This is a lesson learned for sure but the dog is the innocent party and cannot be abandoned
! This dog is relying on you right ow however much it sucks
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That is the owners’ responsibility. They can come back. There was a daughter. There are kennels.
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I stayed with the dog until the daughter came. I would NEVER leave an animal. Ever. The dog was very well loved and cared for.
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There’s a lot about being a TH that doesn’t translate to friends or family members that can’t imagine doing it. Most sitters take the job very seriously and will do anything to make the sit wonderful for other’s pets.
You’re right to chalk it up to a learning experience resulting in a more thorough vetting next time, and to focus on the sweetness of the dog currently in your care. Your frank feedback to them may help them realize how difficult the sit is for others and how important it is for them.
Setting up workmen to come to the house while you were there is totally unacceptable and it does sound like they don’t get the Trusted Housesitter concept.
Be frank in your review and always trust your gut when reading through the lines of postings!
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Hello, Î’m sorry for you, and there is many answer ps to help you. My comment will be more that I feel sorry for the old dog. I had an old golden who had 3 legs for hier 3 last years. I did not had to carry her, cause i live in a first floor . Well, i did travel nowhere for her last three years cause i Knew her and her needs…she could not hear well either.
Son that old dog needs sécurity and love for his old day’s… So i Hope thé owners will be taking care for now on…cause of course it is difficult for somoene who sit to respond of the needs of that precious old soul.
Courage à vous ans hopefully the dogs won’t pay for the lack on sensibility of his owner…
Voilà….
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I agree. Take the dog to vet! Perhaps has developed a previously undiagnosed infection. Is it an intact female? Possibly even uterine infection if not bladder.
I gather the homeowners are not that familiar with this concept and THS should be informing them after your call to customer service (do they do that?). As a homeowner, I explain in detail what the needs are (one of my dogs has to go out in the middle of the night usually) and would never ask the sitter to allow someone in my house without telling them up front. I did once ask the sitter to let someone in my garage who stores stuff there, but told the sitter they could lock the door from the house into the garage for safety reasons if they were concerned. Poor dog. Try diapers?
As far as the welcome guide goes. It doesn’t really change that much and takes me a half hour to update, so homeowners should have it at the ready.
Posted in the wrong place sorry
I’ve been pet sitting since 2018 and typically didn’t encounter too many issues the first few years. The last 3 yrs it seems like I’m getting a lot of sits where the HO leaves out important details in their listing. They also do not provide a welcome guide, even when I request one. So there have been a lot of surprises and last minute responsibilities added. I also feel like the sits I have been doing lately are like having a second full time job. There seems to be a lot of responsibility put on the sitter side, yet the HO can’t even make room in their refrigerator or cupboards for me. There have been several sits I would have liked to leave from, but I always stick it out. I make sure to tell the HO of the pet’s behavior and any other concerns I have.
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I’ve been sitting a little over a year and don’t have problems getting welcome guides well ahead of sits. If hosts don’t share it on their own, I’ll nudge in friendly ways, such as:
A friendly heads up: Our sit dates are coming up, but I’ve not received a welcome guide yet. Unfortunately, I can’t do sits blind. Please send ASAP, because I’d love for our sit to go ahead as planned.
The implication is clear: Send your welcome guide or I’m not going forward with our sit. You better bet that hosts send the WG (I don’t care whether in THS template format or in another form), because no one can force me to show up for a sit without a welcome guide — not hosts, not THS.
When various sitters say they can’t get a welcome guide if they wanted one before the sit, it’s because they’re not using the leverage that all sitters have, as I just described. And what’s the point of sitting if your sits turn progressively worse? Look out for yourself, because there are exploitative, entitled, bullying people and such in the world, not just at sits. The better you protect yourself, the less likely you’ll be taken advantage of.
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I’ve also had sits I’ve wanted to leave for one reason or the next. I stayed at a sit two weeks after being attacked by one of the cats. This was my second sit for them. The owners were boarding a cruise in a different country the day this happened. They were horrified, offered to pay all expenses, luckily I had good insurance, and checked in with me every day. I reported it to TH as I told them I would. They got kicked off the platform. We’re still friendly and in touch.
Another recent sit had a video camera recording on a high shelf in the living room after asking and being assured by both there were none. the HO even launched into what a problem they are for Air BnB. I stayed, unplugged, and included in my review.
This last sit felt different. Exploitive. They intentionally withheld their guide and I suspect others, with unreasonable demands like this, will do the same. It IS our responsibility to ourselves to do our due diligence so we dont get taken advantage of. I look at this as a little microcosm, good practice for higher risk situations. I don’t know if I would have left the sit without the support of the forum. But I’m so glad I did.
I have friends with special needs difficult pets. They understand TH isn’t the right platform for them. The HO’s I’ve just left have the means to pay a vet tech or the specialized care they should be providing their sweet old dog in her later years.
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Since the daughter lives down the street. Due to the over the top circumstances you could always tell them you wish to leave due to this and have the daughter take over. You are being taken advantage of from what you describe. It is not fair. They should have disclosed all of this. It’s clear that they would not get applications. I would expect to be paid for this level of responsibility.
I wish you the best.
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Hi - I’m just wondering what is considered “well in advance “? As a home owner, I’d been sending it out a week or two in advance, figuring the sitter wouldn’t really feel like perusing the guide further in advance than that, especially if they were still in the midst of another sit. After reading through this thread, I’m wondering if it would be better to send it right after confirmation?
Hi @ronzie. I would much prefer receiving the Welcome Guide (or similar document) quite soon after confirmation. That allows me to read it through; check it is in accordance with the listing responsibilities and what we discussed in our video chat; and ask questions if need be. I also mention to the owner that should anything change re house or, in particular, the pets, then I need to be notified in case it changes the sit requirements drammatically to what was agreed at confirmation. The WG also needs updating at that time as well.
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Straight after confirming please 
why the delay?
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Hello just to add to Bonny’s answer yes as soon as the sit is confirmed. I always like to go through the Welcome guide beforehand and then compare to notes I have taken during a video chat or from correspondence with the HO as sometimes there can still be a little niggle in your mind that could or could not be a red flag.
Out of 50+ sits I only had 3 sits that have turned out to be worse than expected owing to the animals behavior ( including getting attacked, as also happed to someone else here) so I try to have as much info and background as is possible before 100% committing and have even canceled 2 confirmed sits (way before the sit) because something just didn’t feel 100% up front.
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Personally, a week or two is fine. I don’t accept sits with high-needs pets, though, and that’s when it might be more relevant to get it sooner. Sitters on the forum are more diligent, so they’re going to tell you to send it immediately.
I think the issue with sending it out too soon and then not reviewing it is information may need to be updated, but the owner forgets to review because they’ve already sent it.
I recently had the experience of turning up to a sit and the building security code has changed since the owner prepared it and I couldn’t get in. Thankfully a neighbour helped out and the owners were still at the airport so could message me the new codes, but they were mortified.
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My POV: If you’re a host, it’s in your interest to send the guide with enough time to spare to find a new sitter if your original sitter reviews and cancels because of something in the guide that you might not have mentioned previously. Of course, you should be transparent with your listing, chat and any exchange of info before the welcome guide is sent.
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Genuinely curious, what extra responsibilities are being asked? In all our 40+ sits (dogs) I have only ever been asked to walk & feed (brush the odd one if very hairy), put bins out, bring mail in and occasionally water some plants. We clean as we go and leave as we found. What am I missing here?
Read the original post? Letting in workers, disturbance, extra walks, extra clean-ups, extra carrying the pet.
Far too burdensome for a fair exchange.
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