Part-time job during Vet School

[dirtypaws]

Hey Guys!

So I've already accepted my seat at Oregon State which I am incredibly excited about. I wanted to reach out and ask if you had a part-time job during vet school how that experience is/was.

My husband and I are at a point where we are ready to buy our first house. The house we are currently looking at is on 3 acres, backing up to a permitted forest property (which has access from the house), and has what looks like 4 horse stalls. I've been a pet sitter for different companies for a few years and have been toying around with the idea of making it a little side business. I could easily have fenced areas, separate living spaces, and someone home since my mom will most likely be living with us to help her get back on track financially. Nothing is set in stone and I would def never jump into it before I see how the school/life balance goes but I wanted to see what personal experiences vet students had making some extra side money.

Thank you

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[ajs513]

I work in the research dog colony at school. It’s two hours twice a week. Honestly any more than that would be too much for me. With class, studying, shadowing, etc. those hours add up. Pet sitting can definitely be lucrative though. Especially if it doesn’t take a lot of time.

 

[dirtypaws]

I work in the research dog colony at school. It’s two hours twice a week. Honestly any more than that would be too much for me. With class, studying, shadowing, etc. those hours add up. Pet sitting can definitely be lucrative though. Especially if it doesn’t take a lot of time.

That sounds like such a cool job! That’s why I lean toward it. It’s nice to have the flexibility to not take on clients when I know busy times will be coming up (finals ect) but I figure if I’m caring for my own dogs throwing a couple more into the mix wouldn’t be too crazy.

 

[ajs513]

That sounds like such a cool job! That’s why I lean toward it. It’s nice to have the flexibility to not take on clients when I know busy times will be coming up (finals ect) but I figure if I’m caring for my own dogs throwing a couple more into the mix wouldn’t be too crazy.

The colony is pretty cool. You get a lot of physical exam experience and learn a lot about different things you wouldn’t otherwise learn about in school.

Yea definitely go for pet sitting if you already have dogs. You could easily bring in an extra few hundred bucks now and again which goes a long way. I sat for my former boss over break for two weeks and it paid for my rent for a month. And everyone feels most comfortable with a vet student watching their pets.

 

[JaynaAli]

I worked about 10 hours a week in my school‘s clin path lab. Second and third year I also had a couple fairly regular pet sitting gigs...I would go let a lady’s dog out at lunch 2-3x per week. It only paid like $8 per visit but it was only like 15 minutes of work. My other pet sitting job was more irregular...I stayed at an elderly couple’s home when they were gone to keep their two dogs, cat and several chickens. I took my dog to their house and stayed there. For all of those jobs though, it was more for spending money than anything else. There are always vet students looking for pet sitters, especially over holidays, so even if you don’t make it a formal thing there may be opportunities to try it out before you really commit to offering pet sitting. Regardless, I’d recommend yougive yourself at least a semester to adjust to vet school before trying to take on extra duties.

 

[britzen]

Some of my classmates pet sit on the side, and it seems like a pretty low stress money maker for them.

Others work for the vet hospital a few hours a week or do thing like waitress, work at Starbucks, etc.

The max people I know seem to be able to handle is about 15 hours per week, which involves both being very in top of studying and having some limitations to their social lives.

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[johnsmith123]

Hey Guys!

So I've already accepted my seat at Oregon State which I am incredibly excited about. I wanted to reach out and ask if you had a part-time job during vet school how that experience is/was.

My husband and I are at a point where we are ready to buy our first house. The house we are currently looking at is on 3 acres, backing up to a permitted forest property (which has access from the house), and has what looks like 4 horse stalls. I've been a pet sitter for different companies for a few years and have been toying around with the idea of making it a little side business. I could easily have fenced areas, separate living spaces, and someone home since my mom will most likely be living with us to help her get back on track financially. Nothing is set in stone and I would def never jump into it before I see how the school/life balance goes but I wanted to see what personal experiences vet students had making some extra side money.

Thank you

I have a pharm test on Wednesday so chances of being able to respond are slim. Send me a pm so I remember and I'll give you some Oregon State specific info Wednesday afternoon.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

Hey Guys!

So I've already accepted my seat at Oregon State which I am incredibly excited about. I wanted to reach out and ask if you had a part-time job during vet school how that experience is/was.

My husband and I are at a point where we are ready to buy our first house. The house we are currently looking at is on 3 acres, backing up to a permitted forest property (which has access from the house), and has what looks like 4 horse stalls. I've been a pet sitter for different companies for a few years and have been toying around with the idea of making it a little side business. I could easily have fenced areas, separate living spaces, and someone home since my mom will most likely be living with us to help her get back on track financially. Nothing is set in stone and I would def never jump into it before I see how the school/life balance goes but I wanted to see what personal experiences vet students had making some extra side money.

Thank you

Honestly, trying to set up an organized side business like you detailed sounds like too much work that would require too much time while you're in vet school.
If you want to pet sit for people occasionally, I think that's totally doable. I know plenty of people who make a few bucks this way. But setting up a legitimate pet sitting business would be extremely time and money intensive and I cannot imagine doing that in my first (or second) year at OSU.

 

[EB73674]

Hey Guys!

So I've already accepted my seat at Oregon State which I am incredibly excited about. I wanted to reach out and ask if you had a part-time job during vet school how that experience is/was.

My husband and I are at a point where we are ready to buy our first house. The house we are currently looking at is on 3 acres, backing up to a permitted forest property (which has access from the house), and has what looks like 4 horse stalls. I've been a pet sitter for different companies for a few years and have been toying around with the idea of making it a little side business. I could easily have fenced areas, separate living spaces, and someone home since my mom will most likely be living with us to help her get back on track financially. Nothing is set in stone and I would def never jump into it before I see how the school/life balance goes but I wanted to see what personal experiences vet students had making some extra side money.

Thank you

I’m not a vet student, but I have a pretty bananas schedule between school and working 2 jobs currently, and pet sitting and dog walking/training have been my side hustle for years now. I’ve been able to balance it pretty effectively, and I think it would be even easier if you’re doing it out of your own home (as opposed to stopping into other people’s homes or staying overnight). You don’t have to go anywhere extra in the morning/evening, you just need to be home!

Only things to consider - if the guest pets don’t get along with your animals, you’ll need good spaces for safe separation, preferably ones that can be easily cleaned when the guest animals aren’t as well housetrained as yours Invest in the Costco-sized bottles of Natures Miracle. If you & your husband are basically homebodies and your mom is there to pick up the slack, I think you’d do fine on keeping up with the schedule and not feeling beholden to get home/wake up/take breaks at certain inopportune times. This is my current plan for making a little extra cash if I manage to get in this cycle!

 

[that redhead]

I agree with the idea that starting an actual business (and relying on your mom to be part of it) while starting vet school isn’t a great idea. I think it’s fair to pick up some pet sitting work on the side (and will be so easy once breaks come around) but is also give yourself at least one semester to adjust to everything before starting even that.

 

[ResoluteMike]

I worked 8-10 hours at an emergency clinic on friday nights during second year and it wasn't too bad. That said it is hard to tell how much time you are going to have from semester to semester, so if you do work try and get something flexible.

 

[PippyPony]

Some of my classmates pet sit -- it's probably doable on an infrequent basis or with help. Although... a lot of my classmates also send their own dogs to doggie daycare because they don't have time for them during the day So if you are planning more of a daycare operation, that probably won't work unless you have dedicated helpers.

A job in general requires some more advance planning. I had a job at school where I was on call...and occasionally got called in to work the night before exams... Not the best situation. I recognize pet sitting is not like that, but emergencies can happen, so have a plan for those.

 

[divergent14]

Hey Guys!

So I've already accepted my seat at Oregon State which I am incredibly excited about. I wanted to reach out and ask if you had a part-time job during vet school how that experience is/was.

My husband and I are at a point where we are ready to buy our first house. The house we are currently looking at is on 3 acres, backing up to a permitted forest property (which has access from the house), and has what looks like 4 horse stalls. I've been a pet sitter for different companies for a few years and have been toying around with the idea of making it a little side business. I could easily have fenced areas, separate living spaces, and someone home since my mom will most likely be living with us to help her get back on track financially. Nothing is set in stone and I would def never jump into it before I see how the school/life balance goes but I wanted to see what personal experiences vet students had making some extra side money.

Thank you

First off, Congrats on getting accepted into Oregon!! Would you mind sharing your stats?
I am still in undergrad, but thought I would input here that I have a friend who lives near Corvallis and makes a very good amount of money dog walking and dog sitting on Rover! There are a lot of different views on how people feel about the app and staying in a stranger's home (always meet up before doing any business with them), but since you have a home and could fence in areas you can also pet sit from your own home instead of commuting and going back and forth from the Owner's home. Just thought I'd throw it out there as an option!

 

[LetItSnow]

I agree with the idea that starting an actual business (and relying on your mom to be part of it) while starting vet school isn’t a great idea. I think it’s fair to pick up some pet sitting work on the side (and will be so easy once breaks come around) but is also give yourself at least one semester to adjust to everything before starting even that.

Agreed. I think you might find that the demands of having to take care of the pets at your home might work against the demands of you being at school. Starting up this sort of business seems like a stretch.

That said, if your husband is totally on board to help frequently when you can't be available, and if you only take on low-demand clients/pets, it might be doable. But I'm skeptical.

 

[kaydubs]

I had many side and part time jobs during vet school (worked 2 jobs at school, pet sat, dog walked, etc) but not an official side business. Echoing what others have said: if it’s all going to fall on you responsibility wise, sounds not worth it. If you’ll have help (and minimal self participation with flexibility of course), then that’s a different story.

 

[Georgethecat]

Hey Guys!

So I've already accepted my seat at Oregon State which I am incredibly excited about. I wanted to reach out and ask if you had a part-time job during vet school how that experience is/was.

My husband and I are at a point where we are ready to buy our first house. The house we are currently looking at is on 3 acres, backing up to a permitted forest property (which has access from the house), and has what looks like 4 horse stalls. I've been a pet sitter for different companies for a few years and have been toying around with the idea of making it a little side business. I could easily have fenced areas, separate living spaces, and someone home since my mom will most likely be living with us to help her get back on track financially. Nothing is set in stone and I would def never jump into it before I see how the school/life balance goes but I wanted to see what personal experiences vet students had making some extra side money.

Thank you

Also need to consider any state/local business license requirements and possibly zoning for your location. And the tax consequences. I imagine that a lot of pet sitting money earned is earned "under the table", but if you have an actual business you are going to have a lot of business related stuff to keep up with on top of the actual pet sitting.