I've just got an injury during a house sitting

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
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Hi all,

I’ve been currently doing a sitting with a large dog.

When the host and I met online a few months ago, I was told that the dog had some issues with the leash (biting) but as she was a pup, she was growing up and improving.

I was optimistic that this was going to get better by the time that I was due to start the sitting when by the way the dog would become 1 year old.

When I entered the house for starting looking after the pet, I discovered a few things that I wasn’t aware of:

the hosts use some sort of remote collar, that besides personally not agreeing on this tool, made me think that the pet might have experiencing some behavioural issues;

I was told that the night before arriving in the house she had pooped because the hosts left her alone for a bit longer than usual (which by the way was just 3 hours).

The dog showed her habit in biting the leash since the start which somehow I managed sometimes with a bit of intuition and asking some advice to the family. By the way, they told me that she still bites the leash sometimes…

Two days ago in the afternoon I went out for a walk with the dog. It was all ok long the way to the park when she met another dog whom she wanted to say hello to, but the owner was walking straight. By the time we were to the other side of the street, the dog started biting the leash all the time again, this time she seemed to be more aggressive (while the other times was more kind of playful) and she would do this continuously.

We had to go back because it was impossible to walk. When we arrived at the gate, she wouldn’t move and pulled back with all her strength, her head was almost coming out from the collar when by trying to hold tight on the leash I hit my foot.

When we finally got inside, I realized that the big toe started being quite painful and I couldn’t walk. Later in the evening it became swollen and bruises came out.

Yesterday morning I was still in pain and thought of not walking myself. I was thinking of going with the dog to a dog park where we went this week, so that I could sit down and she would run around with other dogs, but she didn’t want to get in the car and this time I didn’t insist nor tried to find some tricks to get her in.

Yesterday afternoon I thought I was slightly better and gave it a try and walked very slowly just to the little gardens which are nearby. There was nobody in the little park so I let her off leash and she was free to run around and play.

However, last night pain increased and this morning it wasn’t better. I thought of going to a medical centre and I’ve been told that I have a fracture on the toe.

I got some medication and a special shoe which I have to wear for a couple of weeks before seeing a specialist and I was told to walk little especially on the first week.

I then informed the host and let them know that besides the medical advice, I don’t feel safe in walking her as she is a large and heave dog and often pulls or do some unexpected movements because of excitement. If I do some dodgy movement, I don’t want to get things more complicated. I can still looking after her, feeding her, keeping company and stay a lot of time in the house, but unfortunately not walking for a while.

Wondering what could possibly a cause of this behaviour, they’re thinking of the change in her meals.

When I arrived in the house the dog was fed three times a day. They were going to increase slightly the amounts and make two meals instead of three and they were going to do this change after coming back from their holidays. However, I was told that if I wanted I could start with the change myself.

Now the story has changed and they’re asking me why I decided to change from 3 meals up to 2 and that this might bring her in being more nervous. I couldn’t believe when I heard those words…

Another disappointment is that I paid for the medical examination and I’ll have to pay again when I see the specialist, but no word has been asked if I underwent any expenses and if they would be willing to refund me.

Last thing, this week I had to leave the house for a few things to be done but was away only for an hour and the dog had pooed on the floor when I arrived.

The sitting is relatively new to THS, they got full positive mark on the two previous sittings, they were for a few days while this one would be for 3 weeks.

They’re now considering cancelling on me and looking for another sitting or a member of the family will come back early from their holidays. While trying to sort it out, a friend walking the dog could come in tomorrow morning.

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Yuck! Not fair, you got blindsided into a puppy sit with the pup obviously needing a lot more schoolin’! So sorry. There ya go again, hindsight is always 20/20. This dog needs a professional trainer, someone competent with the training techniques they’ve established ( ie electronic collar, no bite cues, not pulling on leash and following commands) for the basics which every happy dog learns. But being only a year old, it’s apparent that You’ve been saddled with the puppy nightmare! So, Since you can’t fulfill the demands, get Out as gracefully as you can. It’s clear the Dog needs exercise, a lot Of it, and You’re not able. So sorry for Your Unfortunate injury! Save all texts and Don’t use phone so You’ll have documentation should any further discrepancies arise re: animal care. Don’t forget you can reply tO their review, carefully as has been discussed in many threads. Good luck. I’d call member services about the medical Bills and for guidance too, for sure.

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Thank you @sandydandy

Yesterday I got a message from the HO that she would return from her holidays (while her family is still there) so that I could be alleviated from the tasks and asked to leave the place within 24 hours (!)

A bit of a rush, but somehow I realized that it was time to leave. The dog pooed again other two times, this morning the living room had such amount of excrement and this time also pee.

I decided not to clean this time and I texted so the HO who, when she arrived ironically said that it wasn’t cleaned after 12 hours.

I had messaged the HO asking if they have any insurance that covers damages caused by pets to third parties, but no answer was given to me. I had to ask again and this time I was told that she was disappointed as we are humans and we should just accept things as they are and move forward as she also has additional costs paid on her holidays due to this early return flight.

I waited for her return and I openly talked to her saying that when I look for a sitting I scan it fully, read the reviews etc… and then ask questions when I meet the HOs online. I take the sitting seriously and I want to be sure to be able to do it. I always ask if the dog is house trained (especially if he or she is a pup) and then how he or she is on the lead, and no information of the accidents above were ever mentioned. I was told that all the information was on the list and spoken about.

At that stage there was nothing else for me to say and I left.

You’re right when you say that “hindsight is always 20/20”. This is a big lesson for me, but I hope now to heal and not to lose the trust in sitting for the pets.

Yes, I’ve talked with THS support. I’ve been told that there is no insurance on medical expenses and I’m waiting for further advice regarding the alternative accommodation which I’m paying now.

Eventually the HO said that she’ll contact THS in relation to the Accident and Third Party Liability Plan, but at this stage I doubt that I’ll be able to receive some refund otherwise I guess that the support team would have told me so.

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Depending on your location, injuries sustained as you described might be liable by the hosts, under homeowners’ insurance. It is in the U.S., for example. But if the homeowner is not forthcoming, you might need to sue them in small claims court.

Sounds like these hosts misled you by withholding info. I hope you review them factually and warn off other sitters.

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Thank you @Maggie8K

The location is Ireland. As far as I know I could make a claim, there are laws here, but I should find a Solicitor and not living here all year round, it would make it complicated.

The review thing is actually a tricky one. I’ve been thinking about it and would highlight on the major issues that I experienced, but I’m also aware that if they see that I have posted a review on them, they would post a review for me which I doubt it would be positive. And despite the comment that I would write beside, I’m not sure how other HOs would look at it.
Of course if they post a review on a first stage, I’d do it straight away.

I was thinking of possibly leaving it blank. Sittings seen from the App can show if there were sitters who did not leave a review, while it is not possible to see them on the website.

When I see a missing review from a sitter, I question myself before possibly sending an application…

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Hi Makita

Reviews are blind so they won’t know whether you have submitted a review until you both submit a review or until 14 days after the sit ends if one of you doesn’t submit a review.

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They likely will write one regardless.

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Please do write an honest review about the facts. Keep it brief but please be honest. They don’t see your review until they’ve posted theirs. It’s a ‘blind’ review system- the same for you.

Write bullet points if that helps.

  1. The dog is lovely but strong and being young he is requiring ongoing daily training for various ‘young dog’ behaviours. Sitters should discuss the detailed training programme with the HO.
  2. The dog isn’t fully house trained.
  3. During my stay I had an unfortunate accident relating to the dog’s strength being too much for me. The sit ended early due to this event- and the HO returned home.
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Leaving a blank review doesn’t help.

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They are blind regarding the content but you do know when the other party has written a review.

I agree with others, not leaving a review is not helpful for anyone.

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@Alicatorze Yes I know, but I’ll know if a review has been submitted or not.

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@BonnyinBrighton Thank you for the guidelines.

I’m trying to do one step at a time, but will get there eventually.

I hope to heal soon, in the meantime I’ve been communicating with the Support team, but I’m struggling with it.

The sitting looks still active. Yesterday I informed the team that I had left the house and that I am now staying in another accommodation.

I asked what is the procedure for the amendment of the sitting and how I can get refund on the accommodation.

Despite I’ve been in contact with them for 6 days at this stage telling them about all the events that took place, today they asked me why the sitting has ended (?!). They then wrote that they understand I am cancelling the sit because the dog is reactive to motorcycles, which I never said at all!

I asked if they accept screen shots from Whatsapp, after starting the sitting we stopped exchanging messages on THS. Still no answer.

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Phone the Urgent Support Line - say that you are raising a member dispute . Send photos of the injuries and screenshots of your messages w

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Thank you @Silversitters

Finally somebody came back to me. I emailed back with screen shots of correspondence and medical report.

However, their response is not what I was expecting to receive.

They’re saying that they had a look at the correspondence, but at the end of the message they say that the screenshot provided is not showing any information, which is quite confusing to me.

I asked to clarify and then wrote regarding their comments as follows:

“I can see that ending the sit early seems to have been a mutual agreement” This is a dog that has to be walked 3 times a day, I wasn’t able to walk even once a day. I said to the HO that I could keep her company and feed her, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to walk her. She wasn’t happy of not having the dog walked. What was I supposed to do? Saying, no I’m staying and I won’t walk your dog? Besides as already said, the dog is not fully house trained and this wasn’t mentioned beforehand. I had to agree to end the sitting. Was I supposed to do something else?

“there were offers of having a dog walker attend after you hurt your foot” There were not really offers in that terms, the dog needed to be walked and the HO organized that. However, that was a temporary “offer”, just to keep the dog walked while she was organizing herself to come back home and at that point I had to leave.

" you agreed the pet parent could look for an alternative sitter as you had alternative accommodation available." Again, the HO wasn’t happy in having me in the house just keeping her company and feed her and not being able to walk her. So I was forced to agree. The HO started thinking of an alternative either finding another sitter or coming herself back from her holidays, I had to find another accommodation in case I had to vacate any minute which I found. Did I have to wait until the last minute and being thrown on the street with my belongings for claiming a refund on alternative accommodation?

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I don’t question myself, but I do wonder why the sitter didn’t leave a review. Was it because the sit was bad, or the sitter was forgetful, or the sitter’s membership in THS ended right after the sit?? Don’t make future sitters guess whether something was wrong. Be clear.

I can send you names of some personal injury solicitors in Ireland if you want to consult with one.

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Hi @Lassie I guess we have to ask the sitters who have missed some reviews :grinning_face: I’ve always posted one so far.

Thank you for your offer. I’m not sure I want to go down that road, solicitors are very expensive and there is no guarantee that I would get reimbursed. Besides, I have to leave Ireland in a month and that would make it more complicated and expensive. However, please pass on some contacts in pm if you don’t mind. It is still worth it to ask.

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I messaged with Support team again.

They clarified that they spoke to the HO who had said that cancelling the sitting was agreed on both sides. They said as well that they were not able to open the screen shots of the conversation that I had sent.

I sent them in another format which they were able to read this time and they could see that the sitting was cancelled by the host, not by me or both of us.

I was asked for the whole transcript of conversation which is going to be forwarded to the claimant team.

In the meantime, could I please ask if somebody has some knowledge on how the sitting cancellation and alternative accommodation refund works? This is the very first time that is happening to me and I’m realizing that I’m not aware of all the small prints.

I thought that a sitting being cancelled due to an accident and also to pet behaviour (continuous leash biting and not fully house trained, are not their considered a breach as they were not mentioned in any form?) were good reasons to avail of the full membership, regardless the sitting was cancelled from the host, the sitter or both parts.

Thank you.

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You need to show it was the host who cancelled @mokina, also prove there no other sits for the cancelled dates available in the same area (they might give you leeway on this one as you are injured), find accomm within 20 miles of the sit, submit receipts, these can be up to $1500 total or $150 a night & await reimbursement. Minus $150 excess. It’s only for accomm not travel expenses or medical AFAIK. There are a few threads on here if you use the spyglass on successful claims (including ours). Hope they help you sort it! #fingerscrossed

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It sounds like the HO cancelled the sit because your injury meant you could no longer walk the dog? Do you have messages which can confirm this point?

Good luck!

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@Mokina

An important term to meet the sit cancellation criteria is that you inform THS within 24 hours of the cancellation. If you e-mailed them within that time frame then you have written proof of that . If you phoned the Urgent Support Phone Line they will have transcripts of the conversation. So you may need those records to prove that you did inform them within 24 hours .

This thread discusses members experiences of making successful claims.

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