To ask for your help in how much to pay?

[SacreLao]

I am just about to employ a dog walker, being heavilly pregnant and suffering from SPD it is becoming impossible to walk my huge beast of a dog and so have managed to find someone who is willing to take him out for a hour long walk twice a week.

Now I am stressing over how much to offer in payment. She has left it up to me and having never hired a dog walker before I am clueless.

She is a 19 year old girl who lives round the corner from me, not a professional but a full time student studying something animal related. We plan on deciding an hourly rate and giving it her in cash before each walk she takes him on.

He is a very well behaved dog and walks well on lead etc. I would be paying over market rates if he was a nightmare to handle but he is not.

So what is the going rate for this type of thing?

DP thought £10 an hour was reasonable but considering most cleaners don't charge that it seems too much too me, especially as this is not her career but a bit of cash on the side for a student IYSWIM.

I am in the North West by the way, not London or nearby.

Thanks :)

I'm in London

Cleaner = £10
Babysitter = £6

Therefore, I'd say £6, or £8 if you are feeling generous

We pay £7.50 in Berkshire.

It is around £10 here (london but zone 6) i guess £8 would be ok especially as she doesn't have to travel?

The NMW for a person this age is £4.98 . For a 21 year old is £6.08. If that helps

Im in the North West and Id say £15 for 2 hourly walks.

Bloody Hell I'll walk your dog for £10 an hour!!

I wouldn't go with NMW tbh because it is 'offering a service', not being employed. Not many hours can be offered and not perks, not holidays etc.

I'd pay more than NMW jamie, walking a dog in the cold for an hour isn't the most appealing thing to do and definately worth more than £4.98.

Might offer £7 per hourly walk and negotiate from that point.

She seems very keen to do it and has already asked when she can start, come meet the dog etc. before even discussing payment so I get the feeling she will accept whatever we offer her but want to be fair, especially as we would like her to continue once baby is here and make life a bit easier on us.

As she's a student, teenager and getting paid cash, I would say £5 per hour. I know my teenager would be happy to earn that!

Should have said in case it's relavant actually.

The girl has her own dog and will be combining walking her dog along with mine, so not coming out to me just to walk my dog but will be taking mine when she takes her own.

I'm at home all day anyway so makes no difference to me when she takes my dog out so agreed to this to make her life easier.

I wasn't suggesting minimum wage, not really. Just looked that up out of interest. I was paid more than that at McDonalds in the 1980's.

£7 ish sounds fair enough

fidgety May take you up on that :)

If you had seen the state of my very mucky dog after a walk however I suspect you will soon be demanding a wage increase!

I did think £10 was too high but as DP never walks the dog and particularly HATES doing it she thought that was a fair amount.

Loving the comments but remembering that she is promising an hour of her time twice a week when she could be doing other stuff I think £15 for the 2 hours would be a nice amount. Not too much that she is taking the mick but not too little that she'll sack it off at the earliest inconvenience.

I know Jamie i didn't mean you were. I'm [shocked] too. I don't understand why is differend between a 19yo and 21yo

You need to find a neighbours teen you can exploit.A 15 year old ladf walks our lot 4 times a week and gets a tenner. And his mum thought we were giving him too much

Thanks catherine that is the idea I am thinking along, I want her to continue for a while as I have 3 months yet to go and am having a C-Section so will need her after the birth for a while as well.

I don't want her to drop us if a better offer comes along hence wanting a fair wage so she is more likely to stick it out.

Been trying to find someone for WEEKS now willing to do this so don't want to put off the one person who has agreed either.

A lot of people locally are scared of my dog and refused as soon as they saw him :( but this girl seems absolutely fine.

He is a lovely dog by the way and a big softy but his appearance makes a lot of people think he will be aggressive / hard to handle etc. when the opposite is in fact true.

Just sent her an email offering £7 an hour and asking if she would be happy with that, will proberly give her £8 for the second weekly walk however and round it up to £15 a week for her then.

Although the way my bloody hips are going I may end up asking her to do more.

At the moment he is walked every other day for an hour so 3/4 a week, I was thinking if she does half it will make it easier on me but if the SPD gets any worse I may ask her to do them all which will be £21 / £28 a week then if she agrees on £7.

Thanks for your help everyone :)

Wow zukie I would never thought of paying per dog.

In that case should I half the price because she has her own dog with her. Is it the same rules as nanny with own child .

My DP jokes that I act like i'm hiring a nanny not a dog walker with how fussy I have been, (I actually turned down one teen simply because he is 14 years old and likes to act tough in front of his friends etc. I think letting him loose with my very large and powerful dog would be a disaster waiting to happen).

Glad I only have the one dog now, would be struggling to afford it if we had any more to pay for!

If you get own well then you will have a ready babysitter too when the baby arrives .

I think you're being very mean only offering £7 per hour. I think £10 ph is much more like it, especially as you have said that others are frightened of your dog. How much do you want your dog walked?

£7 mean? For taking another dog on a walk you'd still be doing with your own dog?

Yes, I do think that's mean. OP already said that other people are scared of her dog and wouldn't want to walk it. It's not £10 ph for 40 hours/week; it's 3 or 4 hours/week as and when the OP wants it. It's a flexible job so they always pay more. I think especially as OP wants a good relationship with this walker and for her to do more when baby is born, she should pay a fair rate. In this instance, it makes no difference that she is already walking her dog; it's not like looking after DC at all.

judgejudy Badly worded, I meant some people (ie. those less experianced with large dogs) are wary / dis-trustful of my dog, purely due to his size and appearance.

He is as I said very well behaved, very friendly, easy to walk and well trained.

I don't think I should pay more just because some people happen to think my dog is a savage child killing beast.

As I said if he WAS a pain to walk I would be expecting to pay more and quite happily would but he really is no trouble to walk at all.

PS. No-one has actually accused dog of being a savage child killing beast but he is of a breed that some people (the narrow minded) would link this sort of behaviour to.

I would understand a comment saying £7 is not a fair price but to say I should pay more because other people are wary of his size seems daft.

Does that mean if you have a cute fluffy poodle you should pay less than if you have a scruffy looking mutt? Or should dog walkers charge based on size of teeth? Perhaps charge per inch of height?