Do you all charge for the stay price plus walk price ?

I ran into the confusion over multiple dogs and holiday rates recently, and it was a disaster. I ended up calling Rover support to figure it out. So I can definitely sympathize!

The per night rate covers a 24-hour period you will board the dog in your home, or visit the dog if you are a traveling sitter. It's kind of like a hotel rate, where you pay for a room from your checkin to time to checkout time. It covers one boarding period only, from dropoff to pickup, and should include things like walks, play, feeding, any meds, i.e. total care of the dog.. If there is a difference of more than 3-4 hours in the times, I charge a daycare rate of $10 for the extra time. For example, drop off at 9 am, pickup at 4 pm, gets my daily rate plus $10.

The dog walk fee in my case is totally separate from my boarding/visiting rates. It covers a 15-20 minute walk only, maybe refreshing food and water if requested, but that is all.

If you are a traveling sitter, the per night rate covers 2-3 visits per day to the client's home. This is something you should discuss at the meet & greet. My standard is 2 visits a day - morning and evening - and includes walks, feeding, and play time. Each visit is about 20-30 minutes. Some clients want me to add a mid-day visit, which I do for no charge.

I only accept one dog at a time, or one family of dogs. If there are multiple dogs, I charge $5 less than my normal rate for dogs 2+.

You should definitely figure out your rate schedule ahead of time and then discuss it at the meet and greet. If the prices shown by Rover.com are different than your normal rates, tell the client at the meet & greet that you can adjust the price before they have to pay.

When you are a traveling sitter, you visit a home several times a day (as discussed at your M&G) or stay overnight, if the client wants, to take of the client's pets. Let's say that you visit three times a day. The nightly rate covers all your visits per day, at which you tend to the animals (feed, walk, play, etc.). The length of time you stay at the client's home should also be disclosed to the client.

The reason there is a walk rate is because some people may only be dogwalkers and not responsible for a pet's overall care while a client is out of town.

Holiday billing is applied for an entire stay during which there is a holiday. Holidays are peak travel times and no one gets a discount during peak times or only pays a higher rate on the holiday itself. Think about the airlines or hotels, peak season starts in early December and goes through January 1st. Kennels charge holiday rates, too, and not just for the single day of the holiday.

The fee for overnight boarders includes any care that would normally be expected; thus, walks are included.

I do not care for more than one dog at a time, but I own two dogs and use Rover when I need to put them somewhere. Typically the second dog is about $5 less than the first; for example, $30 for dog 1, $25 for the second dog.

I'm not sure I understand "multiple visits". If you mean multiple nights, my price per night goes down by a few dollars after 6 consecutive nights. You can set this on your profile.

Hope this helps!

On your Account Profile page, if you scroll down, it will tell you if your fees are average for your area. That's where I started in figuring out pricing. There are rates to put in for first dog, second dog, puppy rates, rates for multiple nights of more than x nights, etc.
For Example: My One hour visit of $15 includes walking dogs or multiple dogs letting out into the yard, checking water, cleaning up, playing and giving loving. Feeding if client wants.

For a Traveling Sitter rate in their home, clarify in the Meet & Greet exactly how many visits during the 24 hours, or if they want you to stay overnight there. (Do they need 12 daylight hours 7a-7p?) I have a booking for 4 days that I will visit 3 times a day to let the 2 dogs out into their yard, feed them & give Love/attention. That is $25 for the first dog & $15 for the second dog per day. (My Holiday rate is more, since there will be more business than time) Another client wants me to stay at her home for an entire 24 hours for her 4 dogs, one of which is a puppy. Since puppies are more work when not house trained, and I can only leave to get food within an hour, I am charging her $100 for the 24 hours. I will not be able to work any other jobs at that time. Some of your clients may not be up to paying that much, so you need to evaluate what their needs are, and what you will be willing to do. I hope this helps.

Pat,

I've known travel sitters who list a single 24 hr rate that includes an average number of visits per day and travel sitters who have a price per visit rate which is adjusted during the booking process to reflect the number of visits a particular client needs. Some travel sitters are also more live-in, staying in the client's homes for the duration of the stay, including overnight. All of these are valid ways to set up the fee schedule, and it just needs to be communicated to clients in the body of the profile and through messages. Regardless of how they all choose to bill, their rate includes all basic care provided during the stay, including walks.

Based on your description, it sounds like you should base your overnight rate on providing a set number of visits per day, and adjust the rate up or down depending on the particular client's needs.

I am a boarder, and although I don't do travel sitting, I've occasionally taken dog walking clients - this rate is there for providing just a walk, with no other services, like taking a dog out midday while the owners work a long shift, or providing exercise while the family is on vacation, because their roommate is unable to provide the energy outlet the dog requires. I come by, get the dog, go for a walk, put the dog back. Aside from making sure the water dish isn't empty, that is the extent of the visit.