The short answer: most etiquette guides put a regular dog walker’s holiday tip at up to one week’s pay, a groomer’s at up to the cost of one grooming session, and a regular pet sitter’s anywhere from the cost of one visit to a week’s worth of their services — given as cash or a gift card, with a short handwritten note. Those figures are ceilings, not bills. The etiquette guides we read all make the same point early: stay inside your own budget, and scale the number to how often they come and how long they have looked after your dog.
Here is where each figure comes from, role by role, so you can see where the guides agree and where they don’t.
Dog walker: up to one week’s pay. The Emily Post Institute suggests “up to one week’s pay or a gift” for a dog walker, and Consumer Reports’ holiday cheat sheet lands in the same place: “the cost of one week’s services.” AARP’s guide quotes etiquette expert Diane Gottsman recommending an extra week’s pay for a regular dog walker if you can afford it. Care.com’s 2026 chart puts it in dollars instead: $50 to $200 in cash or a gift card, depending on how often they walk your dog. At the modest end, AARP also suggests the cost of a single walk for a walker you use frequently, and Maureen Murphy of Cleveland Dog Walk told Kinship that a holiday tip is “definitely not expected, it’s a very nice surprise” — typically $15 to $40. That is the whole spread, from the price of one walk up to a week’s pay, and the end-of-year number you land on depends on the questions below.
Groomer: up to the cost of one grooming session. Emily Post suggests up to the cost of one session or a gift, specifically when the same person grooms your pet all year. Care.com’s chart and AARP’s guide use the same yardstick. Consumer Reports is the odd one out only because it lumps sitters, walkers and groomers into a single line — the cost of one week’s services — which translates neatly for a walker but less obviously for a groomer you see every month or two. For most people, one groom is the number to start from. If you already tip at every appointment, read the groomer section further down, because that changes the math.
Pet sitter: from one visit to a week’s worth of their services. Consumer Reports suggests the cost of one week’s services, and Care.com’s chart gives pet sitters the same $50 to $200 range it gives dog walkers, again depending on how often they come. AARP suggests the cost of one pet-sitting visit for a sitter you use often. The top of the range comes from the sitters themselves: the owner of a Miami pet-sitting business told Kinship that for a whole year of dog-sitting, anywhere from $100 to $500 is the recommendation. Emily Post’s chart has no separate line for pet sitters.
What moves the number up or down. Emily Post lists the things worth weighing: how often they come and how good the service is, your relationship with them, how many years they have been with you, where you live (it notes that tipping averages run higher in larger cities), regional custom, and whether you already tip at the time of service. Care.com’s guide to tipping dog walkers adds two more: whether your walker works for themselves or through an agency or app, since agency and app walkers often keep less of the fee, and whether they took on extra this year — bad weather, last-minute bookings, schedule changes, a reactive dog or one with medical needs.
Always add a note. Emily Post, Consumer Reports and Care.com all stress this. Emily Post says any tip or gift should come with a short handwritten note of appreciation, and that two or three sentences is enough. Pamela Eyring of the Protocol School of Washington, quoted by Consumer Reports, suggests the note mention a specific act of kindness from the year; CR’s own example is the time a dog walker waited out a thunderstorm.
Where a gift fits. The picks below are an optional extra, not the answer. Emily Post is relaxed about this: it lists a gift as an alternative to cash for walkers and groomers, and says you never have to give both. The pet-care voices lean the other way. Etiquette expert Lisa Mirza Grotts, quoted by Care.com, calls cash “king” and says it’s nice to augment it with a small gift; a pet-business founder in Care.com’s dog walker guide says “a bigger tip plus a note or gift” is appropriate around the holidays; and a New York grooming-salon owner told Kinship not to let a gift replace the tip you normally give. Our editorial view follows them: money first, a small useful thing second, and never a gift in place of your groomer’s usual tip.
That is also why these four picks are practical rather than cute. A former dog walker quoted by Care.com put it plainly: “There’s only so many dog-themed gifts a person wants — even a dog walker.” Our top pick is the Wild One leash-clip bag dispenser, the small, always-needed thing a dog walker never thinks to buy for themselves. Behind it: a waterproof grooming apron with tool pockets for your groomer, an insulated tumbler for the walker’s cold mornings, and a hands-free bungee leash. If you are shopping for everyone else on your list too, the full holiday gift guide for dog lovers has the bigger presents.
The household with more than one dog pro
A walker, a groomer, a sitter, a trainer and a vet add up quickly. The etiquette experts Care.com quotes say to prioritize by how often someone serves you and your relationship with them, so the person who comes every weekday goes ahead of the one you saw twice. Mariah Grumet of Old Soul Etiquette tells Care.com that with a long list, “you may have to give less in order to get to all of those important people in your life.”
Walker and sitter. Usually the top of the list, because they come most often. If the same person walks and sits for you, one combined tip in one card is simpler than two — our suggestion, not a rule. For a thank-you gift that suits someone who looks after the dog in your home, see our gifts for dog sitters guide.
Trainer. Care.com’s chart lists pet trainers as “don’t tip,” and the head trainer of a Texas training company told Kinship the team never expects tips, though trainers do appreciate thank-you cards, cookies, a coffee gift certificate or cash. This is where a small gift on its own makes the most sense: our gifts for dog trainers guide has the tools they use every session.
Vet and clinic staff. Care.com’s chart says not to tip a veterinarian, and Kinship notes that tipping vet staff isn’t expected and may even come across as a little insulting; it suggests a holiday card with a photo of your pet and a few words of thanks instead. Trupanion’s guide to thanking your vet adds a care package with snacks for a quick break, and points out that many vets put patient photos up on their clinic walls. For something more, our gifts for vets and vet techs guide covers what clinic staff actually use.
Daycare and boarding. Care.com’s chart suggests 10 to 20 percent of your pet’s stay for dog daycare, and handmade gifts or baked goods for daycare and kennel staff.
Adding a small gift to the tip?
Our guides for dog walkers, groomers, sitters, trainers and vet staff have practical picks they'll actually use, with live prices.
