How to get dog walking reviews and referrals

Why the first five are the hard ones

A new walker has the same problem every new local business has. People want proof from strangers before they hand over a key, and you cannot get proof from strangers until somebody goes first.

The way through is not volume. It is timing, one clear ask, and a way of saying thank you that does not break any platform rules. That is the whole of this page.

Ask at the right moment

Most review requests fail because they arrive at a neutral moment. The client is at work, nothing memorable happened, and the message is one more thing to deal with.

Good moments, roughly in order:

• Right after they thanked you for something specific
• The day after you covered a last minute change or a schedule mess
• After a visit where you flagged something real, like a limp or an empty water bowl
• At the end of the first month of a steady recurring slot

Bad moments:

• After the first walk. There is nothing to review yet.
• In a mass email to your whole list. It reads as a campaign, because it is one.
• Straight after a problem, even one you fixed well.
• Twice. If the first ask went unanswered, that was the answer.

The exact words

Short, specific, easy to say no to. Send it as a text, not an email.

Three things are doing the work in that message:

1. The dog's name. It proves this is not a template, even though it is.
2. The reason. People help a neighbor get found. They do not help a business hit a target.
3. The direct link.Google's help pages describe sharing a review link or a code square with customers, so use one. Do not make somebody search for you.

If you would rather ask in person at handover, say the same thing in one line:

If you have been happy with the walks, a short review would really help other people around here find me. I can text you the link.

Where reviews are worth the most

Nextdoor tells businesses to claim a Business Page and to share the page link with customers along with a personal note asking for a recommendation. That is a small job and it fits neatly into the same ask you were already sending.

Setting up the Google side, including the review link, is covered in the Google Business Profile guide. The Facebook and Nextdoor side is in the Facebook and Instagram guide.

The line you must not cross

Google's policy on user contributions prohibits offering incentives, such as payment, discounts, free goods or free services, in exchange for posting a review, revising one, or removing a negative one. Google's own Business Profile help repeats it and calls incentives in exchange for reviews fake and misleading content. Both pages were checked in September 2026 and are linked below.

So these are out, permanently:

• A free walk for a review
• A discount for a five star review
• A prize draw that anyone who reviews gets entered into
• Paying somebody to take a bad review down
• Writing a review for a client, even one who said you could

This is platform policy. Advertising law on paid or incentivised endorsements is a separate question, it varies, and it is worth asking someone qualified before you build any reward scheme around what people say in public. When in doubt, keep rewards away from words entirely.

A referral thank-you that stays on the right side

Referrals are the opposite problem. Rewarding one is normal, it is allowed, and it is by far the cheapest way a walker gets a client. The trick is to reward the booking, never the review.

Here is a system small enough to actually run:

1. Pick one reward and keep it forever. One free 30 minute walk, or a credit worth roughly one visit. Simple beats generous.
2. Pay it when the new client books their first paid visit, not when a name is passed along. That keeps it fair to you and easy to explain.
3. Ask for the neighbor, not for anyone. A referral two streets away is worth more than three across town, because it is the difference between a route and a scavenger hunt.
4. Say thank you the same day, in writing, and tell them the credit is already on their account.
5. Write down who referred whom. Twelve clients in, you will not remember, and those people are the most valuable list you own.

The referral ask

Notice what it does not say. It does not ask for support, it does not ask for a post, and it does not ask them to write anything. It tells one specific person exactly who to think of, which is the entire job of a referral ask.

Handle the bad one properly

You will get one. A missed slot in a storm, a gate somebody else left open, a household that was never going to be happy.

Reply once. Keep it short. Do not argue the details of somebody's home in public.

Thank you for the feedback, and I am sorry the visit on the 14th fell short. I have changed how I confirm gate closures so it does not happen again. I would like to make it right, so please call me any time.

Then fix the thing. If the complaint was about cancellations or weather, that is usually a policy gap rather than a people problem, and the cancellation policy guide closes it.

Read next

• How to get your first 10 dog walking clients is where referrals fit into the wider plan.
• Flyers, door hangers and business cards is what you do while you wait for word to spread.