Professional Dog Walker Listing

Dogs are wonderful for our physical, mental and emotional well-being and if that goes hand-in-hand with responsible dog ownership there are strong benefits for the value, care and future protection given to our countryside, green spaces and wildlife.

Dog owners sometimes choose to pay a professional dog walker to walk their dog – there are many such businesses operating in Dorset. It’s important that everyone adopts best practice when walking in Dorset’s coast and countryside, with rare wildlife, protected habitats and livestock.

Professional dog walkers are commercial businesses and usually walk multiple dogs at once, so they have an additional duty to operate responsibly. They also have an excellent opportunity to set a positive example to other dog walkers. However, there are currently no national regulations for commercial dog walking, except where it is done as part of a day care or home boarding service.

All professional dog walkers that operate in Dorset are therefore encouraged to abide by the best practice standards when walking in Dorset’s coast and countryside as set out in this Charter. It combines the Doggy Do Code (for individual dog walkers) with additional elements relevant to commercial businesses.

It is supported by the Dorset Heaths Partnership which includes 10 partner organisations: Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council, Dorset Council, Dorset Police, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Trust, Dorset Wildlife Trust, Forestry England, Natural England, National Trust, RSPB.

If you also walk dogs in the New Forest, please visit the New Forest National Park Authority to sign up to the New Forest Professional Dog Walkers’ Charter.

If your dog business would like to sign up, please read the Professional Dog Walkers’ Charter and fill in your details below.

If you have any questions please use the contact form.

Professional Dog Walker Listing Sign Up

We will include your business information on our website so that customers can choose responsible dog walkers. Would you like this to include your business telephone number?

Please select which of the following applies to your business

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By signing up to the Charter will you be changing any of your work practice?

DECLARATION: By signing up to the Dorset Dogs Professional Dog Walkers’ Charter (PDWC) I agree that my business operates in line with the terms laid out in the Charter. I understand that following the PDWC is a condition to being listed on the website and that I will be asked to remove any association with the PDWC and be taken off the website if seen to be breaching the terms.

Tick here to indicate that you have read and agree to the terms of the Dorset Dogs Professional Dog Walkers’ Charter.

How we will hold your information

We will hold your information securely and it will not be used for any other purpose, nor will it be supplied to anyone outside Dorset Dogs* without first obtaining your consent (unless we are obliged by law to disclose it). You can ask us not to contact you again by contacting dorsetdogs@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and we will remove your details from our database. More details on how we hold personal information can be found in our Privacy and Cookies Policy.