How many hours are you present during house sitting?

I wish Rover had two categories on house sitting. Overnight & 24 hour care. That would save a lot of misunderstanding and requests that don't make it to booking because of sitter having to explain an overnight is not 24 hours. If for example an overnight is charged at 50 dollars that equals to 2 dollars an hour. So I wish Rover had a 12 hrs & 24 hrs rate category because extended care makes no allowance for it. Makes no sense

I rarely house sit because I hate it, but when I do I am at the client's from 7P to 7A give or take, along with that I stop in once per day to let the pups out or give them a short walk. My daily schedule is discussed with the client at the M&G

My house sitting is 12 hours, generally 6p to 6am. I only take clients close to home. I work out a schedule that allows me to come back home around 9:30 to 10 pm make sure my pets are settled in for the night. That has always been acceptable for my clients. I also do midday checks, potty break at a flat reduced rate when in conjunction with overnight stays.

I'd suggest that each new client requires personalized conversation at a meet&greet, with both of you candidly discussing their pet's needs and if you both agree to whatever is needed. While some pets need more attention, the pets who do fine with less interaction, I'd guess would fit with your needs/wishes (and if that's the case, why make it an issue).

However, rover guidelines indicate house sitting is for up to 24 hours of care. So, for sitters who aren't available to spend a lot of time with the pet and cover all walks, etc, I'd expect some push back from the client as this should be priced at a premium rate.

Hi - pet parent and first time rover user here. My pups cannot be left alone for more than 7 hours. If my rover sitter was only in from 7p-7a for example I would be seriously upset. If that is your expectation as a sitter then you certainly need to clarify that up front. I don’t know who is only charging 50$ /night - our sitter is charging 150$/night plus tip and that really should include being with my babies for a majority of the day and overnight.

I love all the answers so far here.

For me, I tend to work other jobs. This gig isn’t enough, especially when I have no money otherwise. I’ll do my best to not schedule work for the week I’m house sitting, but some things come up. For example: when my current client asked me to go from one week to two, I informed her I had a doctor’s appointment and a concert I had no plans on skipping. She said it was fine and she understood I’m not chained to the house.

I think we are still humans who have things to do, and being inside a house 24 hours a day is doable as we’ve all seen during the pandemic but not realistic. I go to the gym, I run errands, grocery shop, but the owners know this and I set the expectations up front.

I work a second job and am in school. so i let pet owners know when they reach out about this. i’ll say something like “hi! thanks for reaching out. id like to let you know a little bit about me to make sure i’m a good fit! i will be available for overnight care as well as a midday break. if you need any specific times covered, let me know and i will make sure that they work for me as well!” everybody i’ve sat for has been happy with this. i haven’t run into it yet but i plan on charging more if someone is looking for 24 hour care even though house sitting is technically “24hours” according to rover. but my justification is that i charge in the much lower end for my services because i know i won’t be there 24 hours.

I stay as many hours as agreed at our meet and greet.