@Amparo you sound SO lovely. Your posts are an inspiration to me and I feel spurred on when I read them.
Thank you @Purdie for your kind words, I too need encouragement.
I am doing my best to acknowledge and reciprocate what I have received in this community.
Hi @Geiriadur. Sorry to hear about your concerns. I would hate that for my (now passed) pets.
Just a thought in case it may help, I sometimes donāt use treats much (unless upon specific instructions like āhe always gets x before bed, or she always gets y before you go out, or they really love their treats every dayā). I really prefer instead to bond with them, without the use of treats, because itās a good way of seeing if Iām really getting it right in my behaviour with them and I spend most of my time with them. And I always put toys and grooming tools etc back in their designated place after use.
I guess itās hard for you, if you donāt really know if thatās the case in your instance.
Best wishes.
Well, nobody died! So it canāt have been that bad. And in this case, the cats were actually pleased to see us home, whereas with the more wonderful sitters, I honestly felt that they looked disappointed - āoh! Itās you. Wasnāt expecting to see you again.ā
Funnily enough, I was just today reflecting on what sitters and householders can expect from each other, and whether we can all be a bit entitled and demanding in our expectations - I include myself in this. I keep remembering a sitter complaining about grubby soles of the feet when walking barefoot. Well personally I would never walk barefoot in my house, especially first thing in the morning before Iāve got my glasses on, as Iāve experience of treading in various unpleasant pet-related offerings! But maybe Iām also unreasonable in small ways, so finding that things have been done slightly differently in my absence is not anything to bother about.
Why would you do it if you didnāt get cheap accommodation? If you just wanted to cuddle animals youād get your own or you could cuddle every animal in your town. Itās disingenuous to think that people donāt do this for mutual benefit.
Of course we do it for mutual benefit. However, there are people who see it as a cheap Airbnb and the pets an inconvenience. Yes, hard to believe but it is known to happen.
Yes I know all about that. Had one bad experience where I had to come back a day earlier as I didnāt trust her one day longer in my house.