Pet Sitting

Hopeful_Harry

I'm looking for some advice as to what to charge for puppy sitting in my own home.

I have googled pet sitting/home boarding, and there seems to be a vast difference - from £8 to £30-40 per day.

I had thought £20, but my OH says I should be charging minimum wage at least (this seems excessive to me).

The puppy is not old enough to go for walks and the owners will supply food. I am in the Midlands if that makes a difference, and I am aware of all the insurances, etc, that I should have.

Any and all advice will be gratefully received.

Bella_b

There is a great book I read a while about Pet Sitting.. it's called


How to Start and Run a Petsitting Business: A Step-by Step Guide to Setting Up a Successful Enterprise in This Rapidly Expanding Market by Fiona Mackenzie

The book may be able to give you more ideas.

Cheapest seems to be WHSmith online at the moment at £8.44, then Amazon.. or you could see if it is available in your local library. If it's not available you can request for them to buy it!

System

I sometimes leave my dog with a sitter she charges £20 a day and he gets walked 3 times a day.

hermum

Have a look on your local Gumtree, there will probably be lots advertised on there, either with the charges or their websites which will give you an idea of local prices.

ILoveChocolate

If its for the day I would say 15-20 , 25 is the top i have seen for overnight home boarding. So many people on gumtree doing for such low sums but I woulndt put my dog there. The average is 20, its hard work looking after a puppy. You should maybe try dog walking 10 a walk and no distruption to your house. If you have dogs staying over in your house its very hard work. Ok if you only do day boarding my advice to you would be day boarding only, not overnight. goodluck.

Hopeful_Harry

Thank you for all the replies. Lots of useful advice, and I'll definitely look at getting the book. I've decided to go with £20 which they've agreed to, and hope I haven't priced myself out of future work from them.

ladymarmalade222

This is the service I use when I go on holiday so I thought I would join in with what is charged.

I am registered with a company (which I believe is a franchise), who then recruit families or retired people usually as pet sitters in their own homes. I had to fill in a long questionnaire with allergies, food requirements, temprament of my dog, what time she is fed, walked etc. A home is then suggested (my dog is best suited to an older person at home all day as she is a typical lap dog and does prefer to be the only dog) and I take my dog to visit the home. I now have a few homes she has stayed at and I am comfortable with which I choose as I know she is happy there.

I pay 15.00 per day and the day I drop her off and pick her up is also paid for so a 7 day holiday I have to pay for 9 if that makes sense. I take all her food and bedding etc to make her feel at home. I pay the company directly so I do not know how much the sitters get paid. My dog is really easy to care for and sleeps most of the time and is happy asleep next to me on the sofa so I never have an issue finding her a place even at short notice if I have to go into hospital.

This is the only way I would go away as I know she would be very fretful in a kennel as she is spoilt:rotfl:, I would not swap her for the world though.

Hope this is helpful and if you need anymore information just let me know.

Take Care

xx

pineapple

I've looked at pet sitting, dog walking, dog boarding... I put cards in shops and an ad on a pet website. Though I didn't stand much chance with the second one when a local was advertising dog walking at 50p per hour - no really! Re dog walking I think it's the norm to operate a sliding scale depending on whether you are walking more than one at once.
Re dog boarding I only found a couple of clients and one of them felt I should be cheaper than boarding kennels!!
You also have to research who else is operating in your area. There is a very professional operation a mile or so from me - I see their van with logo everywhere. I think they have cornered the market .
I would think twice about having a puppy in my home. Unless it's housetrained and doesn't chew!
One really ought to have public liability insurance as well.

afm_2

I pay £10 a day for my German Pointer. She is walked several times a day and we even get to see pictures of her whilst we are away.
I couldn't afford to pay more than this and I presume many people can't either. So maybe it is best to keep the charges low and maybe get lots of customers than charging a high fee and get just a customer every now and then?

yonk

A dog walk where I live is £12 for an hour so £20 is fair but it will depend on what the local market will tolerate.

seven-day-weekend

yonk wrote: »

A dog walk where I live is £12 for an hour so £20 is fair but it will depend on what the local market will tolerate.

I am a professional house/petsitter and look after peoples' pets in their own home. I work through an agency. It is £22 a day plus £6 a day subsistence for the sitter, plus the mileage there and back to your home, plus the agency fee. If the client has more than one animal it works out cheaper than kennels, is better for the animal and your house is not left empty for longer than four hours.

I work with my husband, but you only pay for one of us, although we are both registered (we both got registered so that either one of us could do the sits, although we prefer doing them together). We work mainly in the West Midlands, South Staffordshire and Shropshire. We are fully insured and referenced.

I think it is an excellent service for pet owners who otherwise would have to use kennels.