How much for watching our dog?

[solobiker]

DH and I are going to be out of town for 5 days and our neighbor is going to be watching our dog for us while we are gone. Our neighbor takes care of a lot of her friends dogs when they are out of town for some "easy money". We have only been neighbors for a little over a year so we don't know her to well and she is going to be moving out of the state next month. So my ? to you is how much should we pay her? I am not sure how much boarding a dog costs so I don't have those figures to go off of. Thanks for any suggestions.

[Blueberry]

Boarding is usually about $15 per day. We pay a professional petsitter about $15 per visit (depending on how many animals - it's $2 for each extra - that's the base rate for one). I'd think somewhere in the middle for a neighbor - maybe $30 (since she doesn't have to drive anywhere).

CA

[Thorn]

We use a professional pet sitter for our cats. She charges $12/day for cats and $15/day for dogs. We pay her more than she asks because the cats are happy and content when she sits and to cover increases in gas costs.

[DDH]

Around here, they charge based on the size of the dog, and they board them in a kennel so they are caged all the time except when they are being walked. I would rather pay a person to come in even if I payed the same amount just because my pets are at home and not stressed.

[solobiker]

Around here, they charge based on the size of the dog, and they board them in a kennel so they are caged all the time except when they are being walked. I would rather pay a person to come in even if I payed the same amount just because my pets are at home and not stressed.

I agrre. She is an 11 year old, 13# full of love Shih Tzu. She is our child, so we would do anything for her. Some people think this bread is a barky dog, but she does not bark unless DH gets her all excited playing. Even when she wants to go outside she will run to the door then back to us. Thanks for responding.

[Skierchickie]

The kennel our dog stays at just went up to $12 per day recently, plus $1 per extra walk. You could ask her how much she usually gets (or ask people who she's done this for before).

We're getting a housesitter when we go to Alaska for 9 days (we have one dog and 2 cats), and we're going to pay her $20 per day. She'll have to feed and walk the dog, feed the cats, scoop the litter, possibly clean up fur balls, keep an eye on things, in general. Well worth the extra dough to have the animals happy (the dog could go to the kennel, but that is a long time, and we could get somebody to look in on the kitties every couple of days, but, once again, it's a long time without a lap), and have somebody here to notice if something goes wrong. In the winter the job requires a lot more (we get lots of snow).

She's a college student, so she could use the money - plus she lives, works, and goes to school 20 miles away.

When we're gone for more than a few days, we like to know somebody responsible is here, and (as others have said) the pets are a lot happier.

[KnottedYet]

I take my dog to my friend's house when I go out of town. I pay her $15 a night.

[divingbiker]

Wow, I need to move to a different part of the country! I pay $18 for a half hour visit/walk, regardless of how many dogs. When the pet sitter stays in my house, I pay $60/night (which includes a mid-day walk). Taking them to a boarding kennel varies by size, but is around $25-30/day (I think, haven't used a kennel in a few years.)