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Route planner for pet sitters and dog walkers
Morning feedings, the midday walk rush and evening tuck-ins: plan each block of visits in the shortest order so the dogs get the minutes, not the car.
Free plan, no credit card. Works on your phone and computer.
- HomeStart
- Biscuit (Larsen)30-min walk, lockbox1.0 mi
- Mochi & Tofu (Chen)Cat drop-in, litter + meds1.2 mi
- Ranger (Okonkwo)Midday walk, back door1.3 mi
- Pepper (Schultz)Puppy potty break, 15 min2.3 mi
- Luna (Hasan)Vacation visit 2 of 30.5 mi
- + 6 more stops
EZRoutePlanner for pet sitters & dog walkers
A route planner for pet sitters and dog walkers puts each block of visits in the shortest order. In EZRoutePlanner you paste the day's client addresses, make a route for each block (morning, midday, evening), and press Optimize Route. It orders stops by distance, not by the clock. The free plan covers 30 visits a route; paid plans start at $20 a month.
- Typical visit
- 15–30 minute drop-ins, 30–60 minute walks
- Typical day
- 8–15 visits across two or three blocks
- Routes
- One per block: morning, midday, evening
- Labels
- The pet's name, so you know who's next
An example day
Tuesday daytime visits
This example is 11 stops on real roads in Madison, Wisconsin. In the order the list had them, the round trip is 32 mi and 1 hr 40 min of driving. Optimized, it's 17 mi and 54 min: 16 mi and 45 min less, 48% shorter.
A sitter's day is really two or three trips: morning feedings, the midday walks, evening visits. Each block works best as its own route, because EZRoutePlanner orders stops by distance, not by the time a dog needs to go out. Optimize the block, then check that the visits with a clock attached (Olive's insulin, the puppy) still land in time.
Stops are example points on real streets, not real customers. Distances and times are driving figures for each order.
- HomeStart
- Biscuit (Larsen)30-min walk, lockbox1.0 mi
- Mochi & Tofu (Chen)Cat drop-in, litter + meds1.2 mi
- Ranger (Okonkwo)Midday walk, back door1.3 mi
- Pepper (Schultz)Puppy potty break, 15 min2.3 mi
- Luna (Hasan)Vacation visit 2 of 30.5 mi
- Duke & Daisy (Brennan)Hour walk, Vilas Park1.3 mi
- Olive (Marchetti)Senior dog, insulin at noon1.8 mi
- Gus (Feldman)Garage code, 30-min walk1.1 mi
- Meet & greet: NovakNew client, pick up key0.5 mi
- Clover (Jorgensen)Rabbit + cat, feed & water0.8 mi
- Winston (Adeyemi)Midday walk, wipe paws3.3 mi
Where the day goes
What makes routing hard for pet sitters and dog walkers
One client, three visits a day
A vacation client means a morning visit, a midday visit and an evening visit to the same house. A dozen clients on holiday-week bookings can turn into 25 or more visits spread across three trips.
Everyone wants 11 to 2
Working households all want the midday walk in the same three hours. That window decides how many dogs you can take on, so every minute driving between walks is a walk you can't sell.
Keys, codes and meet-and-greets
New clients mean a meet-and-greet and a key pickup; finished stays mean a key return. They're stops with no visit fee, and they land wherever the client lives.
Start from your list
Bring the spreadsheet you already keep.
Feeding notes, vet details and entry codes belong in your client records, not your route: EZRoutePlanner keeps only the address and one label column. Pick the pet's name as the label, or add a column that joins pet and owner, like "Biscuit (Larsen)".
- 1
Import your client list once
Drop in your client spreadsheet and pick the pet's name as each stop's label. EZRoutePlanner finds the address columns and shows every home on a map.
- 2
Make a route for each block
Select the morning visits and create a route, then the midday walks, then the evening. The same client can be on all three. Several saved routes need a paid plan.
- 3
Optimize from home
Turn on Round Trip if you head home between blocks, or pin the last stop if the block ends at a client's house.
- 4
Tap Navigate between visits
Open the route on your phone. Each visit has a Navigate button for Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.
| Pet(s) | Owner | Street | City | ZIP | Service | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biscuit | Larsen | 2117 Kendall Ave | Madison | 53726 | Midday walk | Lockbox |
| Mochi & Tofu | Chen | 1342 Williamson St | Madison | 53703 | Cat drop-in | Key on file |
| Ranger | Okonkwo | 2509 Monroe St | Madison | 53711 | Midday walk | Back door code |
| Luna | Hasan | 3014 Atwood Ave | Madison | 53704 | Vacation x3 | Key on file |
| Duke & Daisy | Brennan | 1810 Vilas Ave | Madison | 53711 | Hour walk | Garage code |
An example sheet. Columns can be named anything and in any order; street, city and ZIP can be one column or several. Pick one column, like the customer name, as each stop's label.
From the route
Routing tips for pet sitters and dog walkers
Plan by the clock first, the map second
Sort visits into blocks by when they have to happen, then optimize each block. One route for the whole day gives you a short drive that walks a dog at 4 p.m. who needed out at noon. The same idea runs through planning weekly service routes.
Check the visits that can't slide
Insulin at noon, a puppy that can't hold it past 1. EZRoutePlanner has no time windows, so after optimizing, look for them in the order yourself. If one lands too late, move it to the front, or start the block from that client's house.
Keep entry codes out of the label
The label shows on the route you share. Use the pet's name, and keep lockbox and garage codes in your client app where only you and your sitters can see them.
Guard the midday window
Before you accept a new midday walk, add the address and look at the leg distances. A client 15 minutes outside your cluster can cost you two walks you could have sold closer in.
Walking between clients still needs an order
In a dense neighborhood like Willy Street or the Near West Side you might walk from house to house. The optimized order still saves backtracking; tap Navigate and switch your maps app to walking.
Hand your route to a backup sitter
When you're sick or away, share the route link with whoever covers you. The page updates when you edit, and you can revoke the link when you're back.
Honest fit
What it handles, and what it doesn't
EZRoutePlanner is built for putting a day of stops in the right order and getting them to whoever drives. Here's where that fits pet sitters and dog walkers, and where you'd want something else alongside it.
Good fit
- Drop-ins and walks in the shortest order, one block at a time
- Morning, midday and evening routes with the same client on each (several routes on paid plans)
- Pet names as stop labels
- A client list of up to 30 homes free, 200 on Starter
- Handing a day to a backup sitter with a link
Not built for
- No time windows: it won't make sure the noon insulin visit happens at noon
- No booking, recurring visit calendar or client billing
- No GPS walk tracking, visit photos or report cards for owners
- Routes are measured as driving, even when you walk between clients
Last reviewed October 21, 2026.
Pet sitters & dog walkers: questions
What do dog walkers use to plan their route?
Usually two things: a pet care scheduling app for who and when, and a maps app or route planner for the order. Google Maps takes up to 10 places in the order you type them. A route planner like EZRoutePlanner works out the shortest order for you, which matters once a block has more than a handful of stops.
What limits how many dogs I can walk in a day?
Mostly the midday window. If most clients want a walk between 11 and 2, your day is however many 30-minute walks plus drives fit in three hours, plus group walks. Shorter drives between walks are the part a route planner changes.
How do I plan a route when a client books three visits a day?
Make one route per block: morning, midday and evening. The client's house goes on all three, and each route is optimized on its own. Keeping more than one saved route at a time needs a paid plan.
Does it work for walking routes, not just driving?
The order works either way, but EZRoutePlanner measures and draws routes as driving. If you walk between clients, use the optimized order and switch to walking directions in Google Maps or Apple Maps from each stop's Navigate button.
Can a backup sitter follow my route?
Yes. Share the route as a link or QR code and it opens in their phone's browser, no app or login, with the visits in order. You can revoke the link any time. See how to send a route to someone else.
Do I need a paid plan as a solo dog walker?
Not always. The free plan saves 30 client addresses and unlimited routes of up to 30 stops, kept one at a time. Sitters who want a saved route for each block, or more clients, move to a paid plan from $20 a month.
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Plan tomorrow's visit route tonight.
Import your customer list, optimize the order with one click, and open it on your phone in the morning. Free to start, no credit card.
Free plan. No credit card. Works in any browser.