What We Learned Building a Dog Walking App (And the Stack That Made It Work)

A few months ago, we helped a client launch a custom dog walking platform. It had all the usual challenges of building a two-sided marketplace - plus the added complexity of scheduling, trust, and real-time location tracking.

This wasn’t just a fun side project. Our client wanted to go live fast, test their local market, and build a foundation for scale. Here’s how we approached it - from MVP planning to tech stack decisions - and what we’d do again (or differently) next time.

The MVP Feature Set That Mattered

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to launch something useful. For this kind of app, we narrowed it down to essentials:

• User profiles (owners, walkers, pets - each with relevant data like age, behavior notes, availability)

• Flexible booking system (on-demand and recurring)

• In-app chat to reduce friction and miscommunication

• Payments with Stripe (easy to set up, handles compliance)

• Admin dashboard for dispute resolution and platform monitoring

Nice-to-haves like GPS tracking, route summaries, or walk photos? Great for phase two - but not critical for launch.

Our Tech Stack (and Why It Worked)

We kicked things off with a responsive web app to validate quickly and keep costs down. It worked across devices and shared a backend with what would later become the mobile app.

After validation, we used React Native for mobile to avoid building separate iOS and Android versions.

Here’s the full stack:

• Frontend: React (web) + React Native (mobile) for fast, cross-platform development

• Backend: Laravel for clean APIs and rapid development

• Realtime: Firebase for chat and live GPS tracking

• Database: PostgreSQL for structured data

• Payments: Stripe for secure, automated transactions

• Hosting: AWS with Docker for flexible deployment and scaling

Cost & Timeline: Real Numbers

For a functional MVP (booking, chat, payments, admin), we hit the 6-8 week mark and kept the budget in the $10-20K range. A full-featured product could easily go $40K+ and take 4-6 months, depending on complexity.

A Few Developer Learnings

• Start with the web - it’s easier to iterate and test without app store bottlenecks.

• Split features by necessity - if it doesn’t make or break your user experience, save it for later.

• Plan for admin needs early - moderation, reporting, and support tools are often afterthoughts but make a big difference.

If you liked this post you can read our full article on dog walking app development.

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