It might be interesting, but I don’t think it’s unexpectated. People who don’t actually use them are basing the narrative they build about them on what they do know. They know that baby monitors for instance can pick up conversations and this has been used to effect on many television shows so it’s embedded in people’s brains. Many sitters have had the unpleasant experience of realizing they just walked past a pet cam half dressed. Some sitters have discovered an array of “hidden” cameras like something out of a horror film. Others may have gotten a sudden call from an owner inquiring about a “person at the door” or asking why Spot wasn’t wearing his booties even though it was muddy outside, and those just from ordinary out of the house ring cameras!
Per previous comments, personally I see a tracker as being on a level with an outside camera – acceptable. If the owner usually uses this to get information and even if it just stay on the dog because it’s a pain to take it on and off for walks, I don’t have a problem with it as a sitter. Then again, as a sitter, I rarely take dog sits to begin with. I wouldn’t mind it at all on an indoor/outdoor cat. As I said previously, some sitters won’t find it acceptable. And it looks like the best course is a full open discussion and certainly mentioning upfront on the listing.
This is a marketpace and a matching site. So any “feature” on a sit might be a turn off for some sitters, a great idea to others, and not even noticed by a few.
FWIW, I wasn’t cursing at you, merely expressing frustration at the general turn to electronic surveillance that has become the norm. And the site didn’t even let me say it
You’ve gotten tons of good feedback here - that there are some sitters who would not take issue with this if disclosed ahead of time, but that disclosure in your profile or at the very least in the pre-confirmation call, is critical. I’m not sure why your response would be anything but, got it, I will update my profile, thanks.
About the “nothing to hide”. Your post is very good over all, and I wanted to give another example to that point.
Hosts who want to use any monitoring (pet, outdoors cameras, door bell cameras, anything). If the owner thinks that it is ok if the sitter has access to the monitors until the sit starts, and can monitor the HO as they please, then I think the “if you have nothing to hide..” argument is one they can use. If they are not ok with that, then it is a shallow argument.
Now, it is still an argument that questions the fundamental right to privacy, and I am glad I live in a place where laws protect my privacy. I´d rather not sit for a host who thinks “if you have nothing to hide..”. But it is even worse if they arent actually willing to do as they say.
I honestly do not care if you know where the pet and I are all the time and I don’t fear any information being transmitted to you.
However, the intense monitoring of a healthy pet in the way you describe would immediately let me know that you have a deeply unhealthy, obsessive relationship with the pet and I would not be willing to sit for you on THS. My observation is that pet parents with your approach create overly dependent pets with separation anxiety and intense attention seeking behavior. If I were a paid sitter, I might consider sitting for you, but only at a substantial upcharge from whatever my normal rate was (to compensate for I foresee to be a constant care assignment with an obsessive pet parent).
I’m a HO in a rural mountain area with a border collie who is outside most of the day with no fences and is free to wander at will. He often visits the hamlets and villages on our mountainside. He’s not neutered but at nearly 10 years old he no longer goes off after females in heat. However he does tend to disappear, sometimes for hours. (Though his stomach is very aware of when mealtimes are and usually shows up for that.) One sitter had a nearly sleepless night because he didn’t come home at all. She kept getting up to whistle and call for him. He was there when she got up in the morning. He hadn’t done that for years so we didn’t mention it as a possibility. We have airtags for our luggage and I’ve thought about putting one on his collar just to see where he goes. Once he disappeared for two nights and we went searching all over the mountain for him. It turned out he’d gotten locked into the next door neighbours’ house when they didn’t notice he’d gone to sleep under their kitchen table while they were packing their car to leave. It would’ve saved us a great deal of worry if he’d had a tracker. So question for sitters: would you want the option of being able to attach a tracker that was paired with your phone if you were sitting for our dog? I’m not sure how reliable an airtag would be because it depends on pinging off of other phones and our area is sparsely populated though it would activate when he reached one of the villages he visits.
I agree with this. A pet that’s physically and emotionally healthy doesn’t need these. I can understand putting on a GPS tracker for an indoor/outdoor cat, or for a dog if they going to walk them off leash somewhere. That’s about it.
To the OP, if it’s truly important to you (based on your past experience with a terrible sitter) than I suggest you experiment. Include it explicitly in your next listing. Just stating that will probably scare away the sitters with intent to ignore your guidelines. If you find that no one is applying to your sit, then either go with a paid sitter or re-consider it’s use. I wouldn’t surprise someone with it on arrival to a sit as people have different comfort levels with technology in general.
I think you should put the list of things you’re tracking in your listing so only sitters who don’t mind being monitored apply, which would save everyone’s time.
Also consider using friends and family if you worry a lot using strangers.
I carry AirTags with me for all my sits. I am willing to work with a host who uses a tracker for this purpose.
It seems to me that the points most have made are:
Disclose it up-front,
Give sitters access to the tracking app/data
Don’t use it to micro-manage the sitters
Why wouldn’t a PO be transparent, if it’s for keeping the pet safe vs trying to “catch a sitter out” on something without them knowing?
To be fair to this host, they apparently had an issue of a sitter taking their dog on the road for a week without clearing it ahead of time. Not cool; I expect I’d also look for a solution to prevent that happening in future, in their place.
That said, their attitude about disclosure of the device is concerning. I think it will bite them if/when a sitter cancels last-minute at some point, because of it.
Trusted…. Transparency….. disclosure….. honesty. If these are adhered to the site is better all around. It’s actually not that hard, disclose the tracker and what it does and sitters who are happy with that can apply. Problem solved. It should always be about choice on both sides.
That is a really smart option for sitters. Giving them the choice to attach their own tracker/health monitor that’s paired to their own phone puts the control fully in their hands and adds an extra layer of safety rather than surveillance.
Being more cautious doesn’t make me obsessive. You want “obsessive”? Here’s a reality check: I don’t ask my sitter for updates because I use a tracker/health monitor, allowing me to stay hands-off while still knowing my dog is where he’s supposed to be. However, if I explicitly stated — verbally and in written instructions — that my dog was not to be taken to a dog park, and a sitter ignored that (as happened during a previous sit), then I need to know and talk with her. I had a different sitter who took my dog on a week-long road trip without asking or informing me, and I then received a voicemail from an out-of-state veterinary office asking for a form of payment because my dog had been brought in for an emergency visit. Obviously, that didn’t end well for the sitter. That’s not obsession — it’s enforcing clearly stated boundaries around my dog’s safety. My approach isn’t for every sitter, and that’s okay. I’m also learning that some sitters are most comfortable when they know about the device beforehand, which is good to know.
Ouch…I’m so sorry you’ve had such negative experiences with sitters in the past. It does confound me what people are thinking, sometimes; none of those examples are acceptable.
The expansión of technology is a very important issue which must be faced by THS. in dealing with home owners who do not disclose the presence of camera-viewing and recording devices
I have been very happy with THS for many years’. What I LOVE most is that It is based on TRUST. On BOTH sides.
After a 17,000 km trip and other committments and costs, the otherwise meticulous owners admitted they ‘forgot’ to tell us about the camera/app only after we discovered It.
Owners must be fully aware before joining that this behaviour may be subject to prosecution for violation of privacy.
On another sit I was advised about safety cameras and still agreed to the sit. The issue for me is the dishonesty and lack of TRUST.
I get the need for disclosure of cameras indoors. I was once sitting for a younger couple who hid one camera in the guest bedroom I was staying in and another in the kitchen. I immediatly ended the sit & stopped caring for their dogs — no feeding them, no letting them outside, no meds, NOTHING once I discovered the cameras.
Obviously they were outraged, but hidden cameras in a home are a serious violation of privacy.
However, this device monitors my dog. It isn’t a camera inside the house, it doesn’t record or stream video of the sitter, and therefore can’t being used to watch someone in a private space. Going forward I’ll be telling sitters that my dog has a tracking device but thats about it.
When I sit for people, I don’t expect them to disclose tracking or activity-monitoring devices on their pet. I’ve done 3 sits where owners didn’t mention it, and that’s totally fine — I have no problem with it. I’d never do anything different, with someone else’s dog without asking. Because of my two previous experiences with different sitters, my dog now wears a Tractive device. It tracks & updates me with everything — even vehicle speed if he’s in a car.
