Hi sitters. Would appreciate your thoughts please - I have just posted a listing for June.
We have a lovely gentle dog who is that rare thing, a low-maintenance Springer Spaniel, (apart from his surgical bills which have been outrageous!) He is a rescue and was probably dumped by a breeder/trainer who was more savvy than we were about what a small limp could indicate. To cut a long story short, he’s now had surgery on 3 out of 4 legs, but remains an extremely happy active guy and the surgeon says that the secret to him doing so well is that he is allowed out in the morning to sniff around the fields by himself at his own pace for 1-2 hours and then he happily rests for the rest of the day. We are so lucky that we live on a large patch of farmland owned by my father-in-law, he can go where he likes and not bother anyone and he knows his boundaries and doesn’t cross roads. (This only goes wrong if next-door’s dog leads him astray but we co-ordinate so they’re not out together). He wears a tracker so you can see exactly where he is and also call him back if necessary.
So there is no need to walk him every day but maybe once or twice a week take him somewhere nice for a swim, and throw his ball for him occasionally for bonding.
It seems to us like an ideal arrangement but our last sitter was very nervous and ended up taking him on short lead walks every day as she was afraid to let him out. There was a bit of a language issue and perhaps we could have reassured her more if her English comprehension were better.
I now know perhaps some sitters will be put off by a dog who basically walks himself, especially if they are from places where this would not be possible, but is there anything I can do to minimise this?
If you’ve not already done this, I suggest noting clearly in your listing that you’re looking for a sitter experienced in walking dogs off lead. Then explain what you did here. That way, less experienced or less confident sitters can opt out of applying and you’re more likely to find a match.
I will also repeat my suggestion of having all sitters registered on the local Facebook or Community lost and found page. I did as the HO asked and walked his dogs off lead on the beach twice a day for 10 days. I even came 2 days before the official sit so I could do it while he was around if something went wrong. Well, after 10 days they took off up the path from the beach to the streets. A very stressful hour before one of the people I talked to found them. I will mention to him about getting a tracker. That would make me more comfortable in the future. As it is they are on house-arrest until he gets home today.’
@ElEd Some dogs are easily recalled by their parents but not by others. My dog is one of those. She walks off lead with me but is not safe to do so with others. Every sitter is going to be concerned about your dog wandering off when they are responsible for them. Just be clear that your dog does not wander off when in the care of others. Another idea might be to have the sitter in the day prior to departure and let them go out and recall the dog when they are off on a wander so that they have the confidence that they won’t be calling you while you’re on holiday and telling you that you’re dog has wandered off.
Good that you have a GPS on the dog. My partners dog is a free range dog and occasionally a passerby has picked her up and called. I am trying to get him to use a GPS.
Hi @ElEd,
It is always slightly terrifying letting someone else’s dog off the lead for the first time, especially when, as a sitter, I’m probably not familiar with the area. The weight of the responsibility suddenly hits me. So I can completely understand why your previous sitter may have been nervous, and I would probably have been cautious initially as well.
As a sitter, I think I would appreciate a full handover at the beginning of this sit, so that by the time you left, I was confident not only in using the tracker, but also that the sound of my voice via the tracker was enough to call him back if needs be. (Or does your dog hear a beep/whistle rather than an actual voice?) You’d also be able to give me an idea of what was normal in terms of boundaries, and at what point I needed to be concerned. An extra day would also provide an opportunity for me to build up a bit of a bond with your dog, and hopefully give him more of an incentive to return when called, bearing in mind that I’d be a total stranger to him – why would he bother coming back if he’s off having fun sniffing in the fields and can’t even see me?!
I’ve had a look at your listing, and I would also consider adding in that although your dog essentially walks himself, the sitter should still take a pro-active approach to keeping an eye on where he is during this time via the tracker, ie. don’t just pop out to the shops for a couple of hours whilst he’s gone. It sounds obvious, but it’s sometimes worth stating the obvious. And just because he behaves himself for you doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t try it on with someone new. It’s good that you’ve said that a sitter needs a car – at least they will have the means to collect him if he does decide to go off-piste!
That sounds very stressful! I do absolutely understand that it can be scary. The tracker really does help. Especially as over time you can see how he sticks to his little routine!
You’re absolutely right Becca, I completely see how it would be scary. I’ve listed the dates so as to give us a day for handover. He is a creature of habit and not very daring so I don’t think he will take off because we’re not there, particularly as he associates the tracker buzzer with treats! Thank you for the suggestion, I will reemphasize thst the sitter needs to stick around during his morning wander.
Yes, we are planning for a handover day. The GPS is a huge help, highly recommend.
BTW, a sitter might also be more comfortable if you had a set of steps outlined about what to do if your dog runs off. Might not happen, but maybe some peace of mind.
Best of luck - it sounds like a lovely sit :o)
Fortunately there are lots of family close by who could help and put the word out to the neighbours. I will specify that.
As someone has said a good, thorough handover here would be a must and possibly a good idea for the sitter(s) to arrive some hours/day before you leave so that Spot is familiar with them. I would of course be concerned until Spot returned after the 1-2 hours’ sniffing/walking by himself but would expect that you take full responsibility should something go wrong as long as I had followed your instructions such as making sure the neighbours kept their dog in. I definitely prefer to have a dog I could accompany on walks whether on or off leash but note Spot would still like to be taken for a swim and maybe some other walks while exploring. I’ve had a look at your listing and, although I can’t do these current dates, plan to come over to Ireland, likely 2025, to housesit/walk/travel.
Your previous sitters have given you good reviews so I don’t think you need to worry too much as long as you’re honest, which you appear to be.
Good luck!
Thank you! Yes I definitely agree about the handover, I have done the listing for the day before we go. I think it will be less scary when people see the situation for themselves. I think I might add a screenshot of a very typical day of his tracker data to the profile, as below,so they can see he’s really just very thoroughly examining the ditches nearby!
You are right in a way it’s a pity he doesn’t need an accompanied walk as he is very good and fun company on walks, but he can certainly have one or two (or even three) a week with a bit of swimming. He won’t object to any exercise he’s offered, we have just learnt over time what keeps the right balance between happy and limpy.
A sitter will also have plenty of opportunity to go for walks themselves as he is very happy to be left in the house with his cat friends after his morning sniff.
Hope your trip to Ireland goes well- we are usually looking for 2 weeks at some point during the summer if you fancy a nice green quite untouristy part of Ireland- not the most spectacular, but peaceful and with lots of lakes.
I would need assurance that you will not hold me liable should anything happen to your dog during his sniffing walks. But even then, I might find a two-hour-long wait for the dog to come back too stressful to accept the sit
Thank you. I’ve other contacts in Ireland who I’ve sat for several times when they lived in England. He is Irish so they decided to move to Ireland after Brexit! I’d love to sit for you in 2025.
Your map of one of Spot’s walks is a great idea to include in your listing. What a lovely, caring owner you are and Spot is lucky to have you, as are the three cats!
It doesn’t sound like the sit for you. I’d be quite happy to read and keep checking the tracker to see where Spot is while waiting for him to come home
We haven’t applied for any sits at homes where the pet parents allow their pets to roam about freely. I know from personal experience that just because a pet will come when its owner calls doesn’t mean it will do the same thing for a sitter. For us, it is just too stressful to imagine horrible scenarios - (1) Pet gets eaten by a predator (coyote, cougar, hawk, bear, etc. depending on location; (2) Pet gets attacked and seriously injured by another loose pet; (3) Pet gets hit by a vehicle; (4) Pet just never comes home and isn’t found anywhere.
I’ve always kept my own pets confined to areas I control where the possibility of these scenarios happening is extremely remote. Maybe that’s why I just don’t feel comfortable accepting the responsibility. Even if the sitter didn’t do anything wrong, I can’t imagine how awful it would be to explain to the pet parent that their precious fur baby never came home and/or was killed on my watch.
Probably sitters who feel differently and allowed their own pets to roam are better fits for this type of situation. I’m sure there are many who would love to do a sit like this.
This is a very unusual scenario in the UK but it’s something that clearly works for this owner and her dog Spot. As she explains, there is a lot of land and the dog has a tracker. I would happily accept the sit as long as I have the assurance from the owner that should something happen to Spot while he’s roaming free it wouldn’t be my fault, as long as I kept to instructions - such as letting the neighbours know he’s gone walkabout.
Sounds a wonderful contented dog.
As a sitter, I would be nervous until I proved to myself that what yo7 said happens so he may have a lurking shadow for the first few days. But once I’m convinced I’d open the door and away he would go. Having been brought up on a farm and knowing how our house dogs liked to wander it comes as no surprise that that’s the routine. My father’s dog would follow him around all day unless there was an interesting scent in the corner of some field or other. My own dog would get bored when I was at school and go for a look around till he heard the school bus.
In short, I wouldn’t have a problem.
Since thats Spot’s routine and it’s what you want to continue, we’d have no problem with it at all (so long as you’d put those requirements in writing, and absolve the sitter of any responsibility for Spot’s welfare when he’s out and about on his own). To be fair, the tracker shows he doesn’t stray far from home, but just has a good old mooch around his territory.