<p>I’m usually one of the student question-answerers on the UChicago forum, but now I have a question for you! I’m a college student, and am going to be housesitting for a family (two medical school professors with elementary-aged children) in Chicago over spring break and taking care of their dog. They are expecting me to stay overnight in their house and feed/walk the dog daily as well as bathe her once during the week. I’ve only ever cat-sit for the neighbors, and then not overnight, so I’m not really sure what to charge- they’ve left it up to me to decide, but I want to be fair (and also not ask for too little). How much is reasonable for a college student to ask for per day for this? </p>
<p>^^ I agree. I am paying $50 a day for a family to watch my dog in their home during son’s graduation. They are walking him two or three times and at least one of them will be with him at all times. I’ll pay $150 for the Fri-Sun weekend.</p>
<p>We live in the Chicago area, and for high school/college age/new college grads, we have paid about $35/day and then usually rounded up.</p>
<p>We have someone coming in a couple of weeks, who is older and does housesitting professionally. She is also a vet tech, which I really appreciate since our dog is almost 15 and definitely has some health issues. She charges $40/day, and not to deminish what you are doing, but I’m paying for someone who has a background in veterinary medicine, and I know if anything comes up with my dog, she’ll probably recognize it before I would.</p>
<p>Again, we’re also in the Chicago area, and this is a pretty standard quote from other people I interviewed… $40/day.</p>
<p>Wow, this is a lot more than I had expected! I forgot to mention that I’ll be there for 10 days, and am only bathing the dog once… as well as that they are letting me use their car for small trips during the week. I think I might propose $20/day? Am I underselling myself severely here?</p>
<p>Around here (burbs of NY) $50 would not be asking too much. I think it depends a lot on where you live, but $20 seems really low for dog AND housesitting.</p>
<p>I’m down here in southern Illinois. Last fall I got paid $100 to house-sit from 9PM Saturday night until about 1AM Monday morning so roughly 28 hours? Just had to feed the dogs once or twice throughout the day and filled their water once. Was also instructed to help myself to any food in the house (not much, but enough to eat in that time ;)). $50 a day might be a little steep being 10 days, but I don’t see why $30 or so per day would be out of line…</p>
<p>As a house sitter, dog walker and dog bather, you will perform multiple functions. $50 a day is a bargain. Google “chicago dog boarding” to see the range of prices.</p>
<p>I think $50/day is very high, considering you’ll only be bathing the dog ONE TIME during the break. People above are acting like you’d be bathing the dog everyday.</p>
<p>What kind of a dog? A Maltese you can wash in the bathroom sink or a gigundo St. Bernard that will involve something on the order of a car wash facility?</p>
<p>I would check what it would cost to board their Fluffy in the local kennel … probably $25-40 and charge that. They are getting extra benefits from your presence and the wash, but you aren’t a business with an overhead and insurance and taxes.</p>
<p>FYI … many boarding kennels give a free bath to dogs staying more than a week. Sometimes the owners don’t even know – the dog gets dirty and is ordered bathed at no charge.</p>
<p>I dunno, cnp… My sister had a Maltese and a GSD when we were kids, and the little bratty dog was such a pain to wash - much more trouble than bathing her 80-lb shepherd. I agree with you, if this is a 10-day deal, and the young person is being allowed to use the car, s/he should offer a discounted rate. $30?</p>
<p>I pay $45 per day to a woman who dog-sits full time, and she spends every minute with our dog, takes him on 5-mile walks and on dog-park outings. She treats it more like childcare than dog-sitting so we love her. For a student type housesitter who will not be quite as devoted to the dog, I’d think $30 would be a fair rate. Sure, they can probably afford 50, but if you charge less they’ll think they’re getting a bargain, and won’t hesitate to ask you back.</p>
<p>Here in NH, the going rate for kennel-boarding is $35/day, so I feel like I’m getting a bargain at $30/day for someone to stay in my house when we’re gone. I don’t expect them to be there 24/7 for my 1 dog and 3 cats, but do expect them to pop in and out during the day (to walk the dog) and spend some time loving on all the critters and sleep here. </p>
<p>If you’re also getting car privileges, you might google what the going kennel-boarding rate is in your area, and bump it down $5-10/day. But don’t discount the value to pet owners of knowing that their critters’ comfort level (of staying in their own space) is much higher…</p>
<p>Taking care of a pet “full-time” may be a different situation. I could be wrong, but it didn’t get the feeling that this student was going to have to spend 24/7 with this pet. It sounds like the student can do what he/she wants (go where he/she wants) throughout the day/night, but must be there overnight to feed and walk the dog.</p>
<p>I think I’ll ask for $200 for the week. I’m not expected to be there 24/7, but I will be sleeping in the house, walking 1X per day, and be available to let the dog (a black lab) out at noontime as well as when she needs to go out in the evenings before bedtime.
Thanks for the input!</p>
<p>And FYI, since its a black lab … you might not want to wash it in the house with the associated clean up. I would bet there’s a self serve dog wash in your area. Should cost $15-25 to wash it at the SSDW including towels and soap … and clean up!</p>
<p>cnp55 gave great advice. Get some instructions from the dog’s owners on how you should proceed with the dog washing task! They should be able to tell you where they take this dog for his baths.</p>
<p>Glad you were helped here on how much to charge. Resourceful of you to ask here, too. </p>
<p>Pay-related advice you didn’t ask for as a live-in housesitter for l0 days (hey that’s what happens when you ask at parents…;)): make sure you are clear on what they expect re: eating their food/staples (using their ketchup v. refrig perishable food like cottage cheese w/ expiration dates v. canned soups on the pantry shelf…all strike different chords when someone staying there consumes each). You don’t want to feel you can’t take from their salt shaker or watch milk spoil in the 'fridge. Nor does what they say “feel free to take any food” mean dig deep to find frozen steaks in their freezer to defrost. Everyone’s different, just get clear signals on the food consumption piece, for the sake of goodwill and next year’s return. </p>
<p>If there’s a vet emergency/pet injury, heaven forbid, under your watch: is there a way to get money forwarded to the vet, as well as their emergency phone availability so they and the vet can decide together by phone what treatment to authorize? None of this will happen, but when housesitting/petsitting I always recommend asking, bottomline, how to handle emergency scenarios if they can’t be reached. You dont’ want a vet not administering treatment because there’s no way to pay. They probably have a family vet; just check on the financial pathway in event of their absence. </p>
<p>Besides that, this is a wonderful thing to do. I agreed with the above that the relationship to area overnight-boarding kennel costs, then a bump down because you get to live there AND you want the work, is a model to figure out a fair price to charge them. In essence you did just that.</p>