we did not get any welcome pack, just a vague “the boys are great”. no “face to face”hand over, just a quick call the day before sit.
It looked a good sit, so we agreed.
2 days in with 8 to go and it has quickly become apparent neither dog has ever had any sort of basic training, one is a rescue dog only 6 months old, so we are willing to accept he may have issues. We asked the owners before the sit what commands the dogs reacted to and they replied “they like cheese” after a delay!,( OK, we should have taken this as a red flag!)
The other dog is 6 years old and clearly has never had any training, he barks uncontrollably for the first 5 mins of any walk, pulls like a bull on the leash, jumps at any passing dog barking at them, both bark most of the night, neither can walk to heel, and do not react to any commands.
we are finding the whole situation very stressful, as we are experienced dog owners ourselves and have never come across dogs this badly behaved, any walk is a series of apologies to other dog owners and neighbours for the noise/jumping.
I guess we will just struggle on, but this has made us reconsider pet sitting, anyone else ever had this problem?
If possible, try to take them on walks on office campuses, church grounds, school campuses at times when no one else will be there. Over the holidays, schools will be closed, for example.
And please review accurately to spare other sitters.
The clapping hands are for you continuing! This is more than challenging and clearly you have bitten off more than you can chew! This is where a tidy home becomes very much a side issue! Dogs’ behaviour is so crucial.
Yes we’ve been “sold a pup”— as the expression goes! It was a nightmare 3 rescues with a half an hour handover and we found they hunted like a pack , got out of foolproof harnesses and went walkabout!
That was bad enough outside.. they killed a cat in front of us that had fallen off a garden wall into the street and was thus “ easy meat”
Dogs on sofas and beds whether muddy or not!
We quickly developed our own house rules and walked one dog at a time from then on.
It was a paid sit at least! The owner could not find anyone else or a willing kennel to have the three musketeers back! Surprise , surprise!
A sharpLearning curve but things can only
get better ! You have done a crash course but learnt a lot.. Hope the supply of cheese is plentiful!
New Year new questions
And new parameters!
All I can say to encourage you is I’m still putting my head on the block but it’s wiser and older now!
We did a sit with two reactive dogs it was HARD work. You need a plan. Hubby would walk ahead 10 yards to warn other dog owners that these dogs were ‘in behaviour training and reactive’ this phrase got a sympathetic response and a wide berth. I carried a waist pack with treats- as attentional distraction when hubby let me know a dog was up ahead. We also did lots of garden command training at the house. We tried to walk them very early and very late. Oddly enough they were lovely dogs at home. I wrote an honest/detailed review.
My reactive dog lives with two cats. He barks at them quite a lot to “ keep them in line” he tolerates them. He sleeps in their bed to remind them of the pecking order . I feed him separately but he delights in coming back to the cats’ dishes to wash up!
Outside he’s fine with other dogs but doesn’t like people coming too close or from behind. It’s fear and he barks and lurches but wouldn’t bite. Of course the objects of his fear don’t know that!
I get him to carry a ball. It stops him hoovering up In the street and barking at folks! He’s destructive with his toys so once home he gets a treat to drop the ball. Game Over!
This is a repeat sit for me and the dog quickly settled as he recognized me. He will
never be perfect as he carries a sad history with him.. but he’s manageable and well worth the effort.
I do cranky!
I am sorry to hear that. I know it is stressful when you encounter unexpected animal behaviors that make the sit more difficult. Better only 8 more days than 8 more weeks!
Having been sitting for over a decade, we have naturally encountered instances where dogs were more challenging to manage than we anticipated. A few sits back we had a dog who had a habit of eating sticks on her walks. We were made aware of the behavior prior to the sit, but we didn’t realize the extent of it–it was a full-blown neurosis that made outings very challenging. She always passed everything she ate no problem, but worrying she would get some sort of obstruction on our watch was not an ideal scenario.
The first thing to consider would be if there is any way to mitigate the situation–changing up walking times, routes, etc…
If there really isn’t anything to be done, unfortunately the only thing to do is ride it out, and chalk it up to a learning experience. And be sure to be honest in the review. It is important to remember that speaking honestly about a pet’s challenges is not being critical, you are just stating facts. Just keep the language neutral and not emotional in nature,etc…
I agree about describing the dogs behaviour and level of vigilance required from a sitters’ point of view. With the sit we did for 2 reactive dogs the new to THS HO edited their next listing after us and also wrote their 5* review of us including the words ‘challenging dogs’ so that any future sitters knew what was being talked about by HOs and sitters. I’m fascinated to see the next review as somebody is sitting those dogs at the moment- and I’d love to see how they managed? I did suggest that the HOs secure a weekly behaviour expert trainer to help them.
YES! Also 10 days over Christmas, one dog has no obvious training, finds and shreds things in seconds, and has escaped the garden twice. I spend about 30 mins each day training the dog in basics, but it’s not what I signed up for and find it very stressful.
What I’d like to do is go home for a relaxing few days before going back to my day job.
Difficult sits are where I learned the most and quickly. This challenging experience is temporary. Of course I feel sorry for you in this situation but the owners are clearly clueless and these dogs need consistent training and strict boundaries established. The dogs have been very badly let down too.
In 8 days you can walk away from this and believe this is your worst sit and it’s come at the start. Much to learn and much to avoid. Accepting too readily with not enough circumspection is something I still do once I see a stunning home in a great location. We’ve all been there probably. Yes it’s tough. But it’s TEMPORARY! Thank your lucky stars.
Book something nice to look forward to when these days are over.
After our horror sit we spent the money on a dreamy two days in a plush hotel to pamper ourselves! We surely deserved it and definitely savored the difference being pet free!
You’ve got this.
No you’re not.…..and I would have reported this (Yes, yes many dogs don’t like cats and this violent aggression is well beyond that especially considering the overall description of the dogs’ general behaviour) to the local animal control authorities.
We reported it to the owner. The owner knew the neighbour whose cat it was. Financial compensation was worked out. The neighbour accepted it as no one’s fault. I was trying to get the dogs off it but no sooner had I cleared one the other two were back on it. Yes it was very traumatic. After that, although they had leads and harnesses, which we always used, by the way, one dog managed to get out of his. The owner asked us to send a photo of the said dog in its harness, thinking we might have assembled it wrongly, but no we had done all we could.
Yes a ghastly experience. It happened and it shocked us. We kept the owner informed ( they were abroad). We didn’t meet the owner again. We left at the agreed time.
The sit from Hades.
Just exemplary. Really useful to read tips like this. You guys are clearly pros. I agree about reaching out to other dog owners while out walking as a warning/for empathy.
I regularly take care of a dog who has seizures (sometimes brought on by stress like fireworks), which have got worse over time. I’ve noticed that he’s become more and more ‘reactive’ (barking mostly) and I think it’s because he senses he has a vulnerability. I always tell owners we encounter about the seizures and they are almost alway so lovely and understanding. Having a plan really helps
This is why i stopped (mainly) doing dog sits and switched to cat sits. I will not mess up my reviews because some dog is misbehaving, doing nonsense with others or eating sht(funny I wasn’t allowed to post sh*t even its a normal word for poo).
To be honest, it makes me angry that even people, especially those who have a lot of money, don’t invest in a dog trainer. A trained dog is a free dog. I still see people petting they dogs when they bark at others
I will certainly not pay an extra fee for such a drama time.
I wrote to TH long time ago that they should add mandatory field/questions for Pet owners, where they have to write about the behaviour of their dogs much more in detail. Like “does your dog pull on the leash” “Does he bark at others” “does he poo in the house” “does your dog has seperation axiety” I had dog sits where all of this was not mentioned before. The sit with that axiety was the worst since i coudltn even leave the house over christams few years ago.
Sure I could have a long list of questions myself to ask the owner but its easier not to apply in the first place if I alrady know all of this.
After I posted yesterday, both dogs lunged at a child who was walking her dog, causing us and the child’s parents much anguish. we did see the child coming and started walking in the other direction, but the child did not understand.
Not a good situation but no one got hurt.
As someone else mentioned these dogs come in covered in mud and run around the house (which is very nice) with muddy paws. We have put a stop to that!
We have begun some basic training, and have written to the owners, (but put the email in the saved box to give us time to re-read and re consider in a calmer moment).
Like the idea of one person walking ahead, that makes sense.
As you would expect they are actually great characters in the house, unless a bird has the cheek to fly by! it is the owners who need schooled on the responsibilities of owning dogs. We wonder if more dogs were brought in to peoples lives during covid and lockdown to keep the kids company, but were just that and no one gave any thought to life afterwards when they would need to socialise with other dogs, and generally do what dogs do.
I’m no stranger to house/pet sitting but the HO here is; “a handful” is how they describe the young dog, a terror is my label. Having now found a way out of the “puppy proofed” garden, I’m anxious about taking her out - on one side a river, on the other a road!
You’re right too, the HO was initially unresponsive - I’d given up on it when a message came in at 48 hours notice - and I didn’t consider they’d have nothing prepared. Vague guidance like they are “fed after tea”, walked twice a day and after a 10 min tour of the house, I was left to it.
Even when I turn up to a key under the mat and multiple dogs and cats there have been clear instructions; I couldn’t leave my pets without being clear about their routines, preferences and idiosyncrasies.
My holiday time is precious and I don’t want to feel resentful, but they would have had a serious bill putting the dogs in kennels, it all just seems a little naive, even disrespectful. After going through the chat here, I wouldn’t sit for another first timer or without reviews I can check.
).