Sitters with experience of fearful rescue dogs

Hi
New to this could we ask a question.

Our 2 dogs (see picture below) are rescues and Billy the terrier type can sometimes appear to be aggressive but this comes from fear/anxiety towards other dogs and certain looking people.

We have had them in kennels in the past but feel, like our last dog they would be better off staying here with a confident and experienced sitter.

Do you think that Trusted House Sitters have the type of person we would be looking for?

Regards

Glenn

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I’m a HO and sitter and one of our dogs that we owned over the years was a similar personality. I do think you could find sitters on THS, the pool will be smaller, as you need to make sure to find someone that has a calm energy and that knows how to make your dog feel confident around them.

My husband & I love sitting for dogs and cats that are like this, it helps us practice having a calm energy around the animal and we find it rewarding. If you do join, please be sure to disclose the behavior in your listing.

Also, I think your dogs will benefit from staying at home vs being in a kennel.

Best of luck

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Thank you very much, and we would definitely mention the little quirks.

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Hi Glenn,
Welcome. There are some very experienced animal sitters on THS. I think you need to be clear in your advert about your dog and looking for an experienced sitter and as said the pool of sitters may be smaller but you should still be able to find someone. Good luck.

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Hello @ghill16 and welcome to the forum. First, let me say those are two real cuties you have there and I know it breaks your heart to try and understand what they may have previously gone through before they found their forever home with you. Animals, like people, are scarred from past history and it can be very difficult to know exactly what they need to help them past their fears and anxieties. There are many helpful posts here regarding anxiety and stress with our furbabies and this one Signs of Separation Anxiety, Stress - All About Pets - TrustedHousesitters Community Forum talks about separation anxiety and stress.

I see you have not joined TrustedHousesitters yet and once you do, you will be able to reach out to so many experienced sitters who know how to and are willing to care for your special ones. You will just need to sign up and set up your profile with more great pics of your home and those two cuties. Please just make sure you include all this information in your profile so there is no confusion or doubt with a potential sitter.

Looking forwarding to seeing your dates posted soon!

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As sitters, my husband and I have looked after a couple of rescue dogs. We were a bit worried about one in particular who was growling when we arrived and lunged at me on our first evening while the homeowners were still there. It was a two week sit in another country so I was rather concerned about how things would go. By the second day, the dog was sitting on my lap and eating out of my hand so it all worked out great!

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Hi @ghill16,

Welcome and great question. I too have a dog that requires a certain sitter. See he was attacked two years ago and since then he has not been the same around dogs larger than him. We have considered taking him to training that specializes in reactive dogs because it breaks our hearts that he no longer enjoys all dogs and we now avoid dog parks. We’ll be doing this soon but have had to hold off due to costs and the time commitment. So I really hear where you are coming from.

Your dogs look adorable but here is what I would ask you before you look for a sitter because you as his owner know him better than anyone. Would you be able to trust Billy with a friend that has some pet experience (loves Billy), knows his situation? Would you be able to trust that Billy and that this friend would be able to avoid any possible situation where an incident might happen where he could potentially be set off by another person or dog?

Have you yourself been unable to control him in a situation where he was set off?

If the answer is yes to either of these then I think you know your answer. It sounds like you deeply care for your dogs so I do hope you can find the best fit for them and their care for when you need to leave them.

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Yes, I definitely think you can find some perfect sitters here for your rescues. I guess if you haven’t joined TH yet, you can’t read sitter profiles? Every time I read another sitter’s profile, I am intimidated by how much more experienced they are! Lol. And, there are so many sitters on TH. So a separate question would be, how hard will it be to attract the perfect sitter to your sit? But that’s putting the cart before the horse.

Thankfully, TH has a money-back guarantee:

To be fair, the guarantee is only if you don’t receive any applications on your listing, vs spark-joy applications. I wish that were better, but it encourages you to be detailed and upfront on what you are looking for in a sitter.

Also, TH strongly encourages a “sit handover” before each sit:

Some sitters do local sits. For my first sit, I drove to the sit a week ahead to see how we all got along, before committing.

Also, I love what @Globetrotter shared above. Patience can be a virtue!

I quickly scanned the replies you have thus far, so if this is a duplicate comment, pardon.

If it’s possible working out a warm handoff so that your sitter shows up the day before and gets oriented would be great for your adorable puppies.

In my reading through the forum posts and sitter profiles, it seems that yes there are sitters who are skilled enough to handle puppies with extra TLC needs. Just Be sure to be upfront and thorough so you can get the perfect sitter for your pups.

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