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Pet or plant-sitting... official MoneySavingExpert.com discussion
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A friend of a friend asked if i could look after their dog while they were at work each day, offering £10 a day. Someone got wind of this and reported me to the people who investigate dog sitters to see if they are insured.
Be warned!
x
Is it just a case of advertising and offering our services or is there more to it that that?
I've done this on a live in basis but a lot of the people willing to pay you to live in their house and look after the cat aren't just concerned about the kitty. This was the top end of the market, very posh houses and basically it cut their insurance by having someone there. There are a lot of agencies the bona fide have proper insurance. You have to be a non-smoker. You have to be there overnight and the really top-paying ones insist on things like out of the house no more than 3 hours at a time. I got £100 a week plus a cleaner every day to clean-up after me
These are pretty typical criteria: http://www.ninasnanniesforpets.co.uk/recruitment.asp
Now I did it in student holidays but it'd be hard to do with a regular job/family.
Try http://platinumpetcare.co.uk/display.asp?id=5
I do pet sitting. It's fairly easy. I put up a few notices round where I live, stating something along the lines of -
- Experience (I work on a city farm, and have my own chickens, so I said that I specialise in poultry - and you'd be surprised how many urban chickens and ducks there are)
- Based in *insert area here so people realise you are nearby should something go wrong*
- Contact Helena on 07*********
I'd had several calls, and I charge around £3 a visit, depending on workload. No one has ever been unhappy with that
Since the end of August, I've made over £70, which I'm happy about, given that in some cases I got £2.50 for opening a pouch of cat food
PS There are certain animals I simply won't deal with, particularly dogs that I can't control, or are vicious, or are of a breed which was bred for fighting (and I don't care how sweet the owners say they are, I'm not endangering myself).
Very useful information and you seem like a very level-headed person. I have used my cousin's daughter, aged 15, who has lived on a farm since birth and done work experience at the vets. I pay £5 a visit which covered feeding a cat, a rabbit & guinea pig, 4 chickens, and watering the greenhouse.
i cant remember if he got paid but it was a nice change staying somewhere else.