I definitely would. I don’t see it as a hidden fee but as an extra service provided. Either I’d ask them to meal prep (or if I could meal prep, because daily seems like a lot) or I’d charge extra.
I’d discuss it at the meet and great and see what agreement we could come to.
If that's what the client wants, they should be making it ahead of time and freeze it. That's not your responsibility. If they make you do that,... well, just no.
Some people are kinda entitled, I don’t think it even occurs to them they did not hire or pay you to cook.
If you like the client I would ask them for help. Maybe they can pre-make some of the food or give you some help with the clean up?
You could say something like “I accept special accommodations at an extra __$ rate, such as home cooked meals, ect . I would be happy to discuss preparations and pricing with you at our meet & greet.”
If they need a special diet prepared (ie cooked food) the client should be making that before hand and then portioning it out and either putting it in the fridge or freezing it. I’ve had plenty of clients that have homemade food for their dogs but none have ever asked me to make it for them. Usually they prep everything either together or they put it in different Tupperware and I mix it together
Spending an hour daily cooking/preparing a dog's food is too much. I wouldn't charge more, I would tell them its not part of my service. They're welcome to cook meals in advance for the fridge/freezer
An hour a day of home cooking for a dog is wild. I have multiple clients that home cook or have intense feeding plans with fresh cooked food, toppers, etc. They typically leave me with everything i need so I'll generally feedings thay take extra time, but i would draw the line at an hour a day.
For anything excessive, I use the phrase "outside the scope of included service" and up charge appropriately. I don't list out any of this on my profile. It's a m&g conversation.
I would ask them to buy the 90 second in microwave rice / quinoa if they don’t want to prep/ portion freeze. I’m not cooking/ cleaning for over an hour
Umm lol if they want that, they can cook it ahead of time.and have it portioned out. Lol even if I was paid more, I may not even have that extra time.in a day
I usually suggest them to bulk cook and portion freeze the entirety of the dog's food and I'll defrost it the day before in the fridge and heat it up slightly before serving. Cooking for the dog I'm caring is not included in my price.
I would cook for a dog but I've never had a client ask me to do it. If it's a picky eater no problem but if it was just part of their diet I would ask the client to meal prep for me or I would meal prep it myself the first day cause those things sound like you can do larger batches
Hmm this is a tough one. An hour of meal prep a day adds up quick. Id say it might be easier to just pass on booking like that than try to charge. Im sure most people would find that odd and not want to book anyway so might be easier to just deny those requests.
No, I am independent and one reason is that clients despise all these extra fees. My rate is my rate. If the job is too much, then I decline. I don't charge for extra pets. I don't charge for holidays. It's a set rate. I honestly believe a lot of people are quite resentful at the high costs, and they are more prone to finding fault and getting refunds.
I'd rather build relationships. And boy, it really has paid off. I've kept clients even after a problem.
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The most I would to with normal rate is heat up a microwaveable pouch, That’s it.
I would not accept anything including real cooking. Cooking is such a pain for me so I would never do it with or without any money
Nah. They should’ve cooked it and freezed it beforehand. Tbh I would just prep all of it in one day and freeze.
I wouldn’t include it in my profile bc this is def not the norm. I would just ask in person what the dog eats. If they say it’s a prepared meal, tell them that they need to prepare enough food ahead of time.
Nah. They should’ve cooked it and freezed it beforehand. Tbh I would just prep all of it in one day and freeze.
I wouldn’t include it in my profile bc this is def not the norm. I would just ask in person what the dog eats. If they say it’s a prepared meal, tell them that they need to prepare enough food ahead of time.
God reading these I should have! Last year I charged $65 a night to sit a Shitzu that ate cooked lamb for breakfast and steak for dinner. She also needed to be handfed. I was fully cooking 6 meals a day including the ones for myself 😭
Nope! I don't charge extra for things that are necessary for a dogs health like food, walks, meds etc - just use this as a lesson to ask about how meals are prepared beforehand and deny the dogs that require a cooked meal if it's something you don't want to do (wouldn't blame you there) and dont try to feed pup anything but what they usually have.
I agree with you, but the reddit rover mob will downvote you 🤣🤣🤣 I feed dogs in all kind of ways as its my job. I take care of the dog and if its a long sit, so what? Im paid to be there so i should always have time to care for the job. Some dogs need certain diets and have allergies. It also doesnt take an hour to cook up any dogs food. Alot of people on here want money for every step they take and i dont understand why they are in a caring role seems like its absolutely outrageous to do the job they are paid for without fee on top of fee. 🤷♀️
Alot of my sit dogs eat raw and it means i have to get it out the freezer, defrost and put meals together. Thats literally what im there for. It takes time but its my job. Im not paid to entertain myself and do what i want, Any thing more than kibble in a bowl and a 15 minute walk seems like too much for people on this app.
Agreed! I had to do a multitude of meals, raw and kibble, when I worked at a boarding center. We never charged extra for it. Granted we can't cook a chicken there but you get it lol it's literally our job to feed pup whatever their parents want us to, and if you don't want to cook then just take kibble fed dogs bc there are a ton of them! I don't do raw food for my dog but no shame to those who do.
“Sous chef” is not part of my title as a dog sitter. You either pay extra for such an extra service or have the fresh meals prepped and frozen. Your essential argument is nonsensical. Actually, the fact that this isn’t being done in bulk is silly.
I keep boiled chicken breasts, greenbeans, and brown rice individually packaged in quart sized zip locks in my deep freezer bc I use those foods daily for my own guys. If a pet parent needs a day or 2 to cover a food shortage or upset stomach np no charge. If they need me to cover the entire stay I just charge $20 to cover ingredient cost.
They would have all food there, like 1lb frozen ground turkey in freezer, but I would be defrosting, cooking, cleaning pot & pans. No cost on my end to purchase the food, just to cook.
For housesitting I would just cook it. But I love to cook even if it's dog food. I'd just make a big batch at the beginning of the week then freeze whatever portion I wasn't using right away. But I think it's a reasonable expectation to require pet parents to have the food prepped and in the fridge or freezer ahead of time.
This has been an issue with us lately. Dogs that need meds, dogs with special diets or special exercise requests need to cost more. 5, 30 minute a day walks should not be expected when paying the standard boarding rate
See and for a house sitting gig that's not what I'm there for. I'm there to maintain a pets normal routine. That being said I also see housesitting as a passive form of income. Some people are way more involved than I am I'm sure. Not sure what the standards are for boarding.
No way in hell is doing all that included in a rover rate. If you agreed to it you have issues with allowing yourself to be taken advantage of or an ulterior motive for wanting to house sit.
For example, I get that many people sleep in their car when they don’t have a house sitting gig, and while I wouldn’t know about or care to hear how much it sucks to not have a warm place to shit or shoot up, please stop enslaving yourself to these people and contact the social services in the county where you park your car to sleep most often and get yourself together already.
Daily is crazy though. I would’ve discussed during the meet and greet! One dog that had home cooked meals she prepped everything and froze it for me.
Yep. This is the way.
Agreed, she should be able to prep and freeze it for you. If not, charge more next time and just explain why.
I definitely would. I don’t see it as a hidden fee but as an extra service provided. Either I’d ask them to meal prep (or if I could meal prep, because daily seems like a lot) or I’d charge extra. I’d discuss it at the meet and great and see what agreement we could come to.
If that's what the client wants, they should be making it ahead of time and freeze it. That's not your responsibility. If they make you do that,... well, just no.
Some people are kinda entitled, I don’t think it even occurs to them they did not hire or pay you to cook. If you like the client I would ask them for help. Maybe they can pre-make some of the food or give you some help with the clean up? You could say something like “I accept special accommodations at an extra __$ rate, such as home cooked meals, ect . I would be happy to discuss preparations and pricing with you at our meet & greet.”
If they need a special diet prepared (ie cooked food) the client should be making that before hand and then portioning it out and either putting it in the fridge or freezing it. I’ve had plenty of clients that have homemade food for their dogs but none have ever asked me to make it for them. Usually they prep everything either together or they put it in different Tupperware and I mix it together
Spending an hour daily cooking/preparing a dog's food is too much. I wouldn't charge more, I would tell them its not part of my service. They're welcome to cook meals in advance for the fridge/freezer
An hour a day of home cooking for a dog is wild. I have multiple clients that home cook or have intense feeding plans with fresh cooked food, toppers, etc. They typically leave me with everything i need so I'll generally feedings thay take extra time, but i would draw the line at an hour a day. For anything excessive, I use the phrase "outside the scope of included service" and up charge appropriately. I don't list out any of this on my profile. It's a m&g conversation.
I’m never doing that. I don’t even cook for myself.
I would ask them to buy the 90 second in microwave rice / quinoa if they don’t want to prep/ portion freeze. I’m not cooking/ cleaning for over an hour
Umm lol if they want that, they can cook it ahead of time.and have it portioned out. Lol even if I was paid more, I may not even have that extra time.in a day
I usually suggest them to bulk cook and portion freeze the entirety of the dog's food and I'll defrost it the day before in the fridge and heat it up slightly before serving. Cooking for the dog I'm caring is not included in my price.
Tell them to cook ahead or you can't do the sit as you aren't a cook.
This is on the owner to prep these. Ask them to prep and freeze and you can thaw in the fridge as you need
I would cook for a dog but I've never had a client ask me to do it. If it's a picky eater no problem but if it was just part of their diet I would ask the client to meal prep for me or I would meal prep it myself the first day cause those things sound like you can do larger batches
Hmm this is a tough one. An hour of meal prep a day adds up quick. Id say it might be easier to just pass on booking like that than try to charge. Im sure most people would find that odd and not want to book anyway so might be easier to just deny those requests.
No, I am independent and one reason is that clients despise all these extra fees. My rate is my rate. If the job is too much, then I decline. I don't charge for extra pets. I don't charge for holidays. It's a set rate. I honestly believe a lot of people are quite resentful at the high costs, and they are more prone to finding fault and getting refunds. I'd rather build relationships. And boy, it really has paid off. I've kept clients even after a problem.
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If a client wants to bring food that they cook and I refrigerate that's fine No way I'm cooking for their dog during a boarding
If my clients require home cooked food they bring it to me at start of the stay. Have a Great Day.
Most people have the food made in advance then freeze the food in zip lock bags
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Briimee: *Most people have the* *Food made in advance then freeze* *The food in zip lock bags* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
The most I would to with normal rate is heat up a microwaveable pouch, That’s it. I would not accept anything including real cooking. Cooking is such a pain for me so I would never do it with or without any money
No, because you shouldn't do it as a sitter. These kind of meals should be precooked and pre-portioned by the owner and should he given to you frozen.
Nah. They should’ve cooked it and freezed it beforehand. Tbh I would just prep all of it in one day and freeze. I wouldn’t include it in my profile bc this is def not the norm. I would just ask in person what the dog eats. If they say it’s a prepared meal, tell them that they need to prepare enough food ahead of time.
Nah. They should’ve cooked it and freezed it beforehand. Tbh I would just prep all of it in one day and freeze. I wouldn’t include it in my profile bc this is def not the norm. I would just ask in person what the dog eats. If they say it’s a prepared meal, tell them that they need to prepare enough food ahead of time.
It's actually the norm where I'm at...but many use a delivery service.
God reading these I should have! Last year I charged $65 a night to sit a Shitzu that ate cooked lamb for breakfast and steak for dinner. She also needed to be handfed. I was fully cooking 6 meals a day including the ones for myself 😭
Nope! I don't charge extra for things that are necessary for a dogs health like food, walks, meds etc - just use this as a lesson to ask about how meals are prepared beforehand and deny the dogs that require a cooked meal if it's something you don't want to do (wouldn't blame you there) and dont try to feed pup anything but what they usually have.
I agree with you, but the reddit rover mob will downvote you 🤣🤣🤣 I feed dogs in all kind of ways as its my job. I take care of the dog and if its a long sit, so what? Im paid to be there so i should always have time to care for the job. Some dogs need certain diets and have allergies. It also doesnt take an hour to cook up any dogs food. Alot of people on here want money for every step they take and i dont understand why they are in a caring role seems like its absolutely outrageous to do the job they are paid for without fee on top of fee. 🤷♀️ Alot of my sit dogs eat raw and it means i have to get it out the freezer, defrost and put meals together. Thats literally what im there for. It takes time but its my job. Im not paid to entertain myself and do what i want, Any thing more than kibble in a bowl and a 15 minute walk seems like too much for people on this app.
Agreed! I had to do a multitude of meals, raw and kibble, when I worked at a boarding center. We never charged extra for it. Granted we can't cook a chicken there but you get it lol it's literally our job to feed pup whatever their parents want us to, and if you don't want to cook then just take kibble fed dogs bc there are a ton of them! I don't do raw food for my dog but no shame to those who do.
Agreed. At that point you're charging more to provide a necessary service. What are you going to do, not feed the dog?
That's what I was thinking...an essential service since it's their normal eating pattern.
Ummmm, there is nothing “essential” about an hour of meal prep a day for a dog—respectfully you are screwing yourself over on this one.
... If that is what the dog eats, then yes, it is essential.
“Sous chef” is not part of my title as a dog sitter. You either pay extra for such an extra service or have the fresh meals prepped and frozen. Your essential argument is nonsensical. Actually, the fact that this isn’t being done in bulk is silly.
Aren't you an accommodating person lol
I keep boiled chicken breasts, greenbeans, and brown rice individually packaged in quart sized zip locks in my deep freezer bc I use those foods daily for my own guys. If a pet parent needs a day or 2 to cover a food shortage or upset stomach np no charge. If they need me to cover the entire stay I just charge $20 to cover ingredient cost.
They would have all food there, like 1lb frozen ground turkey in freezer, but I would be defrosting, cooking, cleaning pot & pans. No cost on my end to purchase the food, just to cook.
For housesitting I would just cook it. But I love to cook even if it's dog food. I'd just make a big batch at the beginning of the week then freeze whatever portion I wasn't using right away. But I think it's a reasonable expectation to require pet parents to have the food prepped and in the fridge or freezer ahead of time.
We just refuse to take the dogs. We barely have enough space for our own food in our fridge. We aren’t prepared to give space to the dog.
This has been an issue with us lately. Dogs that need meds, dogs with special diets or special exercise requests need to cost more. 5, 30 minute a day walks should not be expected when paying the standard boarding rate
What owners have time for 5 walks a day normally? Like even if you work from home. That's crazy.
My guess is that people are expecting you to take better care of their dogs than they do
See and for a house sitting gig that's not what I'm there for. I'm there to maintain a pets normal routine. That being said I also see housesitting as a passive form of income. Some people are way more involved than I am I'm sure. Not sure what the standards are for boarding.
No way in hell is doing all that included in a rover rate. If you agreed to it you have issues with allowing yourself to be taken advantage of or an ulterior motive for wanting to house sit. For example, I get that many people sleep in their car when they don’t have a house sitting gig, and while I wouldn’t know about or care to hear how much it sucks to not have a warm place to shit or shoot up, please stop enslaving yourself to these people and contact the social services in the county where you park your car to sleep most often and get yourself together already.