I’ve noticed a lot of folks on THS mention that their dogs get up at 7 AM (or even earlier!), go to bed at x PM, head out for walks at X o’clock, and so on. And while I totally get wanting to keep things as consistent as possible, I’m sure that dogs don’t exactly read the clock. Sure, we stick close to the usual schedule, but I’m just not a morning person. If the owners get up at 7, that doesn’t mean I’m jumping out of bed at the crack of dawn too. Most dogs we’ve sat for seem just as content if we roll out around 8 or even 8:30 on weekends.
And as for bedtime, if a dog wants to turn in at 10, that’s totally fine! But that doesn’t mean we’re wrapping up our evening at 10 sharp and heading straight to bed ourselves. I’m a night owl through and through, and I’m pretty sure most dogs sleep when they feel like it and aren’t terribly bothered if I’m still up in the room.
So, while I respect routines, I find that a little flexibility should be normal – especially for those of us who are definitely not early birds! How do you handle these timetable instructions?
I keep to the morning outside time - if they’re used to their morning wee then it seems unfair to make them wait. I’m an early riser anyway but if you aren’t, it’s no hardship to get up, let the dog out for 5 mins, then go back to bed. I’d never do a dog without their own garden area.
Bedtimes, yeah, they can fall asleep where/when they want. I do a cat sit where the owners seem to have a strict bedtime - the living room light is on a timer and goes off at 10.30pm, and the instructions say the cat will follow you up to bed. Yeah, nope to that, I just put the light back on and carry on. Cat either stays up, goes to bed or falls asleep in the living room. Makes no difference to him.
My dog knows the time. She is fed at 16.00 and a few minutes before she will sit down in front of me and stare at me until I go and prepare her meal.
That being said - I think it is useful to know approximately what the pet is used to. For instance will a pet that usually go to the bathroom at 7 not necessarily be expected to hold it in until 9-10, but even so, keeping somewhat of the routine will help the pet having a stranger in the home. I don’t apply for 7.00-sits, so for me it is great that it is in the listing. Saves an application. Many listings do say that the sitter can ble flexible, and that is great to say in the listing.
Funny how you’ve decided what qualifies as a hardship for me! Personally, if I get out of bed, even for 5 minutes, I’m wide awake, and there’s no going back to sleep after that.
Also, I’m curious – how do you know they’re waiting specifically for their morning wee? In my experience, I haven’t had dogs who stand by the door whining or barking, desperate to get out. So how would I know?
I totally get it – some dogs seem to have an internal clock for mealtime that’s spot on! And yes, it’s helpful to know the usual routine, but I think it’s also key to remember that routines can have a bit of wiggle room. For example, I don’t expect a dog to hold it until 10 if they’re used to a 7 AM outing. But in my experience, a slight shift to 8 or 8:30 hasn’t caused any issues, as long as they’re comfortable and their needs are met.
I’m with you on choosing sits that match your own schedule – if I see a routine that’s far from mine, I skip it too. A bit of routine flexibility can make the stay more enjoyable for everyone, and having that clarity in the listing really helps us all find the right fit.
Ultimately it depends on the individual situation.
My husband and I wake up relatively early so if a host mentions in their listing that their dog usually eats at 7:30 for example, that is fine with us. But if we were at the house and by 7:30 the dog was still fast asleep and we still wanted to lounge around in bed for a bit, we would just let him be.
But if an animal seems to be keeping to its early schedule, we would honor that and not try to change it. For example, our previous sit was for two dogs and one of them usually got up around 6:30 and went out to the bathroom first thing in the morning. And he still woke up and started moving around at this time, expecting to be let out in the yard. So in this case we would obviously let him out and not expect him to wait on us.
I think a lot of dogs are pretty flexible and adaptable, and their usual routine is probably more a result of the owner’s schedule. I have had sits where hosts specifically mentioned there was some flexibility with feeding and walking times, and the dog would just adjust to whatever you did, and would wake up whenever you did.
But I do think some dogs do get used to things being a certain way, and any major deviation from that could potentially be ‘upsetting’ for them.
Again, because we tend to get up pretty early anyway, we don’t have a problem with an earlier schedule, and whether or not the dog will actually stick to it really doesn’t matter.
But for sitters who really don’t like getting up early, it is probably important to ask about the normal routine and whether there is any flexibility on that. No one should go into the sit with the expectation they will just do what they want and assume the dog will adjust.
If I’ve specified as a HO that the dog gets up at 7AM I’d expect the sitter to stick to approx that schedule, not to let it out an hour later, or even more.
Evenings I think it’s fine to stay up once the dog has gone to sleep.
If you’re definitely not an early bird I suggest you don’t apply for sits that require ‘earlier than suits you’ getting up time?
Exactly! If a dog genuinely seems stressed by a slight shift, of course I’d make an adjustment. But, I’ve yet to meet a dog who can’t handle a small delay now and then. “Approximately” is exactly how I see it too – I’m not setting an alarm to stick to the schedule to the minute! Most dogs adapt pretty easily to minor changes, and it’s all about finding that balance that keeps everyone relaxed and happy.
Can I just ask what happens to all the dogs internal clocks when the clocks either go forward or backward an hour in Spring and Autumn?
How do you explain to your pet that the time you get up, go to work, get home from work, eat, go to bed suddenly changes by an hour twice a year?
I have only ever owned cats, but as I worked shifts they had to be flexible too!
We applaud Pet Parents for providing specific details for pet care. Helpful. We’d equally apply your comments on times to walks (ballpark distance/duration is really helpful).
Everyone wants the pets to be well looked after. But common sense observations and pet experience matter too. And it’s quite possible - just saying - that those super specific times you mentioned relate to the routine of the Pet Parent rather than the pet
I think you’re choosing to read my response as a way re-enforcing how you wish to see things.
Just to re-state my last line, which is actually the most important: “If you’re definitely not an early bird I suggest you don’t apply for sits that require ‘earlier than suits you’ getting up time?”
THS is all about finding the right sitter for the right sit, not sitters that seeks to ‘readjust’ the requirements to their own needs.
I hear what the owner says, but I listen to the doggo. In my experience, they’ll let you know what they need. Ex: I had a HO who gushed about how much their dog loved their 6 am walks. That dog never voluntarily got out of bed before 9 am and once I had to shove her out at almost noon because I had plans. Had the dog actually gotten up and moving for a 6 am walk, I’d have done it. But I certainly wasn’t going to wake them up to force both of us outside.
So, I do my best to follow the HO instructions but sometimes HOs are just delusional about their requirements and they think that because THEY love something, their pets do to when, in reality and when given the option, the pets are very happy without.
We specify our dog needs a walk in the morning. We don’t specify a time, however if it’s going to be a hot day, I would hope the sitter would walk the dog before it gets too hot for their paws on pavement. We let them know what time the dog goes to bed, but there’s nothing the sitter needs to do about that.
If there are times noted ahead of the sit that I can’t do, then the sit isn’t for me.
I did a sit where the dog woke almost every day before dawn, because of intense itching. That wasn’t mentioned ahead of the sit and the hosts said didn’t happen normally, even though they slept with her as well.
I had to keep waking early to give her extra pills, at the hosts’ suggestion, based on their vet’s guidance. That happened as early as 3 a.m. It wasn’t a big deal to me, because I can easily fall back asleep if needed and I wake early anyway. But I was clear in my review, because other sitters might want to avoid such a sit.
More important: I felt terrible for the dog. I ended up compiling crowd-sourced suggestions from sitters in the forum on what the hosts might do to help the dog going forward. The hosts said on return that they were going to change her treats and maybe get her tested for allergies. I can only hope that happened.
My current hosts noted windows of time when their dog does X, but also said I should adjust as needed. They seem reasonable.
Funny thing: They said their dog is normally walked for X, but a few times when I did that, he was dragging by the time we went home. So I adjusted for him — I spread out the walking more, so he’d get the exercise and sniffing done, but not tire. Of course, his energy level varies, too, among days. He’s about 5 years old.
My own dog varies, too. He’s funny: If he doesn’t want to walk any more, he just dead stops and won’t move farther. We have to carry him back sometimes. And that’s on walks he’ll do fine most of the time and sometimes randomly nope out of.
My dogs have always struggled with the time change-they definitely know when dinner time is. Most of our 20+ dogs we’ve had over the years are spot on when they know it’s evening feeding time. One would sit in front of us and bark, another was a senior male who while laying down would slap his paw on the ground to rouse us to make his dinner.
I find it amazing what good time keepers they are. Our current dog clearly knows when it’s 9 PM as that’s his pill and cookie time before bed.
My advice to sitters would be, if the conditions of the sit do not suit you then:
1- Ask the pet parent if the conditions are flexible
2- If the conditions are flexible, great
3- If the conditions are not flexible, don’t apply or don’t agree to the sit
If the schedule says their routine includes being fed, let out or walked in the very early hours (by or before 7:30 AM for example) we don’t apply for such sits. If they were flexible, I think they’d say so in their “responsibilities” section. This includes cats. If the cats are going to start crying and scratching very early in the morning bc that’s what they are used to, we will skip such listings.
We are not the kind of people who can go back to sleep, either.
Some dogs don’t ask like that. Mine doesn’t ask to go out to pee, even when she’s bursting, which is why we list her bathroom times in our listing and WG. Normally when she asks for things, she’s only standing quietly next to it and shooting significant looks between us and her object of desire. How unfortunate for the dogs you sit that you’d wait for them to throw a desperate tantrum to give them something that’s supposed to be part of their schedule!
We’ve taught our dog to be patient, polite, and to settle down when we ask. In return, we hold up our end of the schedule. We don’t make her demand her 7am breakfast-- aside from keeping consistency in her schedule, we don’t want to teach her that kicking up a fuss gets results. Sure, you can fudge it 15 minutes because she doesn’t know exactly what time it is, but an hour is too much. (Yes, moving the clocks back in autumn is hard on her. She loves moving them forward in the spring.)
I am very upfront with my dog’s schedule and expectations surrounding it. I would be extremely disappointed to know my sitter agreed to all these things before confirming, and then decided to alter the schedule to their own liking anyway. If you don’t like early mornings, please don’t apply for those sits.
I had a cat with a feline clock - Mon-Fri he’d walk to the end of the road to meet me coming home from work at around 6pm. He never got used to my Friday early finish so I’d get home at 3, say hello to him in the house, then go out to the end of the road at 6pm to get him home again. Strangely he didn’t have a problem Sat & Sun.
But he (like all my cats) got very confused when the clocks changed.
Many listings do say that the sitter can ble flexible, and that is great to say in the listing.
