What Is Wag?

Wag is an online platform that connects pet parents to Pet Caregivers. As a part of the gig economy, pet caregivers have the flexibility to offer whatever services they are comfortable with and set their own prices.

The platform launched back in 2015 as an on-demand dog-walking service in Los Angeles. Since then, the company has expanded into thousands of other cities and allows pet caregivers to do more than simply walk dogs. Through the platform, pet caregivers can offer dog walking, drop-in visits, overnight stays, training, and more. 

What Does It Offer?

Both pet owners and caregivers will find Wag to be a useful tool. But in this review, I’m focusing on Wag's merits as a side hustle app. As a pet caregiver, here's what you can expect from the Wag app. 

Multiple Ways To Earn

Wag offers more than one way for pet caregivers to earn extra money. The range of opportunities can make this platform a more lucrative option. Here’s a look at some of the services you can offer:

• Walk: Walking dogs is a key feature of Wag. You can offer 20-minute, 30-minute, and 60-minute walks for pups. 
• Overnight: You can pet sit at someone else’s house or your own. 
• Drop-in: Even if a dog or cat doesn’t need a walk, it might need some company. You can provide this through a drop-in visit. 
• Pet training: If you are an experienced pet trainer, you can offer training services through the platform. The sessions can be conducted in-person or online.

As a pet caregiver, you’ll have the opportunity to offer any combination of services. If you have a preference, like a size limit or pet type in mind, you can turn down opportunities you aren’t comfortable with.

Set Your Own Rates

Wag allows you to set your own rates. While his means you can set your rate to whatever you think is fair, it’s helpful to be realistic when setting your prices. If you set them too high, you may have trouble attracting clients. 

Take a look at the other providers in the area to get an idea of what a fair price is for your location. Wag makes this step easy by providing the ‘average price’ for a particular service in your location.

Easy Payment

Wag works with Stripe Connect, which facilitates payments between you and the pet parent. After you set up your Stripe account, you’ll receive payments into your bank account every Wednesday for services conducted during the previous week.

Tax Help

When you pick up a side hustle as an independent contractor, you're responsible to keep track of your own taxes. Wag does not withhold them for you. However, if you aren’t comfortable going it alone, Wag gives you a straightforward option to work with Keeper.

Through access to Keeper, you’ll be able to easily itemize any available deductions, a nice perk offered to Wag walkers.

Remember that you can also learn to handle your own side hustle taxes. 

Are There Any Fees?

Wag takes a portion of your earnings when you complete a service. When you set your rates, you’ll receive that full amount. But Wag will charge the pet parent 1.67x the rate you set and keep the difference.

For example, if you charge $20 for a service, Wag will charge the pet owner $33.40, and keep $13.40. Tips are excluded from this calculation, but if you do receive tips, you can keep 100% of those earnings.

How Does Wag Compare?

Wag is one option for side hustlers who want to pet sit, but there are other similar apps you can choose from. 

One of them is Rover. Like Wag, Rover is a dog-walking app. Rover's popularity might make finding clients easier than with Wag. Rover also takes a smaller cut than Wag. Rover's fees are between 20%-25%, whereas Wag is charging pet owners almost 70% of your fee, making it challenging for you to set prices high enough to justify the work. 

Sniffspot is another alternative to Wag, but it's very different in how it works. If you have available land, you can let pet owners use the land for their dogs. In other words, your land becomes a private dog park. There is no need to supervise, when a pet owner makes a booking, they can use the land without you having to be there. 

Sniffspot provides liability and damage protection insurance, and pet owners are expected to clean up their pets before they leave the area.