I’ve used TH for years for people to look after our house and cats and we’ve always had great experiences. We now have a dog, who’s just turned one. She’s a working cocker spaniel and is full of life and quite mischievous. She needs a fair amount of input and needs mental stimulation as well as physical exercise. She also has separation anxiety and doesn’t like to even be left in a room alone. She follows me everywhere and sleeps in our room at night, or by my side whilst I work in the day. We agreed a sit a couple of months ago for our first trip away since having her, and we arranged for a couple to sit, to make it a little easier to be able to leave the house. We’ve set out all her needs in the welcome guide, but i’m a little worried the sitters are going to find her hard work. She is a wonderful, playful and funny dog though and is very rewarding if you have the time to spend with her. I did advertise the sit for the day before we leave, but I didn’t make it clear enough that I wanted the sitters there for the day to see her whole routine, and they’re now saying they can’t arrive until late afternoon, which has made me more anxious. I’m also regretting not having trialed leaving her for a night or two before leaving her for two full weeks. Although she has separation anxiety she seems to be ok with other people. She goes to daycare one day a week and loves that, and I’ve had her looked after by a sitter for a few hours at her home, and she was absolutely fine (although she didn’t sleep the whole time she was there!). I am basically worried sick about how she’s going to be being looked after by almost strangers (we’ve met up with one of the sitters for a walk a few weeks back). I’m worried she’s going to try and run home from her walk, but am worried that if I ask them not to let her off lead she won’t get enough exercise (she loves to run), and am basically now dreading going on holiday! I love to travel and never thought getting a dog would make me feel so anxious about going away. Does anyone have a similar situation that worked out fine and the dog coped without issues? Apologies for the rambling length of this post!
Hi @bumblebee
My daughter and her husband have had 5 wonderful and caring sitters (one repeat) for their very anxious & high energy dachsie. (he is now 2 - He was 1 when he had his first sitters). He simply could not be left alone. All the sitters fell in love with him. He is very social and he joined them on all their adventures out. He travels well on trams, trains and is good in restaurants (They are in a very dog-friendly city), so he loved going with them everywhere. They only have couples, so food shopping does not cause an issue. They also did a little shop for sitters to see them through their first day. (Requested what they would like). They kept his day-care routine of one day a week and offered to have known local sitter in for the day or evening if they wanted a break. It all worked out well for everyone including Gus. He really settled in well with all the sitters. Most sitters arrived in the afternoon to coincide for a walk and spend the night. My daughters flights are usually very early in the morning. They have an extremely comprehensive Welcome Guide which they also printed out for easy access.
They got daily photos and videos which also gave them peace of mind.
I hope this helps settle your mind a bit more.
We’ve sat several cocker spaniels. The one’s we’ve sat have all had one thing in common, they’ve all pulled on the leader because their head is on the destination not on enjoying the journey, but there has always been an enclosed field nearby with each sit where they can run around to their hearts content.
They are THS most fantastic loving dogs, and love the company of people, friendly, adorable, ever so entertaining to watch, and always want to be by your side… and that’s a lovely thing, if you pick the right sitter.
We sit full time (and are slightly older), and whilst we don’t have the energy to sit a fresh cocker spaniel week in week out. We happily dip in and out of those types of sits, it’s loads of fun, in fact we’ve returned to two places to sit an amazing spaniel in each, and we’re returning to one of those for a third time in summer. He’s crazy, he’s loopy, he always wants to be touching us, he’s so funny, and he’s got a gorgeous personality!
We sit as a couple, so with more energetic dogs (same with those with multiple dogs), a couple could be your best bet. Twice the cuddles, twice the energy, twice the time, twice the affection, two people for walks. A couple where neither is working remotely would help too, so they have plenty of time on their hands. That’s your answer!
Welcome to the forum @bumblebee
Are the sitters that you have chosen experience sitters ? Did you already discuss with them your dogs need for lots of exercise, play and constant company ? If they are experienced dog sitters they likely will have already thought about how they plan to handle these responsibilities . You could have another conversation with them to put your mind at ease .
If you haven’t already , you could offer to keep the once a week day care going for the duration on the sit to give your sitters some “respite “ and free time or maybe offer to increase it to twice a week ?
Could you make a list of the dog friendly places cafes etc where your dog is used to going and behaves well ? That could also be useful for your sitters.
Your dog’s usual routine can be written down and any specific behaviour that you want to show them you could make a video of and send to them .
We are experienced sitters, we love spaniels and we love walking . They can be exhausting especially young ones . They are also very loving and happy with anyone who gives them time and attention . We don’t let the dogs we care for off the lead for the first walk and until we are sure that they are familiar with us and will come back to us and until we are familiar with the surroundings.
So long as you’ve been transparent in your listing and stated quite categorically that your pup has severe separation anxiety and cannot be left at all, and if you’ve found sitters who have plenty of experience with high energy, young dogs, then you’ve little to be concerned about.
You say you’ve already met one of the couple who you’ve selected to sit for you, did you discuss your concerns then and were you confident in their abilities?
We love working cockers - they are such great characters - and have looked after many. As sitters, we never let any dog off the lead until we are confident of their recall and in a place away from roads etc. Good sitters will get to know the pets and assess how they respond to them, before taking any chances.
Looking after any dog who cannot be left alone at all is a very big ask, since this is an introduction site to mutually benefit both pet parents and sitters. I do hope you’ve made your requirements abundantly clear to your sitters?
I’d suggest you give your sitters a ring and talk this through with them, to ensure it remains a good match for everyone involved. And possibly be prepared to cancel the sit if they give any indication of concern. It’s unrealistic to expect sitters to do pre-sit house calls, and since they’ve already done this already it’s unlikely they’ll think a second visit is necessary.
One parting thought: dogs can tune in to your anxiety levels, so if your sitters are confident and experienced with dogs, your pup might respond to them in a different and more positive manner. I bet you’re more worried about this than your dog will be!
Good luck!
An excellent suggestion by @Silversitters 
Thanks, that’s really helpful. I guess it’s all just so unknown how she will be, but time will tell and I’m starting to realize she will more than likely be fine!
Thank you so much for your response. It’s really helped, and to be honest I think I was forgetting that the sitters have applied because they want to spend time with a dog, not because they’re being forced to! They must have some foresight that a dog could potentially be hard work. But she is loads of fun too and sounds much like the cocker spaniels you’ve sat for! Annoying that this week the foxes in the garden have set her off and she’s now also constantly barking at the cat as well!
Thanks, I’ve kept the once a week daycare for her, as she loves that, and it’s continuity for her, and offered the sitters to put her in for more days if they need it.
This is good to hear and I hope that’s exactly how it will be.
Thanks so much for your input.
I think you’re probably right and that I’ve been stressing far too much.
I had already set it all out for them so don’t feel it’s necessary to do so again, plus it’s too late to make alternative arrangements if they back out. Thanks for your time and input.
Hi @bumblebee please do have a back up plan in place in case an emergency happens and your sitters can’t make it or have to leave the sit early - .
We are sitters and so far have not had any illness or extraordinary circumstances that meant we had to cancel a sit or leave early- However, we know that this could happen and on three sits the hosts have needed to come back early because of illness or accidents .
So please do have a back up plan in place , then you will have peace of mind . It’s the same if you were using paid sitters you would still need to have a back up plan in case of emergencies.
Yes - as long as you were very clear in your listing and discussion that she has severe attachment issues and literally cannot be left alone at all. Most sitters don’t expect to have to be with the pet 100% of the time and don’t apply for these types of dogs. As long as you were up front about it, it’s fine.
If you are worried about her running off, could you book a secure dog field, or buy a long lead?
Yes I have a long lead they can use to start with to test her recall.