I was thinking about a recent sit I had in which the HO told me to ignore the fact that her dog eats everything it sees on walks. She even put it in her Welcome Guide but didn’t mention it when we met during our IRL meet and greet. I was so stressed out on our walks (3x day)! She had a nose that could detect bits of food clear across the park and as soon as she caught the scent, she’d pull me toward it. My arms and shoulders were sore during the entire sit. But even more concerning was the danger of her eating something that would make her sick or worse, kill her.
I’ve had dogs all my life and my instinct was to always try to make her drop it, but she would growl, snap and try to bite me when I tried to stop her from eating things off the ground. It really bothered me that this behavior was being tolerated. I doubt I’ll apply for another sit with this family. Other than that one issue, it was a great sit.
How do you all handle situations like this, where HO/PO’s have indulged and encouraged bad habits that endanger their pets?>
She was some sort of hound mix. The way her nose controlled her life she definitely had a lot of scent hound in her DNA. She wasn’t prey driven; she ignored the many squirrels and rabbits we encountered on our walks. Her nose sought any edible morsel, even when buried in grass and silt.
Depending on how long we are on a sit, we try and do our best to correct pets’ bad behavior, and many pet owners thank us for it. We have looked after many dogs that also eat everything on their walk. One dog got sick from eating moose droppings, among other things, and it was not a pretty picture… Another dog ate every piece of paper and tissue he encountered. After we left, the owners told us he ate snail bait, almost died, but luckily survived. We were relieved it did not happen on our watch.!
We are always on the lookout, we say “leave it” firmly and pull them tight on their leash. Walking dogs who eat everything is hard work!
We also trained kittens and cats not to jump on kitchen counters and tables by spraying them with water, clapping our hands and saying “down”. It takes time, repetition and consistency. It is all in how we suggest to pet owners that their pets’ behavior could be improved to prevent illnesses and injuries.
We used spraying water on a dog on our last sit to discourage it from stealing things from kitchen benches, but the owners had a couple of dog training books that were discouraging any negative consequences so we were a bit wary of telling the owners this. We did tell them about mixing a vinegar lemon & chili spray to stop him chewing things.
It’s difficult to know how much training to do with dogs on a short sit. Lots of dog owners have allowed bad habits. In fact we haven’t had many dogs that I’d call well trained.
This is a hard one, if they are “off lead dogs” it’s hard as they could have already got to the said food before you are even aware, thankfully we have not had dogs that “eat anything” off lead, however have had a few “on lead” just like we make them stop at the curb and wait to cross the Road, if we see the food we will keep them walking, we had one who spent most of the day sitting at the “treat” cupboard door when ever we were inside… we felt sad for the Dog. I would ask lots of questions and keep a really close on the Dog and potentially not sit it again. The Dog that was food obsessed stressed me out, it ever drank the Coffee dregs from the Machine, we don’t drink Coffee so the smell was never there and interestingly the Dog seemed fine that there was no Coffee. x
I came across this thread while looking something else from the forum. It’s an old one, but it made me feel somewhat uneasy…
I would never expect (or want) a sitter to train my dog or cat in any way without me asking for it, let alone to use spray bottles We have a rather sensitive dog who would feel horrible, if treated like that or made to walk next to you or behind you all of a sudden (that was another thread)! Or same with the cats. Our cats are allowed to sleep on a table when there’s no food, and it would certainly not be ok to train them not to.
Now I’m wondering, how common something like this really is? Do sitters really take on to train pets out of their “bad habits” during a sit?
I’m curious to see what other sitters say. We wouldn’t ‘train’ (can’t teach old dogs new tricks?), but IF we have NOT been told that said dog or cat is very sensitive, we might be a tad stricter than the owners, especially when out and about, just for the pet’s own safety. I would hate for something bad to happen because I didn’t want to hurt the dog’s feelings! At the same time, we don’t feel bad about being strict when out’n’about, because once home again, we give so much love and cuddles, that all is forgiven.
When you tell me that your pet is very sensitive, especially to being reprimanded, we make a point to do positive reinforcement only, as we understand especially foster/adopted pets come from all kinds of backgrounds.
When we sit younger pups, and I see they are amenable, I certainly enforce better behaviour. Where it’s a well trained older dog taking chances, I might also enforce a quick reminder (they generally respond so well when they see the visiting sitter is not to be messed with!). When it’s an older dog with poor manners, we generally go with the flow (unless unsafe).
Cats are different. If I don’t want them on a tabletop or bed, I’ll make it clear and they get the message. Again, I don’t feel bad because we give so much love otherwise. And again, if you tell me the cats have free roam of tabletops etc, then we respect it. I guess it’s all about communication.
I personally don’t like dogs in the kitchen while I cook, and will either close the door if there is one, or chase the dog out or send them to hubby. Most dogs will forget daily. So I keep doing it. Not to train them, but to keep my own sanity in a stranger’s kitchen.
I think you have a very valid point. It’s not up to the sitters to change pets habits. We are stepping into your life for however many days and the welfare of the pets is paramount so we (try) to keep them in their usual routine so as not to make them even more confused. That includes knowing their habits and what they are allowed and not allowed to do.
However, I would expect their habits (good or bad) posted on your listing. Then if I the sitter found them unacceptable they don’t apply. For example I will not sleep with pets in or on my bed. My bed is sacred and my husband is lucky he’s allowed in it. So no matter how otherwise perfect the sit sounds I don’t apply if the dog sleeps on the bed.
To be completely sure I always talk about the pets behaviour and habits during the video call. Yet again, “it’s all about good communication “.
Hi TheSaviSitter, I have nee amazed by how some of the pets I have sat for have had no training whatsoever. Have had a couple that would eat anything. Definitely difficult to get them to stop. But the worst i have found is dogs who have simply never been taught to walk to heel. Have walked some that absolutely pulled like trains. it has seemed like every walk was a tug o’war. I have ended up with aching arms and am sure the dog has ended up with an aching neck, whether with a collar or a harness. Also extremely excitable dogs, who would jump all over the place and race around in curcles, when knowing they were going for a walk, so much so that it has been extremely diiffficult to put the lead on. Have had some success with stopping this, by walking away until calmed down and eventually saying sit and then good girl/boy. Has taken about a week. Am sure back to old habits when ownetrs returned. One of the worst habits I found was with a cat, who was fed on the table whilst you were eating. And as overfed, had to help it up onto the table. Not very pleasant having a tail swish in your breakfast whilst trying to eat. I had not been expecting to share every meal with a cat. Thankfully it happily ate at a lower level.
I am replying as a sitter and the answer for us is no we would not do that. The reason for us personally is that we are just visiting and we really have no say over how a pet is trained etc (whether we agree with the training/behaviour or not) and most training is more extensive than our skill set and would take longer than the duration of the sit and would the owner want to keep it up anyway?
I guess what is a bad habit for one person could be an endearing quality for another.
We have had dogs that really pulled or have been particularly reactive and this has been a struggle at times, but we only consider the dog’s safety and ours. I agree that eating things out on a walk is a real safety issue, we have not yet had that one!
I think for us, we have learnt from trial and error that we only choose listings that work for us and we try and match behavioural characteristics as much as possible. So if a cat jumps on the sides then we would never change this if they always do it, but we would not apply for the sit if that was an issue for us.
I think you naturally make small adjustments as no one is an exact replica of the owner. For example, one owner fed food from the table whilst eating but the owner was happy if we were not comfortable with that, so we just told to dog no and ignored it when eating and a couple of days in it gave up. I’m not saying it is always that easy but that was a win for us!
We have always let pets sleep in the same bed or bedroom with us, but have learnt that due to several disturbed night’s sleep, this is potentially not something that we would apply for in the future.
I agree with @ElsieDownie that clear communication is the best bet. I also like listings where there are lots of details about the pet’s routine and behaviour. It can definitely be challenging if you turn up to sit and everything hasn’t been disclosed (maybe as an oversight as the owner was just so used to the habit/behaviour) This has happened to us and we just deal with it the best we can, add a tactful mention in the feedback and make sure we add more questions to our video call list!
As has been said, I only enforce what the owners have expressed as unacceptable behaviors. I don’t retrain but adapt and find ways to manage what is to my comfort level.
I had a cat once that was allowed to eat out of the owners plate at the table. I ate elsewhere.
That’s how I see it as well. It’s ok to adjust some things (feeding from the table, dogs licking you et c.), but not really train the pet. It might be, that the owner don’t really want their pet to behave in that new way.
I think it would be good to include as many of these in the listing, as @ElsieDownie suggested. However, it might sometimes be a bit tricky. I’m drafting my listing now, and there’s so much that should be mentioned, that it’s impossible to include everything. Also, like @Carla said, “bad habits” do not mean the same to everyone. So it’s important for the sitter to ask about the things, that are important to them when discussing with the owner.
We have no interest in training a pet with new behaviours- that’s not our job- but we’re happy to continue reinforcing good behaviour if that’s part of the routine. We see ourselves just as a temporary caretaker to keep things as normal for the pets as possible.
An important question we always ask, if not mentioned, is if the dog pulls hard on the lead. Early on we had a dog who pulled so hard he nearly caused injury on several occasions. My husband had a frozen shoulder at the time so handling the dog was my job that sit. I would have to brace myself before the door was opened as the dog would literally shoot out like a bullet and want to run straight across a busy road. It was highly stressful and an ordeal every time not to be dragged into a road accident. And once, after several stressful walks, the dog pulled me across a field so hard I slipped on wet grass, losing hold of the lead, and he shot across the park terrifying 2 little kids with mini dogs. I felt awful for them and angry that the owners had simply not warned us at all. Some days we just did not walk as there was fortunately a huge garden for the dog to run around.
In the house he was a total sweetheart! And the house & area were lovely etc so not a bad sit at all. Just the walking issue.
They wrote us a great review so (being relatively new at the time) we didn’t feel able to say anything negative in our feedback. And nor have any of the many subsequent sitters mentioned the pulling, though I’m certain they all experienced it too! The dog was just impossible to walk.
Now, 50+ sits later, I would find a way to express this issue in a balanced feedback rather than avoiding it altogether or leaving no feedback at all. We certainly would have appreciated a heads up and would not have applied.
Another no no is dogs that have to sleep in or on the bed. If its mentioned in the listing as important we would not apply and if its mentioned in the video call we would withdraw our application. No judgement on those who like this, or at least don’t mind, its just not for us! However a dog sleeping peacefully in its own bed in the room is sometimes OK!
I don’t think it’s likely to have much success training a pet during the length of a housesit, and I can imagine some pet owners not being thrilled with the attempt. I only catsit because I’ve always had cats myself so am more familiar with them … but also because I know too many dog owners who don’t seem to see their dog’s behavioural issues, or think they’re cute versus annoying/dangerous behaviours. I occasionally think I’d love to expand to dogsitting, but while I have confidence I can handle a badly behaved cat, a badly behaved dog can be dangerous to themselves and me so I’ve decided against it.
I agree @Lokstar. We always ask about pulling and sleeping arrangements when determining if a dog sit is a good fit for us. There are pet parents who don’t realize how mis-behaved their dogs are, and some dogs act out more with people they don’t know well (or don’t think of as their “alphas”). These sits might be great for other sitters, but we’re happiest steering clear of them.
We have a rather sensitive dog who would feel horrible, if treated like that or made to walk next to you or behind you all of a sudden (that was another thread)! Or same with the cats. Our cats are allowed to sleep on a table when there’s no food, and it would certainly not be ok to train them not to.