How much to dog/chicken sit?

I have a dog and 4 chickens. We are going away for 5 days over Christmas, and i have asked a good friend who currently lives at home with her parents to house sit for us while we are away. This includes christmas day She would need to be at our house morning and night to let out/bring in the chickens, bring in the eggs (she is welcome to eat them/take them) and check they have enough food and feed the dog. would take a max of 15 minutes morning and night.

How much do you think would be a reasonable amount to pay her for house sitting/pet minding?

I would say all the eggs she can find and a bottle of decent vodka would be more than enough
Will she be poop scooping for the dog? Because that might cost you a bottle of wine on top.

Will she be staying in the house or just coming to feed the pets and lock up.

If she is staying then i'd say you cover foods costs and possibly any extra travel expenses for the 5 days and a nice bottle of wine.
If she is just coming and going then maybe a few $ for petrol and a nice box of choccy's and alcohol of her choice.

But i guess it depends on the friend, we would do it for friends for free, if we had to stay then possibly get them to chip in for petrol if it meant extra travel but otherwise it would be out of friendship.

No poopa scooping involved... just avoiding the chicken mess in the back yard. I will clean it up when i get back!

She is a uni student (like me) but doesn't have a partner to financially support her like i do, so was thinking of giving her cash- i know she struggles! She could do either- stay at our place, which she is likely to as she doesn't get along with her dad- or she could go home again. Dog is mostly an indoor dog too... so would prefer she was staying here to keep her company... but it is up to her.

We use housesitters (strangers, we use a website service) and they get a place to stay while we get free care for our pets/garden.

I think Onyx's suggestion is a good one!

Will take the.furry one if u get stuck hun, not the creepy feathered ones though!

LOL thanks Skye!
She has already said she can and will do it.

Jennifer, have you ever had any problems with strangers?
We are going away for 3 weeks and don't know what to do, dog kennels are very pricey and our dog will freak out as she was a rescue pup...


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Not sure if there is a going rate for that type of thing.
A few years ago I house sat for a girl I knew at dancing as she was going away and needed someone to look after her cat. I was living at home at thetime and honestly I didn't think of payment I was just happy to be out of the house.

But I think maybe stocking up on a few things that she can help herself too, chockies, maybe some wine etc is lovely. If you wanted to do some money as well, regardless of how little time it takes to do the choresI'd beinclined to offer a minimum of $50 per day.

it may seem like a lot if she is staying there but if you had your dog in a kennel it would cost more that that PLUS you have the chooks and they can be fowl (pun intended) gosh the smell of my girls house even though its cleaned regularly makes me gag.

That would also cover her travel if she decided not to stay there.

Maybe I am too generous :dunno:

Nae x

We use a friend as we cannot take the dog, also an inside one, and all she gets is the run of the house and any food she needs. Last time I met her at the supermarket and got the basics for her as she doesn't eat meat.
Just make sure you have a spare key hidden in case she leaves her keys inside. I also leave cash on the fridge incase of an emergency.
If she doesn't get on with her Dad she will probably enjoy the time away and that in its self can be enough payment. If you feel comfortable paying her maybe between $10 to $20 per day.

We pay $22 day for dog hotel. I believe they charge $25 for large breeds. That includes picking up after them and exercise.

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Jennifer, have you ever had any problems with strangers?
We are going away for 3 weeks and don't know what to do, dog kennels are very pricey and our dog will freak out as she was a rescue pup...

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None at all! They all come with references and housesitters have to pay to register (so hopefully no dodgy ones!), while it's free for the home owner. We look through applications, check references and interview a couple.

Sometimes I think the dogs especially get better treatment from the housesitters than us - they certainly get walked more often!

We use aussiehousesitters website. Google it. ;)

I wonder if DH would go for a house sitter because that would be way cheaper than doggy hotel. We have to pay for the cat too and even with a 'sibling' discount it still ends up costing a fortune.

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I wonder if DH would go for a house sitter because that would be way cheaper than doggy hotel. We have to pay for the cat too and even with a 'sibling' discount it still ends up costing a fortune.

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DH hates the idea, but the 3 and a bit weeks away is going to cost $900 for a 'standard room' for the dog, it's not really a cheap holiday if we have to fork that out on top!!!

Thanks for the info Jennifer, if DH can't get his bro to do it, I will be bringing this up again! :)

Sorry to hijax the thread!


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We've often had people stay in our place when we've gone away, but we've never paid them. They've mostly been uni students that are family members who are still living at home and the freedom of doing their own thing in their own space is very appealing!

Only once have we left our dogs here though, but even then, the guy staying was just happy to be here.

Our kennels charge $26 per dog per day for a medium breed dog. When we go camping and pay around $30 for two adults and one child, paying $52 for the dogs per day seems a bit unfair!!!!

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DH hates the idea, but the 3 and a bit weeks away is going to cost $900 for a 'standard room' for the dog, it's not really a cheap holiday if we have to fork that out on top!!!

Thanks for the info Jennifer, if DH can't get his bro to do it, I will be bringing this up again! :)

Sorry to hijax the thread!

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haha it's fine. It is interesting to hear how others cope with pets and holidays!

Ok, well i think i will offer her some money for staying. As i said, because it is over xmas and i know she isn't 100% keen on the chickens. ( I just hope they all behave and head into their coop each night so she doesn't have to go chasing them!)

thanks everyone!