Pay him the full amount anyway. He will think you're a baller then tell your coworker. Then your office will think you're a baller.

OP here. Thanks for the feedback. Yes, we are planning on paying $600 for a full week away. I guess it's housesitting too, as he will live at our house for the week. I think the fact that it's my coworker's cousin makes me more inclined to be generous, but also because I want to keep him coming back. He's reliable and great with our rambunctious dogs and he doesn't make a mess and since he's staying in my house I LOVE that he's not a total stranger. But anyway -- I'm glad to hear I don't have to pay THAT much. If it gets closer I will pay him $100. Thanks!

How about explain the situation and offer to let him come over and walk, feed and water the dogs since DH will be busy. But not for $600.

You are paying WAY too much first of all!! $50/night is about standard.

Anyway, I wouldn't pay him at all. If you really feel compelled to do something, maybe $100.

I am the dog-sitting pp, and I also think the fact that he doesn't have multiple families he does this for you can explain with enough notice and not have to pay anything.

I think there are two ways to proceed. Cancel now, and don't pay him. (I think if you told him what you told us he would be very understanding.) Or, tell him now that you may cancel due to unforseen surgery in the family, and if you cancel on short notice, pay him a bit for the trouble (I'd say $100 is fair).

This is an under the table gig for him, and it's highly unlikely that he's paying tax for this income. He has no cost.

It's not like he's there 24/7 while dog sitting. I'm sure he hasn't turned down even social opportunities unless it ment going out of town. "Yeah the bar on Friday, sure call my cell since I'll be staying at a friends house taking care of their dogs."

this idea of paying for a service that you are not partaking of is crazy to me. Turned down social opportunities? "Hey, dude, guess what - I'm free after all! Yay". And does dogsit mean he has to sit in your house and watch the dog 24/7?

Anyhow, I would pay zero. I have also never paid a housekeeper when we didn't have them come either.

If he doesn't petsit for anyone else, then there's no loss of income involved.(Since he wouldn't have used the time for anyone else) As long as you give a few weeks notice, which it seems you can, I wouldn't give any money. If you have to wait until close to the last minute, then I would probably consider giving at least part of the money, but it would depend on how short notice you canceled.(Mainly for the inconvenience it may cause him)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$600?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Do you mean SIXTY dollars?

OP has the dogsitter scheduled to stay overnight for one week if I understand correctly, so in that case $60 would definitely be underpaying.

OP, If you have to cancel, I would pay maybe a third of the rate for the convenience of the sitter holding the week for you and potentially losing other opportunities for extra income.

THIS! I do this gig on a regular and though I wouldn't expect the money for when a family cancels, I have definitely been out hundreds of dollars because I held the week for months and refused better paying customers all to find you cancelled on me. I would appreciate any gesture that acknowledged the lost income.

Nothing! Why would you pay him? Don't let guilt costs you money you don't need to pay.

Anonymous wrote:$600?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Do you mean SIXTY dollars?

OP has the dogsitter scheduled to stay overnight for one week if I understand correctly, so in that case $60 would definitely be underpaying.

OP, If you have to cancel, I would pay maybe a third of the rate for the convenience of the sitter holding the week for you and potentially losing other opportunities for extra income.

$600?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Do you mean SIXTY dollars?

My co-worker's cousin dogsits for us periodically. He's in his 20s and he has a "real" full-time but he lives with roommates and I think he likes having some alone time in our house. We pay him (I think) generously as well. He lives very close to us and our dogs are low maintenance so he can still go to work and do his normal social stuff while staying at our house. As far as I know he doesn't dogsit for anyone else.

In a few weeks we are scheduled to fly to the west coast to see family for a week. We booked" the dogsitter a couple of months ago and it's all set. In the meantime my DH's father has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. He needs to have surgery and there is a good chance my DH will end up having to stay home for some or all of our trip. We are trying to find out when the surgery will be but they haven't told us yet.

I was planning on paying the dogsitter $600 for the week away. So my question is, if we have to cancel, how long before the trip should I still pay him and how much? E.g. if we cancel a week before or two weeks before, how much if anything should I still give him? I doubt he turned down any other financial opportunities for this but he may have turned down social opportunities. I want to do the right thing but I don't think I need to pay him the full week either. Thoughts?