Dog walking / pet sitting software, built around E&O and recurring visit plans + recurring billing

Arkathos gives a dog walking a workspace tailored to how the work actually runs — This workspace is built around running recurring home visits — scheduling the route, dispatching the walker, and proving each visit happened. Arkathos tailors a dog walking workspace around 4 agents: Quartermaster, Sentinel, Treasury, Herald.

Compliance a dog walking can't afford to miss

Watchtower tracks every license, bond, insurance policy, and continuing-education requirement for a dog walking, with renewal cadences and staged reminders so nothing lapses.

• A dog walking must maintain a General business license / business tax registration, through the Local city or county government (business licensing / clerk); some states via Secretary of State or Dept. of Revenue, which renews every year.
• A dog walking must maintain a Commercial dog walker / pet care establishment permit (municipal — only where required, e.g. NYC, San Francisco), through the Municipal animal-care authority (e.g., NYC Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene; San Francisco Animal Care & Control), which renews every year.
• A dog walking must maintain a Kennel / animal boarding facility license (only if boarding overnight or over the state dog-count threshold), through the State Dept. of Agriculture or county/municipal health/animal control (e.g., PA Dept. of Agriculture 26+ dogs/yr; NJ municipal health dept.), which renews every year.
• A dog walking must maintain a Sales tax permit / Certificate of Authority to collect sales tax (where the service is taxable), through the State Department of Revenue / Taxation, which has no fixed renewal cycle.
• A dog walking must maintain a Certified Professional Pet Sitter (CPPS) — voluntary, through the Pet Sitters International (PSI), which renews every 3 years.
• The Certified Professional Pet Sitter (CPPS) — voluntary carries a continuing-education requirement of 30 hours every 36 months (30h Professional development (CEUs — no mandated curriculum, no ethics sub-minimum)).
• A dog walking must maintain a NAPPS Certified Professional Pet Sitter — voluntary, through the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS), which renews every 3 years.
• The NAPPS Certified Professional Pet Sitter — voluntary carries a continuing-education requirement of 30 hours every 36 months (30h Professional development CEUs (max 20 in any one of the three areas: NAPPS service, study, community service; no ethics sub-minimum)).
• A dog walking must maintain a Pet First Aid & CPR certification — voluntary, through the Private training provider (e.g., Pet Tech, ProTrainings/ProPetHero, American Red Cross), which renews every two years.
• A dog walking must maintain a Pet-sitter fidelity / surety bond (employee-dishonesty bond), through the Surety / insurance provider, which renews every year.
• A dog walking must maintain a Pet care professional liability insurance (care, custody & control / E&O), through the Private insurer (pet-business specialty carrier), which renews every year.
• A dog walking must maintain a General liability insurance, through the Private insurer, which renews every year.
• A dog walking must maintain a Cyber liability insurance, through the Private insurer, which renews every year.
• A dog walking must maintain a Workers' compensation insurance (required once you have employees), through the Private insurer or state workers' compensation fund, which renews every year.

Everything Arkathos runs for a dog walking

These are the agents set up first for a dog walking — and because it's one platform, every plan includes all 16 Arkathos agents. Also included whenever you need them: Guardhouse, Scribe, Courier, War Room, Armory, Marshall, Mint Warden, Vault Keeper, Watchtower, Bulletin Board, Client Portal.

• Quartermaster — Online booking & appointments, Calendar & availability, Events & waitlists, Automated reminders, Job dispatch & scheduling.
• Sentinel — Contact & lead management, Deal / estimate pipeline, Task & follow-up tracking, SMS & email outreach, Pipeline reporting.
• Treasury — Invoicing & payment collection, Expense tracking, Accounting & bookkeeping, Business tax prep & filing, Recurring billing & subscriptions, Financial dashboards & reports.
• Herald — SEO & get-found content, Social media scheduling, Email & newsletter campaigns, Brand voice & content studio, Review & reputation growth, AI-overview & directory visibility.

Your tailored dog walking workspace

These are net-new, dog walking-specific capabilities — not a generic CRM bolted onto your industry.

• Recurring visit plans + recurring billing (Quartermaster): Define repeating visit plans (e.g., M/W/F 30-min walk, twice-daily drop-in) that auto-generate the schedule and bill on a recurring cycle in Treasury.
• Visit-level route board (Dispatch): A per-visit daily board: assign each home visit to a walker with address, time window, and drive-time sequencing — finer-grained than a generic job board.
• GPS walk report delivered to the owner (Client Portal): A walk report object: start/end time, GPS route map + distance, potty log, photo, and notes, pushed to the owner after each visit as the proof-of-service.
• Secure home-access vault (Sentinel): Encrypted key/lockbox custody, alarm codes, and home-access authorization stored per client and surfaced only to the assigned walker.
• 1099 walker roster + pay-per-visit (Marshall): Contractor classification, onboarding, time tracking, and per-visit pay for 1099 walkers/sitters who aren't on Gusto payroll.
• Emergency-vet authorization e-sign (Scribe): Signed emergency-vet authorization captured at client onboarding and attached to the pet's record.
• 'Bonded & insured' badge + insurance renewal tracking (Watchtower): Track bonding & liability-insurance renewals and expose a 'bonded & insured' trust badge as a marketing signal.
• Free meet-and-greet intro-visit booking type (Quartermaster): A dedicated no-charge meet-and-greet booking type that precedes a new client's first paid visit.

The agents and tabs you get

Quartermaster for a dog walking surfaces Dispatch, Calendar, Bookings, Availability, Chat. Sentinel for a dog walking surfaces Contacts, Chat. Treasury for a dog walking surfaces Financial sheet, Invoices, Chat. Herald for a dog walking surfaces ✦Studio, Compose, Schedule, Get found, Chat, Brand voice.

Frequently asked questions

best dog walking software for a small business

Top picks include Time To Pet, Scout, Pet Sitter Plus and Jobber for scheduling, GPS walk tracking and invoicing. Arkathos bundles scheduling, CRM, invoicing and marketing in one flat-priced platform tailored to pet-care businesses.

how much does dog walking software cost

Most pet-care software runs free to about $25-50/month for solo walkers and $50-200+ for teams, often adding per-user staff fees. Arkathos uses flat pricing with no per-seat charges.

what software do pet sitters use to schedule and invoice clients

Pet sitters commonly use Time To Pet, Scout or Pet Sitter Plus to set recurring visits, auto-generate invoices and take payments. Arkathos automates scheduling, recurring invoicing and payment collection in one place.

does a dog walking app track gps and send photos to owners

Yes—apps like Time To Pet, Doggy Logs and Rover GPS-track walks and send report cards with photos and notes. Real-time updates reassure owners and justify premium pricing.

do i need insurance and bonding to start a pet sitting business

Yes—general liability plus care, custody and control coverage protects against pet injury or home damage, and bonding guards against theft claims. Some states require bonding before you register or insure.

how to get more dog walking clients

Build Google and Yelp profiles, collect reviews, post walk photos on social, run referral discounts, and network with vets and groomers. Arkathos's marketing and CRM agents run outreach, reviews and referral follow-ups automatically.

are dog walkers 1099 contractors or employees and do they pay taxes

Self-employed walkers owe self-employment tax (15.3%) on profit over $400 and file Schedule C. Misclassifying staff walkers as 1099 when you control their work can be illegal. Arkathos handles payroll, 1099s and tax.

free pet sitting and dog walking software

Free tools like Scritches, DoTimely and Doxford cover basic scheduling and client management, often charging only for invoicing or payments. Arkathos offers a trial with flat pricing and no per-employee fees.

how do i schedule recurring dog walks and send automatic invoices

Pet-care software lets you set repeating visit schedules that auto-generate and email invoices, then charge saved cards. Arkathos automates recurring scheduling, invoicing and payment collection so weekly clients bill themselves.

What licenses and insurance does a dog walking need?

Arkathos tracks 12 items for a dog walking, including General business license / business tax registration, Commercial dog walker / pet care establishment permit (municipal — only where required, e.g. NYC, San Francisco), Kennel / animal boarding facility license (only if boarding overnight or over the state dog-count threshold), Sales tax permit / Certificate of Authority to collect sales tax (where the service is taxable). Each renewal and expiration is monitored in Watchtower with staged reminders.

What continuing education is required for a dog walking?

The Certified Professional Pet Sitter (CPPS) — voluntary carries a continuing-education requirement of 30 hours every 36 months (30h Professional development (CEUs — no mandated curriculum, no ethics sub-minimum)). The NAPPS Certified Professional Pet Sitter — voluntary carries a continuing-education requirement of 30 hours every 36 months (30h Professional development CEUs (max 20 in any one of the three areas: NAPPS service, study, community service; no ethics sub-minimum)). Watchtower logs hours by category and flags shortfalls before the deadline.

Which Arkathos agents does a dog walking get?

Arkathos tailors a dog walking workspace around 4 agents: Quartermaster, Sentinel, Treasury, Herald.

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