HO didn't tell us about their new puppy...

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
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We’re currently renovating our home. Instead of staying at the house (one of us works from home full-time, the other a couple of days a week), we have decided to do a series of dog/house-sitting through TH. We’ve done four weeks in total in two houses (with different dogs) and have had a wonderful experience. We’re on our third dog sit, and things aren’t going well.

Firstly, when we visited the family before committing, they said there would be four dogs (2 ‘teenagers’ and two older dogs). They also have three horses, geese, and sheep. However, we were instructed not to feed any other animals as someone would come to do that. We just needed to focus on the dogs.

However, upon arrival, we have found out the following (they have not told us beforehand):

  • One of the older dogs passed away, and they got a 12-week-old puppy
  • We are in charge of looking after the horses, geese, and sheep.
  • We have to bottle-feed a baby lamb.

They have taken one of the dogs with them (so we have 3 to look after). This took us aback and is frustrating, as they didn’t let us know because “they didn’t want to scare us away.”

While the dogs are lovely, we have faced additional issues at the house:

  • Dogs are constantly barking at night.
  • Expected to puppy train the puppy - she is frequently covered in poo in the morning.
  • One of the other dogs is using the kitchen as a toilet.
  • I’ve had to clean the entire kitchen - the kitchen has loads of flies and is dirty.
  • Moths are everywhere - we were told that this issue shouldn’t be a problem by the time we came.

We both work full-time, and I spend most of my energy cleaning after the animals. (I go to campus this week to work, and my partner works at home—hence, the situation makes his work difficult.)

We haven’t been given very clear instructions (there is no welcome guide), and we have no idea if we’re expected to train the puppy (we’ve had no experience with puppies). We’re feeling very overwhelmed and frustrated, as this is not what we signed up for.

To top it all off, the other night we had to take the puppy to the vets because she had eaten a load of chocolate (how she managed to get it is still a mystery as it was high up on the counter). The puppy is absolutely fine now but the owners don’t seem that interested in her health!

We sent them a message, to which they said they were sorry, but at the same time, they seemed to think this was ok… It just seems baffling and incredibly selfish and irresponsible. We’re coping and only have a week left, but it’s just frustrating that they didn’t tell us anything. (Oh, and they haven’t even written a welcome guide!!)

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I’d give them 24 hours to organize alternative care and I’d then leave. They pulled a bait and switch on you.

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It’s so deceitful when this happens. We once agreed to look after 8 dogs (all outdoor), we turned up there were 17, including four 4week-old puppies!
It was manageable, but I hated the feeling that the owners thought this was normal!

We gave a balanced review, but did of course mention the 17 iso 8 issue. I think, in your case, this is probably the best thing to do too. Now that the reviews are blind and there are different categories, I wouldn’t hold back!

Wishing you the best for the rest of the week!

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As @Maggie8K says - inform them that they have broken a number of Ts & Cs in the sit (quote the sub sections at them) so we are giving you 24 hours notice to find alternative cover OR send someone to look after horse/geese/sheep as agreed and remove the puppy. First option is way better but second could prove costly to you guys. Make sure you screenshot the original sit listing and the WG before this potentially gets acrimonious. #youareintheright

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Re the 3 horses, if they’re in a field with poor grass (muddy or full of weeds) just check the water is full and possibly throw one flake (it’s a large piece about 5 inches depth that falls away from a big block of hay) per horse over the fence at a distance of 10 ft from each other so they don’t fight over the piles. One flake in the morning and one at night should keep them ticking over for the 24 hours whilst you get ready to leave.
If the grass is good don’t feed anything just check the water.

Re the house moths, put all your belongings into black rubbish sacks to transport home. Do not take into your house, but leave in the garage to avoid a moth infestation. Treat everything with moth killer. Put clothing into freezer bags and freeze for 48 hours to kill the eggs…

Good luck.

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What @Maggie8K said. I would also make sure that the sit was shortened and not cancelled so that you can leave an accurate review and just restate the facts you have listed here with a corresponding star rating.

In future, I would encourage you to get that welcome guide as early as you can before or right after accepting the sit. Regardless, these HOs just sound like dishonest people.

Sorry you’re going through it! X

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@lilmushington Welcome to the forum- sorry that you are having this experience.

So the owners are well aware that the extra responsibilities had they been disclosed would have made it difficult to find a sitter , since the exchange is no longer mutual. Rather than ask if you would be okay they deliberately decided to keep this information undisclosed until your arrival. That is disrespectful of you and your time and your worth.

It’s up to you if you decide to continue with the sit and if you are ok with being mistreated by the owner in this way . However, you are under no obligation to continue with the sit - since the owners have broken the T&Cs .

Specifically

5.2.5. notify a Sitter of any special requirements or behaviours relating to your pet(s) in your Home Listing and when you communicate with any Sitter and during the Handover;

5.2.7. ensure that the details of your Home Listing are accurate and up to date;

5.2.9. only provide Member Content that accurately reflects the quality and condition of your home and or pet(s);

5.2.12. not have any pets which aren’t explicitly listed in the details of the Home Listing;

Once you have decided what you are going to do you can also consider if you wish to raise a member dispute

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I have read your thread a second time and I don’t think that you are actually asking for help.
You may have not realised that you can leave but many of us, me included, would not carry on with this onerous sitting.
If you do decide to stay on then please make sure that you leave a full honest review. In my opinion, these owners should not be on the site so don’t hold back with your review.
Good luck with however you decide to proceed

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I am really sorry to hear about all of that. The fact that they admitted they withheld all this information from you must really sting in particular.

It sounds like you are just sharing your experience, and aren’t looking for any sort of advice about whether you should leave early,etc…

But I just wanted to share one thing that occurred to me if I were in your situation. And you may have already thought about this:

If I were at a sit like this, I would probably not express any displeasure about any aspect of what happened prior to leaving the review. This is especially true with people who were so blatantly dishonest, because no matter how great of a job we did, I wouldn’t trust them to review us honestly if they knew they were probably going to get negative feedback from us.

Just be sure to keep the feedback factual and free of emotion and dramatic language–while some situations probably certainly call for it, it can make the feedback seem less credible! Future HOs may look at the feedback you left for prior sits and those sorts of reviews may give them pause.

That these people knowingly misled you makes them ill-suited for this exchange and it is important people know that in particular.

Best of luck with the rest of the week!

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Hi @lilmushington
I’m sorry the HO’s have landed you with such a situation and I too would be giving 24 hour notice that I’m quitting due to numerous rule breaks. Sounds like they need to be paying people for the amount of animal care needed tbh.

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@lilmushington do you have in writing via WhatsApp, text etc the HO saying they didn’t disclose the additional pets and responsibilities upfront because they didn’t want to scare you off? If so, send a screenshot to member services as this is solid proof, explicitly stated by the HO, that they were purposefully dishonest and deceitful. File a dispute with member services and tell the HO you are leaving immediately. It is not fair for you to be over burden while they enjoy their holiday!

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