Has anyone ever paid someone to stay at their house and dog sit? What was the cost per night? Or have you ever done any dog sitting? I know prices vary by area, but I’m curious what going rates are.
This is really variable. 5-10 years ago in eastern MA, I did dogsitting and wouldn’t stay at someone’s house for less than $50/night, and that would be for only one dog. I had one client with 3 dogs and she paid me $100/night plus extra cash for food/etc if I was there for more than a night or two. I’m in ME now and even today rates are generally lower than that from what I’ve seen. Not very far apart geographically but drastically different pricing.
At the beginning of December I paid someone from the barn to stay at my house for a week while we were on vacation. My dog and my sisters dog were in her care, as well as feed and water for the chickens every day or two.
I paid her $800 CAD. I came up with that from searching some local online pet sitting services.
We ended up getting a ton of snow which her boyfriend helped her clear so I also gave him $100.
I’m paying a friends kid $50/night for cats and a single easy dog. I’d expect $75-100 for someone who does it as a more formal gig.
I used to have a pet sitting business, these days I’m on Rover but only do drop in visits or dog walking.
But… I have it set up for overnight stays if I’m ever inclined and have a base rate of $40/night per night for one dog, with additional dogs $24/ea.
Rover always does it per animal, but when I had my own business it was more situational. For example, 1 high maintenance elderly dog on meds and with mobility problems is a more labor intensive gig than 3 healthy dogs with a fenced yard and you just need to be around to keep an eye on things. So I generally did a base rate back then regardless of the number of animals, increasing for the hourly labor needed to care for them.
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We go away a few times a year for horse shows and one of them is in a busy city, so I leave the dog and a couple of horses at home.
I paid $100/day to our sitter for one dog and she lived in our house (we stocked the fridge as well). We left 3 horses at home so she did feed/muck/turnout as well. She worked from our house as well so it worked out perfectly for her! Well worth the $ and she was happy as well.
My sitter (before she abandoned me to go get married and live on a ranch with her cowboy hours away 
) got $75 per night. She stayed the night at our house with our three dogs, who are relatively low maintenance. She also had to dump alfalfa cubes to two horses in the pasture 1x daily. We usually tipped her as well and made sure the fridge & pantry was stocked, incase she didn’t want to go to town.
this is something that really is dependent upon the status of the owners, we have taken care of dogs/cats of some well off people who wanted specific care for their pets. A hundred dollars per day to care for two dogs was what the client wanted to pay then added a 20% tip on top of the $1400 two week care we provided.
Thanks everyone, your responses are helpful. I was approached to dog sit 7 senior dogs (staying overnight, stopping by in the afternoon to give snacks, dealing with some medical issues, cleaning up pee pads). I asked how much they typically pay, they said I would need to give a price, but that their current dog sitting doesn’t charge much (red flag). They seem to be doing very well financially.
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I think 7 senior dogs justifies a minimum of $100/night!
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SEVEN senior dogs? $125/night minimum.
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Honestly, unless you’re in a super low COL area, I’d be looking for more like $150-200 per night for that job, especially if you’re doing “extras” for medical issues. That’s a HUGE job, know your worth!
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Agreed! I’d expect to pay at least $100 a night for two low key dogs with no medical needs and no cleaning up. Wouldn’t take that job for less than $150-200 even in a more rural location.
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Great point. Location matters!
It’s a HCOL. While it’s not the exact same situation, a neighborhood trainer charges $120/night/per dog for boarding (maximum 8 dogs). And he seems to have no problem getting clients.
I paid 150.00 a day for overnight for my two dogs, 3 outdoor kitties, 2 goats, 2 horses.
I’d charge at least that for older dogs. Especially if medical issues and meds involved.
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I pay my neighbor teens $20 a day to do drop in care. Let dogs out 4x a day and feed. 2 dogs and 1 cat. The official sitter in my area charges $60 a day.
Seven senior dogs? Overnight. At least &150-$200 a day. Honestly maybe more. My best friend just did two weeks with an active young Schipperke. $100 a day. Florida.
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Well I pay 30/day for once daily drop in care. But I’m in a LCOL where most people don’t even consider dog sitters. They just leave. My arrangements are irrelevant.
So what happens with their animals? Does everyone just dump them in fenced yards with food and water?
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