Pet Sitting/Walking/Boarding/Feeding/Taxi

anna2000

Hello

I've been applying for jobs working with animals for the past few months, and not had much luck.

Jobs in my area with animals are very limited and I think I've got to be prepared to move anywhere all over the country, and I'm not too keen on doing that as my family, friends and my house is here.

So, if I want to work with animals and stay around my area (Stockport) I've thought about taking the bull by the horns and going self employed setting up my own Pet Services Business - which would include pet sitting/dog walking/dog home boarding/puppy care/elderly dog care/pet taxi/vet runs.

I'm doing a lot of research at the moment and noticed that these Pet Care businesses seem to be getting more popular these days. I was wondering if this sort of thing can be a viable business? Something you can make a living from? Or is it more of a sideline where you can barely make enough to scrape by?

I was just wondering if anybody here has any experience of using one or if you have a similar business yourself?

Cheers, Anna x

monty-doggy

There are quite a lot of these businesses in stockport, I see vans with it splashed all over quite often so there must be a demand. Have you tried enquiring at some how much they charge. If they are insured etc? This might give you an idea on income, then find out how much advertising will be and go from there.
Personally I can't see it being big business as you would need to be walking several dogs at the same time for it to pay well, and a lot of people might not want to let a stranger into their homes.
Have you thought about volunteering at an animal shelter to get a foot in the door and some experienced then move to a paid role?

anna2000

I'm volunteering at the moment for a local cat rescue centre - its a voluntary charity though so couldn't lead to anything paid with them. Just nothing really with animals around here - I've tried all the local pet stores/ vets/ kennels. Its not like I'm after something on my doorstep - I don't mind driving up to an hour each way.

So I don't know what else to do if I want to work with animals, apart from set up something myself

monty-doggy

Are you qualified? Blue cross pay their vet nurses and other various positions

spendingmad

I am a dog walker, don't do pet sitting/boarding as I have my own animals and children.

I charge £6 per half hour walk or £10 per hour walk.
I also do a group walk which is 4 young dogs that get around 45 mins for £6 but I need to pick the dogs up/drop off and transport.

Insurance is approximately £110 per year

I dont think you are ever going to make a 'great' living from it but if you its your dream job then its not a bad way to earn a living. It may also be a slow start and it may take a while to start earning a decent sum.

Also set an area you are prepared to travel to and be prepared to say no if it is outside that area. To make the most money you need the dogs to be as close together as possible to limit travel time

The wagging tails when you arrive to walk them but everything!!

anna2000

I've got qualifications in animal care but I'm not a vet nurse.

catkins

I haven't used a dog walker for over a year as I no longer work but I was paying £12 an hour for mine. I live in Essex.

I do use a pet sitter fairly regularly. I have two that charge roughly the same - £15 for just a day (ideal if I want to go shopping for the day etc) and £20 if it's overnight. That seems to be the going rate where I live and I provide food etc. I know if you have more than 1 dog they both do a reduction for the second dog. Also if say they have my dog from Saturday morning to Sunday morning they charge £20 for the Saturday and a part charge for the Sunday.

toffifee

If you could raise the franchise fee you could look into starting a Barking Mad branch in your area. I've just had a look on the website and there isn't one in Stockport.
We joined as hosts in the summer and the children have loved having dogs to stay and we've had some great feedback from the owners. The woman who runs our local franchise seems to be doing pretty well, judging by the number of dogs we've hosted since joining.

monty-doggy

I've just seen a dog handler job advertised at birch hall kennels. I put stockport in on the universal job match and it came up x