Before we moved I traded off critter & house care duties with a friend who lived nearby. I had more animals and a longer routine than she did but she wouldn’t be paid so I brought her presents from my trips occasionally, and did other random favors.
Now I’m in Nowhere SC, and we’re headed out for a few days over T-day. I do have a friend who will be seeing to everything but she lives a good 40 min drive away. I think she’ll be staying over but she has her own animals to do to, so I’ve left it up to her how she does things.
I asked her what she charged for farm-sitting (she’s done it for other friends) and she said she didn’t know, she was never paid! Can’t do that - and probably won’t be able to reciprocate, so I feel like I need to pay her something. Last time she fed for me I trailered her horse to VA (7hrs one way) for free.
I’ve got a houseful of cats, (though litter box duties aren’t bad thanks to automated boxes), 2 dogs which need to be fed 2x/day and go out and in, depending on weather (I have a big yard they can stay out in if the weather’s good) and 4 horses that need to be fed also. She’ll be needed Weds pm through Sat am.
I had a girlfriend who used to do this kind of work. She was paid by being allowed to use the house to live in. She could raid the fridge or freezer, but it wasn’t specially stocked; all animal food and supplies were provided and utilities paid by the owner, but she wasn’t paid any kind of salary. She would live in the house for weeks or months at a time, essentially rent-free.
And she loved animals, so that was a bonus, as taking care of them was a pleasure, not a chore.
ETA: Your situation (horses and all) seems like more work than my girlfriend had to do, so I would expect some additional payment.
It’s 4 days of PITA interspersed with animal fun. She HAS to drive back and forth because she has her own cats and dogs - though the dogs at least can come with her. She sees it as a great excuse to bail on an uncomfortable family trip, and (like me) would rather be w/ animals than people.
But it’s still going to be a whole lot of shuttling back and forth and I’m grateful ('cuz I don’t know anyone locally yet) and I want to pay her but not insult her.
I have a similar farm setup. Last time we left, our housesitter stayed here (our house is much nicer than her apartment, and she brought her dog with her) and we paid $30 a day. She said she didn’t expect the money and loved being here, but it’s a hassle to not be at home and deserves some compensation.
I pay my daughter $80/day for dog sitting when we’re out of town. It’s what I would pay for boarding, I don’t have to add tax and the dogs get to stay home.
She has to leave her home, deal with a much longer trip (90 mins each way) to get to school and curtail her social life so the dogs aren’t alone more than 10 hrs a day so I think it’s fair.
Well consider that $100 a day may sound like huge mad dough to pay for something like this, if the person doing it managed to book themselves like a full time job, 250 days a year (equivalent to working 52 weeks a year with 10 holidays), they’d be only grossing $25,000 a year, and having to pay self-employment taxes out of that as well. Even if they booked 365 days a year long term, that’s only $36.5k, and doesn’t come with insurance or benefits.
We go to St Martin every January for a week or two, leaving horses/dogs/houseplants that need care. Our person lives very nearby, but our place is bigger/nicer/more fun than her apartment, so she moves in. We stock the kitchen with what she likes and leave a car for her to use if needed. We paid $50 a day last time; she thought it was too much. My gf thought it wasn’t enough.
While lots of people can and will care for cats/dogs as a favor, It’s extremely hard to find trustworthy horse sitters. For that alone I’d pay $100/ day to ensure this person is generally willing to help out when I want to travel.
I assumed cleaning stalls in my $100 number (I also live in a high cost-of-living area), since you can’t leave stalls for three days. However, I’ve seen setups where the stall opens to the field so the horse only goes in when it wants to; if that’s the case then they might not dirty their stalls.
At any rate the job does also including the dogs and cats and inconvenience, so even if you say $75 for the horses, $100 is fair. I would be more concerned about keeping a reliable person happy and willing to do it again, than paying the least possible. To be clear, OP, I think your previous trailering “payment” was more than fair as well, that’s a very valuable service.
I had a friend leave her 2 little dogs here while she was away for 6 days. They aren’t bad dogs, but one had issues with peeing out of spite or whatever so I was afraid to leave them home alone. Also I have a dog and she was pretty pissed at having 2 extra critters around.
When my friend picked her dogs she handed me a $25 gift card to PetCo (where I buy my dog’s food). I was pissed that that was all she gave me, for all the money I’d saved her and all the hassle it was.
Everyone pointed out to me that I was a dumbass for not asking for money up front, so whatever.
No, no stall cleaning or riding, my guys live out. It’s just grain once or twice a day, and maybe a blanket change for the clipped guy if the weather gets funky. The actual chores are easy, for once no-one is on meds or fights or needs delicate handling. It’s the drive that’s the real bitch.
I also gave her lots of time (months) to think about this and made sure she knew that I would understand if she didn’t want to do it. The last time she only had cats & horses because the dogs were with us, so it was a once a day thing.
Well, I think I’ll split the difference and do $350 for the 4 days. And offer my trailering services again whenever she needs it
Thanks guys!
Oh, and Zipper, I’d be seriously annoyed at $25 for that kind of inconvenience!
