I accepted a house sit with two dogs and the HO felt comfortable with me bringing my 10-pound Maltese/Shitzu. She has a German Sheppard and a giant cardigan Corgi.
When my dog and I arrived at the house, it took some time for the owner to answer the door I waited patiently until the owner finally opened the front door and let us in. I carried my dog inside just to be on the safe side.
As the owner showed me the kitchen and living room area, I placed my dog down on the floor whereupon her Corgi grabbed my dog with her mouth. I pulled my dog’s leash to try and separate them but the corgi held on tight. So I reached down around my dog’s collar and my thumb got caught in this corgi’s mouth. I pulled my thumb away and the dog’s teeth scraped my thumb and left me bleeding.
I stepped outside onto the back patio with my dog in my arms. The woman acted as though nothing occurred until she noticed my bleeding thumb. So she asked if I needed anything. A bandaid, perhaps?
She returned with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a box of bandaids. I tended to my wound and tried to calm my nerves. Long story short, she said my dog initiated the fight, thus she took no responsibility for my cuts.
Has any pet sitters experienced a dog bite? If so, what happened?
(Forum team edited post title to encourage more replies)
Not on a pet sit, but a friend staying with me had a bite on her hand as she was delivering a parcel to a neighbour that had come to me in error. We cleaned it up and applied antiseptic, but 2 days later the hand was swelled. The doctor gave antibiotics and said you can get blood poisoning, so get it treated.
You must feel very uncomfortable about staying, it is a risk taking a dog on a sit unless they have met before and get on. I think I might have left given the situation. Certainly contact THS and make them aware. Unsympathetic owner as well
As Chrissy says, its a risk taking a dog into another’s home, its their territory after all.
Its not something I would ever do and you probably do not feel comfortable continuing the sit.
It sounds like your injury is more of a graze rather than a bite but please keep your dog safe on the sit.
You’re off to a bad start but hopefully it can only improve, best of luck to you.
My 18 year old Pomeranian bit me while I was administering medicine using a syringe. He doesn’t have many teeth left but it was a fair go and it hurt but didn’t break skin. He now has his medicine hidden in his food! I’m not falling for that again!!
Keep a close eye on the wound, bites of any kind can fester. Seek medical advice and good luck.
I’ve not been bitten during a sit, but have been bitten otherwise.
If you’re bitten in the U.S., the host is automatically potentially liable. It doesn’t matter what the host says. That’s because U.S. liability is set up so that someone injured at someone else’s home is supposed to be covered by the homeowner’s insurance. That’s so extreme that I read many years ago that a burglar who fell through a skylight while trying to rob a home actually sued the homeowner.
Of course, actually collecting on coverage would depend on whether the homeowner automatically pays, the insurer accepts responsibility or you’re forced to sue (and then presumably a judge or jury would have to decide). Usually an insurer would settle, as a matter of pragmatics.
For a minor injury like yours, you’d essentially be on your own in the U.S. That’s because it’s so insignificant that no one usually pursues an insurance claim or legal action, which is costly.
To me, purely common sense wise, you bring a pet to someone else’s home, you take on the risks of having your pet or theirs potentially injured. That’s because no one can guarantee any pet’s behavior.
In various posts, people who want to sit with their own pets often go on about how well behaved they are and such. But really, how can anyone tell how things will unfold when another pet’s territory is invaded? Or say they’re suddenly fed together? Or must suddenly share the same toys? The native pet is not only suddenly faced with a stranger and a stranger’s pet in their home, they’re also suddenly without their normal humans. How can anyone predict exactly how they’ll react?
Note: Even people who adopt new pets are told to take time to acclimate them to any existing pets in the same home. That’s because no one knows whether they’ll get along. That common sense is not suspended or canceled just because a pet sitter wants to suddenly introduce their pet into a pet sitting situation. That’s because it’s based on pets not necessarily automatically getting along in a home environment.
Thank you. My thumb did start to hurt more as the days went on. I asked to see the dog’s rabies vaccination that was provided after she questioned why my thumb wasn’t bandaged when she returned home. Just an all-around bad experience for me.
I’m curious what process you used to introduce them and let them get acclimated. Surely you didn’t just go in and set your dog down?
I’m also not sure I’d call that a bite. The dog didn’t bite you. You put your finger in its mouth and scraped it on its tooth. That’s not really a bite…
What happened that the HO said your dog instigated it?
If feel like there is a lot of info missing here and we’d get a very different story from the HO with the truth landing somewhere in the middle.
This sounds to me like a situation that got a bit out of hand and wasn’t really anyone’s fault in particular. How come you mentioned waiting patiently at the door for a long time?
We had two dogs on a sit once who fought horribly on occasion. I mean it looked bad, with lots of snarling and biting at each other but no damage was ever done. I’ve been told to never get involved in a dog fight. They can usually work it out for themselves (especially if they aren’t those super strong breeds) and the risk of injury to you is really high.
If the host and sitter didn’t take time to acclimate the pets (doesn’t sound like, but maybe OP can share such details), it would’ve been a mutual failing.
Pets aren’t responsible for themselves — they need humans to set them up for success.
I should start another topic because this pet sit went from bad to worse. The German shepherd had terrible diarrhea a few days later, then she began to vomit on the bed comforters and rugs for two nights. The corgi in retribution for not allowing it to sleep with me and my dog pooped on the owner’s bed and also her daughter’s.
I cleaned up the poop and vomit, washed the bedsheets and comforters, washed down the diarrhea on the artificial grass in the backyard, and left the room I occupied in immaculate condition. The owner complained that the dogs probably couldn’t get outside (not true because their doggie door was open during the day) and that it took too long for me to leave (as I continued to wash, dry, and fold her laundry). Boy, I had second thoughts about going the extra mile on this sit!
That’s an interesting opinion on your part. How should the dogs have been introduced? She accepted the terms by confirming my application with a full description of my small dog who weighed 1/3 the size of the Corgi. Over the four day sit, the corgi sought out my dog even while she was in a detached room and attacked her on two other occasions while I had a friend over for dinner. The German shepherd had no issues with my dog. This was the first time during a pet sit that my dog was attacked. And while my injury may not have been intended for me there are several teeth marks on my thumb that caused blood to flow onto the back porch. I wouldn’t classify that as a “graze”. My 11 year old dog stayed as far away from this Corgi as she could. I think upgrading my membership to premium would’ve allowed me to leave with the owner’s consent. She called me in tears because the neighbors called her and complained about the barking. She had grand plans for that weekend and I reassured her that I could handle everything so she could enjoy her extended weekend. I kept the dogs quiet and she received no further complaints. But I didn’t expect the German Shepherd to have major diarrhea and vomitting. Nor did I expect the corgi to poop on the beds for two nights. After cleaning up everything, the woman complained that I took so long to finish. To me that seemed ungrateful and I learned that some losses should be cut short. That sit left me exhausted. Thank goodness my next pet owner was kind and compassionate and her dog was a sweetheart.
FWIW, I sit with my dog and I always meet the resident pet(s) before I introduce mine. If I don’t have a good feeling about the dogs, I don’t introduce mine and that’s the end of it. Yes, they can take time to warm up, but if there’s going to be a problem, it’s usually evident pretty quickly. So sorry for what you and your dog experienced!
Just as an FYI on introducing dogs as this may help others:
I do foster home assessments for a rescue group and we’re required to bring our dog along to see how the potential fosters respond to/interact with my dog.
When the potential foster person has a dog I always require the two dogs meet outside on neutral ground first, never have a first meeting in the home of the dog where they may feel territorial or threatened.
With both dogs leashed we meet outside on the street or sidewalk, not in the yard. If that intro goes well then we can move inside and I closely monitor any hackling, lip curling, or other signs they may not get along.
I also always require the potential foster put away any dog toys until after the two dogs have spent time together and we can assess any resource guarding.
Also if you ever have to separate two dogs fighting or biting, grab the dogs by the rear end/hindquarters if you can, try to avoid trying to pull them apart by handling their head or neck area.
These are your words from your OP. If you didn’t describe the situation accurately then it’s not really our fault that we didn’t know it was more serious than you said.
You can always leave a sit if you don’t feel safe. That ability doesn’t change based on your membership type. You just have to reach out to MS and coordinate with them.
Pets get sick and it’s our job to take care of the results. That is just part of being a sitter. A sucky one, yes, but part and parcel of the gig.
As for introducing the dogs, I’d personally have met the dogs first without my own pet. Then introduced them in neutral territory during a walk or something. Then brought my dog into the home.
With the premium membership her cancellation would’ve compensated $150 per night. I had no where else to go and limited funds at this point. Did you say, “ surely you didn’t just put your dog down on the floor?” That’s exactly what I did!
I asked if other sitters have had a dog bite experience. I’m not on trial here nor do I need to be cross-examined by you. A condescending and judgmental attitude would discourage anyone from sharing a house or pet sit situation or at least think twice about openly discussing it.
And for all the advice on not bringing my dog, that’s not going to happen. I state in my initial contact with a home owner that my dog and I are inseparable. They decline my application if that’s not acceptable. No hard feelings.
That situation I describe was a nightmare that we got through. I think another post about house cleaning and pet sitting is a topic I’ll bring up. I didn’t sign up to spend three days of my four day pet sit wiping up vomit, washing laundry, removing diarrhea on rugs and outdoors. Then to be told I took too long finishing up. At least the dogs were well cared for and the entire house was spotless. The yard was also cleaned up. I feel good about the work I did and will chalk this up as a learning experience.
