Pet Sitting, a Good Way to Earn Extra Money

Over the past two years, I have been pet sitting in my neighborhood. This was not something I intended to do on a regular basis, it was something I helped my daughter begin doing as a way of making extra money. We started out by helping a neighbor when the pet sitters we both used went out of business. From there, word of mouth turned our little "favor" into a decent way to earn a few extra dollars. We call it babysitting for fuzzy children. As for me, I am years beyond babysitting age, so this is a good alternative for both me and my daughter.

At first, we were doing this simply as a favor to our friends and neighbors, but as they began to use us more and more, the insisted on paying us. In fact, one of my neighbors said that if my daughter was babysitting for her, she would be paying her, so why should she not be paying us to pet-sit. We provide pet sitting, but we also provide peace of mind to our neighbors. They know that not only do their pets get to remain at home in a familiar environment, but they also know that someone is checking on their home several times a day while they are away.

To get started, I recommend checking with local pet sitting agencies to get their rates and what services those charges include. In our case, we chose to charge a per-visit rate so that our neighbors can decide how much they want to spend by determining how many visits we make each day. I researched some local kennels to get daily rates for boarding, then determined my per-visit rate based on an average of three visits per day. At three visits per day (we stay 30 minutes at each visit), our rates are less than that of the local kennel daily rates. My neighbors pay less in the end, and their pets get to stay home, plus I feel like we are also doing a nice thing, not just trying to make money.

You might also find that when you start pet sitting, you can offer other home sitting activities such as watering plants, taking in mail, and turning lights on and off in the home. We charge a very reasonable rate for these other activities, and some are free with other paid activities. For example, if we are pet sitting, taking in mail is free since we are at the home already. Watering plants is one rate if that is all we are doing, and it is a lower rate if we are pet sitting, as well. We also give them an option of written reports, either daily or at the end of the period.

We arrange advance meetings to meet the pets and let our neighbors show us where things are. We found that some pets need a couple of visits to get used to you coming into their house, so we always ask if this needs to be done.

If you are going to try pet sitting to see if it works for you, I recommend limiting it to your immediate neighborhood at the beginning. This will not only take less of your own time if you are going to school or working another job, but it will minimize your cost for gas. It also gives your neighbors peace of mind that they already know you and will not be trusting these activities to a stranger. Also, this is not something that I would recommend letting younger children do on their own. There is a lot of responsibility connected to going into someone's home while they are away, so I suggest always having an adult present and letting the children help you as a way of earning their share of the money.

Good luck, and happy sitting!