Pet Sitter & Dog Walker Resume Writing Guide
Get selected faster for jobs with an optimized resume for Pet Sitters and Dog Walkers, no matte your experience.
Pet Sitter & Dog Walker Resume Samples
Below you’ll find three sample resumes, each tailored to highlight the key skills and experience employers and clients value most when searching for a trustworthy Pet Sitter or Dog Walker.
Pet Sitter resume example
Here’s a sample resume showing how to highlight animal care skills and build trust with pet owners.
Jane Doe
Pet Sitter
🏠 123 Pawprint Avenue, Denver, CO 80202
📞 Phone: (555) 111-2222
📧 Email: jane.doe@email.com
Summary
Dedicated and trustworthy Pet Sitter with hands-on experience caring for cats, dogs, and small animals. Skilled in feeding, grooming, and guaranteeing pets’ safety and comfort while maintaining owners’ homes. Known for reliability, empathy, and clear communication with pet owners. Excited to provide high-quality care and peace of mind for families.
Skills
- Feeding and grooming household pets
- Administering oral medications
- Dog walking and playtime supervision
- Monitoring health and behavior changes
- Light house care (plants, cleaning, mail collection)
Education
High School Diploma | Denver Central High School | 2021
Completed coursework in biology and animal science electives.
Certifications
Pet First Aid & CPR – American Red Cross
Issued: March 2025
Experience
Pet Sitting Volunteer
Denver Animal Shelter | June 2023 – Present
- Provided daily care and enrichment for 10+ cats and dogs, including feeding, grooming, and exercise.
- Walked dogs up to 3 miles daily, ensuring proper leash handling and safety.
- Reported health concerns to staff, contributing to improved animal well-being.
Why this resume works:
- Balances practical pet care skills with trust and reliability.
- Includes certification and volunteer work to boost credibility.
- Uses clear, action-focused bullets that owners and employers value.
Dog Walker resume example
This example demonstrates a simple, client-focused resume for dog sitting jobs.
Emily Johnson
Dog Walker
📍 246 Leash Lane, Chicago, IL 60601
📞 Phone: (555) 888-9999
📧 Email: emily.johnson@email.com
Summary
Energetic and dependable Dog Walker with experience handling small and large breeds. Skilled in safe leash handling, route planning, and keeping dogs active and engaged. Dedicated to ensuring pets’ well-being while providing reliable service that owners can count on.
Skills
- Leash handling and pack management
- Route planning and daily exercise routines
- Waste cleanup and safety compliance
- Monitoring dog behavior during walks
- Communicating updates to pet owners
Education
High School Diploma
Chicago Central High School | 2020
Experience
Dog Walker
Local Clients – Chicago, IL | 2021 – Present
- Walked 5+ dogs daily, averaging 2–3 miles per session.
- Maintained schedules, ensuring timely exercise and feeding breaks.
- Reported behavioral changes or health concerns to owners promptly.
Why this resume works:
- Highlights practical walking skills and safety awareness.
- Quantifies daily workload to show reliability and consistency.
- Stresses communication with owners, a top trust factor.
Dog Sitter resume example
Here is a straightforward example of how to highlight safety, consistency, and dedication as a Dog Sitter.
John Smith
Dog Sitter
🏠 789 Bark Street, Austin, TX 78701 | 📞 (555) 444-7777 | 📧 john.smith@email.com
Summary
Responsible and caring Dog Sitter with experience walking, feeding, and supervising dogs of various breeds and sizes. Skilled at building trust with pets, following owner instructions, and ensuring dogs’ safety and happiness. Committed to providing reliable service and peace of mind to pet owners.
Skills
- Dog walking and exercise routines
- Feeding and administering treats safely
- Monitoring behavior and health changes
- Leash handling and waste cleanup
- Daily owner updates via text or photo
Education
High School Diploma
Austin West High School | 2022
Experience
Dog Sitter
Rover App & Private Clients – Austin, TX | 2022 – Present
- Cared for up to 3 dogs per day, including walking, feeding, and playtime.
- Maintained clean, safe environments and followed owner instructions carefully.
- Sent timely updates to owners, improving satisfaction and repeat bookings.
Why this resume works:
- Focuses on core dog care skills that owners look for.
- Adds client-based experience with clear responsibilities.
- Emphasizes trust, reliability, and communication with pet owners.
Pet Sitter and Dog Walker Resume Vocabulary & Writing Tips
Using the right words is one of the most important ways of getting hired in today’s job market. Employers will be checking carefully to see that candidates use the right terminology and phrases related to the industry.
This will not only demonstrate your knowledge on the subject of animal care but will also help your resume pass through any online Application Tracking Software (ATS).
Words to use
- Vet
- Exercise program
- Owner instructions
- Emergency
- Medication
- Treat
- House sitting
- Health and safety
- Regulations
- Companionship
- Breed
- Behavior management
- Playtime
- Handling
- Insurance
- Animal information
Action verbs
- Groom
- Wash
- Administer
- Discipline
- Walk
- Brush
- React
- Vacuum
- Feed
- Notify
- Bathe
- Reward
- Monitor
- Train
- Contact
- Comfort
How To Write a Pet Sitter or Dog Walker Resume
To succeed in this field, a professional Pet Sitter or Dog Walker resume is an absolute requirement to get the best jobs around.
To explain what’s required a little better, the following guide details what tricks a well-optimized Pet Sitter resume will need to perform.
It will help you through each step, from template design to submission so you can target the best jobs with ease. Use these tips along with our expert resume builder to put together a resume that gets results.
Here’s a quick guide to the ideal structure of a Pet Sitter or Dog Walker resume, covering format, design, sections, and length at a glance.
| Category | Guidelines |
|---|---|
| Format | Reverse chronological |
| Design | – No graphics or illustrations – Legible 12 pt font – Use white space – Break text into bullet points – Add minimal color accents |
| Photo | Not required |
| Sections (Required) | – Contact information – Resume objective statement – Work experience – Skills – Education |
| Sections (Optional) | – Professional bodies – Achievements – Projects – Hobbies and interests |
| Resume Length | 1 page (Letter size: 8.5” x 11”) |
Format
Experience is king in getting hired as a Pet Sitter or Dog Walker. That means the resume format you choose should cater to this need. To help your document succeed, it’s best to use a reverse-chronological layout.
This style of template goes into the most work experience detail. It not only places your work history in the most prominent position on the page but also allows candidates to go into the most detail possible about their experience on the job.
If you do not have a lot of formal experience, consider using a functional resume format. This format emphasizes skills like leash handling and reliability rather than past work history.
Design
Fortunately designing a resume for a Pet Sitter doesn’t involve working like a dog. You don’t need to be a graphic designer or artist to create a professional-looking resume. However, you should remember to follow a few quick design rules.
First of all, less is more. Don’t overdesign the document with graphics and illustrations. This will take up valuable space and will undermine the professionality of the document.
Secondly, don’t be afraid of white space on the page. Using enough white space to separate out sections makes them a lot easier to read and much more comfortable for the reader to process.
The text should also be formatted carefully. Choose a legible plain font (Times New Roman or Arial still work well in this regard) and keep it a consistent size 12 throughout. The writing can even be further optimized by breaking up longer paragraphs into bullet-point lists.
Finally, add a little color. Whilst you don’t want to overfill the document with design features throwing in a few subtle touches of flair don’t hurt either.
Photo
You won’t need to include a photo on your resume to get hired as a Pet Sitter or Dog Walker. Many recruiters discard resumes with profile pictures on them as these could unintentionally fall foul of employment discrimination laws.
Therefore it’s better to save the space on the page to detail more about your work experience and skills.
Resume Length
It’s better to keep resumes on the shorter side. A single letter page is usually enough to quickly detail all your key information.
You can also extend to a 2nd page, but this could run the risk of your resume not being read in its entirety by a particularly time-pressed recruiter. If the role is extra competitive, it’s better just to stick to 1 page.
Pet Sitter and Dog Walker Resume Section Headings
To give your Pet Sitter or Dog Walker resume instant appeal, it’s a good idea to feature a resume objective statement.
This can provide a quick introduction to you as a candidate and quickly sum up all your most impressive and hirable features. If done right, it should provide a great incentive for the reader to keep on reading.
Work experience
Your work experience section is going to have to do the most work on your resume. Recruiters and clients will be reluctant to entrust their beloved pets to someone with no experience.
If you have no paid experience try where possible to demonstrate relevant and recent examples of where you took care of a pet’s wellbeing in its owner’s absence. For each position or job you’ve held, you should include the following information:
- The name of the company or employer
- Your job title and job location
- The dates of employment
- The key roles and responsibilities you held in the position
When detailing your tasks in the job, focus on the specifics. Talk about the different types of animals you cared for (and if relevant what breed) and how you took care of them during your employment.
Also, ensure to highlight key examples of how you handled difficult situations and what skills you brought to the table in each role.
Pet Sitter resume skills
There are several necessary skills needed to be a Pet Sitter or Dog Walker that is in demand with clients.
Use the resume’s skill section to demonstrate a range of both soft and hard abilities that will demonstrate you are trustworthy, reliable and an expert in all the needs of the animals you’ll be caring for. This can include one or more of the following:
Hard skills
- Time management
- Animal grooming
- Customer service skills
- Animal behavior management
- Disease control
- Animal exercise routines
- Distress handling
- Cleaning and bathing
- Leash handling
- Medication administration
- Obedience reinforcement
- Record keeping
- Canine nutrition
Soft skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Communication skills
- Trustworthiness
- Empathy
- Attention to detail
- Patience
- Physical fitness
- Love of animals
- Responsibility
Pet Sitter certifications & training
Although not always required, certifications can boost your credibility as a Pet Sitter or Dog Walker. They show professionalism and give pet owners extra peace of mind. The most valuable credentials include Pet First Aid and CPR.
If you’ve completed short courses in animal behavior, grooming, or obedience training, include them too. Some agencies or apps (like Rover or Wag) also provide onboarding programs or background checks—mention these to highlight your reliability and industry recognition.
Clients also value pet sitters with memberships to professional associations, such as Pet Sitters International (PSI) or the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS).
Education
No formal qualifications are necessary to become a professional Pet Sitter or Dog Walker. A love of animals and relevant experience are your most important qualifications for getting hired.
A high school diploma or GED may be preferred in some cases, but this is really at the discretion of the pet owner or agency doing the hiring.
However, if you have earned an associate Bachelor’s degree or Associate’s degree this should still be indicated in your resume’s education section. Especially if it’s in a relevant subject related to animal care.
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FAQs: Pet Sitter & Dog Walker Resumes
Here are the answers to some of the most common questions candidates have when writing a resume for pet sitting or dog walking.
A Pet Sitter provides full care while owners are away, including feeding, cleaning, and monitoring health.
A Dog Walker focuses on scheduled walks and exercise. Many professionals combine both services, but your resume should clearly separate these roles to match client expectations.
Make sure you go into detail. For example, mention the number of dogs handled, distance walked, leash skills, waste management, and owner updates.
Quantify results whenever possible, such as “Walked up to 4 dogs daily, averaging 3 miles.” This makes your experience specific and credible.
It’s a good idea to highlight safety and trust-building skills. These could include first aid, medication administration, behavior monitoring, and sanitation.
For dog care, mention leash handling, route planning, and pack management. Match your skills to the needs of clients or agencies.
Yes, you can treat it as professional experience. You should include the shelter name, duties (feeding, cleaning, or socialization), and skills gained.
Quantify your involvement with details such as “Cared for 15 animals per shift.” This shows responsibility and proves your readiness for paid work.
Emphasize trust signals such as background checks, insurance, or Pet First Aid certification.
Add examples of daily updates sent to owners, zero missed appointments, or references available. Numbers like on-time rate or repeat bookings make reliability measurable and persuasive.
Specify the types you’ve handled, like oral meds, topical treatments, or eye drops. Mention how you followed instructions, documented doses, and monitored pets for side effects.
Showing confidence with special-needs care builds trust and can set you apart from less-experienced candidates.
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