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What to do if an animal your sitting is being aggressive?

The dog i started sitting was very nice during the meet in greet in the owner's presence. He is very nice to me but whenever we pass people on walks or if i have company over he lunges at them and has tried to bite my friend. She backed away so he only bit off a piece of her shorts but still. The owner says he has never done that before but then I don't know why he is doing it now? I have tried treats, positive reinforcement, tiring him out with walks, showing him that the people are nice but nothing works. I don't know what to do at this point since the owner is saying they have not had this problem.

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If he's not acting aggressively toward you, then for the remainder of the stay don't have company over. Be proactive on walks and avoid places where you are likely to encounter other people or can't avoid others if they appear. If you absolutely can't prevent company in your home, make sure the guest dog is safely confined from before they enter until after the strangers are gone; if you can't do that, contact the owners and Rover support to make other arrangements until the owners return.

I understand it will be a difficult stay, but unexpected behavior is just part of the job, and we often have to inconvenience ourselves for the sake of our guests. I've had to change or cancel plans with friends or family when a guest dog hasn't settled in well or displayed issues I didn't expect. After doing this job a while, I just learned to not make solid plans during a first stay with a new dog because I can't always predict how they will react to the transition. He's likely very stressed without his owners around and scared of the new people. Continuing to expose him to company isn't fair to him or to your company and can be very dangerous, so unless you're a qualified behaviorist with the consent of the owners, do not continue trying to introduce him to strangers. Management is a much safer option than attempting to work on the issue.