This is usually the second question, right after "is it even worth it" — and it's a harder one to answer than it looks, because the honest range is wide and depends on a handful of things that aren't always obvious until you've already started asking around.

What actually moves the price

Group versus solo. A group walk — several dogs, one walker, a set route — is the cheapest option by a clear margin, because the walker's time is split across everyone booked in. A solo walk, one dog getting the walker's full attention, costs more for exactly that reason.

Length. A 30-minute walk and a full hour aren't priced proportionally in most cases — the shorter option often carries a higher effective rate, since a chunk of any visit is arrival, lead-on, and settling in regardless of how long the walk itself runs.

Borough. Rates in outer London tend to run noticeably lower than central boroughs, for the same reason most services cost more in zone 1–2 than zone 4–6 — walker time, travel time between clients, and local demand all shift together.

One-off versus a standing booking. A single ad-hoc walk usually costs more per visit than a regular weekly slot, the same way most services reward a standing commitment over a one-time ask.

Who you're actually booking. An individual walker working solo, a small local team, and a larger app-based platform all price differently — not because one is definitively better than another, but because they're carrying different overheads (insurance, scheduling software, a larger pool of backup cover if your usual walker's off sick).

A rough sense of the range

Treat this as a sense of scale, not a quote — rates genuinely vary by all of the above, and change over time. As a rough shape: group walks tend to sit at the lower end, solo walks meaningfully higher, and central London runs above outer London for the same service. The only way to get a real number is to ask two or three local options for an actual quote — the spread between the cheapest and priciest reasonable option in the same area is usually bigger than people expect going in.

What to actually ask before booking anyone

Are you insured? A properly set-up dog walking business carries public liability insurance. This is the single most important question on this list, and the easiest one to just ask outright.

What's the group size cap, if it's a group walk? A "group walk" covering four dogs and one covering twelve are very different products being sold under the same name.

What happens if something goes wrong? An escaped dog, an injury, an unexpected vet visit — a walker who's thought this through has a clear, specific answer ready. One who hasn't will improvise one on the spot, which tells you something too.

Can we do a meet-and-greet first? Any walker worth booking regularly will want to meet the dog before a first solo walk, not just take a booking over a message thread. If that's not offered, it's worth asking for rather than assuming it's unnecessary.

Is it the same walker each time, or whoever's free? Consistency matters more for some dogs than others, but it's worth knowing which you're actually booking before the first surprise substitute turns up.

Cheapest isn't the right thing to optimise

The lowest quote in a shortlist is occasionally just a newer walker building a client base, and occasionally a sign of exactly the corners you'd want cut for — no insurance, an oversized group, nobody answering messages between bookings. Price is one input, not the whole decision, and the questions above tend to sort a genuinely good, fairly-priced option from a merely cheap one faster than comparing numbers alone does.

The bit that's still yours either way

A dog walker solves a real, specific problem — the hours you're genuinely not there — and it's worth exactly what it's worth for that. It doesn't change what the walk you do together, before or after, actually means. Hapoo counts on-device from your phone's motion sensor, so the walk you take yourself still shows up as itself, separate from whatever happened on the walker's shift — which is worth knowing if part of the appeal of hiring help was worrying it might make your own time with the dog feel less like it counts. It doesn't. It's just a different walk.