Does $90 seem too high per night for this stay? I would have charged less for the cats but I figured I'd use the normal rate to make up for the care of the farm animals.

Thanks for your comment! There won't be grooming or cleaning out stalls required for this stay, just feeding for the horses and goats twice per day along with pulling hay from the barn. I don't have my own insurance.

Hello. So I usually charge $30 per dog/cat per night. I received a request to pet sit for one dog, two cats, a chicken, four goats and two horses for three nights, four days! How would you charge for this? The family is going out of state and their normal sitter cancelled last minute. I am thinking of just charging for the dog and cats my normal rate. Thanks!

Fortunately, I have a spacious house so my cat has his own room. The door stays open at all times but when we are dog sitting, he may be confined to his room if a rover dog does not get along with cats, which most seem not to.

I think it's important for a client to see where their dog will be sleeping, playing, eating, etc. If I do a meet and greet, I usually have my dogs in a back room so the clients can explore the home with their dog then we'll have the dogs meet in the backyard on leash. If there is no meet and greet, I always invite the client in to see the place before they leave. I've only had one client not come in to take a look because she was in a rush to get to a prearranged event. I would be concerned if a sitter would not let me see their place and I'd definitely ask to.

I just received my first batch of business cards! I plan to put some up at a local pet store and the local dog park which has a bulletin board.

I am hosting two dogs for a few days who are very sweet and friendly. However, I have come to find that they are excessive barkers in my home. I am not sure if they are normally this way or just adapting to the new environment. I have not contacted the owners yet since it is almost 1 am and tonight is night one of their stay. The owners stated they were dog friendly which they are for the most part but they bark at my dogs (I am now keeping my dogs separated), bark at any noise they hear inside or outside of the house and bark at dogs or people they may see through the window walking outside. They do not listen very well when telling them "no" or "quiet". I tried crating the one who barks more and she continues to bark in her crate. I have neighbors on all sides of my house and can't have dogs barking at 12 am, let alone after 10 pm. The dogs did not nap all day since 11 am since they were playing most of the day/running in the backyard, somehow they are still not too tired. Tomorrow I will start taking them for long walks but wondering if anyone else has suggestions to get through this weekend stress free, for both my household and these pups. I was considering taking them to the dog park to burn off some energy in addition to their walks since the owners stated they normally go to dog parks but I do not feel comfortable doing this after seeing how they react to dogs. Also wondering what others have done when they've had any issues with their clients. Thanks!

Wondering what other sitters do for activities when hosting in your home. I typically have 4 or more dogs at one time in my home when I am hosting so a trip to the dog park is not so easy :) What kinds of activities do you do if you are home most of the time during your hosts?