To think this is a ridiculous price?

[VibesCurator]

First time getting a housesitter for my 2 dogs as a family member who used to watch them moved away. I got quoted £40 total per day by a sitter, AIBU for thinking this is ridiculous?

I'm not boarding them, the sitter would be staying in my house using my gas and electric. I have replied to them as much, but now that I am looking around at more sitters, it seems like an average price. How much does everyone else pay?

Am always surprised by people who don’t appreciate live in pet sitters - it’s as though they have no appreciation of the level of responsibility involved in caring for someone else’s pets in an unfamiliar setting. I’ve even seen ‘but they get to live in my home for free’ posited as a reason for their outrage, as if that person does have a home on which they are still required to pay a mortgage/rent and associated costs.

And that is before recognising that if they are spending much of the day in your home, they are turning down other work - my Dog sitters are dog walkers. They take my dogs with them for one walk, but may leave them at home for 2-3 hours while they do later shifts. They may pop out to check in/feed other pets for regular clients, but they can’t do any evening petsitting jobs while they are looking after mine - they can’t see friends, go out most evenings or have them over for dinner (actually we know ours really well and have said that we’re actually happy for them to have close family over).

And they have to be on call to rush them to the vet in an emergency so, just like when you are caring for a child, you can’t drink even at home in case you need to drive.

My dog sitters are angels. Totally appreciate the peace of mind they give us when we go away and the way they look after our home. Worth every penny. If we weren’t prepared to pay them, or couldn’t afford it, we’d forgo the holidays rather than leave the dogs with anyone else.

I can only assume that the OP has just joined us from 1980, when £40 would have been a bit steep, without realising it. That's the only way I can think of that £40 would seem expensive for that in 2026.

Cuddling the dogs, how much time does anyone spend doing that? I'd be bored after a few minutes if I lasted that long.😀
Yabvu about Moaning at £40 a day to house and pet sit. Want to pay peanuts? Hire a monkey.🙄

I pay £60 in SE which seems to have gone up a lot in recent years. But it’s going rate. It’s only for a sleep over and a morning walk and then they leave.

No she's calling you tight.

You'd pay £15-18 for one hour of walking of one dog but wouldn't pay £40 for a whole day of looking after 2 dogs and walking them both?

Would you work for £40 a day? Sounds like an absolute bargain to me, it's not like she can also have another job at the same time or also look after other people dogs at the same time. A dog walker might also be walking several other dogs at the same time.

Minimum wage is £12 an hour, why would she give up her whole day for £20?

I am up north and pay £40 a day! Your dog gets the benefit of staying in her own environment and gets 24 hours care! She isn't calling you broke, just unwilling to pay the going rate which she knows she is worth!

I would hope that they are walking your dogs more than once a day.
Feeding & watering them , interacting with them throughout the day.
Making sure all there needs are meet.
If you value your dogs care less than £20 each per 24 hrs I think that says a lot about you.

But they are giving you 24 hours of their time that they could be doing something else with. Looking after your home and dogs. It’s a big responsibility. They are under charging

She's calling you someone she can't be fucked arguing with or justifying herself to.

Quite right.

We do trusted house sitters (as sitters) and it's a lot of work! It's worth it for us as an opportunity to travel, and doing it as a couple means sharing the workload/less restrictive.
I think the price that the sitter quoted you is very fair, possibly too low!

Ridiculously cheap for anything other than popping in twice I would have thought, is this a reverse?

I pay £10 per day for someone to top up my cat's food, while going past my house on her way to work. Takes her 5 minutes.

That’s cheap! We use Rover and the nightly rates are more like from £50 upwards. They charge per animal (we have two cats that also have to be paid for) and then we pay commission on top. Holidays have become very expensive since owning a dog. All sitters are vetted and fully insured however.

They are keeping the dogs company and feeding them. That’s what you’re paying for. And for peace of mind.

It’s a more than reasonable price for the time taken regardless of the work or lack of involved. Her message to you was 100% appropriate.

But they could be somewhere else earning a proper wage. They are giving up their time and their lives.

An absolute bargain for two dogs. You have peace of mind that your dogs are comfortable and safe in their own environment. Plus your house is occupied. You’re being very mean and unreasonable.

I pay £20 a day for a teen 4 doors down to visit twice a day to feed our cats when we are away. Money well spent as I wouldn't trust our pets with just anyone.

Just stay home , OP @VibesCurator

That’s super cheap.
The dog sitter we used charged £75 for one dog for 24 hours. She is cheaper than most we’ve contacted.
Dog boarder charged £90 for the weekend.

And no, she’s calling you tight and a CF.

I must be misunderstanding. You honestly think people can make a living earning £40 for a whole day?

In what world is a dog walker expected to earn more than nurses or junior doctors. In fact more than a good percentage of people

I pay £50 per night for a dogsitter to look after my two dogs (SE).

I think that’s a bargain. I pay £12 per visit for my cat sitter when I’m away. A visit is half an hour and she comes twice a day, so £24 for an hour a day.