Hi, I’ve had a return sitter for my two dogs. I specified they should be walked at least 40 mins a day. They are used to a hour a day walk. Since the first sit two years ago, I’ve had a video doorbell installed that monitors the comings and goings of the outside front door. I’ve noticed that the dogs have either not been walked one day or they’ve had very short walks - anything from 7 mins to 30 mins. There were a couple of days they had an hour when the sitter’s partner joined her. Am I being unreasonable to expect my dogs to be walked for the duration I specified? I don’t want to leave a bad review but I feel I should be honest.
This has cropped up a lot on the Forum, owners -using their video doorbells to monitor the comings and goings of sitters and it gives me a bad feeling, although I tend to do longer walks than asked.
However, you presumably have been happy in the past with this sitter to have invited her back. Before writing the review I suggest you be honest with her and tell her what you’ve seen as there may be a reason for the short walks.
Btw, I don’t think you’re being unreasonable to expect the length of walks you ask, I just don’t like the way the video door bells are being used here.
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Sitters should honour the HOs requirements regarding walks as they had agreed to it. Regarding the camera. We refuse to accept sits now where external cameras are in place as we have had HOs micro manage from the feed which we found invasive.
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Using cameras to check up on sitters is indeed unreasonable.
If you don’t trust them, why did you invite them back?
Sitters of course need to honour what they agreed with you, but this is not the way to make sure that they do. I have always walked the dogs for as long as the owners wanted, sometimes longer, but if I knew I was being filmed, I’d be upset.
If I see sits in Dublin with two dogs, I might hesitate to apply in future (unless you tell me that you’re not in Dublin)…
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Hopefully you weren’t using the doorbell to monitor the sitter and just happened to notice the time intervals between walks.
I think these cameras are causing so many problems for HO during sits, just remember they only show a snapshot of what is happening.
As you can see from the responses so far, sitters are very sensitive to the possibility of being monitored and rightly so, it certainly makes me feel uncomfortable.
That said, you are definitely not asking too much in expecting a sitter to walk the dogs as you have agreed. However is difficult after the event to mention this as you will appear to have been monitoring them. If you mention this in your review, you will put off future sitters.
There are a variety of reasons that walks could have been cut short, illness, injury, weather etc. If everything else was ok and the dogs appeared happy then that is what is important. Also, next time, make sure the expected walk time is explicit in your listing as being essential.
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Are you sure that your camera is not missing things?
Anyway, the bigbrothering is getting out of hand. And 7 minutes + 30 minutes on the same day is about 40 minutes per day.
But get a different sitter next time if you are not happy. And instead of spying on them, you could ask that they send you daily photo updates.
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Talk to the sitter first and ask them how long they walked the dogs for each day @Dublin2022 . Then make your decision on the review with full info. Cameras as you can tell, are not much loved by sitters, they can feel like Big Brother and be wrong and cause issues that were never there. Clear comms is what’s needed and as a repeat sitter you must have trusted her from the first one. #talkingisgold
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I do not know how often the dogs were walked the first time I used the sitter as we never had a video camera then. I did not install the Ring doorbell specifically for viewing the sitter. I was expecting a package and happened to notice the first day of our holiday that they weren’t walked.
They are active dogs that need exercise. She would walk them separately. The larger dog got 30 mins and the other anything between 7-15 mins.
I just feel that it was made clear the walks they needed and feel the bare minimum was done. A 7 minute walk is not long enough as well as then leaving the dogs for 15 hours on one day.
I will ask her in person upon our return from holiday.
My question was whether I was being unreasonable by expecting my dogs to be walked the required time, not about the camera. The video doorbell is not hidden so she would have been aware of it.
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I would not be aware, I am not suspicious of people spying on me. If I do, I might wave, or make faces, or do some other prankish thing.
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No, you’re not. Your dogs, your rules, your walk times. #bestofluck
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So the sitter is walking them separately. Then that becomes a lot of walking.
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They were walked separately so one dog only got a 7 minute walk on that day, the other 30 mins. They were larger active dogs that need their exercise.
Did you take the required step of disclosing the presence of the camera in your listing? It is not enough to assume that it would be noticed by the sitter.
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So they were too much to handle together, at least for this sitter. Had you been sufficiently clear about that?
After half an hour with one energetic dog she was probably happy when the other one had done his business.
If “energetic” or “active” means “constantly pulling on the leash”, that is an awful lot of effort with larger dogs.
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The larger dog wears a Halti so she doesn’t pull on the lead. She had sat before so she was aware of their energy requirements. I just asked whether I was being unreasonable to expect them to be walked for the time specified.
If she can’t walk them then she shouldn’t have taken the sit on as she’d sat before.
I just don’t think it’s fair to give them such a short walk. Anyway, lesson learnt. I won’t use them again.
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You’re not being unreasonable. You know your dogs and the time they need for their walks. It sounds like a good idea to discuss with your sitter when you return home.
I’ve seen some listings where they indicate that a potential sitter should not apply if they are unable to meet the requirements of walking the dogs for the time you indicate. Adding that should weed out any sitters who are unable to do this for any reason.
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What I read is that after a few month the dog may have acquired strong neck muscles and still pull the owner around.
You are not being unreasonable. Sitters should only accept a sit if they can fulfill the requirements. Being a repeat sit makes it even worse. She knew how energetic your dogs are.
Regarding the review, I agree you (and everyone) should be honest. Be also aware that cameras have to be mentioned both in your listing and in your Welcome Guide. If you haven’t, you can be held accountable for that and this can also be included in your sitter’s review or in her reply to your review.
Edited for clarity
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Just a clarification, cameras need to be disclosed in the listing. Sitters don’t get the welcome guide until after the sit is confirmed.
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You are not being unreasonable. Some posters always take the side of the sitter and make excuses for their behavior, but your annoyance is warranted. Especially when you have used this sitetr before so she knows the dogs.
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