Jobs working with dogs cover far more ground than grooming and walking.
The sector takes in training and behaviour work, pet sitting, boarding and day care, kennel and rescue centre roles, veterinary care, hydrotherapy and professional dog handling. Some roles need a regulated qualification or a licence, some need assessed practical training, and others ask for little more than experience, insurance and a calm pair of hands. Here are 15 of them, with what each involves and how people get in.
Grooming Jobs
1. Dog Groomer
Groomers keep coats, skin, nails and ears healthy, working through six to eight dogs a day from quick tidy-ups to two-hour full grooms. No licence is required to groom dogs, though salons and insurers look for assessed training such as Level 2 or Level 3 grooming qualifications. Employed groomers typically earn £17,000 to £24,000, while the self-employed charge £30 to £70 per groom.
2. Bather and Groomer’s Assistant
The standard way into a salon. Bathers wash and dry dogs, prep coats for the stylist, clean equipment between appointments and learn handling on the job. Most start on or near minimum wage, and salons often train juniors up to full grooming over time, which makes this the classic first rung for school leavers and career changers alike.
Training and Behaviour Jobs
3. Dog Trainer
Trainers teach obedience, recall, loose-lead walking and life skills through classes and one-to-one sessions, using reward-based methods. Training is unregulated, so reputation matters: organisations such as the APDT, the IMDT and the ABTC set the standards clients and referring vets look for. Most trainers are self-employed, charging per class or per session.
4. Puppy Class Instructor
A distinct specialism within training, focused on socialisation, early learning and the habits owners build in the first months. Instructors run weekly group courses in village halls, training fields and vet practices, often as an entry point into wider training work or as a sideline alongside another canine role.
5. Canine Behaviourist
Behaviourists work with reactivity, aggression, separation problems and fear, usually with one dog and one household at a time. Clinical behaviour work runs on veterinary referral, with ABTC-registered pathways setting the recognised route in. It’s a career built on top of experience and study rather than a first job, and it commands the highest session fees in the training world.
6. Rescue and Rehoming Centre Staff
Charities such as Dogs Trust, Battersea and the RSPCA employ canine carers, behaviour and training staff, and rehoming teams. The work covers feeding, exercise, assessment and matching dogs to adopters. Paid roles are competitive, so most people start by volunteering, and a DBS check is usually part of the process.
Care and Exercise Jobs
7. Dog Walker
Walkers exercise dogs while owners work, typically charging £10 to £15 per dog per hour-long walk. No licence is required, but the caps are real: many councils and land managers limit group sizes, and insurers set their own maximum per walker. Public liability insurance, canine first aid knowledge and reliable recall management are the tools of the trade.
8. Pet Sitter
Sitters care for dogs in the owner’s home, from drop-in visits to overnight stays, keeping routines intact while owners are on holiday. The role suits people who want flexible, self-employed work, and because it means holding keys and entering homes, a DBS check and insurance do a lot to win client trust.
Boarding, Day Care and Kennel Jobs
9. Home Boarder
Home boarders host dogs in their own house instead of kennels. In England the business requires a local authority licence under the 2018 licensing regulations, with an inspection and a star rating setting the licence length. Rates run per dog per night, and repeat holiday clients make the diary.
10. Doggy Day Care Assistant
Day care staff supervise playgroups, manage introductions, run routines and spot the tired, the overwhelmed and the unwell before problems start. Day care businesses hold a local authority licence, and assistants learn group management on the job. It’s one of the most reliable employed routes into the sector.
11. Kennel Assistant
Kennel assistants feed, clean, exercise and monitor boarded dogs across early starts and weekend shifts. The work is physical and unglamorous, and it builds exactly the handling experience every other role in this list values. Boarding kennels, vets with hospital wards and rescue centres all hire for it.
Veterinary and Specialist Jobs
12. Registered Veterinary Nurse
Veterinary nurses assist in surgery, run clinics, monitor inpatients and educate owners. Veterinary nurse is a protected title: the route runs through RCVS-approved training, either a diploma alongside employment in an approved practice or a veterinary nursing degree, followed by registration. It’s the most heavily qualified role on this list, and one of the most secure.
13. Veterinary Care Assistant
Care assistants support the clinical team without the registered nurse’s regulated duties: restraining patients, cleaning, feeding, running samples and comforting worried animals and owners. Practices often recruit without formal qualifications, and the role doubles as the standard first step for people considering the veterinary nursing route.
14. Canine Hydrotherapist
Hydrotherapists rehabilitate dogs after surgery and manage arthritis and mobility conditions in pools and on underwater treadmills, usually on veterinary referral. The role has its own accredited training route through recognised hydrotherapy qualifications, and insurers and referring vets expect it. Centres are growing in number as referral-based rehabilitation becomes standard care.
15. Security and Detection Dog Handler
Handlers work with dogs trained for security patrol, or detection of explosives, drugs and even medical conditions. Front-line security work is licensed by the Security Industry Authority, with specialist dog handling standards set by bodies such as NASDU, while detection roles run through the police, the military, Border Force and private contractors, most of which train their own handlers.
Where to Start
Hands-on experience opens more doors here than anything else, so volunteering at a rescue centre, bathing in a salon or assisting at a day care beats waiting for the perfect role. Vacancies for the employed positions appear on Indeed, Reed, Totaljobs and Find a job, plus the careers pages of Pets at Home and the major dog charities.
Knowledge is the other half of the preparation, and one subject serves all 15 roles: knowing what to do when a dog is injured or unwell. The First Aid for Puppies and Dogs Course covers emergencies, common injuries and how to respond before veterinary help arrives, with a digital CPD Accredited certificate included free as evidence of learning for your CV. Whichever of these jobs you pursue, the dogs in front of you will be glad you took it seriously.
