What to do after a horrible pet sit

Hi Hello, unfortunately I don’t think the reviews are blind. Either she could see it or she didn’t like the less than 5 star rating. The pet parent sent me a series of unfriendly emails and accused me of miss representing myself and the situation. She also stated she would be reporting me. I’m an honest person and stand by my words, so I’m OK with her doing so. It is unsettling to receive hospitality when all I’ve done is to very gently report my experience.
I’ve learned a lot from this experience and will choose my sits more carefully.

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By blind, it means they cannot see the review until they have also left one or the time frame to leave a review for both parties ends

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I don’t think she could see the ratings before your review was posted. Did you report the conditions of the sit? It’s possible that if you reported the sit, maybe they were contacted by THS? The other possibility is they could have become aware if you were posting on this or other forums?

This was almost exactly the same thing that happened to me. It was a 3-week sit and the dog was getting more and more aggressive after a week. The last straw was when he bit me arm–not breaking skin but leaving a bruise. I called the owners and told them I had to leave. I was very concerned the next bite would be much more serious. Fortunately the dog could go to the doggy daycare, but the family was very upset with me and made me feel like a failure. It upset me for a while, but I was really glad I didn’t put myself in a position to get seriously injured.

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The reviews are blind but maybe the owner took offence when you told them about the dog’s behaviour . .or expected that you would leave them a bad review .

I am not saying that you were wrong to leave the note . I think you were correct to address the issues with the owner . Unfortunately some people take offence and retaliate with an unfair review.

If you feel after your experience that the dog will be aggressive to future sisters please consider raising a member dispute with THS who will investigate and can remove the HO from the platform if they are found to be in breach of the rules .( which include not having a pet at the sit that has a history of being aggressive)

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I’m really sorry that happened to you @blackbird. :pensive: It’s such a shame that some owners refuse to be accountable and would rather transfer blame and shame to the sitter. A dog bite is traumatic, blood or no blood, especially when we don’t know the dog. Good on you for protecting yourself! :clap:

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@Orawro and @blackbird Thank you for coming to the forum to share your experiences. I’m sorry that you both found yourselves in those situations, but I am glad you got lots of support and helpful advice from the community.
Please do reach out to Membership Services as others have suggested, they will be happy to assist you. Best wishes for your future sits!

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I am glad you left. What did TH admin team do when you reported this to them?

It concerns me a great deal that this platform is not protecting the pet sitter enough. It seems very focused on the pet parent, even in terrible situations involving safety and health.

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Perhaps it was a glitch in the posting system? It’s possible. I’d request THS provide a copy showing when your review went live - and then when the HO’s went live. If yours posted prior to hers, and she could indeed see your review, it should be removed.

We have done lots of Sits with Puppies and Rescues as my (were young Teens when we first started sitting) could get experience as they wanted a Puppy, their Dad and I, both agreed, they needed to have some hands on with them, not just at friend’s houses where you play with the Puppy and maybe take it for a short walk and ignore the sign’s that it’s being trained etc. It gave them a very clear real life experience and they decided after 2yrs they were not ready for a Dog/Puppy, because snuggling on the Lounge is really a small part of owning a Dog.
It’s very disappointing when HO don’t tell the truth that the Pup is NOT trained, house trained, escapes, doesn’t walk with a harness, collar or lead and you actually just carry it instead, chews furniture and anything else, will pinch food etc. We had One Pup who was nipper, firm NO’s with a Palm open at it’s nose did the trick, however it was clear this Pup had not had any training, the family just thought it was cute, I had to remind my Teens “it’s not our Dog, they have not asked us do or continue training” However if the Pup was still in training, we followed it to the letter which again was great experience for our Teens.
TBH, I am very wary about “Lockdown” Dogs, some HO are aware of this and have changed the Age of the Dog on their Profile and looking at Pic’s it’s hard to see if they are the age they list, mind not all we sat a Lockdown Pup recently and despite not having Puppy classes or the socialising it needed due to Lockdown, the Family had worked hard since to get socialising in place and training, it was a lovely Dog and well trained for a Lockdown Pup.
We have had Dogs fighting with each other that was not typical behaviour and turned out had Health problems that had not been discovered, it was scary for the Teens and I had to Yell at them to NOT get in the middle of them as they naturally wanted to break them up, we separated them safely, gave them first aid and cleaned up the Blood off the Cream Carpets and kept them separated after that, as there were no injuries requiring the Vet, we talked to the HO when they got home about it, it was not until a few Months later when it kept happening such that it was daily occurrence and many Vets trips that it was discovered the Dog instigating the fights was indeed sick.
At the end of the day an aggressive dog is NOT okay in general, so sorry you experienced this. I hope it gets actioned by THS.
Wishing you all the best for future sits.