Hey there,
My partner and I have been using THS for a few years now very successfully and we love it - it’s a great way to travel and get experience with lots of different pets. We’ve never had an issue with listings, or pet behaviour… until now!
We are currently on a long term sit (~2 months) in another country, for two dogs who are around 7 years old. They’re very sweet and easy 85% of the time, especially at home, but the other 15% they are… incredibly draining and poorly behaved. It’s not mentioned in the listing at all, but they are quite reactive towards other dogs, pull constantly on the lead, and can be destructive in the house. This means we have to only walk them together, at places and at times, where we are confident we won’t bump into anyone else, and everywhere needs to be driven to - they can’t walk down a street without lunging/barking at other dogs, pedestrians etc. Equally in the car if they if they see anything they will bark/whine/clamber over each other. Again, not mentioned in the listing, we only found out about it when we arrived at the house and met them.
Today, whilst we stopped in a cafe after our walk, we left the dogs in the car (with a grate in place to keep them in the boot) in the quiet car park, which the owners told us they do often and gave us the go-ahead to do ourselves. When we got back to the car 30 mins later, one of the dogs had climbed into the back seat, and destroyed the seatbelt in the rear. Extremely frustrating (and costly)!
I’m pretty much at my wits end and would quite happily leave the sit early; we have 1 month to go. However the owners are really nice people and I don’t want to put them out. I also don’t know how to raise it with them, and was wondering if people have any advice? I 100% believe they need to update their listing to more accurately reflect the dogs behaviour. My partner and I have had a fair bit of dog experience now, and we have plenty of recommendations for what the owners could do to improve the situation (harnesses, for one, would really help manage their behaviour on walks!), so I’d also like to mention this to the owners. Equally, any advice on the review? I don’t want to affect their chances of getting future sits, but I also don’t want other people to walk into this sit without realising what they could be getting themselves into. My plan is to try to resolve it with them first and then leave a review that acknowledges that we had the issues but discussed it with them and (fingers crossed) everything turned out fine. Just exhausted by the idea we have 1 month left to go!!
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Yes. You are right. You absolutely should be mentioning some issues with the owners. They might have tips that could help you and they might be very willing to listen to suggestions like for a harness to better control the dogs on walks. You are also in a position where you can inisist on a harness “for the safety of the dogs.” Your month will go by so much quicker and be so much better if you can start a conversation with the hosts about this.
As for anticipating what you will say in reviews, it sounds like that might depend on the outcome of that conversation and what changes or doesn’t.
(I’m combined, and I try to give sitters warnings about every possible behavior, but I can’t always anticipate what will happen. I’m always happy to help a sitter when they run up against something whether it’s related to my home, my pets, or where to find a certain food item in my neighborhood or other reccomendation.)
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@Luucccyyyy welcome! I feel your pain. We have been in a similar situation before, but much, much shorter. It’s a real deterrent to go out when the dogs misbehave so badly.
Do they have space to run and play in a garden, so that you don’t need to take them out on walks?
We also had a sit where dogs would be destructive if we left them in the house when we go shopping, but on the other hand, escape the property if you leave them outside. So we quickly learned that when we went shopping, to close all room doors and put heavy items on bin lids, so that they can’t get into the bins, and move everything to a high table - basically fool/dogproof the house. The next time we went, everything was intact! I would definitely mention this in a review, as it was a shock when we came back the first time and the house was in disarray.
Good luck with the next month, I do hope you find some solutions.
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See it this way: It will greatly help the owners get a good match if you help them out with an honest review. With a good match they will get a sitter that is right for their pets.
Ofc pets can behave differently with a sitter than with owner and/ or could vary depending on context and routines.
Everything is in how you say it. Do one «critizise» («the pets behaved badly and it was misrepresented in listing») vs. sharing experience («the pets got in the backseat of our car and chewed up the belt») or offer advice («to avoid reactiveness in the form of lunging/ barking towards other dogs, we found it helpful to walk them in the early hours or take them in the car to the hills».) I try to do the last, as I think it is most helpful - especially when it comes to for instance reactiveness - say what that really is, so others can make an informed decision.
Personally, I wouldn’t «offer advice» until after the hosts have left their review.
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If you are planning on staying, I’d leave it till the review, as there’s nothing the owners can do about it from a distance.
They aren’t so nice really to land a potentially dangerous animal on unsuspecting sitters, so mark them down and be honest.
I had a sit with an aggressively dog-reactive dog, which they didn’t tell me till I arrived, and I was constantly worried about it during walks. It put me off dog sits for ages. I have done a couple since but I chose very carefully and asked a lot of behavioural questions before accepting.
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That’s right. It is said from time to time here on forum «but they are nice» - it is not nice to mislead sitters.
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Please review honestly and factually. Whether they’re able to get sitters in the future is not your responsibility — it’s theirs. Volunteer sitters shouldn’t be tricked / misled into sitting. THS isn’t meant to serve every pet — there are professionals who can handle such animals.
In your situation, I’d let them know it’s an issue immediately, because you want them to help by covering the costs of harnesses, for instance. Or if you’re looking to leave early, they’ll need to figure out alternative care.
And you say they’re nice people, but really, they’re not nice enough to have been honest about their dogs and they misled you into sitting. Please don’t enable them further — review honestly. Imagine if another sitter had been able to warn you off. That’s what needs to go in the review.
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If you are planning to stay, I would definitely ask the owners for some advice about how to handle the dogs for the last half of your time there.
Maybe they will happily pay for some new harnesses that you can hopefully purchase nearby or have delivered?
Where do they typically walk the dogs? How do they avoid other dogs?
What instructions were you given about leaving the dogs at home? Do you put them into a certain room? Could you?
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We swear by an anti-pull leash by a company called Heather’s Heroes.
It is called The Sidekick® Transitional Leash®
Wonderful product!
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