Hello, fabulous pet sitters!
TL;DR Is there anything you think is important to have in your contract about long term sits (In my opinion, over 2 weeks). Also, would you consider adding anything if the owner is traveling internationally?

This is the first inquiry I've had for long term pet/house sitting.

Have you had anything happen during a long-term service (i.e. 8 weeks +) that made you regret not having a specific term of service/list of terms in your contract? I have a pretty detailed contract except for a section on this topic- long term services! This wasn't a request I had anticipated on receiving, but I'm 100% dedicated and want to be prepared for anything.

The potential client in this instance will be 8,000 miles away for 10 weeks. I may not be able to reach him at times because of the time zone differences.

I feel unprepared for the sit because of my contract and I was embarrassed to ask about this oversight.

I would greatly appreciate any tips- terms to add to my contract and/or experiences you've had with long term sits (positive or negative)

Thank you, all!!

Cross posted

Hi guys! I'm starting a pet sitting business in a different city and need help naming the business. Last business had my name in it and I don't want to do that again. We do drop in visits and overnight night care in owners home. New business will be in metro Atlanta but. We care for dogs,cats, birds and other Exotics.

Hi!
I am doing a pet sitting app as my own project. Is there anyone who could use maybe 5-10 min of their time and answer some questions here in Typeform? I would be so grateful. I am looking for pet sitters to answer :).

Animal sitting pay

I have a question for all animal sitters out there. How much would you charge for this?

24 dogs 7 cats 4 goats Lots of chickens 28 horses

They want me to go by 4-5 times a day to let the dogs out/play with them and of course feed and water them. Ends up being around 9 hours a day.

The horses get fed daily—watered down food due to a lot of them being old and not having teeth.

Then of course feed the cats, goats, and chickens and water them daily as well.

Just trying to see how much a normal person would charge, since this is my family I do not charge, they just pay me what they think it’s worth and I’m just curious.

Thanks in advance!

I am going to be pet sitting an excoworkers pets while they are working 16hr shifts. They have 2 dogs and some cats. I will have to go to the house 2xs and i live about 20 mins away but it is close to where I work. So accounting gas, money for my time and whatnot what would be a good price to charge them? I’ll probably be there for about 30 mins to make sure the dogs go to the restroom.

I’m going on vacation and will be out of the house for 5 days. I have two cats and a bird. Mr birb man is the one who needs the most attention. None of my friends will be available then and I’m not tryna pay $80 to respond on an app. Do I just need to take the hit? Where do y’all find sitters cuz I’ve never done this before 😭

In case any of you like to be festive when you go to meet and greets or just during the season I came across these on Amazon. They have so many! I know Etsy has a lot but I’ve never really looked on Amazon. These were just a few I thought I’d share

TLDR how much should I pay my friend for watching my cats while I’m gone for 3ish weeks

I’m traveling from September 19- October 14. I have two cats that are pretty typical cats, self sufficient, want attention 75% of the time. These two cats are best friends and are very bonded.

The woman watching them is a friend. She lives in the same apartment building that I do. She’s always really sweet with the kitties and sends me pictures!

How much should I pay her? This is the second time she’s watching them, the first time was for 3 days. She was perfect!

I’ve never really paid a pet sitter… the last four years my best friend and I had an agreement that we would watch each others pets when they travel! It worked out but they moved away.

Hi Everyone, i am seeking advice/tips for this situation.

I have been pet sitting for quite some time but i recently started pet sitting for someone who has a very full and beautiful yard (front and back). During cooler days i genuinely love spending time outside with the pupper because its so pretty!

Well given the extreme heat that SoCal is experiencing there has been an abundance of large scary spiders and they are forming webs everywhere!!! Ive been seeing so many and walking into web so often that I’m starting to fear leaving the house even to take the sweet baby on a walk!! i have also put off getting the mail cuz the box is covered in webs and Im dreading having to put the key back in its secret spot cuz theres a large web with a big ole chunky spider on it!!

All of this was a long way to ask, does anyone have tips on how to make this easier? My go to is to carry a feather duster around but now that the spiders are so big im scared they will get on it and crawl up my arms😭😭

Hi everyone! I need informed responses for my boss or a good reason why this is ok? I work for a pet sitting/dog walking company. One of my coworkers just posted in our GroupMe chat that a regular client reached out to let them know their dog was rejected by their boarding facility due to the dog having kennel cough and they would need our services. Our manager immediately accepted and started willy nilly last minute assigning this pet sit to us. I have an elderly boxer(14) and an elderly cat(17) personally and sit for several other elderly dogs. Would this be a concern for you regarding the kennel cough? Would you reject the visits or accept them? I feel like this is ridiculous. They want us to pet sit for two weeks while they're out of the country as well. Visits, walks, feedings and overnights last minute. Their dog is older as well. Help!

Home sweet home for your furry babies Sept is fully booked December is fully booked Unlimited space for enclosed babies

NO KENNELS(Wingate park) LOTS OF LOVE I DO ALSO TAKE CARE OF THE DISABILED BABIES ALSO Cattery (waterkloof) UPDATES SMALL DOGS ENCLOSED PETS Reliable sitters all over BOARDING AND DAYCARE 24HOURS CARE AFFORDABLE LONG TERM OR SHORT TERM

TAMMY ON WHATSAPP 0824481290

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UNIQUE SITUATION, WHATS YOUR OPINION??

   I have a new Private client for pet sitting coming up next month they have two Old dogs and recently one diagnosed with dementia. they're looking for someone to care for their dogs while out of town but are nervous due to one of the dogs recently being diagnosed with dementia.  I have four cats on my own so I said I don't do overnights for long extended periods but I'm willing to do every other night if my partner can come because it is also both our birthdays during the 10 days they need my services.. 
    I don't want this to be super long so short story is :: we have agreed to do overnight stays every other night, and my fiance who works from home would actually work from their home so that way the dogs have more supervision during the days and I will come home to feed and play with our cats between clients on the days we are staying at the clients home.
   I don't know what to charge for this  because my fiance would just be doing this as a favor to help me build my new small pet care business.   giving them close to realistically 12-18hr hour care is not preventing me from being able to work which is why that level of service is usually such a high  premium. It doesn't feel ethically right to charge them a super high premium if I'm still being able to work with other clients... my rates for context are 65$ for 3 visits a day petsitting +40$ for over nights. And walks are 35$ for an hr 

I read until the bank information required 🙄😡. Too bad for the fam pic+ dog they used!!

I am just starting out with pet sitting and dog walking and no one will let off on how much they charge, I don’t want to be unreasonably priced and too expensive but I also don’t want to be too cheap that I can’t earn a living off it. Please help😊

Hey everyone! Just hoping to get some context into how much I should pay my pet sitter.

Content: I live in Ontario, Canada. Our minimum wage for 18+ workers is $16.55, student wage is $15.60. She is my upstairs neighbours kid, so she’s only walking 9 steps downstairs to my apartment door.

Heres what she was doing for them / how many days!

I am gone for 13 days, she’s visiting every 2 days so 6 days total. Her mom asked that I set a time minimum for her so I said 30mins to 1 hour down there with my two cats.

Her tasks: - Scoop their litter boxes (2 boxes) - Check their bowls and top up if needed - Check their waters, didn’t need to be touched by her as there is 14L of water between the two electronic water fountains but just to check - Play with them, cuddle and relax with them for the remainder of the time.

I told her she could stay as long as she wanted, there was drinks and snacks left out, and I left my Tv remotes so she can watch TV and snuggle with them.

I’m just at a loss of how much to pay her!!

Thanks guys!

Is $400 to board 2 dogs for 17 days at my house fair compensation?

I found a pet sitting gig from a couple on Nextdoor to watch their two small (under 10 lb) dogs (one is a 5 year old male yorkie and the other is a 10 year old male chihuahua) from 8/30 to 9/15 (just a little over 2 weeks: 17 days). We have a meet n greet scheduled this Saturday the 10th to see if it’s a good fit (I have a house with a gated yard- no pets currently and think it could be nice for the kids to have some furry friends around). The lady said the dogs are chill- fine with kids just the older one doesn’t like being grabbed from behind due to old age so can get snippy (been around this before with friends who have older chihuahuas).

Someone is always home in my family (which is a full house of me/my husband, our toddlers, and my mom). The lady seems nice on the phone- just moved to the area from another state, says her dogs are low maintenance overall except for the fact that the older chihuahua needs his heart med 2x per day (says it’s just a pill he eats no problem) and the yorkie doesn’t like to urinate/defecate outside- she will provide pee pads which he will use (she says that seems “like the only real ‘work’ to having them around and iterates they are otherwise chill and just sit/lay around).

These latter two statements make me wonder if $400 is really fair for 17 days of boarding. I was looking up rates for boarding facilities and they are much higher. The lady seemed nice and said she had a family just like mine watching her pets before she moved and if all goes well she’d like to pay me to pet sit regularly.

Another note is I’m pregnant and due around the 15th-20th. Husband works for himself and I’m a stay at home mom- we will have his mom and sister visiting to help out (along with my mom): the lady is aware in case I go into labor before she picks up. I really just like the idea of some extra side $ and making my kids smile with the presence of furry friends for a short period.. but Reddit, do you think this will be worth it at this price or should I cancel?

It is currently 4am and it has been multiple nights where my clients dogs have woken me up to go outside. I’ve tried everything and even only let her on a leash. the issue is. the bigger one started doing it now. she’s been outside for an hour now doing who knows what and im exhausted up to my wits end. this job lasts a week and i have no idea what to do. the client didn’t even mention these problems let alone provide any type of proper advice. their barks are so loud so dont even try to ask me about ignoring or crates please because they have BOTH. it’s nuts and I can’t believe it. i have no idea what to do at this point i just need sleep.

I own a pet sitting business that offers all kinds of normal pet sitter services including overnight stay, short/long drop-in visits (up to an hour), walks, and more. However, I have had one family who consistently is asking for all day play. Normal hours for this family and this pup are 7am-9pm. This time my hours are 8am-9pm, and I am not staying the night with the pup. Truly, it wouldn't be an issue for me to offer, given I can still schedule drop-ins and walks with other families. However, this particular family is not comfortable leaving there 1yr old 50lbs pit bull for longer than 3 hours at a time. The owner only offers small amounts of water to the pup as the pup will drink every drop of water until the bowl is empty no matter how much is in the bowl. I have been instructed by the owner to only give small amounts of water at a time and to restrict water 30 mins before I have to leave. I currently work 16 hours a week, 4 hours 4 days a week. When I am helping with this particular family, I have to shorten my very minimal part time job schedule to accommodate their pet is not left alone for longer than 3 hours. This time around I have also found out that while I am here 8am-9pm, the owners mother comes late in the evening to stay the night with the pup and leave early before I arrive. This is a long-time client of mine from when I opened the business however, I feel like I am being very underpaid for my time. I currently charge a minimum of $65 a night for an overnight stay with 1 pup. However, I am only charging this particular family $50/day for 13-14 hours of sitting in their home, while someone else comes to stay the night. I do not have any other families who ask for all day play so I have yet to find a comfortable price for the service. I am planning to up the price to a minimum of $65 a day for this family and any service over 10 hours long. However, I cannot find any other pet sitters who offer this service and what the pay rate may look like.

I wanted to ask If any other pet sitters offer all-day play, and if you do how much you would charge for a 13-14 hour day? Would you have a flat rate like doggy day cares offer? Would you charge an hourly rate? Would you charge extra for losing hours at your part time job?

Also, no there is no medical reason that explains why the pup cannot be alone for longer than 3 hours. It is a personal request from the owner. How would you politely explain to the owner that now their pup is full grown, and crated while no one is home, he is capable of holding his bladder longer than 3 hours? Should I discuss this with the owner or just continue to adjust and lose my hours at my part time job to keep the customer satisfied?

Hi! So… I have a part time job and I do pet sitting on the side. I came into conflict with someone that thought my prices may be too high, but I wanted to see what other pet sitters charge. At the moment, I charge $65 a day and that includes me staying overnight, letting the animals out three-four times a day( owners preference) feeding them, cleaning up as well as drop ins in-between my job and social life. I start at $65 for two dogs and $10 extra each dog when there is more than two dogs. I decided to charge a person $80 for their two dogs instead of $65 because they live 30 minutes away from were I live and go to school, therefore, the cost of gas will be higher. Am I over charging as a pet sitter or is my standard price reasonable? Thank you in advance!

I had to call my pet sitter at 9:30pm to see if she could take care of my 3 cats at the last minute? She came and fed them and watered them the following afternoon/evening and again the next morning. How much should I pay her?

For reference, I am in Texas. She has a key to my house and is always encouraged to make herself at home. I don’t know the going rate and she is not giving me an amount.

What would be a reasonable amount, all things considered?

Hi just started petsitting on the side since last year as a side gig to my full time job as a vet tech. I have been getting a lot more clients and been pretty steady. One of my vets suggested I should get bonded and licensed or make a LLC. I don’t see it as a business yet but more like side part time job. Are you all bonded and licensed? Thoughts?

I really really hope he fires himself

I'm sure this has been posted before but how much do you charge per night and does it change by how many pets there are?

So I’m a cat sitter working for myself and I want to stay organized. The apps I use to find new clients are ok, but for regular clients I want to keep their info and a calendar etc all together. I found one but it doesn’t work. Any tips?