Petsitting dilema.

[PigWittington]

My aunt asked my 18yo daughter to petsit for her during the summer holidays. Its a 7 night holiday and DD was to stay at her house minding her 2 dogs for £140.
Unfortunately one of the dogs passed away of old age a few weeks ago and my aunt has now messaged my daughter along the lines of 'I was paying you £140 to watch 2 dogs, now I only have 1, can I pay you half, £70'

I don't really know what to say to her. I understand she based the amount of what it would have cost to board 2 dogs at a kennel but DD is still doing all the same things, staying away from home for 7 nights. Feeding. Walking etc.
Plus DD needs to feed herself whilst there, will be away from her friend group etc.

I don't really know what to advise.

That’s really not fair! To be honest I think she’s underestimating how much things cost, I pay my niece (17) £50 a day to cat sit and stay in my house and £10 an hour when she babysits my kids. No way should she only be paying £10 a full day!

£10 a day is very mean! She would pay a damn site more for someone else to do it or to use a kennels . Auntie needs to not be so tight!

My dog walker is £12 for 45mins!! I use Rover app and a week boarding at the sitters house is £35 a night. So no £70 is ridiculous…. Unfortunately your daughter been given a once a lifetime opportuntiy and can no longer do it!! Direct her to the Rover app!

I pay my niece £50 per night plus a full fridge. That’s for one dog.

Absolutely not a petsitter would cost more than 140 for one dog anyway .

We pay £45 a day, when one dog died so it went from 2 dogs to 1 it didn’t even occur to me to pay less as the amount of work hardly changes. I would say for £70 it’s a no as not worth it, she would be lucky to find a kennel at this stage anyway.

Blimey, can she come and pet sit my dog for £140 a week?!!

I pay £40 per 24 hour block, which is in dog daycare and then boarding in the person's home. Aunt is utterly taking the pee.

I have a stern policy thta I dont do "mates rates" for relatives or neighbours when they ask for something. If they whinge about surely you would not charge a friend/neighbour/relative the response is that it is still going to take up the same amount of my time and I am not a charity. If they disagree with my terms of trade they can look elsewhere.

The same argument applies to your daughter supplying a service. The same amount of time and effort is being expended regardless of who the repipient is. She is having to live in another persons home where she aso has to eat. You should remind your aunt how much a professional sitter would charge.

Well seeing as she asked "can i pay you half" there's a nice easy in to respond with a no, that that's not how pet sitting services really work as its about the time required, number of walks etc. There's normally a small additional cost for each pet, so she'd happily knock of a small amount (£10, maybe 20) as there is now one fewer dog to watch. Maybe also mention that a fixed cost for each animal is more how kennels work rather than petsitting.

She'll be doing almost exactly the same amount of work for one dog as two. Is the aunt clueless or mean?

That's too cheeky.

What a pisstaking cow your aunt is. I’d simply write back: the revised terms don’t work for me so I won’t be pet sitting.

I think that's a pisstake! I pay £20 a day for two pet visits for my bloody guinea pigs 🤣

Very cheeky, and she won't find a decent kennels or sitter last minute either. Its almost exactly the same work, exactly the same time frame, so no significant reduction.

That is ridiculous. Go onto a website like Rover.com see how much pet sitting is that would be c£50 a day I'd guess for one dog. Of course you could argue that relatives should do favours but if she thinks that she is offering a commercial rate she is very deluded. Good pet sitters are impossible to find and book up months in advance.

Boarding for one dog would be at least £300 so £140 is still cheaper!

That is completely out of order. She should just say no. She is paying her for her time, not per dog. It might be double if they go to a sitter, but that’s completely different.

For context, I recently paid my niece…albeit older (30), is unemployed so she didn’t have to take I’m off work…..£200 for four nights for two dogs. I know it was hefty, but I’d looked and locally, some pet boarders wanted £70 per day/night per dog. I am putting one dog with a dog border for ten days soon, and that is costing me nigh on £300, managed to find a lovely border opposite my mum for not extortionate prices!

I pay £30 a night for family to housesit my one dog, and that’s cheaper than anywhere else I could find. It’s usually +£5 per night for additional pets, definitely not double so I’d be telling DD to say she’s no longer willing to do it for £70, as she’s being ripped off!

Very cheeky. Underpaying already. Advise your daughter to decline, say she’s found other work.

That's unbelievably mean. I think you or your DD should say "thanks for the offer, but we'd agreed £140 for the week, not £70 per dog, hopefully you're not too late to find a professional sitter, or space in a boarding kennel".

Honestly, if she were mine I'd rather give her £70 on the basis she helped with a few chores that week.

I dont know what kennel she has based her pricing on but it seems extremely cheap !
My cat sitter charges 25 pounds per day for 1 cat ,fuss and feed twice per day,doesn't stay and doesn't need walking!

Your daughter should refuse. I already thought it was tight at £140 for a whole week, now £70? Absolutely taking the piss. Refuse on principle, give your daughter the cash not to dog sit (if can afford it) and let your aunt find other care that's just £70 for a week while wishing her luck.

I do hate it when people, especially family, take the mick out of each other.

I had to put one of my dogs in kennels for a few nights last month for an emergency and it was £35 per night. At home boarding and pet sitting is obviously more and not easy to find someone who you trust etc but would be a minimum £50 a night. So that would cost her £350, £70 is an insult. You obviously have to be diplomatic but I’d say something like ‘hi there, just wanted to say that I still think £140 is a bargain! I’ve had a look and the going rate is actually £50 a night for pet sitters and you have to find someone you trust etc. I don’t want it be awkward so if you’d rather find someone else I’d understand’. Then let her try and find someone for £70 a week, £10 a day is utter madness!! I have a dog walker and that’s £15 an hour!!

I pay my cat sitter £15 for one visit which is quite brief! She’s taking the mick . She won’t find anyone else to do to it.

Nb she is also house sitting and checking parcels and post etc.