We pay our niece $50/day to stay with two dogs. If she was travelling in, I'd probably pay that and the train fare.

From comments I have seen your friend needs to ask perhaps via email so they would have a record about who provides the sitters food, if there is anything off limits, if needed could the laundry facilities be used. By needed I do not mean your friend bringing laundry to wash but any spills or the pets making a mess that needs to be washed quickly.

Your friend should ask how much they wish to pay rather than setting an amount. If it is not enough to cover expenses decline.

$400 and a refrigerator full of food for her. That pays for the ticket and $100/day. I don't think they could get a commercial dog walking establishment to come to the house 3 times a day and walk 3 dogs for that.

Edited to add: just saw it was 4 days not three, so for 4 days at $100/day plus ticket far I think it should be $500.

I would ask what their usual sitter charges.

It's too bad he didn't say what he's offering, but he didn't. Lots of food, a nice house, etc.

I like the email idea - another question to ask is how many walks a day.

Since this is a special request I think your friend should get more than the regular walker. If I were asking a friend to come and stay in my home for 4 days over the Christmas holidays to walk 3 dogs I'd pay $500.00.

" They said they'd be willing to pay, but didn't say how much. "

This hit me as an afterthought, and I wonder if the wording used is Jasdip's or what the homeowner concerned said.

They'd be "willing to pay".? Oh my goodness, allow me to control my reaction to such largesse. If this is what the homeowner said, I'd take a pass.

I'll let you mow my lawn for me next week if you have no plans on Saturday.

If the friend waits for the people to make an offer and they lowball it, the friend can decline. But if the friend says he/she thinks $500 is fair citing the travel expense involved, then the people can decide if it is worth it. If not, they can decline. I would hate for your friend to accept a low amount just to help the people. The friend is doing a real service. Boarding 3 dogs for 4 days - assuming they can drop them off on Day 1 and pick them up on Day 4, would probably cost $100/day.

Does the person have to come home midday to let the dogs out?

The way I read Jasdip's post her friend would stay with the dogs for four days in their home while their owners were away.

She could also research what the going rate is for the same service in their area. The problem is that since it hasn’t been discussed, it has now become awkward for her to bring it up. Especially because they are friends. If it were me, as long as my fare was paid and food provided, I wouldn’t worry too much about my pay. There is nothing wrong with doing a favor for friends.Hopefully, they are very appreciative and generous with her.

I thought I saw that Lucille had posted a follow-on thread about this I wanted to respond to but I don't see it. Maybe she deleted it or I missed it.

A true friend would not put a friend in the predicament of such an ambiguous and awkward situation. Especially not by soliciting a commercially available (and known to be expensive) service involving personal sacrifices without mentioning preemptively a most generous financial inducement at greater than commercial rates.

This person is either looking to take advantage of another's good nature or is clueless. Two good reasons to decline such a wonderful opportunity and put the would-be traveler on the B or C list. True friends don't ask their friends for other than trivial or simple "favors".

I reflect that when we had household pets needing safe and secure care to allow us to travel, making arrangements for the pooch was always the first step before making our own travel arrangements. Sometimes pooch arrangements were not commercially available from the providers we preferred on the dates we wanted and guess what - we made plans for dates when the pooch's accommodations could be booked. Arrangements for family pets for holiday travel can't be an afterthought nor something warranting imposing one's own problem on a "friend"

Some people have different views of true friendship. I'll keep mine, thank you.

What does it cost in your area to board the dogs? I assume it's that price that is being avoided. Friendship should not be a factor. Meaning I am considered a bad friend if this just can't work for me. $100 a day travel expense is an OVER THE TOP ask. I am guessing the commute is none to short given the price so the time involved is outside a reasonable ask. Are the dogs kennel trained? A more reasonable ask is for the dogs to come for a visit. Still Christmas is the last time of year for this to be a reasonable ask. People with pets cannot lean on friends in these situations it's beyond the scope. How does one financially compensate another for this upheaval? Packing, living in a strange home w/o your STUFF, the commute. The vacationer needs to make friends in their neighborhood and find a willing neighbor teen to come feed/walk the dogs, or board them. I have 'dog sitted' for our neighbor for years as they go on weekly or longer trips. Even the walk across our land to theirs twice a day---winter or not is a huge disruption. To go and live else where...is an over the top ask and really can't be compensated.

I would ask an itemized list for reimbursement and payment including travel, meals/delivery or groceries be in the refrigerator so she doesn't have to travel to get them since she doesn't have access to a grocery store. Petsitting a neighbor's dog gets you $20-30 a day here. Probably also compensation for being required to be in the home at certain times instead of being free to come and go as she pleases. Don't be afraid to ask what you are worth. This is an imposition.

I think the "friend" should find a local dogsitter and hire them. I would pass.

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about :-) This is really a house sitting/pet sitting gig and not all that uncommon and certainly not an over the top ask! The only factor making it an "imposition" is that it is over the Christmas holidays. However, if the 'sitter' is agreeable and has nothing else planned, that should be less of a concern.

The standard rate for this service is $100/day but depending on the number of pets being looked after and their needs, that rate could/should go up. For 3 dogs, I'd tack on an additional $35-50 per day. And these typically come with a stocked refrigerator and pantry or a food allowance.

I am confused about the train aspect. I assume this is a single commute......in to begin the stay and back home again after. And not a daily back and forth, as 'house sitting' implies staying at the house while its occupants are gone.

At my last trek out of town over the holidays, I hired the niece of a friend to pet sit for me. She did not need to stay at my house (although she was welcome to) but needed to come at least twice a day and spend some quality time with my pup. For that, I paid her $50 per day (for 8 days/ 7 nights) plus brought her back a gift from my travels. And that was 5 years ago!

She has a set price that she'd like to get, but doesn't want to be the one to say.

I think she definitely needs to speak up and tell her friend what she wants. That needs to be done before anything. It sounds like she doesn’t mind taking care of the pooches and watching the house.

I agree with Gardengal. It sounds like these people have a regular sitter who won't be available and the friend opted in, whether asked or offered. That's what friends in my world do. I've house/kitty sat for friends and never considered it an imposition - in fact it was more like a mini-vacation in an Air BNB. If one doesn't have to go to work, and has no other plans for the holidays, I'm not sure what the imposition is? If she wants to be paid a certain amount, it's going to be awkward to bring it up, unless the dog owners flat out ask. She should be prepared to say, or to just say she'll do it for whatever their regular person is paid (which is likely fair compensation) plus travel expenses.

I once planned a trip to NC during the holidays to visit a friend who had no guest room. Another friend in the area posted on her neighborhood list-serve that I was looking for a house/kitty sitting gig (I don't do dogs) and I had about 6 offers to choose from. I didn't charge any money because I felt like I was getting free hotel accommodations - a fair exchange. Since then, I've thought this would be a good way to plan trips - but my travel opportunities changed when I started sitting for my grandson. But I would still house sit for friends in my area and neither of us would think to have it paid for.