Short scare;loose dog; Should I do anything?

I'm very glad everything turned out well for the dog. There's always the chance the neighbor gave her more of the story than you are aware. If I were you, I'd take the high road and give her the story in a message since she's already aware the dog was loose. Don't try to hide anything. I would tell her exactly what happened, apologize for the mistake and that you understand if she's upset because you didn't heed her warning, tell her you have learned your lesson and will not make the same mistake again, even if a dog seems trustworthy. Apologize again and say that you understand how important it is that a sitter be trustworthy since you are dealing with another person's family member. I think if you're up front and own your mistake she's a lot more likely to see this as a lesson learned rather than a sign that you should never be trusted again.

I've had a dog slip through my front door (my ex was headed out, opened the door, then turned back to say something, and the dog saw his opportunity and jumped at it. Much like in your case, he wanted to play keep away, staying just out of reach, until we were finally able to lure him in by playing with my dog and he couldn't resist being left out of the wrestling game. I was honest with his owner and she laughed it off, since he's done the same thing to her multiple times before. Owners aren't perfect either - your client was speaking from experience when giving you the advice watch him around open doors - so if you're honest and contrite she'll likely understand, even if she's not happy about the mistake. And since experience is the best teacher, you'll be extra careful in the future, so I think you can rebuild her trust by proving that you have in fact learned.

I wholeheartedly agree with Laura. Also, it's probably a good idea to research ways to 'recapture' escapees that doesn't involve as much running around. I'm usually passively training dogs to follow me from the moment their owner hands me their leash - excitedly running around playing "chase me," giving them treats when they turn to look at me or follow a recall command, lots of pets, excitement, and attention when they stay close to me on a long leash, etc. Usually the first thing I do if I have an escapee (primarily my own pup) is pause to see if they'll stop to make eye contact. New dogs don't always do this, but if a dog is free and they make eye contact, I immediately run away excitedly talking to them ("where you going silly puppy?!"). This has worked nearly 100% of the time for me. The few times that a dog has escaped and just bolted, I'll run to keep pace with them, then as soon as they slow down, I start walking, usually waiting for them to stop and smell something or make eye contact. My guests haven't made it very far at all, and I only had escapees in the very beginning. I've also heard that yelping and lying down on the ground will trigger the pooch to come check on you. I haven't tried it - I wonder if it would work on dogs that don't have a relationship with you. I think this is something every pet sitter (and dog owner for that matter) experiences at some point. Also check out https://www.rover.com/blog/sitters-pr...