One of my BF's co-workers asked if we would watch over his sog for 4 days (4 days and 5 nights i believe actually). He doesn't want to take the dog to a kennel and he knows that we are great with dogs, and he did agree that he would give us something for our services.

BF asked me how much I think we should ask for and I am not even sure what a good price would be. I suggested asking what people pay for a kennel for that amount of time and ask for half of that. The dog is a beagle so it is not too large but probably very energetic.

We have three dogs of our own that are great with all other animals (bunnies, and kittens/cats at least, but wouldn't trust bailey with a bird or a hamster). We will walk the dog 2-3 times a day, it will sleep where ever it likes (besides on the bed as we don't allow any of our 3 on the bed or couch). Of course it will be let out many times during the day as we have a large backyard where the dogs like to play and i will be at home during the week so it won't be left alone for extended periods of time.

Based on what i have said, how much do you think would be appropriate to charge to someone for us watching their dog?

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I pay $30.00 a day for private, in home care. I would never kennel my dog.

$50 per day dropped off at your house (which is what I think you'd be doing) or $100 if you stay in their house. That's what I pay anyway.

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$40 per night for overnight boarding, $35 per night for more than a week

There's a huge range here - I have seen $25-$75 for overnight boarding. $25 for private, in-home; $75 for pet hotel with 24hr staff, no kennel

You can check your local Craigslist is see what the going rate is on the lower end.

ETA: I know someone who boarded a beagle for a couple weeks and he was so naughty! Didn't stop barking, even at night. Maybe you can see how he interacts with you and your dogs to assess how much it's worth to you!

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Linds,

You want me to pay you to sit on my pets?

Our vet charges $15 per night per dog, we have a neighbor friend of my daughters do it and I paid her $80 for four days three nights. Now I think I under paid her. She came to our house three times a day.

our pet sitter charges $50 a day to stay in our house and take care of our 2 mellow dogs. personally i think that's outrageous for completely unskilled labor but that seems to be the going rate in southern california.

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I was going to suggest $100 for the entire stay, not one night. LOL.

IMO you are not in the business of being a kennel, you are doing a favor for a friend. It's not putting you out much since you will be staying at your own home and already have dogs that need let out, fed, etc. Around here, that size dog can stay at a nice pet hotel for $30-40/night including a half hr play session. I could see charging more if you were going out of your way, but you're really not.

Wow! I didn't realize i could actually make money adding a few dogs to my collection for a couple days!!

I figure somewhere between $20-$25 a day/night would be good to ask for, especially since the dog will be getting a lot of care and attention at our place.

Shan: I was thinking the same thing when he said Beagle! They can be very naughty and noisy dogs but from the sounds of this one, she seems very good. At one point we thought Cooper my one year old was part beagle but now we don't know. He is small like a beagle but all black like a black lab puppy. We call him "Black Snoopy" cuz he looks like a black version of Snoopy.

^^^ I was actually taken aback when he said that he would pay us. I looked at it the same way that you did: We already have 3 of them so what is adding another one for a few days? But a lot of people i know want to give their pet sitters something in return. I know when my BF's parents watched my dog for 2 weeks when we were out of town i got them a really nice expensive blanket and a few other things from our trip.

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Congratulations Prime Minster Tim Horton on getting a Double-Double!!!

awwww beagle

just be careful that she doesn't escape...beagles are escape artists. we've found out the hard way on a few occasions and yes, she will howl! i'd also keep her away from the birds/bunnies (cats might be ok if they're close to her in size)...one of mine literally tried to take a bite out of a friend's pet bunny once!

sorry I can't help you on cost since we just board ours at the vet and the last time I pet-sat it was our neighbors' cats and that was when I was in middle school...

Lol...dog walking and pet sitting can actually be lucrative enough to be a full-time job if you have enough clients (and the right kinds - ie. regular, with well-trained dogs). I see tons of dog-walking services in the city.

If you don't really care about the $, you can just tell the owner they can take you guys out for a meal and he can pick the place based on how much he wants to pay. But if you don't know him well, maybe cash is just easier and you can ask him to name a fair price.
When I was young, I regularly house-sat for my friend's family by watering plants, picking up newspaper and mail everyday because they were dual citizens and spent a lot of time in the US, and I never even though about getting paid! Darn, missed opportunity.

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Want: TR Billy in Dark Savannah (preferably Midnight Supers)

Yes, well thats the price you pay for your dog to be cared for in a home, and caring atmosphere, or just tucked into a concrete caged dog run, and walked twice a day, and left with a bunch of other barking dogs alone basically 24/7.

If you don't care that your dog receives minimal attention and is kenneled in a crazy atmosphere, then more power to you.
You want personal, caring, home attention for your pet, you pay.

Whats it worth to you?

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personally, if it was a good friend... I wouldn't ask for anything except anything that the dogs need so there is not additional cost to me. I'd look at it as an opportunity to maybe set up a relationship where they could help you out if you need to go away and need someone trustworthy to take care of your pets.

But I tcompletely understand that you may want some compensation for your time and effort, and i'd go for what you would want to pay a friend to take care of your dogs if you were in their place. (well, if you just had one dog, of course 3 is a little more work! ) If you think 20-25 is reasonable, sounds like that's what you should go with. If it was me and I was doing it for a friend I definately wouldn't want to make too expensive a request cause that could leave a bitter taste in their mouth about the whole thing if theyr'e really looking for you to do a favour and help them out. They may wonder if are you helping them, or taking advantage of the opportunity.

^ me too

We opted not to use the vet but used our friends instead , they did an awesome job! They came walked our dogs played with them stayed at our house for quite awhile! We don't often get to get away. We take care of their Golden Retriever when they go away. I was simply quoting what the going rate was here in Fl at a local vet. I tried that two years ago and my youngest Poodle came back after and pissed all over my new curtains and the couch, who know what actually happened. I went ballistic but they said he was well cared for and walked in a timely manner. I would never take them there again, I had to completely retrain him. He's fine now. I would recommend using a friend or neighbor that you can trust!

I was just trying to make the point.
Not personal...hence the price difference I tried to illustrate.

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Oh I know Joan, I wish I had a neighbor who loves dogs as you do. So many people don't care I try now to evaluate as if it were my toddler they would be caring for. Hence this is why I never go away.

My husbands parents pay $20 a night for the pet sitter to stay there overnight with the dogs and to make the house look lived in when they're away.
I feel like thats a really good price.

I like the idea of the one post where you could maybe do it for nothing but then set up a sort of give and take thing where maybe they will watch yours if you go away and vice versa. could get complicated though if one group goes away more than the other.


I've only got cats so I just need someone to come play with them for a bit and make sure they have fresh food and water and clean litter so I pay a petsitter about $8 a day to do that, but she doesn't stay overnight.

We hardly go any where that we can't take our dogs but when we do we have family watch our dogs. My sister in law makes a living off dog sitting/walking in Northern California, so I'm sure it's not cheap.

I pay $20 a day per dog for in boarding at a trainer's house, in nowhere Northern Cali, but when I lived in the Bay area it was $60 a day per dog. I have been paid $20 a day to house/pet sit with over night stays.

We rarely go out of town, but when we do, our neighbors take care of our little munchkins. When they go on vacation, we watch their dog too. It's a nice arrangement. I suppose we're both lucky - I did not realize pet sitting could be so pricey!

i wouldnt charge anything. if i ask friends or work friends to babysit my dog, i will generally bring them back some sort of gift from wherever it is that I went.

I pay $60 a night fo a girl to come in and stay at my home with my two dogs, but I want them to be WELL cared for.

I wonder though, if you do it for free, would you be able to trade off with them when you travel? That seems the better deal to me. We are always hoping to find trustworthy friends to trade off with. Besides, I'd bring a pet into my home for free just because I love dogs.

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I agree. I offered to pay my friends when I went to visit my family in BC and they refused. So I bought my friends some T-shirts they wanted, some BC wine and a shitload of BC bud which they all enjoyed much more than cash.

We would do the trade off thing if my BF's parents didn't already care for the dogs when we go away. Usually we try to travel to places where we can take the dogs with us, but if we can't bring them along, his mom insists that she watches over them.

That is crazy how much people charge to take care of dogs! We have always been lucky because we've always lived near family who is willing to look after our dogs when we are gone. My grandparents used to take care of Liza, the dog i had growing up when we would go away, or my aunt and uncle who lived around the corner would watch her.

When we lived in LA and Liza was a puppy, we did go away for a few weeks but the breeder actually said that they would watch over her for free so we got lucky.

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