How many dogs can you walk at once in the UK? Council limits and park licences
Where in the app: Daily run · Owner profile
There's no UK law that caps how many dogs one person can walk. The limit comes from where you walk. Many councils use a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to cap the number of dogs per person, usually at 4. Some parks also want a licence from anyone walking dogs for money. Here's what each one says.
We checked every figure below in November 2026 on the council's or park's own page, and each one is linked. PSPOs last up to three years and are often renewed with changes, so check the page before you take a bigger pack out.
The national guide: 6
No national law, but Defra's statutory guidance for licensed home boarders says one person should walk no more than 6 dogs at a time. Many insurers and voluntary codes use the same number. Defra's home boarding guidance
London
The Royal Parks
- 4 dogs per walker. A group of walkers together can have no more than 8.
- A licence for commercial walkers: £300 + VAT per walker a year (£225 + VAT for Richmond and Bushy Parks), running 1 January to 31 December, charged pro rata. A vehicle permit is £100 + VAT.
- £2m public liability insurance is needed. Allow about two weeks.
- No commercial walking at Victoria Tower Gardens, and dogs go on leads in Richmond and Bushy from May to August.
Royal Parks dog walking licences
Hampstead Heath
- 4 dogs per person.
- A licence: £355 a year if you walk there 4 or more days a week, £211 for 3 days or fewer. You need £2m public liability insurance, a risk assessment and two references.
City of London: dog walking at Hampstead Heath
Wandsworth
- 4 dogs, across the borough's parks and open spaces, under a PSPO in force since October 2025. The most it can cost is £1,000.
- Licensed walkers can take 5 or 6. The professional dog walking licence is £311.40 + VAT, running 1 April to 31 March, and needs £2m public liability insurance.
Wandsworth PSPO · Wandsworth professional dog walking licence
Tower Hamlets
- 4 dogs under the PSPO made on 30 April 2025 for three years: a £100 fixed penalty, or up to £1,000 in court.
- A professional walker's licence allows 6. It's £240 a year from 1 April 2026, with insurance and proof of your skills.
Tower Hamlets dog control PSPO · Licence questions
Newham
- 4 dogs per handler, across the whole borough, under its 2025 to 2028 order: up to £100 fixed penalty, or £1,000 in court.
Richmond upon Thames
- 4 dogs (down from 6), with a £100 fixed penalty. The PSPO was extended from 22 September 2026 for three years.
- A professional licence allows up to 6 at named sites, for two years.
Lambeth
- A licence to walk dogs for money in Lambeth's parks, in three tiers: up to 2 dogs (£67), up to 4 (£134) or up to 6 (£402) for 2026 to 27, with 20% off each extra walker. You wear an armband.
Lambeth professional dog walking licence
Southwark
- 4 dogs on One Tree Hill, under a dog control order.
Elsewhere in England
Leeds
- 4 dogs, under the PSPO running 24 March 2025 to 23 March 2028: a £100 fixed penalty, or £80 paid within 10 days.
- Insured professional walkers can take 6, as long as they aren't walking alongside other dogs.
Bristol
- 4 dogs per walker in council parks.
- A parks business licence: £300 + VAT for up to 7 parks, £500 + VAT for 8 to 15, plus a £50 + VAT application fee. You need public liability insurance, and employers' liability if you have staff. The Downs don't need one.
Bristol: business licensing for dog walking
Scotland
Edinburgh
- No set number in law. The council's voluntary code for commercial walkers suggests 6 to 8, and never more than your insurance covers. Registration is voluntary.
Edinburgh code of conduct for commercial dog walkers
Your council isn't here?
Search your council's site for "public spaces protection order dogs". The order lists the areas it covers and the number of dogs. If the page doesn't give a number, ask the council before you take more than 4.
Licences are a separate question from limits. For whether you need one to walk, board or run day care, see Do you need a licence to be a dog walker in the UK?
Keep each walker's pack under the limit
The limit is per person, so the question on the day is who is walking which dogs. BarkBus was built by pack walkers, and it keeps that answer on your phone:
- Every dog on the day's run, by name. Daily run shows each stop and the dog you collected there.
- Each owner's details. Name, address and phone are on the Owner profile, if a warden or ranger asks.
- Every walker sees the same run on their own phone, so whoever is out with the pack has the details too.
✓ Checked against the app on 5 Nov 2026