--- title: "How Dog Boarding Gave Me Room to Start Again | SideHustlr Success Story" description: "I started boarding dogs when my business was struggling, and it became a steady side hustle that gave me breathing room." lang: en json-ld: | { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "How Dog Boarding Gave Me Room to Start Again", "description": "I started boarding dogs when my business was struggling, and it became a steady side hustle that gave me breathing room.", "datePublished": "2026-09-10T19:09:49.017708+00:00", "dateModified": "2026-09-10T19:09:49.017708+00:00", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gina the Dog Muva" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "SideHustlr", "url": "https://sidehustlr.ai" }, "mainEntityOfPage": "https://sidehustlr.ai/success-stories/how-dog-boarding-gave-me-room-to-start-again-05c55bc6" } --- [$ Earn as a mentor](/become-a-mentor)[How it works](/how-it-works) [![SideHustlr - Earn more. 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Stress less.](/SideHustlr-Logo.png)](/)[Sign In](/auth) [All success stories](/success-stories) Success story · Rover Pet Sitting # How Dog Boarding Gave Me Room to Start Again Gina the Dog Muva · Atlanta I started boarding dogs when my business was struggling, and it became a steady side hustle that gave me breathing room. ![Gina the Dog Muva's side hustle](https://auwlwdihpyweqjalfitu.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/sign/success-story-media/37ac9cab-c6ec-4d68-b583-a90e1e148ad2/d1326bf2-e564-4141-b8f2-26162ded49aa.jpeg?token=eyJraWQiOiI1NWRiMzM5MS1mZGEyLTRkNTMtOTEwMS1jOGVkNjc5M2VhYzQiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ1cmwiOiJzdWNjZXNzLXN0b3J5LW1lZGlhLzM3YWM5Y2FiLWM2ZWMtNGQ2OC1iNTgzLWE5MGUxZTE0OGFkMi9kMTMyNmJmMi1lNTY0LTQxNDEtYjhmMi0yNjE2MmRlZDQ5YWEuanBlZyIsInNjb3BlIjoiZG93bmxvYWQiLCJpYXQiOjE3ODk4NDYzNzgsImV4cCI6MTc4OTg0OTk3OH0.EyuZYOXDhQGSvAzF-7PJNn2_VpPX4KSf35yBKWwiLBQ) > I’m not looking for heavy traffic. Just steady traffic. ## Why I started having dog sleepovers I’m Gina the Dog Muva, and I do Rover pet sitting in Atlanta. The way I see it, I get paid to have sleepovers with small, adorable dogs. In reality, I provide boutique concierge dog boarding that mimics their at-home life. I started because my small business was tanking. I had been rejected by Uber and DoorDash, and I needed a side hustle that didn’t require a lot of startup money. So much of my money was already being poured into my struggling business. I also made a demand of myself: if I was really going to put time into something else, I needed to already enjoy it at a baseline. Boarding dogs fit that. I’ve been doing this for three to five years now, and it’s still a side hustle. One myth I’d push back on is that you need a house and a yard to successfully board dogs, especially if you’re naturally active person. ## Starting with a background check and reviews The very first thing I did was sign up for Rover and pay for my background check. It was $35, which felt like a lot at the time. My overall startup costs were between $50-$60 bucks because I sourced free kennel crates that I figured would be useful if I needed them. Next, I gathered reviews from people who already knew me. Even without an established presence, I wanted potential clients to have some history to go off of. Reviews had been the number one thing behind my primary business’s success, so I knew I wanted to focus on them here, too. I want to say I had my first booking within a week. I made $135 on that booking, but I severely undercharged myself. That’s something I’d tell myself starting over: don’t undercharge yourself so severely. Yet, my day-one advice is to focus on building your reviews, then let those reviews build up to your true price point. As a solo-prenuer in this I am very proud of my 56 rave reviews and 4.9 star that gets me new clients regularly. I am also always glad to be transparent about why the 4.9 is not 5 stars. I use Rover exclusively. I don’t handle my own advertising or promote the business on social media. I do feature my dogs on TikTok, but I’m not looking for heavy traffic. Just steady traffic. ## What boarding looks like in my daily life Because I only offer boarding, my work week looks nothing like a traditional work week. I’m predominantly living my daily life, except instead of watching one dog—mine—I have a few extra. I’ve refined my system over the years. The majority of my bookings are repeat customers, which reduces how much communication is needed. I now probably spend less than six accumulated hours speaking with prospective clients. With new prospective clients, I spend one to two hours a week on 15-minute meet-and-greets. In my mind, it adds up to roughly one eight-hour day of “hard work” to keep things running smoothly. But the dogs are dogs so the hardest part is patience. Dogs are like children, and I’m essentially running a 24-hour daycare. Enjoying their company is part of why this fits my life so well. That doesn’t mean patience stops being necessary. ## Learning not to be a pushover One of my biggest lessons has been not allowing owners to stress me out. I’m welcoming dogs onto my private property, and I need to own my role as a professional dog handler and boarder. That means not being afraid to tell an owner what’s needed around pickups, drop-offs, essential bags, and time management. I can’t be a pushover about how the situation is handled. For me, that lesson belongs right alongside learning not to undercharge. I provide a boarding service that mimics the dogs’ home life, but I still have to be clear about how things work in my space and why my price is my price. ## The breathing room it gave me My reported income from boarding is between $1,000 and $3,000 a month. It remains a side hustle, but it has helped me through a change in my life and work. When I started, I desperately wanted to move into a better place/environment. In just one year of starting, I did—I moved into my dream condo in a wonderful location in the city. I also closed my primary business and used dog boarding as a buffer to my next business venture. I’m operating that new business now, and I feel much more relaxed without having to put pressure on it to generate livable income immediately. Despite living in the city in my life is not financially demanding, and I have eliminated a lot of my personal debt. The change wasn’t just about what I was doing for work. What changed was my nervous system, my clarity, and my day-to-day joy. I’m still having those dog sleepovers, and they’ve given me room to move into something new, live the life I’m meant to live and be the most me I can be. From Gina the Dog Muva ## $40 off your first booking 🐾 If you’re an ATL resident looking for the best at-home experience so your pup isn’t stuck in a kennel while your sipping mojitos on the beach, use this link for $40 off their first booked stay. Ps: If rover doesn’t honor it, I will 😇. [Take a look](https://www.rover.com/sit/ginao27901) ## Know a hustle this well? Get paid to teach it Mentors on SideHustlr set their own prices and keep 80% of every sale. [Become a mentor](/become-a-mentor)[Share your story](/share-your-success-story) [![SideHustlr - Earn more. 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