Dog Sitting

supersaver2

Afternoon,

Just looking for opinions/experiences with regards to dog sitting. My Dad lost his elderly dog last year and he's been debating getting another for a while. He's retired and quite active and always had dogs. He has a holiday home in Spain and would take his dog with him but as we all know dogs are very tying and I think he's been enjoying the freedom he know has to have days away without rushing back.

He mentioned to me that he's thinking about becoming a dog sitter which I though was a great idea, he'd be great and he can flexibly fit it around his regular trips away.

I've used a dog sitter before through a company so suggested he contact them which he did. They replied to him that he sounds like a good candidate and they would come and interview him. They sent him information through with details to read and said they pay their hosts £6.00 per 24 hour period. Now I know that the customer is paying £24.00 per 24 hour period, clearly the host wouldn't get that amount due to insurance and the company organising taking their cut but to me the person actually doing the looking after getting £6.00 from £24.00 is pretty poor!

I've paid this company before to have my dogs and had no idea the hosts that are providing the care are only being paid £6.00 for 24 hours! That's pretty outrageous! Clearly you'd never be making a fortune and my Dad doesn't need the money but you'd expect a fair cut when your doing the work!

Do other people use these services or are you a dog sitter? Would be interested to hear what other people think about this?

MallyGirl

I used a sitter once and I paid £58 for 2 days for my 2 big dogs. It was £22 booking fee and then £36 direct to the sitters so they got £18/day.

£6 / day is awful

supersaver2

MallyGirl wrote: »

I used a sitter once and I paid £58 for 2 days for my 2 big dogs. It was £22 booking fee and then £36 direct to the sitters so they got £18/day.

£6 / day is awful

Yes I agree it is awful, I thought the sitters would get around £16.00/£18.00 per day. I bet their customers don't know what a poor fee the sitter is actually getting.

teddysmum

Would he like to do short term foster for The Oldies Club ? They have dogs from 7 years upwards and suit the dog to the potential fosterer. Vet bills are paid and the fosterer donates the food, unless the dog has a special diet.

elsien

I've used a petsitter before, always wondered how much the host families were paid but never liked to ask.
The ones I used weren't doing it for the money - they spent 6 months abroad a year so wanted a dog around when they were back in this country without the tie when they went away again. However, I can't imagine they'd have done it for £6 a day even so - that's ridiculous when you think of the ties. The hosts I used weren't allowed to leave the dog for more than 2 hours a day, so it would limit you quite a lot.
I agree fostering may be another option - Dogs Trust do it as well, or if he wants something with a bit less commitment there's always the Cinnamon Trust for his fix of dog walking.

Anjek

My friend used that service last summer. He paid £140 for a week.

gettingready

£6 per day is absolutely not acceptable.

If your dad wants company of a dog and something to do and money is not the motivator - fostering would be so much nicer for him.

Or he could always register with https://www.borrowmydoggy.com/

harrys_nan

I will be using a dog sitter later in the year, it's a home from home kinda place. I will be paying £14 per night, she also does daycare at £10 per day.
£6 is an insult, to be honest.

Mojisola

teddysmum wrote: »

Would he like to do short term foster for The Oldies Club ?

There's also the Cinnamon Trust.

Many dog rehoming centres also have a bank of foster carers - some dogs don't do well in the centres and need a spell of home life before going up for adoption.

Montysma

I suspect that I know exactly which company you mean. It is a franchise and I used to be a franchisee. I sold up because it was becoming nothing but money extraction from clients. I incurred their wrath by refusing to increase my prices any further.

As I am now a stay at home Mum, I now pet sit myself as an individual. It suits as I am a dog lover and have lots of experience.

I suggest your Dad looks at Dog Buddy. He can set his own price appropriate to your area, pick and choose the dogs which suit him etc. They take 15% but they insure you for each visiting dog and clients pay Dog Buddy who then pay you, so there are no issues with extracting payment from reluctant payers.

I am sure that there are other similar models, but I have done fine with Dog Buddy. You do get known as the dog person by word of mouth and get clients independently that way. At which point he might consider getting his own sitter insurance. A company called Cliverton are very reasonable.
But don't let him do it for £6 per day for "that " company.