I recruited a housesitter who would be able to be home with my two older dogs most of the time. He took vacation to housesit and stated he had a lot of online work he needed to do that would keep him home. After noticing large time gaps in coming and going on garage door notifications, I looked at open/close history. I discovered he has been leaving my dogs for hours at a time several times a day. They have been left home every day for 12 to 14 hours a day. He does come home after 4-5 hours for a short time and then leaves again for several more hours. I called him yesterday and told him what I discovered. He didn’t deny it and indicated he was working for Door Dash. He never mentioned this to me before I selected him to sit. I again explain my expectation when I selected him and that he said he was taking vacation and would be able to be home most of the time. He agreed to stay home more but now he just parks outside the garage and uses another door to enter and I have no idea what he’s doing. I don’t know what to do. Do I call Trusted Sitters Emergency number? Do I try to make other arrangements for my dogs until I get home? Suggestions, please.
That is what I may do too, when I am on a sit.
Hi @Sdbabs sounds the agreed upon expectations changed on behalf of the sitter.
If you are not comfortable with the arrangement and you have a plan B…do it and ask the sitter to leave.
Adjust the dates of the sit should the sitter be relieved by plan b and leaves early but don’t cancel the sit because then you can not leave a review just adjust the dates.
If he’s doing something different than what he said he was going to do, then he is not a TrustedHousesitter. I would go with plan b immediately and leave a proper review. When we apply for a sit, we are upfront about how much of the day will be spent at the home. There are times when we will be more busy looking around the new city but I’m upfront about it and then the pet parent can decide if it will work for them or not.
That would be an absolute “no” for me. With an older dog, I would expect someone to be with the dog for most of the day, most days.
This emphasises the need to clarify expectations on both sides before the sit.
What was the actual agreement regarding how long he could be away from the home? Was there a clear agreement that he was required to be there all the time or most of the time, or was it just stated that the dogs could be left 4-5 hours at a time? Maybe there was a miscommunication. It’s clear he’s not doing what you wanted or expected, but it could be that he thinks not leaving for more than 4-5 hours at a time was the agreement. Just trying to look at it from both sides.
How do normal people lead their lives? They work, they have a social life.
I have been sitting for an 18-year-old dog in Germany near Basel. Very sweet, but she could not walk further than around the block and she did not see well (she could bump into a parked car). She slept most of the day.
Since walking her did not take much time, I could go out into the village or into the city, or cycle along the river Rhine, up to Augst or down to France. I bought a museum card so that I could pop in and out and come back. There were days that I was mostly at the home, but not most days.
Or the old pugs in Cambridge in this trip. They were also mostly sleeping and snoring.
It was on the sits with young and active dogs that I spent much more time with them, walking them and taking them to pubs etc.
Although we are classed as housesitters, its really petsitters in our case.
We joined to spend time with pets and tend to only leave them whilst going shopping or the occasional meal, i realise we may be in the minority though.
For example, if the weather was good, we would take the dogs for a 4-5 hour walk (if they were able), rather than leaving them for 4-5 hours
If we were mainly interested in sightseeing, we would simply book a holiday cottage and do that, which we have done many times in the past.
In every sit, it all depends on what was agreed at the very start.
For us, its about the pets really.
Do whatever makes you comfortable based on what you agreed with your sitter, what is now happening and how the pets are faring. Only you can decide if it’s 1)reassess with current sitter, 2)find a new sitting arrangement or 3)return home. Dogs can of course be left comfortably for 4/5 hours at a time but if they said they’d be in the home a lot as company and they’re not then that’s not what you all agreed on for this particular sit. #petsneedscomefirst
You balance your life dependent on the needs of your pet, or good owners should do anyway.
This changes as the pet ages and they need their owners more.
We own particular pets for a relatively short time and in that short time, we really show them love.
As your children get older, they get less dependant, with animals-its the reverse.
Back to common sense again really.
But for a total of 12 - 14 hours every day? I recruited for a sitter that could be home most of the time and that was our agreement.
If I wanted to just stay in a home and hang out with pets, I wouldn’t pay or make the effort to travel. There are plenty of pet shelters in most regions and/or you could charge to sit locally.
I’d expect a sitter to live up to what was agreed.
In your current case, practicality wise, can you afford to get alternative care quickly if you confront your sitter and they leave?
What did you actually agree to? If it was that the pets shouldn’t be left for more than 4-5 hours, well, he’s doing that and you should have been more specific.
Also: this level of excessive surveillance is not ok on your part.
You wouldn’t, @Maggie8K but when we are travelling for long periods of time there is nothing we like more than having a reason to stay in, snuggle with the furries, cook our own meals, read a good book.
Your way is right for you, but there are many different sitters doing it for many different reasons.
Yup, for sure. That’s a break from traveling and makes sense for folks who are nomads, for instance.
We are all different
Yup, for sure. The pets get the benefit of your needing a break from travel if say you’re a nomad or on extended travels. Like my sit pets get the benefits of my telecommuting from sits. Yet your and my needs are based on travel first, because there’s no need to be there if not on your way to something else in your case or sightseeing off work time in mine.
We have some great memories, fantastic laughs with our pet sits.
Things we wouldn’t have experienced without doing it.
These things alone justify the expense of joining and travel costs.
It’s only money, has to be spent on something. Laughter and memories is a great way to spend it
If I stayed home more, I’d foster. It looks like a lot of work, but rewarding.
I’ve had a lot of fun with sit pets, but the travel is what makes it worthwhile to me. Like yesterday my sit dog and I took a hop on, hop off tour bus ride all over Stratford-upon-Avon and surrounds. We stayed on the bus for the full ride, since I’d toured the sights last year, before the first time I sat him.