How much would you guess I earn?

[Dogladyloveswine]

I took redundancy from a very corporate job a few years ago. Very respectable job title with a big company.

I decided to have a go at home dog boarding. So I look after dogs in my home for people who don’t like kennels. I also do a bit of doggie day care. It’s all just in my house.

It obviously doesn’t carry the same respect that my corporate job did! You don’t need any qualifications.

If you had to guess, what would you think I earn a month?

That’s amazing. Not surprised though really, I pay £350 a month for my dogs walks. I am moving 250 miles soon and not planning on getting a new walker as would struggle to settle into a new pack and his vision is deteriorating with glaucoma (though he has smashed the prediction of losing the worse eye within 1 month and we are now 3yrs 1 month on!). I can mainly manage my working day around him on office days by starting early and coming home mid afternoon and logging back on.

I am thinking myself of doing some dog / house sitting in the future when my lovely pooch is no longer with us. I could combine it with my current job and WFH the weeks I have in house sitting and thought it would be a great way of seeing more of the UK. Also considering a cat feeding business, around my job. Researching insurance / public liability etc at the moment.

How many dogs do you have on average?

how do you advertise? Great job to have tbh!

No reason you’d need a van if you’d be happy to have a dog in your car. Some people have a cage in the boot, you could fit 2 small cages in a boot for smaller breeds. My dog walker has a van with cages, but started out with them in the car. Sometimes my dog rides shotgun if the cages are full! He loves that. I’d say you could easily care for one dog overnight without too much impact. You do need to consider restrictions though if dog doesn’t like to be left alone, so if you’re someone who goes out a lot maybe not for you. But you could earn a nice side hustle cash for one week a month, so little impact overall. I love dogs but my own wouldn’t tolerate others but it on my radar for the future.

Edit to add you’d also need the right insurance / public liability insurance - advertising etc

And very revealing how some people are so bitchy.

Fabulous @Dogladyloveswine Good luck to your business flourishing further as it sounds like you have the ideal job.

We have 2 cats and a 'nutsjob' dog (who doesn't like other dogs) otherwise I might be following your lead 😃

Ignore the negative posters on this thread - that is basically Mumsnet 24/7

Agree - pointlessly picking holes with what the op is saying and accusing her of boasting. It’s an interesting topic for discussion. £60 for feeding a cat though, would happily take on that job.

I can believe it - tho I thought it would be more. My ex dog sitter made quite a bit more than that, she would be booked a year in advance for summer - we were in London tho so that’s probably why. She was amazing.

Dog boarding is expensive but presumably you only have maximum 2 or 3 at a time and erratic income so maybe £3k average a month before expenses?

I am going to do this same thing when our two dogs are no longer with us.
I wouldn’t make as much money as you as I would just have one dog at a time as I wouldn’t want to deal with potential issues from having multiple dogs. Not the point of this thread though!

Goord for you OP where you have found a nice little niche occupation for a lifestyle business. I dont think there is anything wrong with your posting. It is just another idea for people who are looking for a way to earn a living if they have those skills and are fond of animals. I see a bit of jealousy in some of the posters. I too am my own boss and do private tutoring. I dont make as much as you but I have my pension and income from other sources. I only work a few hours a week. There are a lot of compenstions to running a biz from home because you get to claim quite a few expenses and pass them back to the tax man.

Good for you OP, I’m fortunately in a position and of an age where I don’t need to work anymore, but I do walk DS’s dog for six hours a week in all weathers, and dog sit him occasionally. I’ve often thought, I could do this on a very part time and small scale for pocket money.

One could also make something like this into a nice litttle cash in hand side hustle for friends and neighbours. Maybe just across the holidy seson or for the odd weekend with one dog at a time.

I really like this post op well done! I have to say I don’t like animals much so it wouldn’t work for me but well done for turning a difficult situation into a positive story that has made your quality of life better

Genuinely found this really interesting. Thanks for sharing this, self employment can be seen so negatively and it’s good to see someone share this.

I’d love to quit my job and do this but I have allergies 😭

I am a dog boarder & many clients wrongly assume this is a side hustle for me. I get what the OP is saying fed, walk, chill with them, play, feed etc.
I find the pick ups & drop offs annoying because people don't stick to time even if you tell them to.

Come back and tell us once you've calculated your outgoings on hoover filters. £5k in £4,900 out trying to get hair off everything.

I think this is amazing. And I’m really glad you’ve let us all know what you get from it. I could do this alongside my current job. If only I liked dogs ;) however I would love them if I needed the cash and that was the way to do it

I wouldn’t be happy if I was paying someone to care for my dog and they were getting one walk in the morning and then no other all day.

Two walks a day needed minimum for normal dogs, three for very active breeds.

Not to mention the job satisfaction you'd get from doing something you love.

That's the whole point of the thread really, isn't it? That there are other things out there and other ways to make a decent salary other than being part of the rat race.

I think it's lovely (typed while having a cup of tea preparing for another say in said rat race).

If they’re all walked by 9am and then you loll about until you feed them at 3, what are the poor dogs doing in between?
Do you really only walk them once a day? I hope your clients don’t find out!

Exactly!
Poor dogs. Left stewing in her house all day.

That's great for the time investment. I was doing some work on HS2 recently, driving concrete mixers. I was getting nearly £400 for an evening shift working just under four hours. Starting 6ish and usually finishing by around 21:45. And was often stood down on the Friday, getting about £200 for staying at home doing nothing.

Some of my friends with desk jobs seemed a bit 😡 but it's their choice to sit in a chair all day when there's a massive demand for drivers and heavy plant operators.

But you don't give them enough exercise. Why do you say that you love them if you're not exercising them enough?

I was confused by the post too tbh.

So is there are daycare dogs, then she doesn’t work 3 hours a day?

@Dogladyloveswine do you not have daycare dogs regularly? You also said ‘we’. Do you share the job with someone else?

Do you have dogs that only need one walk a day?

I think it’s great that you’ve found something you like and earn so much on it. I’m not a dog lover so couldn’t do it.

You also might want to do some animal first aid courses, and consider your location. If you have neighbours nearby then you may get complaints about noise levels from barking.

I have a couple of friends with similar businesses and the both love it!