Anyone else find that the dogs they are sitting do not do anything without the carer or owner being involved. I have found particularly this year that when you let the dogs out they just stand around then come back in, in two’s they dont seem to play around. Are dogs getting too close to their owners?
Tell me its just me !!
I usually don’t sit pairs of dogs, but when I have, they’ve enjoyed romping around in the backyard. I’d sometimes sit in a lounge chair or swing telecommuting and they liked chasing each other playfully or rolling around on the grass. Or sometimes just sit in the sun. When they tired, they’d sometimes hop up and sit with me. With a blind one with back problems, I’d pick him up if he wandered up and wanted company.
Single dogs I’ve sat with yards likewise enjoyed running or rolling around. Some liked to watch for birds or squirrels they could run after (unsuccessfully, LOL). My own dog does that at home in the yard, even though he gets three walks a day as well. He likes to do his playing with toys indoors, during which we interact with him as well.
All my dogs have been ok to play in the garden. But one of my regulars won’t go to the loo in the garden before bed.
I know she does this for her owners, but not for me! So I just take her for a quick late walk, and once she has a sniff, she can’t resist leaving her scent for all her buddies!
Wonder whether it’s a question of darkness or safety. I raise that, because one of my sit dogs (one of a senior pair) apparently got scared in the yard after dark. So if I took them out at night, I had to make sure to stay close and make him feel safe. Otherwise, he wouldn’t venture out once dark. And that apparently started happening only once he became older, because he’d grown up in that home and had never lived elsewhere. Even though he became blind and deaf, he knew his away around and was comfortable roaming during day, but not night.
I am curious, where you are located?
I have read other threads whereby dogs “go out into the garden” to either play or potty. When I think of gardens., (like in the U.S.) I am thinking of gardens whereby there are vegetable or flower gardens—so I would not associate dogs and gardens.
Are these gardens similar to the U.S., whereby dogs go out into the backyard (grassy area / lawn) behind a house to play or potty?
Are you following the same routine with the dogs as the HO? I have found that usually dogs (depending on age / health) will want to engage in play—particularly, if that is something that they also did with the HO.
The times that I have sat two dogs, I took them on multiple daily tandem walks, quick potty breaks in the backyard, and playtime inside.
I have found some dogs just dont like to stay outside alone. Also, i think when their owners aren’t there they can be insecure and want to stay close to the person taking care of them. A dog i used to regularly sit for always loved to be out on the front porch alone watching the park across the street. But when his owner was gone and i sat for him he stuck close by me and wouldnt stay out on the porch with out soneone there.
On a recent sit, the dog was expected to go out in the garden to do its business, and just get 2 exercise walks per day. I did 5 per day. Because it didn’t seem like he wanted to be out there by himself, while I was there. And it worked. He did his business on the walks. The dog was small, so the walks were not long and everything worked out. He did go out first thing and I think he peed, while I got ready to walk him. But that was it.
My dogs are more clingy if they have been left not long ago. They won’t let us leave them again if they can help it. So that can be an explanation. As the owner has left them they for sure won’t let you desert them?
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A UK garden is a US yard. Even if there is nothing but a patch of grass behind the house, it’s a “back garden”. When I moved to England I had to adjust to this idea that a garden doesn’t necessarily have a profusion of flowers growing in it (though a completely flowerless garden is pretty rare there).
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Thank you for the explanation! 
I am “auntie” do a dog who won’t pee in his garden ever. The owner’s theory is that, as in his previous home he wasn’t walked, now that he is walked he thinks that if he pees etc in the garden he won’t get a great walk. So in his head, not peeing etc in the garden guarantees a walk.
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Looked after a dog once that when you put him in the garden, he would just stand and look at you.
Everytime, we had to change into our (hairy) dog walking clothes and take him out.
Found that really frustrating too, as should have been no need for it.
Weather was bad for the whole term too.
@BillyBonnieBenji
If that was me, it wouldn’t be a regular
My dog need physical excercise to go potty, my impression is that it has to do with the metabolism of her body.( Not that she is thinking about how to get a good walk. )
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We live in the countryside and our dog is free range. We have a hectare of land and he will go to the very edge of the property to poop. I think most dogs prefer not to soil their own territory if they have a choice.
Walking stimulates the dog’s transit system and gets poop moving through the pipeline. Gravity does that for us but dogs need a bit of wiggle.
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Yes, the more physical activity they get, the better their bowel movements.
I had a sit where I was shocked by how little walking the dog got from their humans, given her age and health. They showed me the “walk” and said they knew they should give her more. They also told me she pooped once a day.
During my sit, I walked her more than normal every day and she pooped two or three times a day, eating the same amount of food, as normal.
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Works for people too
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Yes!
I was sitting this dog that always was resource hoarding me, keeping a close eye on me, followed me around (and took food when I made a meal in the first second that I turned around).
So then I shut him out in the garden. And he would be at the door, looking in.
When I was outside, he constantly insisted on me throwing a ball to play fetch.
Now there’s the difference between neeeeedy dogs and aloof cats 
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The last walk is literally only minutes, just around the corner from the house. I am now very good friends with the HOs and the dog is wonderful. I love her like my own. Maybe that’s why it doesn’t seem like a chore to take her for a little walk before bed.