What is a fair rate for a teen pet sitter?

[dreamergirl78]

Here is my situation. My friend's son agreed to take care of my pets for us when we go on vacation. Originally, I thought I would need him to come twice a day and I was going to pay him $10.00 a day. I have since put my animals on a once a day feeding schedule, and only need him to come once a day. He still expects $10.00 a day. I told him what I was willing to pay and it worked out to $6.00 per visit which I thought was fair. I would want him to stay for about 30 minutes or so at the house each day. Am I being unreasonable? I don't want to be cheap, but I don't think he should still get $10.00 a day either.
I have looked at a few web sites and it seems like most people pay a teen $5 - $7 a visit. So I landed in the middle.
Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

 

[snowball22]

My dd gets $10 a day to feed the dog twice and to let the dog out 3-4 times a day. I think it is a fair price for a friendly face and individual attention. Kennels can cost $20 and up a day and fancy doggy kennel/hotels can cost upwards of $100 a day or more.

 

[dreamergirl78]

My dd gets $10 a day to feed the dog twice and to let the dog out 3-4 times a day. I think it is a fair price for a friendly face and individual attention. Kennels can cost $20 and up a day and fancy doggy kennel/hotels can cost upwards of $100 a day or more.

I agree. So $6 a day for 1 visit is acceptable right?

 

[daisax]

I think a lot depends on the kind of pets and the closeness of the kid.

For the next door neighbor's kid to wander over once a day and feed fish/change food/water in bird's cage, $6 may be fine.

For a kid who has to go out of his way to get to your house and needs to empty a litterbox and interact with a friendly cat who's going to be lonely, I'd pay more.

I have to assume you're not talking about a dog because they certainly need to go out more than once per day!

 

[Hannathy]

2 things to think about.....If you insist on 6 and he on 10 do you have someone else you can use or will you be stuck using a professional which will be at least $15 a day? and on short notice. and number 2 do you want a disgruntled person taking care of your pets? I'm not saying he would harm them but I doubt he will be enthusiastic. Is the extra $25-$30 worth the hassle? Or it could be over $100 with a professional so for this time it still may be cheaper.

 

[SC Minnie]

DD pet sat the dog next door this summer. She was paid $10/day plus they gave her some extra because the dog had an accident in the house and I cleaned it up. (still don't get why she got/kept the extra $when I did the work ). This was a small dog -dachsund/ jack russell mix- and wanted attention.

DD would go over a 3-4 times a day and play with her and take her on long walks. There is no way the dog could have gone with once or even twice a day being let outside.

 

[ms_mckenna]

For one time a day I think it would be fine. DD pet sat for the lady next door for the weekend and she made 30 but she was over there several times a day and fed her cats and her dog. She also let the dog out each time she went there and played with them all for a few minutes each.

 

[Horseshoes]

Why dont you just do a flat rate. So if you are going away for 7 days, $6x7=$42, then tell him you'll pay $45 total. Or if you are gone for 5 days, then just bump it up to $35.

 

[Kris10121]

Here is my situation. My friend's son agreed to take care of my pets for us when we go on vacation. Originally, I thought I would need him to come twice a day and I was going to pay him $10.00 a day. I have since put my animals on a once a day feeding schedule, and only need him to come once a day. He still expects $10.00 a day. I told him what I was willing to pay and it worked out to $6.00 per visit which I thought was fair. I would want him to stay for about 30 minutes or so at the house each day. Am I being unreasonable? I don't want to be cheap, but I don't think he should still get $10.00 a day either.
I have looked at a few web sites and it seems like most people pay a teen $5 - $7 a visit. So I landed in the middle.
Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

I do think that $6 is a fair price...my sister does work like that for a neighbor of hers and she gets paid $7, but she feeds the dogs 2-3 times a day and also stays with them an hour and a half.

 

[JadenLayne]

What type animal and what all is expected? Also how far out of the way does the teen have to come? Are you next door where it's really easy? I think all of that would help me with making a decision.

 

[daisyduck123]

I might be in the minority here, but I think $10.00 a day is just right.

If it were my DD pet sitting, I would tell her to not even bother doing it for less than $10.00 a day.

When I was a young teen (this is over 25 years ago), I would often pet sit for my neighbors who had 2 dogs. I NEVER stayed there for 30 minutes. I'd go over twice a day & let the dogs out (fenced-in back yard for maybe 5-10 minutes tops). IMO, 30 minutes is a long time for the kid to hang around.

 

[Skatermom23]

Why dont you just do a flat rate. So if you are going away for 7 days, $6x7=$42, then tell him you'll pay $45 total. Or if you are gone for 5 days, then just bump it up to $35.

I did this for our recent trip. I paid a neighbor kid $50 for 7 days, so about $7.14 a day for three to four visits a day. She was happy with that. My DD watched their cat for three weeks last summer and got $50 for twice a day feedings.

 

[Tybug]

You never said what type of pet and how many.

We have 4 dogs. What I do is figure out what it would cost me to board them and then pay half that to my friends son. Last time he sat for us it was for 10 days. That would have cost me nearly $600 at the vet... so I paid him $300 divided by 10 is $30.00 per day.

Of course he has to drive to our house twice a day as well...

 

[twinklebug]

$10 per day if all it is is food/water/litterbox & a little love seems very reasonable to keep my pets home and make sure they were well cared for. If it's more than that (fish, turtles, rabbits, and especially dogs) I'd go a bit higher.

A thought though, does the petsitter live locally or will they have to drive over? Driving means your friend is there making sure it's being done (a bonus) and I'd think about finding a nice gift for her as a thank you. If they're neighbors and she didn't plan on stopping by, I'd politely ask her if she could stop in every other day just to be sure it's being done and the animals have water at the very least... just to be sure .. and of course a thank you gift is also in order here too.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I am guessing they are cats, right?

Does he have to drive? How far? That right there would be part of my determining factor.

 

[Pugdog007]

$10/day seems very reasonable to me, even for a teen. I pay $25/day for my petsitter.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I think you should stick to the original agreement, personally.
Yes, you are unreasonable.

 

[lg3]

It depends on what kind of animals you have, how many of each, how far the petsitter lives - does he drive?, etc. I think going less than $10/day is getting off pretty cheap if there is more than one animal involved - especially if you want him to stay for a half hour.

 

[suferchick]

when my family went on vacation we payed my best friend (neighbor) like 7 dollors every other day he was ok with it so what ever you feel is the price you want to pay him pay him whatever i mean atleast its money lol

 

[chyam]

Personally I would give him the $10.00 a day, your posts said pets so I am assuming there is more than one and I am also assuming you are talking about cats. $10.00 a day is a whole lot less than what you would pay a boarding place or a vet. And if you are gone for any length of time the litter boxes should be scooped daily and cleaned at least once. Also you may want to use this kid again sometime in a pinch and he is more apt to do a better job for a little more money. Actually I have paid as much as $100.00 for a week and that was a bargain compared to what it would have cost me at a regular boarding place.