The Best Side Hustles for Animal Lovers

If you are an animal lover looking to start a side business or freelance, you are in luck.

Whether you like to walk dogs, bake treats, or make accessories, you can make extra money by trying these seven best side hustles for animal lovers.

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When you start any of our best side hustles for animal lovers, you need little to no money.

You can also keep your day job and complete these in your spare time. If you work hard enough at your side hustle, it may just become your primary income.

Choose your favorite idea below so you can get started today!

Start a dog bakery

You are not alone if you have a pet and feel like you are constantly buying treats. Pet owners love rewarding their furry friends with quality treats.

Starting a dog bakery business is an excellent side hustle if you enjoy experimenting in the kitchen.

Dog and cat treats are both excellent money makers and cater to an audience that actively looks for pet treats that are natural and made from whole ingredients.

You can start small by selling to friends and family and then expand to local pet stores or e-commerce platforms like Etsy.

For all the details, check out our post on how to start a dog treat bakery.

Pet sitting or dog walking

Many pet parents don’t have a friend or family member willing to watch their pet, especially if they have an active puppy or elderly dog that needs extra watch care.

Signing up to become a pet sitter through Rover can help quickly earn you some extra cash.

You must love pets of all kinds and clearly display restrictions if you have limited space or little kids you want to protect.

Examples of restrictions include dogs in heat, puppies (likely not potty trained yet!), dogs that require medication, and aggressive dogs.

Having a meet-and-greet can help you determine if the pet will work in your home and give you a sense of the pet’s parents, too.

Once you have a good experience with an animal-loving family, they will likely book you again the next time they leave town. If you can get a few pets on repeat, you can generate extra income while working your regular 9-to-5.

Like any service-based side hustle, Rover relies heavily on reviews. To book the most jobs, always strive for a 5-star review.

Dog theme print-on-demand

If you are always coming up with witty pet slogans that make fun t-shirts, mugs, or decor, consider using a print-on-demand service to get your goods to the masses.

Print-on-demand allows you to upload your favorite sayings and graphics to various products and then takes care of the printing, packing, and shipping.

You can integrate print-on-demand to your own website, online marketplaces like Etsy and Shopify, or a social media platform.

There are little start-up costs, and you don’t have to worry about storage space or liquidating unsold inventory. Niche down in the pet space to make your products unique and stand out.

Sew pet bandanas

Custom dog bandanas are all the rage, from embroidered to personalized with vinyl and leather.

Channel your maker side with this profitable side hustle for animal lovers. You can create bandanas for holidays, birthdays, gotcha days, charity events, and more.

Bandanas don’t require much sewing knowledge; you only need a few sourced materials.

Jackie from Little Shop Joy has a quick-start guide for starting your own dog bandana business on Shopify.

The guide provides helpful information, including free patterns to get you started.

Design pet-themed stationery

Pet lovers celebrate all of their milestones with their pets. From birthdays to moving announcements to weddings, pets add an adorable touch to any event.

Opening a pet-themed shop on Zazzle can give you access to a large audience and over 10,000 print-on-demand gift options. You can also upload unlimited designs as long as you have the rights to the images.

In addition to opening a Zazzle shop, the platform offers two other ways to make money. If you would rather make physical products, you can sign up for the Zazzle Maker Platform.

If you aren’t creative, you can promote your favorite pet-lover products through the Zazzle Associate Program.

Zazzle has a 4.6-star rating on Trustpilot, is free to use, and does not charge listing fees.

Pet portrait artist

Creating custom pet portraits is a hot market for pet owners.

They make an excellent gift for a friend or family member to celebrate their furry friend or for someone who has recently lost a pet.

Fiverr is my go-to marketplace for starting a custom pet portrait business.

You can provide simple pet portraits for $5 and utilize custom add-ons to raise your price per portrait.

It is best to choose a style you are most comfortable with drawing, whether by hand or digitally—the more unique the options, the better.

Fiverr is best for artists with quick turnarounds who are responsive and courteous to client requests.

Custom pet stickers

Stickers are popular for all ages, from children to adults. You can start a sticker business and market it to people of all ages.

You can quickly create pet stickers and have them printed and cut using Zazzle.

Sticker types:

Logo design
Dog treat packaging
Dog walking and pet sitting advertising
Non-profit shelters ‘adopt don’t shop’
Birthday themed
I love dog breed stickers
Paw themed stickers