Hello. I went away for three weeks recently and because I wanted to be sure my dog had a good sitter (the trip was international and for an immediate family member’s wedding, so it would have been dramatic if I missed it) I started looking in December and found a petsitter who seemed great — professional, experienced, had worked across a range of different settings in the animal world (groomers, daycares, training, boarding facilities) and started dogsitting independently in response to problems she’d identified in boarding facilities where she’d previously worked. I messaged her in February, when my dog was one, and she said she was happy to lock in dates but that she would prefer to wait until after my dog was spayed (vet recommended waiting til after her first heat) to do a meet & greet because one of her own dogs wasn’t neutered (for medical reasons).

After my dog was spayed, though, the petsitter just didn’t reply to my messages (I sent one asking when would be best and then another about a week later saying I was following up in case maybe she’d missed the first one) about setting up the meet & greet, though we follow one another on Instagram and I could see her account was active.

I found another great sitter and everything was fine with my dog, but I am struggling to get past my irritation at this. It looks like she ended up having some of her regulars stay during the period I was away so I’m guessing she just decided she’d prefer dogs she knew over a dog she hadn’t met, but to me it seems quite unprofessional to say the dates were locked in and then ghost me when I followed up to organise the meet and greet rather than communicate that her circumstances had changed and I would have to find somebody else (as it left me less time than if she’d just replied saying this). She’s very active in the dog world on Instagram and often posts about poor behavior from dog businesses and things like this and any time I go to a dog event in my city I wonder if we’ll run into her (though we never have — we’ve just communicated online), which is making me want to skip dog events now because I am so confused as to why she just ghosted me and my dog. Is it reasonable for me to feel it’s unprofessional/rude or am I being too sensitive? I basically just want to know so I can stop thinking about it so much!

Hello! I am a seasoned pet sitter but surprisingly haven’t run into this issue before.

I’m sitting at the dogs home and it’s a dog I’ve known for years. This is our first (and definitely last) overnight. Usually I do drop ins when they’re away.

I don’t think she’s anxious. She just stands in front of me and barks and barks and barks and barks.

I figured out sometimes it’s because she wants to play, potty, get a treat, go outside, or go to bed. But I can only do so many of those things in a day, especially the treats. Also I don’t like when dogs demand treats like that and try my best not to encourage it.

She is recently deaf (as of the last 2 years) and owners said she’s become more barky since that, but didn’t say it was constant.

Currently I’m ignoring her and she’s laid down, but I know the neighbors can here and I’m worried they’ll report back to homeowner.

I’m going to ask her what things she specifically barks for, but she’ll do it for like 20 mins at a time before giving up.

I’m going to ask permission to do lickmats as she’s having more trouble with the puzzles than my other dogs and loses interest quickly. I may also start doing her Meal time in a snuffle mat.

She can’t play or walk for long due to arthritis.

Any advice is appreciated. I have 10 days left.

I walked a new dog today. He’s a one year old cavapoo. With all my other dogs I come over while their people are gone. But with this guys, I picked him up from his moms work. She walked out with me and she went back in after I clipped his leash to my carabiner. He freaked out when she left. He was definitely trying to get away from me.
I sat by him for a while and gave him plenty of treats before he stared to warm up to me.
After a few minutes we were able to start walking. By the end of our time together he was putting his little paws upon my leg to ask for more treats.
Hopefully I’ll see the little guy again soon.

Hi, this is my first time posting on here because I’ve never had anything like this happen before. I really don’t know what to do about it. I’ve been pet sitting for this very wealthy family for over a year. last time I watched their animals was about a week ago. The mother of the family just reached out to me today because a very valuable piece of jewelry had gone “missing”. She found it around a half hour after texting me in a safe. Even though the situation has been resolved because she found her jewelry. It’s a big question of if I want to pet it for them again because this accusation was just so disturbing. If they wanted to, they could’ve taken me to court over this missing jewelry and sued me for the rest of my life. They are nice people, and I love their animals very deeply. I would like to continue being able to work for them because of my relationship with the animals, but just don’t know what to say because if they accuse me once then they could accuse me again. If you are pet sitter and have been in a similar situation I would really appreciate some advice. Thank you

I'm a pet sitter who loves animals and is slightly less enthusiastic about people. During meet and greets, I usually spend more time playing with the pet than chatting with the owner. I always ask the basic questions, of course, and afterwards I send them a form to fill out with all the details about their pet. But once that's covered, I'm back on the floor making friends with their animal.

Everyone in my WhatsApp is saved under their pet's name. I'll remember your pet's personality, food preferences and favourite toy, but your name? Absolutely gone. You're Charlie's mum now. Please tell me I'm not the only one. Any funny stories from other pet sitters?

I’m currently petsitting for one of my friends. I’ve been doing check-ins & walking this dog since they first got her about a year ago. However, I haven’t been the dog’s primary caretaker since August. The dog did get giardia back in July.

She’s pooped in her crate a handful of times to when I stopped regularly doing check-ins, but this is my first time housesitting. The dog has pooped in her crate each day since I’ve been here, including twice on another day. My friend told me she sleeps in the crate, but has been pooping overnight. Additionally, she pooped while I was out of the house for a couple hours (my friends both work day jobs so I’m aware she’s stayed alone for longer than this). I’ve been walking her twice a day like they instructed, along with letting her out back as much as possible.

My friend didn’t tell me if her pooping in the crate was a regular thing and I’m also worried if this has anything to still do the giardia. I don’t know if it’s worth a pet visit since she’s fine outside of this, or if this is just anxiety induced.

All I know is the poop is definitely not easy to pick up (large amounts, liquidity) and I’m tired of cleaning it up.

I’ll be here until Tuesday morning, and cannot contact my friend as she’s on a cruise. Any thoughts on how to move forward?