Possible dog sitting/boarding

[donsmoobabe 10]

Hi everyone

I recently watched my cousins dog for a fortnight whilst he went away he struggled for a while to find anywhere for him to go but didn't want him in the kennels as he couldn't bear the thought of him caged up so finally got around to asking me I was wary at first but have to admit I absolutely loved it ... I enjoyed every single minute with that beloved animal so I am now looking into starting a dog/cat sitting service and was wanting to know every ones thoughts on this ? ..

I live in s13 have a pretty standard fenced off garden with no pets of my own I can devote all of my time to the animal so it wouldn't be left alone at any point ...

Do you think there is a market out there ?

Are there any requirements or laws against me doing this ?

I love all animals big or small do you think It should just be for cats/dogs or all types of pet ?

what are the average prices ?

I wouldn't have more than 2 dogs/cats at a time so that I wasn't overwhelmed unless they were from the same family ...

Could any please give me any other advice that you may think could be useful .... any help would be appreciated thanks Donna x

Edited October 8, 2016 by donsmoobabe

[Skink 10]

as a dog owner I know there are so many folks offering these - so I am sure others will chip in with answers to your questions

 

For us, we would only use a service like this on recommendation or if you were a friend of ours and it was all "unofficial"

 

Starting out informally (ie doing it for friends / cash) to build up experience might be a good place to start. You are bound to bump in to difficult dogs / owners occasionally so some experience of dealing with those will be helpful. The other thing to think about is behaviour training - I have spent a lot of time training our dog and would not want someone who didnt understand at least the basics undoing all the hard work - if you could take a dog on for a week and have it better behaved at the end that would ne even better

 

Once you start making some money you may decide to formalise you will have to go self employed, pay taxes, get insurances etc - a non trivial task

 

good luck with it

[rubydo1 10]

As a dog walker you can come across dogs with issues . You need to know how to deal with these especially if you are looking after dogs in your own home . Insurance is a must . There is definitely a market for a small scale dog sitter . I would never leave a dog with anyone who looks after lots of dogs in there own home for obvious reasons . As suggested start doing it for family and friends first to gain experience.

[Bad_Hair_Day 10]

Have a look at this on the council's website - it covers what's needed to apply for a licence to board animals.

https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/business-economy/licensing/general-licensing/animal-welfare/animal-boarding-establishments.html

[donsmoobabe 10]

thanks guys I am definitely not planning on anything big I was thinking like skink said just small and for friends or friends of friends etc maybe people in the neighbourhood I am not doing it for the money I am doing it to help those that need it I know my cousin was looking for ages for someone to help and other than the kennels there wasn't much available ... thanks for the advice I am certainly going to look into it more x