Hi, I'm brand new here and I just got my first client! I see that house-sitting is generally for overnight stays and I have my price set to $25 (which I might change), but my client only needs me to watch their puppy for 5 hours. Would $25 be right for this? Do I charge more if I need to walk the puppy as well, or does walking usually come with services like this? Thanks!
Hi Heather,
Welcome! I see you asked this question ages ago and have since changed your rates. I do hope you found some useful answers about house sitting here from doing a search. Your question didn't make it to the board because someone at Rover was probably on vacation and didn't review the questions in queue.
Anyway, house sitting generally covers care for a pet for a 24-hour period and that would include walks, feeding, etc. Not all sitters stay overnight or are required to by their clients. That is something you need to go over during your M&G, i.e., the client's expectations for what you will do for their pet and the house. House sitting is a premium type service and should have a higher rate because of the added responsibilities and the inconvenience factor to you. It doesn't mean that you are chained to the client's home. You can come and go and service other pets (walking, drop-ins, etc.) but you should make it clear to the client that you will spend a majority of the time at their home to justify the higher charges.
I don't know what you finally decided on for taking care of this client's puppy for five hours, but at your old rate it was $5 an hour. You currently charge $25 for a drop-in or walk, both of which are only 30 minutes. I would think a 5-hour stay with a puppy should be more.