I recently completed another month-long sit with a dog that I have sat previously. This time, however, the dog chewed up my backpack, destroyed 2 pairs of underwear, and ate around $20 worth of my groceries. This behavior was unexpected as he didn’t do this last time I sat.
It really upset me having to spend out of pocket to replace my belongings for something like this. Thus, I am considering giving the sit a 4/5 rating instead of 5 stars. Do you think this is justified?
The homeowners and house have been otherwise perfect. I have no complaints otherwise, and I do love the dog after having spent 2 months with him. But I am upset, and I think future sitters should be forewarned.
I feel bad giving less than 5 stars. It seems like most users on this app gravitate toward handing out 5 star reviews frequently, but maybe I am just a more critical rater. What do y’all think?
I would likely deduct a star in the pet behavior category and clearly explain why. I would acknowledge if I contributed to the situation ie leaving my belongings accessible to the dog. It would be fair to mention that the dog did not behave this way on a previous sit. I am undecided if I would deduct any stars for overall sit experience. Did you discuss with the HOs and, if so, how did they react?
I recently did the same thing, well, I deducted a star on pet behavior partly due to the fact that the dog destroyed a few of my belongings. To be fair, the HO warned me that it might happen, but it’s still frustrating, especially since I had to replace those items myself. I think it’s fair to deduct a star, for the sake of future sitters. Not every experience is a 5-star deal across the board. Sorry you had to deal with this.
I would mention the behavior in the review as a light hearted heads up to future sitters, but I would not deduct stars. To me, this is the “cost” of pet sitting but the benefits are far more valuable.
Dogs often behave differently when their full time humans leave them. Once it happened, I would be vigilant about other possessions. If this is a regular behavior of the dog, I would hope the owner would warn me. (I was once warned that a dog chewed shoes. I forgot and left shoes in the hallway. Chomp chomp. My bad.)
Wow! That’s one heck of a chewing fest! If, like you say, it was unexpected maybe there was something else going on. Was he left alone too long, or was frightened maybe? I would check with the HO first, before writing a review.
Personally I would from only your post here (if it isn’t other things) not deduct from Overall sit experience but a star for pet behavior.
Deducting stars need an explanation in my opinion, so I would say that the dog did it now and it was unexpected because it didn’t happen last time, and just say it in a friendly way as a heads up to next sitter to pay more attention than I did.
If it was on different occasions I might word it as I would take more precautions in the future to avoid it happening. Gives a good impression to future hosts to take some responsibility if that is the case. Not sure what exactly happened, just a thought.
Personally, I would only deduct a star (in the pet behavior category) if the behavior is inconsistent with what’s described in the listing. If the HOs give any kind of heads-up in the listing about this potentially occurring, then I wouldn’t feel justified deducting a star (but I would still definitely mention it in the written review).
Well, did the home owner say ANYWHERE on the welcome guide or listing that an unsupervised dog might chew up property? If so, then 5 stars…because you were warned. If not, we agree with @Colin
5 stars overalls, 4 for pet behavior.
But remember, you can’t ask a dog to not be a dog.
Personally, I always expect dogs and cats are destroyers and don’t usually leave things out they can get to. The backpack probably deserves a heads-up for other sitters, if you weren’t warned, and if it happened to me, I’d definately mention it to the homeowners and at least hint at their compensating you. I don’t think I’d take off points. If it didn’t happen last time it’s probably not a consistent enough behavior that the owner’s would know to give you a specific warning. [Updated: I missed the part about groceries. That’s a different kettle of fish, or meat, or cheese. And places more of the responsibility on the sitter not the owner.]
backpack, underwear and groceries, all in one sit? Did this all happen at once?
The groceries, for sure are on you. You should have unpacked them into fridge, freezer or cupboards.
What if there had been Chocolate or Onions amongst them? In that case the Owner would be the one coming on here asking how they should rate the sitter.
Is it possible the smell of the groceries meant the dog thought ‘oooooh, food…’ and chewed to get to it? My cats don’t chew but I certainly wouldn’t leave any groceries within their reach if meats, cheese etc etc were in the bag. I might not smell the goodies but they would!
Unless everything was chewed up at one time, why did you leave things out where the dog could get at them after the first incident? Dogs will chew on things. You are lucky the dog didn’t become sick from ingesting something harmful. It does not seem fair to deduct stars.
If the dog didn’t chew during your first sit, I can see why you’d be surprised. But I agree with @Brindle that if the dog started chewing, I’d immediately put everything away, so it would be odd if it had opportunity to chew so many things. Were you away when all of this happened?
Personally, I’m paranoid about leaving food accessible to sit pets, so I usually stash everything in the fridge, freezer, microwave or oven, so they can’t get at anything. I don’t want them becoming sick on my watch.
With clothing, I don’t pack anything good when I go on sits. I figure there’s always the chance that items will get destroyed, damaged or covered in hair when sitting. In one case, I’d routinely put everything away while sitting a year-old dog, but I became overheated and took off a hoodie and forgot. She ended up chewing it and I just chalked it up to sitting. I didn’t mention it to my hosts.
Whether you choose to deduct starts is up to you and might depend on the circumstances when it occurred … If dogs are prone to chewing it can happen in an instant..
please do mention it in your listing so that future sitters are forewarned .
We’ve done sits where , food , packages and tv remotes had been chewed by the dogs -prior to our stay . The owners forewarned us and showed us where these items could be safely put to keep them out of reach .
I’m sure if we became dog owners again my wife would be blaming the dog for shocking rates of chocolate consumption.. I remember housesitting a golden Retriever who never touched the box of chocs on a low coffee table! For me that was the pinnacle of self control! I’ve given up training my wife and just hide them and ration them!
I think it depends on what’s stated in - or omitted from- the listing; how much damage has been incurred and whether or not you’ve watched the dog(s) before leaving your stuff accessible.
As sitters, we surely do have to take some responsibility for our own belongings, but I agree that it’s also up the hosts to be transparent regarding pet’s behaviour. Unless the dog is a puppy, if he’s a chewer, the chances are it’s not his first rodeo (can you tell we’ve been watching ‘Yellowstone’? ).
It’s always important to leave honest reviews. What if the next sitter doesn’t have the financial capacity to replace any chewed up belongings. I agree, THS seems like a weird world of only 5* reviews but it’s slowly changing with responsible sitters and hosts who leave honest and sometimes less than 5* reviews.
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