take as many gigs as possible while working on my Rover experiment so that I could write a fair review.

Dog sitting/house sitting.

You get paid to stay at the house and sit the dog. The owners don’t want to take the pet away from their natural environment, so they pay you to house sit. I’ve done this a few times, and it’s a fairly easy way to bring in some money. I would bring my laptop and work as normal from the place.

Dog boarding.

This requires you to host the dog for the agreed-upon time at your place. I know someone who does this always because she wants a friend for her dog.

The money here varies depending on the time. I once had someone offer me $5,000 to watch both of their dogs for the entire summer. I couldn’t commit to the entire summer, so I had to say no. I’ve done this a handful of times, and I’m not a big fan of the idea because my condo just isn’t spacious enough for larger dogs.

You can host multiple dogs if you have a home or decent place. It’s a bit challenging in my condo to host dogs since there’s not that much space, and the elevators aren’t reliable.

Dog daycare.

Like how kids go to daycare when the parents go to work, so do the dogs. You watch the dog for the day or a set amount of time. If you’re skilled with dogs, you can make some decent money here by offering dog training services during the day also.

Drop-in visits.

You drop in to check up on the pet. A friend picked up a steady gig with a cat owner in his community. He goes to feed the cat and give it some attention. Another buddy has gotten paid to go and feed a dog during the day while the owners are at work.

How to make money with Rover.

There are a few ways that you can make money with Rover, depending on where you live and your schedule. Since I work as a freelance writer, I can be flexible with my time to pick up random walking gigs throughout the day.

What’s the best approach for making money on Rover?

You’re going to want to get a few steady clients. You can do the occasional dog sitting to have an extra pet at your place. I know people who sit dogs on the weekends, so they have an extra person to go on adventures with.

Here are a few different ways you can make money from Rover: 

• Walk dogs on your lunch break or in the evening to exercise. You can make an easy $30 with Rover for taking a dog on a walk in your community.
• Do the occasional house-sitting gig. You get paid to stay at someone’s house. You can take a weekend to house sit and focus on other work. These gigs are the perfect opportunity for me to get a lot of writing in.
• Have dogs stay with you for the weekend. Pet owners are spending lots of money on this option because they need someone to care for their dogs when they want to go away. You could make money from dog boarding if you have space. I recently met someone who makes around $5,000 a month from dog boarding, which is their primary income source.

There’s plenty of money to be made on the Rover app right now. I urge you to tap into it to at least test it out. You can find yourself with a side hustle that pays you enough money to cover a few bills just by walking a dog on your lunch break.

[Check out Rover right now and get $20 for free]

How to set up your Rover profile.

I browsed through the top profiles to see what they were doing better than me. The beauty of this app is that you can test it out as someone looking for a dog walker to see the process. From there, you can reverse engineer the process to design your profile.

How do you set up your Rover profile?

• Put in as much information as possible.
• Work on your headline.
• You have to be specific with what services you offer.
• Get your reviews in.
• Get a picture of you with some pets in there. Pet owners want proof that you’re good with dogs.

What are the benefits of using Rover to make money?

Is Rover worth it? What are the main benefits of using Rover to make extra money right now?

You get paid every time with Rover.

There are so many side hustles that don’t lead to instant cash. With Rover, you get paid every time you walk a dog or perform any kind of service. You don’t have to worry about chasing clients for money since Rover finds the clients and collects the money for you.

You get to spend your time with dogs.

I wasn’t much of a dog person until the pandemic. Now I’ve come to realize how much fun they can be. I enjoy meeting new dogs and going on adventures around the city. You also get an instant mood boost from being around dogs all of the time.

You get more exercise with Rover.

If you work from home or find that you’re just not getting enough movement in, this could help you kill two birds with one stone. Rover was worth it this summer because I could get in 30,000 steps and get paid for it. Rover dog walking could be that opportunity that finally forces you to get more movement in.

Click here to try out Rover right now.

What are the setbacks of the dog walking app?

Rover isn’t perfect, and some things could use improvement on the app.

I admit that I wasn’t ready for all the untrained dogs. 

• One dog barks at anyone who jogs or anyone in a wheelchair. He’s also a terrible walker so I could see why the owners put him on the app.
• Another dog just doesn’t like people and has almost attacked a few strangers. This has led to many awkward moments for me.

Rover does take a decent fee. 

Rover takes a fee, and it stings. For example, I had someone hire me for two weeks’ worth of dog walks daily and I felt it when the fee came out. The 20% adds up.

Rover can be a hassle at times.

Many people will throw an offer only to cancel it. You also have to archive a message so that you don’t get hurt in the rankings. If you can’t accept a few jobs, then your profile may be set to away or you’re going to be less likely to get more offers.

A few other setbacks to consider are:

• Rover may not be popular in your area. I live in a big city like Toronto so there’s plenty of demand for Airbnb and Rover.
• You may not be compensated for damages to your property.
• You get attached to the dogs. but you get attached to your new furry friends only to return them.

That said, Rover appears to be the best dog walking app for anyone looking to make money in this field.

How do you start with Rover?

You have to sign up through the app. Then you have to go through the application process. The questions are very straightforward. You also have to do a background check that will cost you $25.

• They’re going to ask you what makes you a dog person.
• If you have a dog, then you put in their information.
• If you don’t have a dog, then that’s okay too. They’ll ask you for references, so it would help to have a few friends willing to vouch for you (especially anyone on the app already).

Rover will manually approve your application. From there, you set your availability, the services you’ll offer, your rates, and other minor details.

You have to build your profile up.

It may take some time to gain traction on the app since you’ll have to get reviews in to build trust. You will have to charge a lower rate to get some quick bookings in to build those reviews up. You can click here to claim your $20 and try Rover out.

How much money can you make with Rover?

The goal is to be open to all options.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the money that I made with the Rover dog sitter app:

• Rover dog walking prices will vary depending on the length of the walk and where you live. You can charge anywhere from $20-40 for an hour-long dog walk.
• You can make about $40 per night for dog sitting at someone’s place.
• You can charge at least $50 per night to board a dog at your place.
• You can make $20 per drop-in visit.

Remember that you can increase your rates once you get more reviews. Your primary objective at first is to get the reviews in so that your profile is shown more often in the search results. You also can charge more for holidays and for multiple pets.

Here’s how to make more money with Rover.

Here’s the process for making money with Rover once you’ve signed up.

Step 1: Decide which services you’re going to offer on Rover.

I opened myself up to everything. I originally started with just dog walking. Over time I tested out the different options. For the sake of this article and to bring in the extra money, I said yes to every opportunity my way within reason.

Note: It could become overwhelming on the app. There are so many dog owners in a big city.

Step 2: Focus on getting reviews in.

You need to build up your reviews to eventually increase your prices. You can’t raise your rates until you have reviews. The reviews show users that you’re established on the platform and can be trusted. As you likely already know, reviews are everything! We all read reviews before making any decision.

Step 3: Build a client base.

The goal is to have steady clients so you can get into a routine. I got to the point where I had four different dogs on rotation with a set schedule that allowed me to get plenty of steps in. Repeat customers can become consistent income.

Step 4: Increase your Rover rates.

Once you get your reviews in and start popping up in the search engines, you will want to increase your rates to make more money.

How do you set your rates with Rover?

You’ll have to set a lower rate to get the reviews in when you’re starting. Rover usually sets a rate for you, so you don’t have to guess. You can raise your rates once you start getting reviews and steady clients.

Real examples of people making money from Rover.

What are examples of people using Rover to make money? Before I test out any app, I ensure I know someone doing this in real life.

I read a story about a woman who grossed over $100,000 one year through dog sitting and dog walking. I went through Reddit forums to see what people had to say about their experiences with Rover.

“Side hustler here. On average, anywhere between $150-300 a week as daycare/boarding. Most if not all go into savings.”

Another person chimed in with:

“I started doing it part-time last November but at this point it’s almost a full-time job (I still have a full-time job and I work from home), I accept one dog or family of 2 at a time and do lots of drop-ins. I make $4.5k-5.5k a month.”

Ever since I started with Rover, I have recommended it to all of my city friends looking for some extra cash.

• My buddy Josh picks up dog walking gigs along with cat check-ins. He found a gig where he gets paid to check in on a cat.
• My friend Mike walks dogs in the morning to get exercise. This is the perfect way to get your steps in since you have no choice but to walk the dog.
• Laura does dog daycare on the weekends. There’s lots of money to be made in daycare and dog sitting since pet owners want to leave their furry friends with someone they can trust.

The final word on making money with Rover…

If you love dogs or just want more exercise, this could be one of the best side hustles. You’ll enjoy it even if you sign up to get more steps in.

Is Rover worth your time?

It’s up to you to decide by testing out the app in your area. You could find yourself with a decent side hustle that helps you cover a few bills.

If you can host a few dogs on the weekends and sign up for a couple of walks, then I see no issue with this as a side hustle. You don’t have to worry about chasing anyone for money; plenty of dog owners are looking for someone.