Rates - nightly vs 24 hour?

The best thing to do is discuss dropoff and pick up times at the very beginning (M&G or messaging) to determine what the proper stay charge will be. when the dog is with you beyond the 24-hour mark, then you should be adding on a daycare charge, depending on the amount of time. I do give owners a couple of hours leeway. If the overage exceeds 12 hours, then you are perfectly justified in charging for another full day. I've never had a customer who didn't understand that the Rover system assumes pickup within the 24 hours, as stated in the FAQ.

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

Everyone sets their own hours of operation and some sitters here charge a fee for very early or late pickups and dropoffs. I am not a 24-hour Starbucks, so my regular hours of operation are 8 am to about 10 pm because I'm more a late-night person. There will always be exception situations when owners' flights are delayed. Moreover, I will usually suggest dropping a dog off the night before if they have a super early flight.

I send an info letter on all my policies BEFORE meet and greet. I used to get taken advantage of before with drop offs and pick ups so before I book, they must tell me drop off and pick up time and I adjust the price accordingly. I set my hours 7:30AM to 6pm and am VERY clear a "night" equals 24 hours. I will allow 1-2 hour overlap and then I either charge additional "night" or a "daycare" fee. Another way to get around this is to allow only evening drop off or pick ups. I stopped taking drop off and pick ups after 6pm because I have an early rising husband and kids. I explain it's also out of respect for my neighbors since pups being dropped off are often excited and bark and even continue to bark long after drop off and it takes a while to settle down.

It is completely up to you on how to customize your business. I usually don't mind keeping the dog extra hours if I am available. However, I am not in it to make a lot of $. I just love dogs!

When I get a dog that is not being good, I ask the owner to come earlier if possible. Sticky situations...

I agree with Karen. I charge a day care fee if there is a difference of more than 2 hours, and once it goes beyond 8 hours I charge another night's stay. All this is discussed at the M&G - I explain that the charge is for a 24-hour period and that any extra time may be charged extra. My business hours are 9 am to 8 pm. I'm flexible in cases of traffic or emergency or flight delays, but I ask that the owner notify me ASAP of any delays. If the owner has a flight either very early in the morning or very late at night, I request that the owner bring the dog over the night before (gives them more time to get ready, sleep, as well) or pick up the next morning before noon. (they don't have to rush to my house then home, can get some rest and sleep late in the morning).

This is one thing I am strict about and it cut down late pickups by so much! I'm upfront that overnight boarding covers a 24 hour period. 1-5 hours late is $20 half-daycare charge, 6-9 hours late is $24 daycare charge, and anything later than that is just an additional overnight charge. Haven't had any problems so far and people come to pick up their dog when they say they will. As far as operational hours I do this full-time so I don't mind the late nights or early mornings outside of traditional business hours but that rarely ever happens anymore.