When a pet parent is out of town, does the house sitting fee cover a full 24-hour period, or do they also need to pay for drop-ins and/or walks to cover daytime care?

The house sitting fee covers your care of the house as well as 24-hour care for the pet. All details should be discussed at the M&G - expectations of the owners as far as what duties you should do while there (mail, water plants, etc), pet care, alarms, etc.

Because I am uprooting myself from my home for an extended period of time and because there are more responsibilities than just the pet care, I charge $5 more per night per pet. I'm considering raising that rate to $10 more because my experience has been housesitting is more trouble than it's worth sometimes.

Rover defines house sitting as:

https://support.rover.com/hc/en-us/ar...

People are essentially hiring you to not only take care of their pet(s) but also their home while they are away. That is why the service should be priced higher--not only are you doing more but you have to uproot yourself with all your supplies/creature comforts and travel to the destination.

While staying at the house, you are expected to take of the pet, which means walking, feeding, playing, etc. These are not billed separately because the owner has paid for 24-hour/day care for their pet.

This should all be discussed at the M&G, so that there won't be any miscommunications about expectations.

Here's another (of many) threads about this subject:

https://www.rover.com/community/quest...

Dog/house sitting includes drop-ins. On your profile you state how frequently you can provide potty breaks. (I check on dogs I am house sitting for every 2-4 hours, for example.)

This is an included service in your dog sitting rate - drop-ins and walks are not a separate fee when you are dog sitting. It's an all-inclusive rate. I hope this helps!