I’m fairly new to the THS community and love reading everyone’s stories.
I thought it would be fun (and helpful) to ask:
What’s the most unexpected, funny, or quirky behavior you’ve seen from a pet while housesitting?
Could be a dog with odd habits, a cat with a big personality, or something totally surprising.
Looking forward to hearing your stories it’s always fun to see how unique every sit can be.
Hi, i am also new to the forum although i have sitted for several years by now.
On one sit the cat came always by night to my bed and was sleeping at the top of my head and licked my face. This was too much for me, so i closed the door the next night. But the cat was clever and jumped on the door handle to open it. The next night i had to lock the door to avoid the visits : )
Welcome to the Trusted Housesitters forum!
I love hearing about pet personalities too, from sulky dogs, to @Culinara overly affectionate cat sit.
@Dav1son what’s the funniest pet behaviour that you’ve seen?
I did a two week sit once and the owner said on leaving, “Don’t bother to send any photos while I’m away, I know what the dogs look like!”
So on the Owners’ return .. the dogs didn’t bother getting up and greeting them! Touchė!
@Highfive hahaha, I like their style.
I read into this that the owner (and dogs) felt completely safe with you in charge.
This is with a general sit but…
Swedish/Danish farm dog…when she wants to 
, she will find a wall and basically deposit her movement like a soft serve ice cream serving onto the side of the surface. And yea, it’s like a mini emoji when she’s done.
She live sin a city so there are an abundance of buildings for her to practice on. I nor her owner know why or how she learned it 
Wall’s ice cream! It must be easier to scrape off than some pick ups on more challenging surfaces!
Can’t believe I’m writing on this topic but here I am depositing a comment!
I think poo on a wall is easier to spot and avoid.. some areas of grass and gravel paths have become minefields!
I guess people like to express themselves on walls too! Not quite the same way though!
Not sure if this would be considered quirky but it certainly was something I hadn’t come across before or since.
The cat used the human toilet. I thought this was brilliant….. just had ro remember to leave the loo door open at all times.
On a sit right now with a dog & cat.
Every morning at 2am, no matter what time or how diligently I take the dog out to the garden to do his ‘ business’ just before bedtime, he wakes me up at 2am and insists on going outside (& insists I accompany him.) Sometimes he wees, while sometimes he does nothing other than sit on the sidewalk a couple minutes before heading back in — but when we finally arrive back at the bed, his brother the cat will have taken over our combined warm spot & the dog will have to go find a different bed.
Subsequently, the cat then invariable wakes us at 7:30am to go outside in the garden. When WE return — yup, you guessed it: the pupper has re-claimed the warm spot, & the cat must find a new place to sleep. (In both cases, I’m left with the task of wiggling my way under the covers to reclaim a portion of the bed for myself.)
(Feel free to post this one under “quirky.”)
I had a sit in a studio apartment where the bed was lofted high on a platform that required a ladder to get onto. The owner was a musician and had a piano situated on the floor against the base of the lofted bed frame. His cat liked to cuddle in bed with me, but instead of using the ladder to get up he took the easier route (for a cat) by jumping on top of the piano and then up onto the bed. There was no way for him to do this without jumping directly on the piano keys, causing a loud, clashing, and startling sound! He also would go on and off the bed throughout the night, and made the same racket on his way down! He was so sweet though, I couldn’t be mad at him! 
He’d have to be very sweet indeed for me to tolerate that! Musical Cats comes to mind!
Well have you seen a ragamuffin cat drinking water? or … When you’re too fancy to drink like the commoners, but still need your hydration.
Haha! I think part of what allowed me to laugh it off is I was so thrilled to be on this sit, it had a balcony overlooking the ocean, and that setting was so inpsiring to me I let it all slide! He also would stare at me as I slept, and any time I moved he’d meow excitedly thinking it was feeding time. 
We looked after a rescue collie mix in Istanbul a few years ago that did exactly that. It was broadly funny but sometimes a bit embarrassing if too many people were around & thought we should drag her off (she wasn’t having any of it, Mr Whippy time was happening ) #softservecones
Wow! How did they teach him that?
A fog I looked after rang a string of bells by the back door to let me know he needed to go out. So clever.
A golden retriever I’ve watched a few times, will only do his business on top of things. He will squat over a bush, a large rock, tree stump, flower pot, pretty much anything that sits approximately 18 inches above the ground. He is a funny guy, he has a large sturdy frame, he knows not to jump on people, so when he gets excited to see folks, all 80 lbs of him hops up and down with a big smile on his face
We had a sit with two cats that had been trained at mealtimes to have each piece of kibble tossed to them a piece at a time. They would catch each one in their paws and usually eat it without dropping it. This was their twice-daily feed, not treat time. No food bowls to clean!
I sat a youngish collie for 10 days, and was very shocked when she bit me by mistake during a fetch game. Then I was surprised at how she pulled at the leash so I couldn’t walk her with a cup of coffee to the cliffs, or it’d spill. So I taught her how to walk on a leash without pulling. Then, when her owner came home late and we all spent the night together, I was surprised when the collie slept outside my door, and not with her owner in owner’s room on the dog bed. The owner, in turn, was surprised when I went for a goodbye walk with the collie, taking my coffee to the cliffs… the owner couldn’t believe the dog was so calm and cooperative on the leash. Finally, I was surprised that the owner never asked me to sit again… and she left the state a year later.
