How much do you pay for overnight dog sitter to stay at your house?

[ErlingHaalandsManBun]

Just interested for those who use overnight pet sitters, who come to your house to pet sit while you go away.

How much do you get charged?

Have just had a quote and I am not sure if this is expensive or the going rate or whether I should keep looking.

Obviously, the main thing is our dogs are well cared for but I don't want to pay silly prices if what we have been quoted is a lot.

For reference, we are in Wales and I have just been quoted £75 per night, £10 extra for a second dog. So we have two dogs so it will be £85 per night.

Good or high?

£35, 2 dogs, 2 cats and a bird

I charge £50 a night for one dog, £60 per night for two. Cats and small pets I don’t charge extra for
as I’m there already.

Horses on the property are £10 a day each - more if they need bringing in or rugs changing etc.

My friend is a dog sitter and she charges £50 plus £10 per extra dog/cat. Small animals free of charge

I'll be looking into this too soon.

Does the sitting stay in a spare room overnight too? Do you provide food/drinks for them?

I provide all my own food and drinks though most people leave me bread and milk and tell me to help myself to things like tea, coffee and biscuits.

In terms of sleeping, mostly it’s a spare bed but sometimes in the clients bed or a teenagers bed - as long as the room is tidy and the sheets are clean I don’t mind!

That is unbelievably ridiculous. I pay £35. The most I’ve ever heard of is £45 and that would be total for multiple animals.

How do you expect someone to pay their bills on £35 a day?

This is my job, not something I do for fun.

£45 for three dogs, in my own home - couple of decent hour plus walks a day, watering of any plants depending on time of year (that’s not extra). It’s the same price no matter how many dogs.

Is your sitter insured and first aid qualified out of curiosity? Do they leave your dogs alone to do other work?

My friend pays over £100 a night for a house and pet sitter. London area. Via a website so that will bump it up I guess.

I'm north Scotland.
I paid £50 for two dogs. Additional dogs were £3 each. And that's for staying with them for the full 24 hours; not leaving them home alone for a few hours during the day time.
I have recently seen someone on FB advertising the same for £35 a day.

I pay £80 - 12pm to 12pm next day - 2 dogs. SE area. I’d pay more as she’s fantastic. I leave lots of snacks and drinks.

It's not £35 a day, it's £35 for overnight. Surely you must have some other source of income during the day

SE here, I paid £40 for two cats and dog. Some people (insured etc) charge more. I find this person via an app. Your quote sounds like a lot, I’d shop around.

Yes, of course, but £35 for basically 14+ hours of being on duty at someone’s house is still an absolute pittance.

Have to agree with this. It’s people’s livelihoods and your pet’s safety and happiness at stake.

I suspect the people charging £35 a night aren’t adequately insured and don’t have things in place like first aid training etc.

Why would you leave your pets and your home in the care if someone without insurance? 😳

Okay so lots of varied quotes there. Interesting.

The lady who is coming to meet us next week has a really good reputation and is fully insured etc...

To be honest, its not really about the money. These dogs are like family to us so its important to us that we leave them with someone we know and trust will treat them like their own. It was more about making sure we are paying a price that we feel happy with.

If we feel she is worth the £85 for 24 hours then that is fine. It's just initially I thought it was a little steep.

We have also got another one coming to see us who charges £50, also fully insured and has first aid etc and also a good reputation.

For us we will go with the one that gives us the best vibe and we feel is right for the dogs and we feel most comfortable leaving them with after initial meet and greets.

Thanks for the input. Its been very useful.

She does have a dog first aid qualification and will do extras for me like cut the grass just before we get back if we’ve been away (I pay extra for that) but she doesn’t just leave to do other things - she’ll go to the supermarket to get food for herself and collects the post and signs for parcels. She’s retired early and loves dogs basically - has a few people she does it for. It’s not a full time career for her. Insurance I can’t remember asking her about but I reckon the house is safer with her in it, watching TV and reading than empty. I think she’s a bargain.

Accidents can happen regardless of how trustworthy someone is though - all you need is for a pipe to burst or your dog to get injured and you could find yourself massively out of pocket as your pet and home insurance may not cover you if you weren’t the one in charge or at home.

Just something to be careful about.

I will add that I think £50 for one dog per night, is the going rate round here - and I’d agree that no money saving is worth it if they’re not good and you’re not happy with it. Mine came through word of mouth and I liked the way she interacted with the dogs. I would pay more if I needed to though.

Standard pet & home insurance will cover for whoever is in the home or looking after the pet

Home insurance might but pet insurance doesn’t - if your dog escapes and causes an accident or bites someone, your insurance won’t cover you if your dog was under the care of a professional - that’s why all dog walkers should have liability insurance.

But the woman in this instance is not running a dog sitting business therefore does not require insurance