Has anyone any experience on taking your own dog/dogs on a sit . Just wanting info for the future purchase of a dog.
If you haven’t bought a dog yet I would say hold off. It’s not impossible but it does limit you sitting. I would say look after other peoples for a while and see what it’s really like.
While our dog gave us a huge amount of joy they also come with cost, responsibility and time. If you are buying a puppy it is potentially a 20 year commitment.
Sitting is a great way to try before you buy.
What I would say is that it does narrow the number of sits available to you. I can’t give any other insights as I don’t have a dog.
Yes I understand the commitment, the reason we’re thinking about a dog is because of our sits . But have you experience of sits with your dogs
From a HO perspective, this will severely limit your sits. I state no outside pets in my listing, and my main reason is that my 2 cats are shy and would like another pet (dog or cat) in their territory. The majority of all sits with cats would not allow dogs for similar reasons (also, the dog may chase the resident cat(s) further stressing them).
Other reasons are 2 or more dogs sharing a space may get along initially but fights can break out over time, over food, toys, and/or attention. This would mean someone would need to be home supervising all the dogs, all day. If you are a couple, one can head out for shopping or sightseeing but the other would have remain with the dogs. As a HO, any bite incident would legally be my responsibility (and may even get me removed from the platform) even if your dog was the aggressor. My dog is very well-mannered, she is a certified therapy dog and we visit hospitals together. And even if your future dog is also well mannered, trained, and dog tolerant, these things can still happen. I don’t find this worth the risk.
Also, there could be a concern of favoring/giving your own pet more attention (not saying you would, but it’s a legitimate concern).
There is the issue of wear and tear on the house and furniture with another pet around. Most dog owners know that 2 dogs somehow make 4 times as much dog hair and drool spots on furniture than one dog.
Finally, consider that sought-after sits likely have multiple applicants without pets.
If you are comfortable narrowing your scope of available sits (and those that allow outside dogs may not be 5 star sits) than of course it’s your decision from there.
Have you looked at the sits on THS that mark themselves as allowing outside pets? Do they look appealing to you? Do have a back-up plan if your future dog doesn’t enjoy travelling (and not all of them do)?
Just some points to ponder, and good for you for doing your research before making your decision.
I have not, and agree with others that it would most likely limit the number of sits available to you, but I have read very positive reviews of sitters who brought their dog along. One of those sitters may weigh in to share their experience with you.
One thing to note - you need to make sure you have had your dog for quite some time before you should even consider applying for sits bringing it. A puppy will be cute and probably get along with other pets, but will mean you need to pay more attention to it than to the HO’s pets (not to mention the potential for destruction of the HO’s things). With an older adoption, you need to make sure that there are no hidden behaviors that might be brought out if you place your dog in a stressful environment, aka another animal’s domain.
Are you willing to forego sits for a year in order to bring your own dog? There is no official rule about this, but it would speak to your quality as a sitter.
Everything everyone else has said here is my thoughts too. Our dog died some years ago and we made the decision then that although we missed him dearly we were moving towards travelling more so did not get another one.
Truthfully our first sit was more about the accommodation but we chose the pets carefully in alignment with our preferences. It was wonderful and reminded us of the joy that dogs can bring to your life. It is highly unlikely we will ever have another dog. We are retired, live small, travel often. That is why we borrow other people’s.
It’s not impossible to take a dog with you on sits, but it will be much harder.
How about adopting a shelter dog instead!