We were asked to take the dogs for walks 2 times a day. No problem. After chitchatting with their cleaner one day, I found out that the dogs really don’t get walked at all. So I assume that when pet parents write up these listings, some include “wish list” for their pets that they don’t usually do
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I’ve run into this a couple times. I always try to follow the HO instructions, but I also listen to the pets, within reason. And I explain to the HOs what my general pattern is with doggos to see if they’re ok with it. One sit was hilarious. The HO was all “she LOVES her 6 am walks and we’re usually out for at least 30 minutes”. 6 am bleh, but needs must so I was ready to do it. That dog had less than 0 interest in getting out of bed for a 6 am walk. She rarely started moving before 9 am and once I had to literally shove her booty off the bed at 11 am because I had lunch plans. She was hilarious, I loved her. 
I think the HO loves HER 6 am walks and the dog is just dragged along for company but would rather be a bed burrito for as long as possible. We would do plenty of walking though, just more with my general pattern vs following the 6 am thing.
My general pattern is that we do a quick morning pee/poo, as needed. Then a bit later we’ll just start wandering. Walk to the park and have a run then sit and look at a nice view. Walk to a cafe and have a cup of tea and a drink and we can both people watch for a while. Walk to another park and do some sniffing and running around. Find a nice place for an outdoor lunch, walk there, and enjoy some more people watching. Continue our walk and swing through another park for more play time, then head home. All together we’ll be out for 5-6 hours and walking a good bit of the time with rest/water stops in between. Then we’ll do a pre-bed pee break and repeat the next day. I find the dogs like this routine as it gets them out of the house for much of the day, they get to go new places and sniff new things, they get loved on but lots of different people, and they get a lot of good walking and play time. It also gives me a chance to go out and do things/explore without feeling bad about the doggo being home alone. Obviously this won’t work for all dogs in all weather or all locations, but I find most seem to like it and I make sure to choose places to sit that are dog friendly (and clear it with the HO first to make sure there are no issues/concerns about it).
I also have done sits with mis-matched energy dogs and finding a routine for them can be a challenge. I find that throwing balls/sticks for younger dogs and letting them run and expend energy while walking at a more sedate pace with the older dog can work well. Then they both get a nice bit of exercise but the young one also gets to run off that extra energy and I don’t have to walk them separately. One sit I did had an oldie and a puppy so at the start of the walk we’d break a branch off a dead tree and I’d throw it ahead for pupper. Oldie and I would stroll along and pupper would tear back and forth with the stick. We’d walk all the way to the park at the end and then dip our toes in the river and watch the ducks swim/play fetch with pupper until oldie woke from her nap. Then we’d repeat the process on the way back and then both dogs would crash for hours when we got home.
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I’m coming walking pets with you @CreatureCuddler 
as it sounds like coffee, civilised timings, chit chat & all that good stuff. We just had pretty similar, definite reference to “loves a long walk between 5 & 6am for 45 minutes” and the reality of a reluctant drag out for a 20 minute meander at 8am & then another flop down 
#pahto6amwalks #bedburritosrule
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I just finished a sit where the small dog walked twice a day. I walked him 5 times, I did the walk with the HO before she left. Because I just didn’t understand his signals to go out. This way, he did all his business on the walks, I liked walking him, so win win. My first sit, they stated walks, but I don’t think they did. It was a pit mix, who was let out and there was poop all over the backyard, which they asked me to pick up. Which I did since I wanted to play fetch with him and didn’t want a poopy ball. I walked him 4 times a day, and he only pooped when we walked, he got he played in the backyard. What HO wants and what is best for the dog may be two different things.
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Do you check with the HOs before going on these expeditions? We’ve found that some HOs aren’t comfortable with their dog being taken to restaurants or parks. Others encourage it. We’ve also been hesitant unless the HOs say they do similar things. The last thing I want is to stress out the dog or have something happen that upsets the HOs.
Do you check with the HOs before going on these expeditions?
Yes. I’ve never had a HO who had a problem with it.
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Best to always ask at the outset. That’s because if you can take the dog out, that allows the sitter much greater flexibility.
During chats with hosts before sits, I find out how much dogs can walk and whether they can ride in cars. Like my current sit dog can’t, so we don’t go out together.
By contrast, I’ve taken some sit dogs on all sorts of sightseeing — long walks, hop on, hop off tourist buses, a river cruise, a ferry, a Ferris wheel, black cabs in the U.K., Lyfts and such. And on some sits, I take dogs in my rental car.
Their humans were happy that their dogs had many outings and much attention — from me and others we met along the way, two- and four-legged. I always share photos with updates. My hosts have mentioned such in their reviews, too.
To me, it’s just basic communications to discuss what pets can and can’t do. Don’t surprise hosts by suddenly having their pet do X things.
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We discuss this before committing to a sit. If we’re applying for a dog sit, it’s usually because we want to walk and explore that particular area . If the dog can’t come with us and also can’t be left long enough for us to go and do these hikes then it’s not a suitable sit for us .
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chit chat
this still has me laughing because I talk to my doggos all the time when we’re out and about and I’m sure it makes me sound nuts but it can also make the people around me laugh. 
But generally yes, I prefer much more chill meanderings that take hours when possible as I find it fills up both our days and makes them more interesting. Just always have to remember to bring a bowl and water for doggo in case the places we stop don’t have them.
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For water en route I sometimes use just a poop bag. Open it, fold it down a little so it is more sturdy and pour in some water from my bottle. When finished just give the bag a little shake and I can use it for the intended purpose. Probably works best for smaller dogs, might not be big enough for the larger ones.
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nice. I have collapsible silicone bowls in my campervan so if the HO doesn’t have something I just grab one of those. they fit in my purse and I always have a water bottle. But I also only do dog sits in dog friendly countries so almost always there are water bowls out at the places I stop or the server will bring one when we settle in.
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Ha! This reminds me of a lovely sit that I did last year, the owners claimed they walked the two dogs twice a day for an hour each time. Perfect, I will happily do that.
These two dogs were NOT normally walked that much, they were exhausted (we ran into owners friends who commented that they never had seen them so tired!) they managed it and built up stamina during the week but then they would sleep all day!
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Talking about rules the owners set and don’t follow. I just came across this picture
In a listing that said ”kitchen is forbidden for the cats”
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To be fair, that cat’s facial expression suggests that he knows very well that the kitchen is forbidden for the cats 
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whatchoo gonna do 'bout it? huh?
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If you don’t tell them , neither will I 
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We use something like this for our dog and my most recent host with a dog who could go on adventures had something similar, except theirs didn’t have the feeding part.
Anyway, with something like this, there’s no loose bowl or separate water bottle to carry. You just have to make sure you don’t let the food grow stale or let the water sit for long. On my most recent sit with an adventure dog, I took apart the bottle to refill it and cleaned out mold that had built up. My hosts probably never checked that and just routinely refilled the bottle.
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Before a recent sit, I was planning on taking the dogs to the beach. But the owner said that the puppy had gotten sick in the car and he would rather take them to the beach himself. I think he knew I would have problems at dog beach with them. Luckily he told me no. Even when my daughter showed up and walked one, so I didn’t have to manage two, it was very trying. The next walk was a small dog and the owner was cool with taking him to dog beach (these were back to back sits in the same area). He loved the beach, the owner was pleased that I had taken him. I took him to Costco, to Home Depot. Costco was cool, surprised me but it was CA and he was a small dog. Most dogs like adventure. The sit in spring, I took on errands, he went to a surf shop, hung out at USC. I have a sit coming up and they never took him down to dog beach, in a different country that previous sit, but I am familiar, and she was hesitant at first, but then kind of like the idea of me taking him for a walk on the boardwalk. I think small dogs are easier to do this when they are not yours.
Years ago a friend of our neighbors sat for us and we found out afterwards that she took our old dog in her car to a buddhist centre an hour away (this is in France) and walked her a specific number of times around a shrine as a kind of blessing and also in hopes of healing her arthritis. We were surprised and kind of amused. Our dog liked going to new places so it was just a fun outing for her but it didn’t do anything for her arthritis.
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