Article about ghosting during a dog sit quotes @Angela_L
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Hi @jcvbva thank you for sharing this we were asked how THS helps pet parents and sitters avoid miscommunications during a sit …
“Next time, or with your next sitter, set clearer expectations to avoid this hurt. TrustedHousesitters head of community Angela Laws says they recommend pet parents and potential sitters establish what’s expected before any agreement is locked in …
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A regular sitter from Rover. The pet owner wrote to the Post:
“our driveway camera has shown she’s left the dogs alone for more than nine hours at a time”
So they were spying on their sitter. A “Mister Manners” has a response but did not comment about that.
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The heading here should not include “THS”; that’s not a generic term or acronym.
The topic was created by @jcvbva who used the abbreviation as many do @Katie … we have corrected. Thank you.
Outdoor security cameras are not against the no-camera THS policy. And it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re spying.
Outdoor cameras are almost essential if you live in a big city or high crime area. I have a ring camera which also serves as our doorbell. When I’m on vacation, I don’t have time to check/look at my app and have my notifications off even when I’m home. We also have a smart keypad lock because my partner and I are runners and hate to carry keys/phones in our runs plus, it’s just easier to provide codes to people than make extra keys; we can turn those notifications on as well, but again we don’t.
However, I do have notifications on for late at night and noticed that a sitter took my dog out for a walk at 11:45 pm when I had specified in our guide not to walk him late at night because of the stories we’ve heard of people being attacked while walking their dog, it is unusual, but it happens sometimes. Again, this is Chicago crime can happen anywhere. The instructions were given for their and my dog’s safety.
On a different occasion with another sitter, I learned that my dog had been left alone overnight and didn’t get back until almost noon, and I couldn’t get a hold of her, so I checked the door lock history and ring camera.
Again, maybe the person did something that prompted the owner to check the camera if not, then clearly the owner didn’t trust the sitter or has trust issues.
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These devices are programmed to ping the owners when there is motion where they are placed.
My sister has one, she can msg her husband, son, grandkids when they activate it. It’s hilarious the communication they have. She did to me as well when I stayed a weekend whilst they were away.
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My family does this to me! When we were gone for a month in Guatemala last year (we took little Bowie with us), my mom or brother would come to water our plants and they would always speak to the camera or do/say something goofy. It was fun 
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let me in!
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Hi @Lulubelle according to the report the sitter was their regular one and allegedly knew about the camera and sit arrangements.
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My Nan’s cat was doing this ( ringing the doorbell to be let in ) in 1970s /80s but she didn’t have the cameras to record it back then 
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And my great grandmother had a pet goose who would pass her the pegs from the basket when she hung out her washing on the line - again no film of this .
This is a positive use of smart phones and cameras to capture these pet behaviours and share .
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Back in the day, if I saw a cat wanting to get inside its house, I’d ring the doorbell or knock on its behalf. Not so much anymore.
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