LSA blocking dog walker in Maryland — requires kennel license that doesn't exist in this jurisdiction.
Support says it's a system-level error they can't fix. Anyone dealt with this?
Sharing the full story because this is documented and other dog walkers and pet care businesses need to know what they're walking into.
The business: Deez Muttz Pet Care, Baltimore, MD. Worker-owned dog walking cooperative. Services: solo walks, pack walks, cat drop-ins. No boarding. No kennel. Verified Google Business Profile, category: Dog Walker. Maryland LLC. Full pet care liability insurance. CPR certified. 7 five-star reviews. Clean Google Ads account.
The problem: When I attempted to set up Local Services Ads, I was immediately flagged as ineligible. The system required one of the following to proceed:
- MD Kennel License from the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation
- Baltimore City Health Dept. Commercial Boarding Permit
I do not operate a kennel. I do not offer boarding. Neither of these licenses applies to my business.
Why this is impossible: Maryland does not issue a dog walking license. Baltimore City does not issue one either. No such credential exists at the state or municipal level. It is structurally impossible to provide documentation for a license that no government agency in my jurisdiction issues.
What I did:
- Called LSA support multiple times. Was cut off during transfers repeatedly. Phone tree would not escalate — literally loops back to "enter your CID" and hangs up if you don't have one in the right format.
- Opened support tickets. Received scripted responses requiring kennel documentation. Pushed back explicitly and in writing.
- Escalated within the same thread, explicitly refusing ticket closure and demanding a specialist with authority to adjust licensing requirements.
- Received a second scripted response. Pushed again.
- Finally received confirmation of the following — in writing, from Google support:
Google confirmed in writing:
- Dog walking is grouped under the "Pet Care/Pet Boarding" industry classification at the platform level
- Kennel licensing requirements apply to the entire category regardless of whether a business boards animals
- No formal appeal or reclassification process exists for individual businesses
- No one in support or specialist teams has the administrative authority to waive, modify, or adjust these requirements
- The only path forward is submitting the kennel license or commercial boarding permit
The pay-to-play context: A local pet care marketing firm called Dog Connectors offered to set me up with LSAs for $750/month on a 4-month minimum commitment — $3,000 total. The implication is that at that spend level they have access to actual Google account reps who can navigate compliance issues like this. Below that threshold you're in the self-serve tier with scripted support that by their own written admission cannot fix structural platform errors.
Where things stand: I have uploaded my pet care liability insurance certificate to the license verification slot as a good-faith attempt. I have posted to the Google Ads Help Community. I have sent a final reply to the support thread placing Google's position on record and stating I will share this documentation publicly.
What I'm looking for: Has anyone successfully gotten through this? Specific documentation that worked in place of a kennel license? A contact at Google with actual authority over LSA compliance categorization? Any path forward at all?