score:
0

How do you handle clients obviously lying about their dogs age?

I had a meet and greet and as soon as the client walked in I knew he had lied about the dogs age. It would be really nice to have a recent vet records on their profile page be mandatory in my opinion. I do not take puppies, so I felt like it was a huge waste of time, and the man was very pushy, making me wonder how many other sitters he went to because the dog obviously was going to need a lot of attention. How do you all deal with this? I ended up reporting them to rover, but I was kind of in shock when they were in my home because it was like slap in the face lie.

1 Answer

Sort by ยป oldest newest most voted
score:
1

So, in my case, I always ask that the owner bring the most recent rabies vaccination record from their vet with them or upload a photo of it to the booking. This makes sure that:

1) I have proof of rabies vaccination in case of emergency 2) I know that the dog is the appropriate age 3) I know that the dog has a vet

By asking for this, I've never had someone try to sneak in a puppy at the adult price range. But it also provides peace of mind for me, knowing that I have taken steps to ensure the health of my dogs and any dogs boarding with me. I have had owners tell me that they don't have their most recent vaccination records. In this case, I just ask for the vet information that administered the vaccinations and get their permission to call and verify the shot records. Owners that won't comply with this request aren't really the type of pet-parents I want to work with. Most good, responsible pet owners will understand that the hoops are in place to ensure the safety of their pets as well.

Comments

Thanks Shane! I really think I am going to start asking for vet records before the meet and greet. I wish it was mandatory on the owner's profiles. That would make my life simpler and I can see they are up to date. I am starting to see a big difference in pet parents!

The longer you do this, the more you will see that there are definitely different kinds of pet owners. It gets easier to tell them apart based on their requests and meeting with them. Hopefully you don't have anymore puppies trying to sneak in!

I had it happen again!!! The lady said her dog was 2 and he was REALLY not even one until this August! I had him stay for one day before I kept him for an entire week to see if she was telling the truth and sure enough she was lying, and started crying how she was sorry. What the heck!

Thank you this is helpful. I am currently boarding a "1 year and 2 months" old puppy that's not even 7 months old in reality. My only fear is if that will affect my rate.