How much would you pay?

[GrayTon]

For home boarding your dog, per day, at a large country house with a big secure dog run, with no people or other dogs around, has human company 24/7, with no other dogs boarded at the same time?

And how far would you travel for drop off and collection?

The home boarder is licensed and fully insured with 15 years' animal experience and pet first aid qualified.

Where would the dog sleep?

How is the dog exercised?

All according to the owner's wish/schedule.

So sleeping can be on the boarders bed, in the room on a sofa, downstairs, crated or not crated, whatever they're used to.

Exercise is according to what is most suitable, off-lead though would only in the secure area. If the dog needs shorter, more frequent walks or longer hikes, that would be accommodated. All walks would be in the countryside. Enrichment activities provided for older/less active dogs.

Dog would be fitted with GPS so owners can view the dog's location and activity 24/7. Also plenty of updates and photos, if wanted.

Really looked after as if they were the boarders own, much-loved dog.

Just about to pay my kennel bill for an upcoming holiday it's averaging £30 a night lots of fun and play but staying in a kennel

Fo inside a house and the risk of damage accidental or not from the dog to personal items I would say £45

I would pay upto £50 a night because that would be absolutely and completely perfect for my beagle 😂

I couldn't afford to pay more than that though, especially for a week or more of care.

It's also what I charge to pet-sit in owners homes overnight but that's more disruptive to me as I'm away from my bed and my animals etc.

I'd pay around £75 a night, but I have desperately struggled to find an adequate home boarder for less than this.

Would travel up to 2 hours. Even better if pick-up/drop off is added at additional cost.

I am really lucky , my dog walker does boarding at £35 a night for 2 .
If I didn't have him and it was top notch facilities , fully licensed and insured I'd pay up to £75 per night .
I'd travel up to two hours for the right place .

I would pay £30 a night. I currently pay £50 a night for someone to stay in my home. Why will the dog be only allowed off lead in the enclosed area? My dog would not be happy with that.

A lot! This is exactly what we need. For the right fit I’d pay £75-100 a night and travel miles. Tell me more!

Presumably so that OP doesn't have to worry about dogs bolting and getting lost.

I would expect £60-75 per night (due to the amazing set up and no other dogs present which makes this very niche, and very hard to find). So equally, I would travel an hour or more to access it.

Fortunately my dog is happy at the local kennels at £23 per night!

Is this a business plan? I think the only obstacle would be getting your availability known to the very niche customer base you would need, until you had the repeat custom/word of mouth.

Absolutely this.

A dog may have 100% recall with their owner in their usual settings, but with a boarder (even if familiar with them) in new environments then the risk is too great.

The dog's wellbeing is the top priority, they'd be enjoying plenty of varied and stimulating country walks on lead, scent games, (long lead if appropriate) and have the opportunity to run and play off-lead in a secure paddock.

Completely agree with this. I am pretty happy with my dogs recall (it took a long time to get to this point) but I wouldn't want to rely on her coming back to someone else. I also know my dog extremely well, I know if she's picking up a scent, spooked by the wind or just decided to push boundaries a bit on a particular day, I can therefore adjust where and if she is let offlead. I wouldn't expect a boarder to pick up on this unless they had her for several and regular stays.

If the secure place is big enough for a good zoom then I am happy. But then I don't believe that all dogs need off-lead exercise on a daily basis, sounds like this business is going to focus on stimulation and enrichment which is far more important than exercise in my opinion.

OP - let me know when you open!

That's great!

I want to offer '1 household only' dog boarding, as I've needed this in the past and just not been able to find it. A true holiday for a dog, so the owners can really relax and know their dog is happy, safe, loved. My property is in an area of outstanding beauty.

If you had more than one dog from the same household, then it would be discounted for each dog, up to a maximum of four total.

No other pets at the property (only a few chickens, in their own secure area). No visitors or children, so I can take reactive dogs, those with separation anxiety, medical issues, etc. All breeds/sizes accepted.

Agree with PP it is niche, but I'm hoping there is enough of a market out there to provide the service for.

We’d be really keen and I know there’d be interest from a reactive dog group I’m part of. My rescue boy’s issue is he’s petrified of other dogs due to his earlier life .. and my issue is I don’t trust many people to keep him safe. He’s lovely but strong and nervous, which could be bad in some circumstances. You sound like you understand! Please keep me in mind if you get up and running.

I understand that but from my point of view the advance of using a 1:1 service is that my dog can have its proper walks as normal.

I understand that but from my point of view the advance of using a 1:1 service is that my dog can have its proper walks as normal

Ultimately it's not up to you whether your walker/boarder lets your dog off the lead though.

You can request it but ultimately the decision lies with the person in charge, and I say that as a dog walker myself.

I'm currently house-sitting two dogs who are always off the lead with their owners but they always stay on lead with me.

The owners have said I'm fine to let them off but I don't have enough trust in their recall so on-lead it is. D

Can I suggest if you do go ahead OP (I hope you do, sounds like an amazing idea!) that you keep a live calendar of availability on your website, and maybe an option to 'hold' dates for a 12-hour period, while your clients look for and book a holiday. Obviously the downside of your arrangement is only being able to accommodate one dog at a time, so once you are up and running, availability will be extremely limited.

What area of the country are you in, OP? Roughly? I agree that 50/night sounds about right - and I would absolutely be interested for summer 2024!

This sounds incredible and definitely something I would use!

In terms of price, maybe £50 per night with a discount for any additional dog. So maybe £75 per night for 2 dogs?

I would travel up to an hour from home for something like this but we always have to fly out of airports a 3+ hour drive away so if it was on the way to the airport I would consider this too.

I pay £40 per night, home boarding with a family. No other dogs. She hasn't put the rate up since I started using her.

@GrayTon this is exactly what I need for my dog and not been able to find it anywhere. Around £50-£60 a night would be reasonable and would travel up to 1.5 hours. How far from Hertfordshire are you?

I would also be interested in this.

£35 is the max I would pay per night but I'm less bothered about rookiedog being only dog and remote surroundings as I'd expect him to be taken for 3 walks a day anyway.

But I think someone wanting that level of service and accommodation would probably pay £45-50 a night and travel up to an hour each way. My friend has a dog that cannot be left alone so if you could guarantee company all the time that would be even better.

You could price lower to begin with and then once you have good reviews up it. That's what our Rover sitter has done.

I know someone who does a similar thing although unfortunately I don't know how much she charges which is unhelpful. She lives in south london and she has one of those summerhouse type affairs at the bottom of her garden. When she has a dog she lives and sleeps in there with the dog.