We recently had sitters over the weekend care for our dog and cats.
On this occasion we were happy for them to stay the night before so we could talk through logistics. They arrived late and after 30 minutes took themselves to bed. The next morning they got up 5 mins before we left, I did think it was odd, but thought they had traveled and were tiried. Gave them benefit of the doubt. Anyway I checked up the next day and things seemed OK.
Later that day my father in law tells me that he dropped off some things into my house and no one was home. House was unlocked and dog inside. This was at 1pm. I message sitters again and they told me they were in bed and didn’t hear anything, not even the dog bark. My dog is an outside dog, so by this stage my dog had been left inside by himself for approx 17hrs.
When we arrived home 2 days later at 11.30am again my dog was by himself and the sitters were in bed. They got up when they heard us, and told us that when they take the dog for a walk at 7am then they go back to bed.
I did find faces in the living room, which I think they tried to clean up.
This doesn’t sit well with me, they are coming back next week to sit for 2 weeks. However I am not sure if I trust them and want them back. I will communicate my concerns to them and see how that conversation goes to see weather I have them back. Any advise is appreciated
They didn’t following your instructions the 1st sit, assume this is what to expect again. Go with your gut, find an alternate plan. Trust has been broken. I hope you reviewed accordingly.
Don’t do it. If they can’t adequately care for your dog for a simple weekend, I wouldn’t trust them for a 2 week period. You won’t be able to relax the whole time you’re away.
Lesson learned. Don’t ask someone back until after they’ve sat for you.
Cancel sooner than later so you have more time to find someone else.
I hope you left an accurate review for the first housesit that they did over the weekend. I personally would not take them on. After all, it is your pet and house. If they were unable to do a good job on a weekend, then over a two-week period, it could be much worse.
It’s great that you had this “trial run” with these sitters . Since your expectations didn’t match over pet care , you have a valid reason to cancel their next sit and look for alternative sitters .
This famous quote comes to mind .
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
If you’re uncomfortable then definitely don’t have them back.
But, I don’t really care if sitters go back to sleep after walking and feeding the dog, if the dog was cared for as you specified (ie let outside). It sounds like he wasn’t let outside though so that’s concerning. Maybe he was barking in the yard, so they let him in to avoid disturbing the neighbors? Did you ask them what happened, “I noticed some poop inside. Was Fido kept outside during the day as is his routine?”?
Also, just noting you should really avoid having your in laws drop things off while sitters are there. I’m sure it could have waited until you returned.
It seems that we are all in agreement that you need to cancel the next sitting now.
I would recommend that you advise the sitters via the THS messaging site the reasons why you are cancelling to cover you then carry out the process of cancelling on your Dashboard.
If you do have them back, they already know they can take liberties with you, and of course they will. So cancel them now, save yourself a lot of bother in being wise after the event.
in bed at 11.30am,? ridiculous.
You should not have had your father in law, or anyone, drop by during the sit either, that is a breach of THS Guidelines .
With Reviews needing to be done within 14 days of the end of the sit date, you’ll be cancelling their next sit before the Review written by them is released by THS maybe? It’s a risk but be honest, write a descriptive Review now. Then cancel them as sitters.
The not wanting to spend time with you in the house doesn’t seem odd to me - arriving late and not appearing much before you left the next morning is what we do.
I’m curious to know why your father-in-law was dropping off stuff knowing you were away for the weekend?
That on it’s own is not the issue IMO. I am an afternoon napper. I guess I wouldn’t be the right sitter for you, though we are super responsible people and good sitters. To each their own.
