Pet Sitting

For all of those visits and meds, per day?

I would pay $20. - $25. per day and maybe a 10% Bonus at the end.

You are not paying enough. For basic petsitting - going over once to feed/clean one type of pet, my son charges $5 a visit. Honestly, I think you need to pay $30 a day. This isn't just putting out food and water.

No, $10 - $15 is a total ripoff for what you want. You have all those animals and one that needs medications....I wouldn't pay less than $20 visit x 3 times/day. I would also make sure you have authorization at your vet to treat along with a credit card if needed.

If it was once per day I'd say that was a good fee.

3 times per day is a lot of time out of his day. I wouldn't do it for that price.

Why does he have to go 3 times per day? Do you live in an apartment? If so please consider boarding the dog. That would be better in my mind. Dogs need to go out more.

ETA: just read your SWH. So you are already on vacation, already have this kid booked , and you are just now asking about fees? I see a train wreck because he's underpaid and the fees were not agreed yoni ahead of time. Go cheap... Get cheap. My pets and house ard not worth that philosophy. You get what you pay for so don't be shocked when you get home and things aren't just right. Live and learn.

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Original:
I'd pay more than that if he is good and you want him to come back in the future.

I know my pet/house sitter is professional and runs a business but I pay $25 for EACH 45 minute visit she makes a day for my 2 dogs. My sitter comes back and sleeps over as well ($40 all night). She does bring in mail, puts garbage in or out if needed and waters plants if needed.

The fact that you have someone coming over, even if just during the day, you house still appears occupied and there is a safety factor in that as far as any break in's.

For a 15 yr old, my minimum would be $30-$40 a day plus tip. You are asking him to do more than just let the dogs out.

BEFORE you leave, agree on a price with the $15yr old so everyone is on the same page as far as payment is concerned.

I pay my neighborhood teen $10 a day to come by ONCE a day, feed our two cats, rabbit and fish, bring in the mail and water some plants. We take our dog to my brother in laws house when we travel.
You need to pay more in my opinion, three times a day, letting the dog in and out, medicine, that's gotta be worth $25 a day.
I find when you pay these kids well (whether it's pet or babysitting) they do a better job and they are more likely to want to work for you in the future.

My neighbor and I pay $10 a visit, assuming that each visit is 30-45 minutes and that involves walking and socializing with just our dogs. Another friend has had a lot of weekend weddings lately, and she's paying $75 for the weekend, so over $30 a day for 3 visits of some duration, again for just a dog. The dogs are getting walked, played with, etc. We allow the dog sitter to watch some TV just to sit and have the animal attended to for a chunk of time. But we still pay for it.

If the cats just need food and water, that's not a lot of extra work, but the litter box is more, and medications are more involved if the dog is not cooperative. The lights and mail would be "no charge" if the kid is coming over anyway - I would pay if that's all he were doing, but he's just grabbing it on his way in to do other things.

You've got a list of quite a few things though, and $10 to come in 3 times is really underpaying and undervaluing this teen. He's not going to give up his activities to be available 3 times a day if all he's getting is $10 or $15.

The dog concerns me - he's a social animal, and he needs interaction. He needs to go out, to have play time, to have snuggle time, or some combination of these. So I assume this teenager is not just walking in the door, throwing a pill down the dog's throat, and leaving. The dog really needs the attention, and depending on the cats' personalities, they may need it too. You've got a list of things you want done, and you want him to pay attention.

If it were just fish and a frog, I'd say they could be moved to the kid's house to make it really convenient and cheaper, but that's not the case here. You've got 4 mammals and you need someone in the house to do other things.

You could consider stopping the mail, and putting the lights on timers but of course the times will be the same every day. Depending on how long you're going to be gone, that's kind of a red flag that no one is home and everything is automated.

I don't know how the teen is getting into the house, but if he's not coming through the garage, have him put the door up anyway for the duration of his visit - it makes the house look really lived in. If he's playing with the dog in the yard, have him move some things around every other day - a lawn chair, a rake, a trash can, anything that makes the house looked lived in.

I think you need to go to $30 a day minimum. Think of it this way - you couldn't possibly board all those critters for anything less than $100 a day.

This is pet sitting and house sitting.
It's easy enough to have the post office stop your mail while you are away.
A timer can turn your lights on and off (tv too).
Ask a neighbor if they could park in your driveway every so often while you are out.
$25 a day sounds about right to me.
Specify that no one else is allowed to come into your house with your sitter.

My sister just had a bad experience when she had a 22 yr old house sit for her and her pets while she was away.
The 22 yr old brought in her 40 yr old boyfriend.
They threw a party, drank all the liqueur and items were stolen.
My sister is boarding her pets and not having anyone in the house next time she has to go away.

At least $15. At least.

We have a single dog, no other pets, don't expect the mail brought in (but the trash rolled out and back for trash day).. no turning on/off of lights... and I would feel extremely cheap if I only paid $10 a day.
Fortunately for me, at the moment, we have a neighbor teen who finds what I pay for these services very generous and LOVES the opportunity to dog sit for us to make a little spending $. I pay around $15/day. I round it to a nice number depending on what that comes out to (if it's 3 days, that's only $45, but I'd round up to $50).
Boarding just one dog (large kennel), costs a minimum of $20/day. Just FYI. At least around here.

When I board my cats (one is elderly and needs the constant care), they charge me a basic amount for room and board, and extra for giving medications and doing other things. They're not being mean or grasping; they simply deserve to be paid for the things they do.

So I would raise the pay scale, if I were you. Your employee has seven pets to care for three times a day, as well as taking care of your house. I imagine you'd like him to do a little in-home socializing with the pets, too, so that they will stay happy. (You don't mention that he'll do dog-walking.) That, too, takes time. Twenty or even twenty-five (or even thirty!) dollars a day would be more appropriate. It's a big job!

Be sure to give your pet-sitter your emergency number, and let him know you'll give him good references for other jobs when he does yours well. Good pay is great, but also showing appreciation is very important in an employer-employee relationship.

I pay 10 per day for one visit to a feed and play with a cat, guinea pig, and two fish (that only get fed every three days) to a ten year old. That doesn't include walking or any medicine - just a half hour visit. So to me, that sounds low. But I don't know what the going rate is. 3 times a day is pretty disruptive to any other chore or activity he might want to do. I don't know what the going rate actually is, but that sounds low to me.

I made $15/day to sit a single dog down the block from me 35 years ago. I just looked up pet sitting rates near me - basically $20 per 30 minute visit for a single pet. I think you should be paying at least $40-50/day. Still way less than it would cost you at a boarding kennel.

You want this kid to spend 42 hours a week with your animals (one that needs pills!) traveling 84 miles back and forth, for 7 days straight on a schedule that will leave him little time for other things including his own family evenings. Part of that travel will be after dark and he will be on foot or bike.

I saw your SWH of $30/day. I think it should be $50, due to the above considerations. That would be minimum wage, rounded up to account for the travel.

I'm surprised that payment wasn't clarified before you left for your trip. It is possible that he has a rate in mind already and will bill you for the job when you return.

That is way too low for all of that work and that many trips per day when he is 2 miles a way and has to get there without at car. Have you considered just having him stay at your house while you are away? If you trust him with your keys and your pets, but not alone in your house you should consider hiring someone else. People in my area house sit for people with pets for anywhere from $150/per week and up with full access to the house (including pantry, laundry, Netflix account, etc.) depending on the number and special needs of the pets being watched.

I have boarded my dogs and cats. That is simply so much less of a worry. They charged for weight. For instance they started at eighteen dollars a day and up. I go away without worrying. Believe it or not if I had a frog as a pet I would really worry and I wonder where on earth you can have anyone take care of him/her. I suppose you could do both board and an in home situation. When I've done inhome, I relied on my sons friends. Once the boy broke his leg and his mom took over,and the next time he had a party and we were cleaning up vomit and writings on (yes) the furniture. I guess unless this person has an actual business you should be prepared to pay a lot. In this whole scenario your best bet is board the dog and have the l5 year old come in for the cats fish and a frog perhaps once a day.

I would pay at least $25 a day

I pay $10 a day with one cat and the mail / lights duties, and then pay another $10 (total) extra as a bonus if I liked how things were done.

When my elderly cat needed medicine, I hired a vet helper who did this sort of thing on the side to do the medicine, and had the teen to the other visit for the day. It cost more, but I didn't have to worry about the cat getting too much medication or the teen's ability to be able to administer the medicine.

Enjoy your trip.

A professional in our area would charge $25 per visit. Since he is 15, I think $30 a day as a starting point is fair.