Have you thought about asking the homeowner if she has a calming treat she uses with her dogs? If she doesn’t already have some, she may be ok with you getting some so you can have a little quiet time—especially for work-related calls.
@CRU I agree, though I’d suggest tone is even more important!
@Huronbase Yes, completely. I am aware their next sitters are a couple, so I don’t think they’d struggle as much walking them. The pup is very curious and so wanders off in different directions during walks and wants to make friends with other dogs (who often don’t want to). We got involved in a scrap the other day (not the first, might I add) that was pretty unpleasant. Definitely need two people in order to handle these situations.
@ShulasMom Yes, they have calming treats at lunch and bedtime. Not sure how effective they are, however!
@Newpetlover Love this. Thank you. I agree wholeheartedly. It is up to the individual who is on the sit to review as they see fit. Certainly, if I saw a star docked for any category, I would hesitate to apply especially as I now know from personal experience how unpleasant a sit likely is to even consider docking stars.
@anon6309382
We have done a sit with a boisterous dog of 18 months - we were warned before hand that she could jump up on the kitchen worktops and nothing would be safe if left out on them . We couldn’t take our eyes off her for a moment without something being destroyed. We took her on very long walks ( absolutely no recall on walks) and it didn’t tire her out at all !! She was crate trained and we were instructed to put her there to sleep at night and if we went out and left her at home . It was exhausting and we weren’t trying to work !! So I empathise with you . However the situation was slightly different as the owners did tell us about her behaviour beforehand (Although it’s hard to imagine until you experience it )
We also didn’t have to put up with any fighting though. This is where it crosses the line of not acceptable on THS .
Pets with a history of attacking other pets aren’t permitted on THS.
5.2.4. ensure that no pets to be left under the care of a Sitter have ever caused a person or animal any physical harm (no matter how minor the injury);
5.2.11. not have…… any animal with a history of attacks on pets or people;
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Thank you for this. The dog you looked after sounds very similar to the pup. He is quite destructive. He got himself tangled in the curtains earlier and started pulling at them. I managed to stop him before he ripped them down, but he’s already chewed at the furniture and basically anything edible or inedible.
Thanks for posting the guidelines re: fighting. This concerns me and I might have to have a word with THS about this. I don’t know that the older dog has caused any physical harm. The pup constantly pushes her and she gets sick of it (understandably) and lashes out (less understanbably). I have taken numerous videos as evidence. I’m not quite sure what THS would do.
Can you get a water bottle to squirt them when they jump or bark incessantly? They need some training, quickly, and this works well !
I hadn’t considered this, thank you. Honestly, I think they will be soaked by the end of the day, the fighting/ barking is pretty much constant!
This almost sounds like the sit I had with the 70 lb puppy and the other dog did not like all the rough play. But my comment was, in my review I recommended ONLY couples apply so that there was 2 people to walk the dogs. Thinking people reading my review would get the message it was a difficult sit.
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Yes, I got that, thanks.
I think the tone is even more important. They know some commands and words but what they get from conversations is the tone and body language. Apart from the few commands that they know in English, I speak to them mostly in my mother tongue and they get the general message I want to convey. Nothing deep or philosophical, I would use English for that 
Apart from the tone and commands, it is extremely important to be patient and consistent . If something is not allowed, it can never be allowed, let alone be laughed off. This takes a lot of time and surveillance, that’s why many people don’t really train their pets. During a short sit we can only alleviate a bit the situation, especially a solo sitter working remotely. If we get to improve the behavior, they will go back to their “normal” behavior when the owners are back.
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Exactly. I am only here for the interim. To be honest, I am experiencing the full effects of people who don’t train their animals. It is really taking it out of me, I have never been so stressed on a sit.
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Sorry, I clarified since you mentioned I wrote it because they next sitters were a couple.
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How did it go? Did you survive?
Haha, yes, just about! Finished at the weekend and I’ve been recovering since! Thank you for asking, Christine xx
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Ah glad to hear you survived. Onwards and upwards!
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Hello everyone,
I think this conversation has run its course, and decided to close it, as this was a situation very specific to the OP which has now ended.
Thanks to everyone who popped on to give advice and support.
Jenny