Dog Service Prices in Louisiana: What New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Shreveport Businesses Charge

Each price in Louisiana is one business's menu. Menus differ by city, dog size, kennel level, staffing and what comes with the base rate. A $44 night that includes daycare is a different product from a $25 night where meals cost extra. So, treat every number here as a dated example from a named business, and compare what each one includes, not just the headline figure.

It also helps to keep four kinds of numbers apart: posted menus from named businesses, marketplace figures from a platform like Rover, employee wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and your own owner income. They answer different questions, and mixing them is how a new business ends up priced too low.

Lafayette has two clear menus, and they sit at very different points.

Spot's Schoolhouse lists boarding at $20 per night per dog for one to seven nights, with $15 per night for an additional dog from the same household. It also lists a $25 doggie day-visit package with two visits, potty breaks, feeding, a short walk and at least 15 minutes of interactive play per household per visit.

The Doghouse Lafayette prices daycare at $25 for a full day and $15 for a half day of up to five hours. Packages lower the per-day cost: five full days are $118 and twenty-five are $535, while five half days are $71 and twenty-five are $325.

Its boarding comes in two levels. A standard kennel is $44 per night, or $287 for seven nights (about $41 a night) and $546 for fourteen (about $39). A luxury kennel is $60 per night, or $399 for seven nights (about $57) and $756 for fourteen (about $54). Shared accommodations add $35 per night, in-house Purina food is $5, and a Kong treat with peanut butter is $5. Daycare is included for boarded dogs.

That inclusion matters. If your boarding rate doesn't include daytime play, you're selling something narrower than The Doghouse's $44 night, and your menu should say so.

The Mom & Pops Dog Boarding rates page in Baton Rouge shows two rate sections that don't match.

The first lists 24-hour boarding at $25 for one dog and $20 for each additional dog per owner, puppy boarding (6 months to 1 year) at $35, meals from the business's food at $1 per cup, transport to grooming or veterinary visits at $35 up to five miles and $40 up to ten, and after-hours pickup or drop-off at $10 per extension.

The second lists 24-hour boarding at $30 for one dog and $25 for each additional dog, puppy boarding at $35, adult daycare at $15 per day, puppy daycare at $20 per day, meals at $1 per cup, and transport at $35 up to five miles and $45 up to ten.

Ask Mom & Pops which block is current before you quote either figure. The structure is useful on its own: a per-24-hour boarding unit, a lower rate for a second dog, a higher puppy rate, food sold by the cup and transport priced by distance. Each of those is a decision you'll make on your own menu too.

Life Unleashed New Orleans posts boarding at $60 per night and limits it to former training clients. That changes how you read the price. It's a rate for dogs the business already knows, and a new owner can't book it.

The $60 includes supervised playtime, socialization when applicable, 20-minute walks, and place or relaxation time. Add-ons are separate: a 30 to 45 minute walk is $25, a 60-minute training session, field-trip training or a park outing is $40 each, and nail trimming is $25.

That $25 walk is priced as an add-on for a boarded dog, so treat it differently from a standalone walking rate. For independent walkers, sitters and groomers in the city, call several named providers for current menus.

Shreveport gives you three kinds of numbers, and each one needs its own label.

Towne South Animal Hospital's boarding rate sheet prices boarding by dog size, with a regular rate and a Camp Cosbie off-leash play rate:

The same sheet lists a Deluxe rate of $43.50 per night.

Camp Bow Wow Shreveport says daycare is included in boarding stays. Its page shows package prices, including $125 for a limited-availability boarding package and $162 for a luxury suite for three dogs. Call the location for its current nightly base rate before you compare against it.

Rover's figures are marketplace data, not a business menu. Rover's Shreveport dog walking page reports an average of $19.98 per walk as of September 2026 and says sitters set their own rates. Rover's Shreveport cost article lists drop-ins at $13 to $20 per visit, home boarding at $28 to $40 per night, house sitting at $29 to $50 per night and walking at $20 per walk.

For Shreveport daycare and grooming, contact local facilities directly for current menus before you set yours.

Bath pricing tends to follow dog size, with nails, ears and brushing broken out as extras.

The Doghouse Lafayette charges $25 for a small dog, $35 for medium, $45 for large and $55 for extra-large. It says its baths include shampoo, conditioner, ear cleaning, brushing and blow-drying. On their own, brushing is $10, ear cleaning $5, nail grinding $14 and nail trimming $10.

Mom & Pops in Baton Rouge lists a small bath at $10 and a medium bath at $15, with an extra charge for long hair based on length and thickness, and $5 more for blow-drying and brushing.

Camp Bow Wow Shreveport lists a $25 bath, a $45 Doggy Deluxe Package, an $11 nail trim and $10 teeth cleaning.

When you price your own baths, decide what the base price covers and how you'll handle size, coat length, matting and dogs that need extra handling, then write those rules on the menu.

If you plan to hire, the Bureau of Labor Statistics gives you a wage benchmark. Its Louisiana May 2023 wage estimates put animal caretakers at a $13.73 mean hourly wage and $28,560 mean annual wage, with about 3,420 caretaker jobs in the state. Animal trainers averaged $16.30 per hour and $33,900 per year.

Nationally, the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook lists May 2025 median annual wages of $35,360 for animal caretakers and $39,990 for animal trainers. It projects 2025 to 2035 employment growth of 12% for caretakers and 4% for trainers. That projection is about jobs; it says nothing about revenue.

These numbers describe what employees are paid. They don't tell you what you can charge, what your profit will be or what you'll pay yourself. Your customer price has to cover wages plus unpaid time, payroll taxes, insurance, supplies, rent, utilities, cleaning, transportation, payment fees and cancellations, and still leave something for the business.

Competitor menus tell you where the market sits. Your costs tell you where your floor is. Build from costs first, then check the result against the menus.

Take one service and follow it from booking to cleanup:

1. Time. Count paid and unpaid time: messages, meet-and-greets, driving, feeding, cleaning and records.
2. Labor. Put a dollar figure on that time, whether it's your hours or a caretaker's wage plus payroll costs.
3. Overhead. Add a share of rent, utilities, insurance, supplies, cleaning products and marketing.
4. Per-booking costs. Add travel, payment processing fees and an allowance for cancellations.
5. Capacity. Divide monthly costs by the nights, days or visits you can realistically sell, not the number you'd sell if every slot filled.
6. Margin and taxes. Add the margin you need, and account for any sales tax that applies.

Then compare your number with three or more dated local menus, matching inclusions. If you land well below the market, raise it before customers get used to a price that doesn't pay the bills.

A week is enough to get a working menu in place:

• Day 1: List every service and how long each one really takes.
• Day 2: Collect current local competitor menus and date each one.
• Day 3: Work out direct cost per service and your realistic capacity.
• Day 4: Request insurance quotes and call your city or parish planning office.
• Day 5: Confirm your registration and tax treatment.
• Day 6: Publish a clear menu with inclusions, exclusions, add-ons, hours, package terms and the update date.
• Day 7: Review inquiries and bookings, and note which prices drew questions.

These are the offices that decide each piece.

Registration. The Louisiana Secretary of State points owners to geauxBIZ, which it says can manage business filings and tax registrations, reserve a business and generate a list of potential federal, state and local licenses and permits. Start there.

Sales tax. The Louisiana Department of Revenue says a seller that furnishes taxable services, or otherwise qualifies as a dealer, must apply for a sales tax certificate, collect the proper taxes and file returns. It lists the general state rate as 5%, with returns and payments due by the 20th day of the following month or quarter, depending on your filing period. Whether your specific dog service is taxable depends on the statute and the facts of the sale, so ask the Department for a ruling before you add a tax line to your menu.

Zoning and local permits. The SBA says zoning can apply to home-based businesses too: "Zoning laws are typically controlled at the local level, so check with your department of city planning, or similar office." In Louisiana, that's your city or parish planning and zoning office. Ask whether your address is zoned for the service, whether you need home-occupation approval, whether the number of animals is limited, and whether kennels, fencing, drainage, ventilation or noise are regulated. Ask the local permitting or occupational license office about business licenses, the fire marshal or building office about building, fire or sign permits, and whether the parish regulates animal facilities separately from the city. If your work falls under an animal-facility program, contact the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

Insurance. Pet Sitters International lists general liability, care, custody and control coverage, bonding, workers' compensation and commercial auto as separate coverage considerations for pet care. Ask an agent which ones fit your services, then put the premium into your overhead.

Records and staff training. IRS Publication 334 says a deductible business expense must be ordinary and necessary, and the IRS recordkeeping guidance says records should clearly show income and expenses, backed by invoices, receipts, payroll records and deposit records. If you hire, IBPSA's training covers employee fundamentals such as canine body language, boarding standards, common safety mishaps and infectious disease prevention.

Short answers on walk and sitting rates, and on using BLS wages to plan owner income.

Price it from your time, travel and costs. For reference, Life Unleashed in New Orleans charges $25 for a 30 to 45 minute walk added to a boarding stay, and Rover reports a $19.98 average per walk in Shreveport as of September 2026. A full hour takes more of your day than either, so build that time into the rate.

It matches the Shreveport marketplace figures, where Rover lists walking at $20 per walk and a $19.98 average. Whether it works for you depends on the walk's length, your drive and your costs.

Rover's Shreveport figures list home boarding at $28 to $40 per night and house sitting at $29 to $50 per night, so $40 falls inside those ranges. Those are marketplace numbers that sitters set themselves, so check that $40 covers your time and overhead.

No. BLS wages describe employee pay, such as the $13.73 mean hourly wage for Louisiana animal caretakers in May 2023. Your owner income is what's left after labor, rent, insurance, supplies, taxes and every other cost.

Pick one service this week, work it through the cost steps above, and set your number beside two or three dated local menus. Once your menu is published with clear inclusions and an update date, make sure customers can find it. A DogServ directory listing puts your business where local dog owners are already looking.

• bls.gov: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
• bls.gov: Louisiana May 2023 wage estimates
• campbowwow.com: Camp Bow Wow Shreveport
• irs.gov: Publication 334
• irs.gov: recordkeeping guidance
• learn.ibpsa.com: IBPSA's training
• lifeunleashedneworleans.com: Life Unleashed New Orleans
• momandpopsdogboarding.com: Mom & Pops Dog Boarding rates page
• petsit.com: Pet Sitters International
• revenue.louisiana.gov: Louisiana Department of Revenue
• Rover: Rover's Shreveport cost article
• Rover: Rover's Shreveport dog walking page
• sba.gov: SBA
• sos.la.gov: Louisiana Secretary of State
• spotsschoolhouse.com: Spot's Schoolhouse
• thedoghouselafayette.com: The Doghouse Lafayette
• townesouthah.com: Towne South Animal Hospital's boarding rate sheet