Alexandria Pet Care offers services from $13 to $24.50 for one pet… the specifics of your pet sitting situation or dog walking schedule will determine your costs.
Of course, professionally trained and insured pet sitters charge more than uninsured helpers like students or neighbors, so it might be helpful to understand these factors that influence your bill from us:
How many visits in one day. If we visit your home multiple times a day, then your estimate will reflect the number of visits you’ve requested. When owners are traveling, we visit dogs a minimum schedule of 3 visits each 24 hours (some clients have us come 4 or 5 times a day), and for all other animals a minimum schedule of 1 visit every 24 hours.
Length of visits. Our standard visit length is 20 minutes; which allows us to see 2 clients an hour in a relaxed manner, without promising “up to a 30 minute visit” like other pet sitters. If the pet is to be visited longer at each visit, we arrange for our “Please Don’t Go” service to add 10-minute increments in addition to the basic service. Each 10-minute Please Don’t Go service is $7.
How many pets are to be attended to. The more pets in the home that are needing to be attended to, the more each visit will cost. Our “Me Too” fee is $5 for each extra pet (or cage of pets.)
If special care is required. If medical care is required, especially if pets are resistant to medication administration, then we may need extra time or a second pet professional to come assist, to be certain all medications are given as needed. We never charge for medications, so if your pet is easy within the standard visit then there’s no change to your bill.
Timing of visits. Are the visits to occur on a holiday? Weekend? If so, there are extra fees for federal holidays, late Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays. We’ll always show those in our itemized estimate.
If transporting the pet is required. If the pet sitter transports the pet (for example, to and from the veterinarian’s office), your cost is based on actual time used… we bill $9.75 for each 15 minute increment, so we don’t have to charge a full hour if that time isn’t used.
Factors that do not influence your bill:
Peripheral job tasks. We don’t charge for bringing in the mail and the newspaper, watering the plants, raising or lowering shades, changing the lights, or turning the radio on and off.
Hour of the visit. Our fees are not based on time of day, so we ask clients to all give us a 2-3 hour timeframe they’d like us to visit. Dogs we pet sit get priority in the timeframes 7-8am and again 9-10pm. Young puppies 2-8 months can have a 1 hour preferred visit timeframe for their sensitive needs for specific eating and housetraining schedules.
We’re always up front about our fees – and provide each new client with a complete fee list when we meet in person. We’re a GREAT value for your money, with our expertise and neighborhood pet care model, we give you and your pet peace of mind . . . and that is priceless.
