What should I charge to dog sit two pups for 10 days?

[Thecomedyclub]

I’ve been asked to dog sit two cockapoo pups both a handful but relatively well trained (some accidents but not too many). One is in season. It will be at their house. I won’t be able to go home during this time but I can wfh and I am part time.
I have no idea what I should charge but it will be for 10 days. Any suggestions gratefully received! TIA

Mates rates or full charge? Think it’s about £40 a night here for in home pup sitting

Unless you have insurance (which something tells me you probably don't as if you did you'd know how much to charge), nothing because you shouldn't do it.

Probably going to get slammed for that, and I don't mean to be difficult...but so much can go wrong with dogs in a short space of time that no one should be taking responsibility for anyone's dog for such a long period of time without insurance, experience, ideally a DBS and relevant training.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks appreciate I didn’t make it very clear so apologies, and thanks for replying. I’ve known the family and dogs for ever (well 9 months for the dogs!) and I do have a dbs not that my friends care too much about that. I’m used to them, know the vet, will be given emergency numbers etc. They wouldn’t have asked if they didn’t trust I’d do a good job but although I offered to do it for nothing they are adamant they want to pay going rate but no one knows what that is hence my post. £40 a night sounds reasonable.

DM’s dog walker charges £50/night for one dog, and £40/might per additional dog from the same household. We’re in rural W Yorks - nowhere flashy!

I'd make it £500. Nice round figure and puts a nice dent in the cost of your next holiday. I'm guessing they are going on holiday? So that seems fair to me.

In London, five years ago, the charge for an agency dog sitter in your own home was £95 a day. I pay £40 if my dog is at someone else's home, as that's less of a burden and they can have multiple dogs.

Our dog walker charges £50 a night, so I’d probably say £400 with mates rates.

Safe to say, we rarely use her

@Thecomedyclub Oh phew! In which case £40-£50 a day is reasonable.😊

But I would still consider insurance if you're going to do this for people often! Friendships can deteriorate rapidly when pet's healthy or wellbeing is involved - if Doghouse shows us anything, it's how much people love their pets!

I paid £50 a day for someone to stay in my home and look after my dogs.

I hope both dogs are bitches, or else you'll be in for a fun time.

Have they asked you to price? Are they expecting to pay? Most people round us use trusted houssitters for free or we have some local older folk who happily house and dog sit for free.

You say one dog is in season - is the other an entire male? 😬

Is this going to include your food and drink while you are staying in the house? You said you cant go out (except to walk the dogs) so presumably you are going to have to order a delivery,

There’s a lady near us it’s £40 per night for the first dog and £30 for the second/third - her limit is 3. She has them at her house and is always booked up a long way in advance so it can’t be too much or more than otherwise people wouldn’t use her.

Sisters. 🎉

If you offered to do it for nothing they might have a bit of a shock when you say £400. I used to just charge £10 a night to my friends for one dog.

I would say I’d do it for nothing , a dbs is not relevant , actual dog sitters need proper insurance . If you are doing a favour for friends / family a gift is sufficient .

I'm not sure it's right to charge the going rate when you're not qualified and don't have insurance - I would probably say £25 a night is fair given the situation.

We pay our friend £40 a night when she stays at our home to look after our two
adult dogs. South west.

Keep a eye on the one in season, we had to take ours to the vets to get medication to stop her milk, she was also very unhappy and snappy ( v out of character) and might not mix well with her sister. Two pups one in season so walking difficult, I’d say £100 a day…

You are not going to get milk whilst she is in season! Might happen several weeks after the season if the dog has a false pregnancy.

Things can go wrong so quickly looking after other peoples animals. If the dogs whillst under your care cause injury to human or dog you are at risk of liability.

Technically/legally you could argue the owner is responsible if they did not inform you of the dogs behaviour but this is almost impossible to prove and the injured parties will make you liable for the incident

For your own safety you do need insurance.....