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How to deal with a runaway?

So I’ve been boarding for several years now and I’ve had my first runaway. One dog is a 80 pound Great Pyrenees and other is a German Shepherd/Lab mix. Stupid me didn’t do a meet and greet and it has been a total nightmare. I had a bad feeling when the owner finally got them into my apartment and the Pyrenees just hicked his leg up in front of us and pissed on my couch after JUST walking him. The owner response to this “you might want to move that he thinks it’s a bush” (my throw cover). Wtf? Red flag! Then he advises he forgot their food and could Venmo me the money but I told him we could deal with that later. Fast forward to an hr later. I was coming in the house and checked before opening the door to make sure no was at the steps. Well these dogs were hiding behind the door and just bolted across the complex. What a nightmare! I immediately called him and told him what happened, grabbed my car keys, and their leash. Drove around the area for 30 mins. No sign of them so I made several post on FB and alerted the cops/animal control. 5 hours later I get a call from the owner saying someone found them. They were still in the complex soaking wet and muddy so I had to lay all of my spare comforters down on the floor so they wouldn’t track mud on the carpet. He lied in his profile and said they were chipped and got along with other dogs. A complete LIE. I’ve had to cancel two overnight bookings because they are not friendly towards other dogs. Thankfully everyone was completely understanding and appreciated my honesty. They do not listen to any commands barely their name either. Has anyone experienced this and how did you deal with it?

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What a mess! Yes, there were plenty of red flags. You experienced a bad situation, which you may have been able to avoid if you had a meet & greet.

If this owner met you through rover, it needed to be booked through rover at the time of drop off (if not sooner). So, if not booked and the owner asked me about Venmo, I'd nicely explain it has to go through rover with their credit card the same day - not later than that. For hurried pet owners who are traveling and/or those confused by the booking process, support will process their C/C payment over the phone. After the dog is officially booked, if something happens, (dog injured, ill, runaway), you can call support emergency phone number 24 x 7 and they will advise you as best they can, including help create info, distribute, and manage the communications of the alert process. Also, if the dogs are an issue with other dogs, they may be able to re-assign them to another sitter.

Regarding the food, that rarely happens. If that re-occurs, you can ask if they want to order online and have it sent to your home or handle it giving them the receipt for purchase and requesting reimbursement when the owner returns for their dog.

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Yes, they were quite a handful. The stay was paid through rover. He was trying to send me money through Venmo for their food. I told him to just leave so I could calm the dogs down because they kept jumping on him and causing the other dogs to bark. They left yesterday and he gave me $20.