Fields now doggy day care

[Country Mouse]

Near us 4 small fields, next to each other, with good fences, stables with hard standing. All used during the week for doggy day care. At least a dozen dogs in each, and now someone else across the road is doing the same. All the fields we used to walk the dog are now fenced for horses. Are dogs a better financial option? Boy are they noisy.

 

[ihatework]

Much better option.
Think about it, what is the going rate for a stable and a small paddock? £5 a day for a horse if you are lucky. And said horse trashed the ground and fencing.

Doggy day care starts at about £10/day for a cheap basic set up and goes up to £25/day in prime areas with a great set up.

 

[Scotsbadboy]

I bet these people are raking it in! I have been umming and ahhing about renting my yard and three acres out for sole use but i might look into this instead.

 

[eggs]

Financially it would make far more sense to do doggy day care and maintenance will be far less than having horses on the land.

 

[Polos Mum]

A dog walk is £10 per dog per hour so if you can collect up 3-4 take them to the secure walking area then let them have a good run around. Whole job takes 2 hours with collection and drop off and you earn £40 for the 2 hours. You could easily to 2 or 3 sets per day = sensible income.

Pay the owner of the land even as low as 25% they will be making loads more than DIY at £30 a week for 0.001% of the hassle of DIY people / horse damage.

 

[Billyandme]

Doggy day care is pretty easy money. I know a yard which does both. Dogs during day and horses out by night. Personally Oi wouldn't want my horses grazing on a doggy toilet ?

 

[Scotsbadboy]

A dog walk is £10 per dog per hour so if you can collect up 3-4 take them to the secure walking area then let them have a good run around. Whole job takes 2 hours with collection and drop off and you earn £40 for the 2 hours. You could easily to 2 or 3 sets per day = sensible income.

Pay the owner of the land even as low as 25% they will be making loads more than DIY at £30 a week for 0.001% of the hassle of DIY people / horse damage.

Starts to sound tempting doesnt it :O

 

[chaps89]

Local rehab yard has done just this.
2 paddocks with dog proof fencing, a set of agility equipment and some stables converted into dog pens with outdoor runs.
Her livery isn't cheap but she will still make more money with the dogs!

Eta- but @Scotsbadboy if you happen to be in the south east then I would be very interested in 3 acres sole use ??

 

[dorsetladette]

I thought about doing this. I have a separate gate so could easily fence off a small paddock and rent it out by the hour.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Doggy day care is pretty easy money. I know a yard which does both. Dogs during day and horses out by night. Personally Oi wouldn't want my horses grazing on a doggy toilet ?

I wouldn't want my dogs to spend their days eating pooptreats left by the horses who used the field during the night!

 

[Ranyhyn]

Yeah I cant see how dual use is safe, especially where there are some cases of dogs getting sick after eating recently wormed horses poo.

I'd choose dogs over horses though. Less destructive.

 

[jsprince]

Near me there is a field split in two so they are about 1.5 acres each you can rent either for £10 a hour, I think to rent both is more expensive. You pay in advance have to clean up after yourself and they put on few obstacles for the dogs or leave some logs or bales out.

I worked out that if I gave up horses and turned it over to doggy walking I'd rake in at least £250 a week on my 12 acres as can offer toilet facilities and refreshments.

Not sure my horses appreciate my thinking though, but then they shouldn't break my fences and destroy gates so often.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

One locally has just shut down as public liability insurance was compromised.
YO only had equine cover, not subletting to business use.
Dog business had a transgression by a dog and then owner off the agility paddock, tried to claim off her insurance, buck passed to YO/LO (one and the same). Her insurance not paying out. Horse injured too, YO horse insurance looking to recover from dog business under dog business insurance
liability, stalemate at present.

So, be careful about all insurances in place and that they do indeed cover for multiple usage etc etc...

 

[dogatemysalad]

Hope they don't make hay from the fields.

 

[MissTyc]

There's a nearby indoor school that is now just used by dogs for playtime £10/hour. The horses are now ridden in the field! I took my own dog there and it was full from 5AM to 9PM for weeks in advance. Makes me wonder if I can hire out any of our grazing by the hour ...

 

[lamlyn2012]

Do you need planning permission though?
I expect insurance is required too.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Do you need planning permission though?
I expect insurance is required too.

Will likely need change of use from agricultural or equine, plus business use, insurances......

 

[Ranyhyn]

Oh yeah doing it properly is no mean feat but I bet most people havent bothered to do it properly!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Oh yeah doing it properly is no mean feat but I bet most people havent bothered to do it properly!

Which is great, until it goes wrong......

 

[Ranyhyn]

I never bloody does though does it for the wrong-uns.

 

[chocolategirl]

Oh yeah doing it properly is no mean feat but I bet most people havent bothered to do it properly!

Just like a lot of livery yards then ? there’s a reason some yards can offer such cheap livery, just sayin?