How much do you pay for dog sitting?

[2littleprincesses]

We are going out of town for a week. We have two dogs that will need longer walks twice a day and once just a take outside. We do not have a fenced yard. They will be fed twice also. We also have a guinea pig who will need to be fed once a day. We are having a neighbor teen do this job. How much should we pay? I was thinking $150-200.

 

[Ranger111]

Well, I have two friends, a mom and her son who do pet sitting and they charge $40 per day.

Son lives in Portland, Oregon and is a trained Vet Tech. His mom lives in Eugene, Oregon and is "an experienced mom."

So, for a neighbor youth, I think your price is about right -- at five days for $200 that works out to around $40 a day and at seven days thats around $28 per day.

Seriously, I hate to go cheap on this stuff, because it is a neighbor kid, so you want to treat them well. And, you want them to be excited about it and do a good job, so a little extra $$$ can help keep them motivated.

I sure would not want to go much below the $28 figure. Some 8 years ago or so, my daughter did this for neighbors and got about $15 per day, but that was only for a quick "let out of the house in the morning" and a walk in the evening. And it was only one dog.

Can both critters be SAFELY walked at the same time. If not, that really makes a difference.

 

[sunshinecruise]

I am a professional pet sitter in South FL. I charge $20 per 30 minute visit. So for 3 visits a day, I would charge $60.

 

[TwoMisfits]

If it was just the dogs, I'd say $25/day (or $175 for the week). When you add in the guinea pig, I'd say $200...but I would also plan on having an extra "tip" for the child based on how the week goes. If you come home and find he/she has done an amazing job (no accidents from the animals in the house, no spilled food, no dry water bowls, healthy animals, etc), I'd tip an extra $50 (or have a nice gift from the parks for him/her as an extra thank you). And you'd probably still be getting an amazing deal.

 

[pigletto]

I pay $30 plus taxes per day to board my dog. He gets two walks a day, group playtime, and it's a very nice facility run by a vet tech that lives onsite.

I think in your case I would go with $200 for the week. Two long walks a day plus coming back a third time to let them out eats up a significant chunk of the day. Like the previous poster said I don't like to try to save on these things because I would want the person to feel appreciated so they did a good job.

 

[andigomeep]

I feel like we probably get a steal but we pay our trainer $20 a day, per dog, to board. We're down to just one dog now but he has the ability to run free in a large fenced in area for as long as he wants when the weather permits. We also get a little bit of 'free' training when he uses our dogs in training other dogs/in classes as examples. I definitely don't think this is something to skimp on. We pay $10 per 30 minute visit (two a day) for our cats as well.

 

[Camonkeygirl]

I am a pet sitter in Southern Ca. I basically move into your house for the time you are gone and I charge $40 to $60 a day. This is based on the amount of animals, and what is involved (apparently it is hard to find a sitter that gives medications). I do have some clients that pay more, but they set their own rate due to the unique animals that they have. I also only take one job at a time, as I also work full time and volunteer for a train museum

 

[a742246]

I watch the neighbors dog and they watch my dog for free, what usually happens though is we both get each other a gift from where ever we went.
In your case I would ask the teens parent what they think is a fair payment.
If their figure is to low (usually the case) I would supplement it with a gift.

PS I live in rural Vermont so neighbors depend on each other a little more.

 

[wenrob]

We had DD's very good friend stay with our dog for what worked out to four and a half days. I paid her $25 a day (for five days), made her dinner and gave her free reign over whatever food was in the house. We also brought her a nice gift from the parks. My dog is very simple, crate trained, fill her bowls when needed, let her outside when needed and give her some love. Very easy gig.

DD stays with her Chef's dogs, there are three and they have this complicated routine that includes meds for one, vitamins, specific eating times and various things that cater to each dog's quirks. She also gets $25 a day and a gift.

Both girls seem fine with the arrangements, I think they like having any kind of spare cash and the freedom of having a place to themselves for a few days. Because you have more then one animal and it requires a couple visits a day I'd go more towards the $200 range. I think he'll be thrilled with whatever he gets though.

 

[JessM]

I have one lovable dog that loves his walks but can live without them. I pay a friend of mine's sister $25 a day. She comes and stays at my condo to get a few nights away from her parents house. I give her free run of food and drink.

That said I'd add more on to that since you have more than one dog and have a guinea pig. I'd go closer to $35 a day or something like that.

 

[puffkin]

I pay the neighbor kid $10/day to bring in the mail, scoop the litter boxes and feed and refresh the water for my cats. We live in a development and he has to walk about 20 yards to get to my house. He spends about 15 minutes a day there.

So for 3 visits a day, and with dogs probably wanting a bit more attention than cats, I think roughly $30/day seems about right.

 

[Iowajes]

We paid $10 a day to a preteen boy in the neighborhood. (He "bid" for the job at $7 a day, when we asked his Mom to ask him what he needed to get paid, but we gave him extra.)

He had to walk 4 houses down, feed and let the (single) dog out 3 times a day. We asked him to take a few seconds to play or pet her, and if it wasn't too cold to walk her (I don't know if he did or not though, we tried to make it clear that it wasn't necessary if it felt to cold for him to want to be outside). Cleaning up after the dog outside is not required since we have a yard.



We also have a neighbor who we sometimes trade dogs with. We take their dog for a week of vacation, they take ours for a week. It works out well.

 

[jt'smom]

I live in South Florida, and we pay $45 a day to have a bonded pet sitter come and stay with our needy, high maintenance, senior dog. She is wonderful and devotes 100% of her time to him, so much so that I think he misses her when we come home. The bonus is that she is very high energy and likes to clean instead of sitting around, so our house is spotless when we come home. Last time she dusted our ceiling fans and cleaned all of our blinds! I told my husband that I would marry her if we were polygamists

 

[okeydokey]

My Dd and her friend swap off on pet sitting when one or the other is out of town. She is high schooler that lives in the neighborhood. She comes in the morning to let the dog out in the yard (fenced with an accessible screen porch) and leaves food. She comes back in the evening to let her in. I pay her $10 a day.

 

[MandiC]

We paid our teenage neighbor $40 for a weekend. However, she only needed to come to our house twice a day. No walking the dog or anything other than letting them in/out (at the time it was spring so he could stay outside all day unless it was raining) and feeding them (dog and cat, both once a day). When we board the dog it is $20 a night and we just leave extra food for the cat and if we are gone a long time (more than 4 days) we ask a family member to come feed the cat mid-week. I figure since when he is boarded he gets a lot more interaction that we shouldn't pay as much when the neighbor does it since I don't think she sticks around long.

 

[DIS_MERI]

We had someone stay at our house to watch our 2 dogs for 8 days when all 7 of us went to Disney (a small mastiff, 130ish lbs, and a "standard size" border collie mix). We paid $200. The pups have a wireless collar system, so they just have to be let in and out, not walked (the mastiff will not leave the property unless she is in a vehicle, even if the collar is off; no way, no how, no dragging, no treats, no begging, nothing). Sometimes if we are gone for a long day we will give $20 for someone to hang out, or for just a night or 2 $30-50. When DH and I went just the 2 of us for a week, my parents came and stayed with the kids and pups and did it for free

 

[SharonZ]

Definitely no less than $200. You are not just requiring visits, you want them to be taken on rather lengthy walks twice a day and let out another time, and twice a day feeding of the dogs and the guinea pig. I agree with the pp who suggested a $50 tip in addition to the fee.

 

[Danserusse]

My local vet is 12$ per day and apparently that is a steal.

 

[NinaBella]

My local vet is 12$ per day and apparently that is a steal.

What do you get for $12 a day? Our vet also has a boarding side and an animal hospital side and a groomers on site. They offer various packages that include basic boarding, play time, brushing and you can have the dogs groomed on the last day. We usually go with a higher package where they play with them twice a day and brush them at least once a day. I am sure the basic boarding doesn't include play time. We also ask for a larger kennel that both small dogs can fit in and have room to move freely, so they use a kennel for a larger dog.

From their website:

Our Pet Resort Packages

Puppy Package: For puppies under 1 year of age: 5 leash walks daily, two 15-minute play sessions, bath on the morning of departure: $29/night
VIP Package: 3 leash walks daily: $22/night
TLC Package: 3 leash walks daily with a daily brushing or extra playtime: $26/night
PLC Package: 3 leash walks daily with a daily brushing and 15 minutes of extra playtime: $29/night
Kitty Condo: 15 minutes of playtime and brush-out: $17/night


There is also a popular Pet Sitting/Resort/Daycare that I know people who love this place. We haven't tried it yet. http://www.fuzziebuddies.com/

Fuzzie Buddies looks awesome! They have a nice play yard that includes a doggie pool!


.

 

[Danserusse]

What do you get for $12 a day? Our vet also has a boarding side and an animal hospital side and a groomers on site. They offer various packages that include basic boarding, play time, brushing and you can have the dogs groomed on the last day. We usually go with a higher package where they play with them twice a day and brush them at least once a day. I am sure the basic boarding doesn't include play time. We also ask for a larger kennel that both small dogs can fit in and have room to move freely, so they use a kennel for a larger dog.

From their website:

Our Pet Resort Packages

Puppy Package: For puppies under 1 year of age: 5 leash walks daily, two 15-minute play sessions, bath on the morning of departure: $29/night
VIP Package: 3 leash walks daily: $22/night
TLC Package: 3 leash walks daily with a daily brushing or extra playtime: $26/night
PLC Package: 3 leash walks daily with a daily brushing and 15 minutes of extra playtime: $29/night
Kitty Condo: 15 minutes of playtime and brush-out: $17/night

The technical answer is that he is taken out for 2 half hour sessions per day. but I know the girls play with him more than that. Mosbey is a 4 pound yorkie and they play with him a lot. I think it has more to do with the fact that I live in a very small town with only 3,800 people. This year we are taking him with us, as he is a support dog for my husband to alert for seizures.