Dog Sitter Questions

[drivencrazy]

Is there anyone around that does it at a business? Maybe contact your vet to see? When our dog was much younger we would put him in the kennel and by the time we paid for the overnight cost, playtime, plus we would have to drop him off a day before (we had an early am flight) and pick him up a day later (late afternoon flight) it didn't work out to be that much more for them to be in their own house. Plus he came home w/ kennel cough even though he had the vaccine and you could tell he hated walking in there because all the dogs would bark at him. He would lower his head and walk down towards his pen and avoid all eye contact..... (he'e pretty submissive)

Our girl does 1/2 visits. (neighbors have confirmed this)...if it rains out instead of playing outdoors she'll sit & watch animal planet with them .. Sometimes during the week she'll take him along on her errands, or bring him back to her house for a quick visit...ride in the car..

7 1/2 months old is probably going to have quite a bit of energy, plus if he gets bored he might destroy things. I'd be worried that he would be lonely, too cooped up, and not happy sitting at home by himself.

The vet actually suggested the cheaper of the 2 places! I have asked around and seems like everyone uses a place vs. a person around here. I really wish we just knew someone who would like to stay at our house, the puppy is very good and just needs to go out a few times a day... but right now, I do not know anyone that would do it... I really don't want to have to deal with him getting kennel cough, but have been told by everyone that have used these 2 places that they never had any problems!

The $30 a night place has actual beds for the dogs to sleep on. They also have tv's for the dogs and give treats and toys everynight. Have to pay extra for more than 15 min. of playtime...

The $20 a night one the pup will have his own indoor and outdoor area and is taken out at least once a day for play... not as extream as the other one, and they offer more w/out extra cost!

They both look really look clean and well kept, I plan on checking them both out in person befor making my mind up! I will also keep asking around about someone staying here!

 

[vsimeone]

I didn't read all the replies but we have a college student come and house/pet sit for us occasionally. What I do in lieu of food is leave her a basket of toiletries with the clean towels that I leave out for her and tell her to make sure that she keeps the toiletries. They are usually small samples or small items that I've collected with coupons from Bath and Body Works.

I do tell her that she is welcome to any food in the house and encourage her to eat any snacks that we have but she rarely does.

Hope that helps!

 

[kafitty]

i wouldn't buy any additional food. the gift card sounds like a good idea if you're uncomfortable giving additional cash...but as we all know, cash is always good!

 

[m&m's mom]

FWIW - I never grocery shop specifically for my house-sitter but I do make sure they know that they can eat any food in the pantry/freezer/fridge. I also leave a gift certificate to a nearby restaurant as a thank-you.

That is a very nice idea about the GC.
We used a housesitter for the 1st time 2 weeks ago while we were at WDW.
She used to charge $50.00 per day to stay overnight and $30.00 for feed/play and now but w/ gas prices so high she switched her pricing- which we were very happy about.
We have 2 cats and a dog and DH and I work out of the house so they are used to someone around 24/7. They were miserable the last time we boarded them.
She is a former Vet Tech so I feel comfortable w/ her and my parents have used her for years. It worked WONDERFUL!
Back to the food- I asked what I could provide and she said she brought it all. She even left a few things after she left. I am going to buy fresh items that she left since I know she liked them but I will also pick up a GC for her. She will be here 17 days while we go on the Disney Repo cruise next month so I want her to be comfortable.

 

[hsmamato2]

wow- sounds like prices run the gamut here,from $5-$50 a day! I know I couldn't swing $50 a day,but I do think a little raise would be appropriate for neighbor boy ,as sometimes his sisters come over and play with the dogs also-and I know they share the $$$ afterwards.
I also think,knowing teens, he'd rather have a few extra bucks than a gift or food....

 

[rbork]

FYI - all dog sitters!
my dog sitter locked the dog and the key in my house last week while we were a few states away.
Not only did I end up paying the dog sitter but I paid the locksmith $$$.
Turns out locksmiths are reluctant to unlock houses that owners aren't present. Go figure!
DH chose the locksmith because it was cheaper than cremation.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

Becareful if you leave your sitter food, if they don't eat it you may come home to a fridge full of spoiled food.
This happend to us a couple of years ago. The sitter also broke our furnace and never cleaned up after our cat who had an accident on our bed. She just switched bedrooms. So we ended up coming home very late to a cold house, a stinky bed and a fridge full of spoiled food. Not a great way to wrap up a good vacation.

 

[billjames]

FYI - all dog sitters!
my dog sitter locked the dog and the key in my house last week while we were a few states away.
Not only did I end up paying the dog sitter but I paid the locksmith $$$.
Turns out locksmiths are reluctant to unlock houses that owners aren't present. Go figure!
DH chose the locksmith because it was cheaper than cremation.

well, I guess that could happen to anyone
It's always good to get recommendations and references. I found a great dog sitter from sittercity. She even clean my house (not easy with a big dog)

 

[HelenePA]

I am getting RIPPED off lol.. I am getting paid 50$ to watch a dog in my house for 8 days.. he's here right now.. he leaves sometime sat night or sunday which would make 9 days..

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

I wouldn't go out and buy extra food for your sitter if she has chosen to go with the higher amount of money. She'll be fine! I always tell our sitters they are welcome to anything, and I make sure the fridge is stocked with her Diet Cokes.

I work for a pet sitting service. We charge at least $18/visit, and more for more than 2 pets. When I do pet sitting on my own (not affiliated with the business I work for), I charge $15. Of course, I'm driving to various locations. If I were just going to someone in my neighborhood, I would probably charge no more than $10 per visit. A teen would probably be happy with $5/visit if it were right in the neighborhood.

We do sometimes have a pet sitter stay here for our short vacations. She charges us $60/night for 3 dogs, 4 cats and some small creatures.

Now, I really support our Disney fund by running a dog sitting service out of my home. There are so many people like me who would never send their dogs to a kennel. We charge $20/night for dogs to basically have the run of the house and be part of the family for their stay. We've got 8 dogs here right now It's a fairly easy way to make money, since we're not traveling anywhere, and it's not that much work than what we go through with our 3 dogs.

 

[aubriee]

refresh my memory again what do you all pay for pet sitting? now we have 3 dogs,2 fish,2 cats(outside only) we were paying the neighbor teen(15) $10 a day to come in 3 times or so,feed,let out,play with,etc. I'm wondering about this though- he's really sweet,and seems thrilled with the cash(right next door)
I like to get a good deal,but I want to keep him as my sitter.....the dogs are very happy with him- do you think maybe more $$$.or a gift card somewhere? advice appreciated- I want to be the fair lady next door,not the cheapskate

My neighbor's son (13 y/o) came over last Sept to feed and water my macaw parrot twice a day. My smaller dog (shih tzu), I had a coworker take care of since she doesn't do well alone all day and my bigger dog (akita) would eat anyone who tried to come into our house, so had to stay at the vet. So all the neighbor's son had to do was take care of the macaw parrot. I paid him $100.00 for the week, brought him and his baby brother both back something from WDW (tshirt for him), and bought a bunch of fruit, cookies, bags of candy, pastry type items, etc, that I left on the table with a note to help himself. The day we returned he had mowed my yard for me. I had mowed it before I left, but on his own he decided it needed mowing. I was expecting to have to mow it when I came back and when I saw he had done it, I tried to pay him for it, but he said the $100.00 I was giving him to feed Jonah was more than enough to cover it and refused any more money. He asked me the other day if we were going back to WDW anytime soon. When I asked him why he asked, he said that he'd sure like to take care of my bird again.

My coworker loves my shih tzu and refuses to take anything for taking care of her, so I usually bring her back about $100.00 worth of stuff from WDW and I pay a little over $200.00 for the week to have my akita taken care of at the vet, so I am out over $400.00 for pet care for two dogs and a bird.

 

[aubriee]

FYI - all dog sitters!
my dog sitter locked the dog and the key in my house last week while we were a few states away.
Not only did I end up paying the dog sitter but I paid the locksmith $$$.
Turns out locksmiths are reluctant to unlock houses that owners aren't present. Go figure!
DH chose the locksmith because it was cheaper than cremation.

That's funny! I keep an extra house key hidden in my garage. Before I left for WDW, I gave the neighbor's son a house key, but I also gave him the code for the garage door opener and showed him where the extra house key was inside the garage. I also have a home security system that I had to give him the code and password for. Prior to leaving, I called the security system to tell them I was going to be out of town and to give them the dad's cell phone number, just in case the son accidently set my house alarm off. When I got back my neighbor came over with his son to return the house key and told me he had set the house alarm off once. He said that between the loud alarm and the screaming macaw parrot that he almost peed his pants before he got the alarm off and ran to get back over to his house to let his dad know that the alarm company would be calling.