Dog Walkers in London: Trusted Local Walkers, Rated and Checked

Search “dog walker near me” from pretty much anywhere in London and you’ll get a wall of five-star icons within seconds. What’s harder to tell from that scroll is who’s genuinely real, who’s genuinely local, and who’s actually worth a message. We’ve done that filtering, borough by borough.

A quick word on what this page is not. A dog walker takes your dog out for a daily walk, usually solo or in a small group, while you’re at work or otherwise occupied — different from a dog trainer, who’s teaching your dog something, and different again from a pet sitter, who typically stays overnight or boards your dog at home. Plenty of the businesses below do more than one of these things, but we’ve only included them here because walking is a genuine, advertised part of the service.

What we found

London’s dog-walking market looks a little different from a smaller city’s. There’s no single directory that covers every borough well, so our verified list below is shorter and more honest about its gaps than you might expect from a city this size — 21 businesses across North, West, Central, South, South East and East London, including nine professional walkers currently licensed by Ealing Council, one of the few boroughs with a public, searchable register.

Dog walkers in London, by area

North London (incl. North West)

If your dog isn’t suited to a shared group walk, our guide to secure dog fields in London covers private, bookable fields across the city as an alternative.

• Park & Paws — covers St John’s Wood, Primrose Hill, Hampstead, Belsize Park, Swiss Cottage, Golders Green and nearby. Trustpilot TrustScore 3.7/5 (“Average”) from 1 review. parkandpaws.co.uk
• Green Dog Walking — based NW11, Golders Green. Trustpilot TrustScore 4.1/5 (“Great”) from 5 reviews, 3 posted in the last 12 months. Reviews mention countryside/field walks. greendogwalking.co.uk
• Islington Dog Walking — Islington and the wider London area. Group and solo walks, puppy visits, pet sitting and home boarding, insured. 10 individual reviews on-site, all positive — no aggregate star rating shown. islingtondogwalking.com

West London

• HappyWoof (“Dog Walker London”) — covers NW10 (Kensal Rise, Queens Park), Maida Vale, Kensington, Holland Park, Willesden Green, Dollis Hill, Harlesden and Kensal Green. Group and solo walks, small-dog walks with adapted routes, puppy walking, all walkers stated as insured. 18 individual reviews listed on-site, each linked to a reviewer’s Google profile — no aggregate score shown. happywoof.co.uk
• The Woof Pack Chelsea — covers Fulham, Chelsea, Battersea and Wandsworth from an SW6 base. Small pack walks of 4–5 dogs, “Adventure Days” countryside hikes, dog sitting, fully insured. 25 reviews listed on its DogFriendly.co.uk profile; no star average shown.
• easyDogwalker London — covers Fulham. Group and solo walks, comprehensive insurance stated. Only 1 review visible on its Mimoji directory listing.
• Nine Ealing Council–licensed dog walkers — Ealing is one of the few London boroughs with a public, searchable register of licensed professional dog walkers: Alphas Canine Care, Amigos, Bark Brigade, Bethany Hardy, Donna Graver, James Hamlyn, Rachana Jacob, Shanice Noble and The Dog Dorm. None has a public website or review platform we could find, so no ratings are given — verification here rests on the council licence itself, which is a genuine mark of legitimacy. Source: ealing.gov.uk professional dog walkers directory.

Central London

• VolPets — based Lancaster Gate W2, walking in Kensington Gardens and Regent’s Park. Small group walks of around 1.5 hours in the Royal Parks, plus a one-to-one service for pets with special needs. No review count or star rating found. volpets.co.uk

South London

• Dulwich Dog Walk — covers SE24 (Herne Hill, North Dulwich, Tulse Hill). Group and solo walks, puppy visits, a dog-taxi service for vet or groomer trips, fully insured. No star rating or review count published. dulwichdogwalk.com
• Dog Walking With Molly — covers Lewisham, SE8 (Surrey Quays/Deptford area). Group or private walks, pet sitting, pet transportation, feeding and medication administration, insured. No star rating or review count shown.
• Croydon Pet Care — covers Croydon. Small-group “pack” walks in Croydon’s green spaces, fully insured, staff CRB-checked, also offers a DEFRA-licensed pet taxi. Zero reviews at time of checking (“be the first to write a review”) — included because it’s a named, described, insured business with a live profile, but honestly flagged as having no review history yet.

South East London

Greenwich and Blackheath both sit close to good water for a dog that loves to swim — see our round-up of where dogs are actually allowed to swim in London.

• Urban Paw Prints — covers Greenwich, Blackheath and wider south-east London. Trustpilot TrustScore 4.2/5 (“Great”) from 6 reviews. urbanpawprints.co.uk

East London

Hackney has a genuinely good run of dog-friendly pubs for afterwards too, covered in our guide to dog-friendly pubs, cafés and restaurants in London.

• Hound Crew — covers Hackney, Hackney Wick, Hackney Marshes, Clapton, Dalston, Finsbury Park, Highbury, Homerton, Manor House, Stamford Hill and Stoke Newington. A 2-hour “premium” dog walking service built around recall training and guided socialisation, run as a walking “pack.” No review count or star rating found. houndcrew.co.uk

Live Google Maps star ratings specifically couldn’t be pulled for any London walker in this research pass — where a genuine rating existed, it’s from Trustpilot or an on-site review display instead, cited per entry. A handful of other names turned up in search (Muddy Paws Pet Care, Trotters Independent Dog Walking Co., Walking Pawz, Ace Dog Walking London Limited, NW3 Dog Walker Limited and others) but were excluded, because they’re based outside London, their trading status is unclear, or their service area couldn’t be confirmed — we’d rather leave a gap than recommend an unverified operator.

What to actually check before you book

Dog walking in the UK isn’t a licensed activity — there’s no national register you can check an individual walker against, so “licensed dog walker” on a listing is marketing language, not a credential (Ealing’s council register above is the exception, not the rule). What’s worth asking about instead:

• Public liability insurance — a professional walker should hold this as standard; ask to see it rather than take it on trust.
• A DBS check, especially if they’ll hold a house key or let themselves in while you’re out.
• NARPS-UK membership (the National Association of Registered Pet Sitters) or a similar trade body, which typically requires insurance and a welfare-standards agreement to join.
• Group size — a walker taking six dogs at once in Victoria Park is a different service from a solo walk. Ask directly, and decide what your dog actually needs.

If your dog is new to a walker — or new to you, full stop — the settling-in period is usually the hardest part. A nervous dog left with someone unfamiliar for the first time can get genuinely stressed before the walk’s even started. Some owners find a calming aid takes the edge off a first week alongside a short, calm introduction beforehand — we rate Calmdogs calming treats for exactly that kind of ordinary first-week nerves, though a genuine anxiety problem is always one to raise with your vet first.

For wider pet care across the capital, see our full Dog Services in Greater London hub for vets, sitters, groomers and trainers, and if you’re coordinating transport for a dog as well as a walker, our London pet transport guide covers pet taxis and the Heathrow Animal Reception Centre.