As a sitter you have accepted responsibility for all of the dogs in your care including the reactive one and the innocen...

I had a case where I was hired for in home sitting. The woman owned two pitbulls she had not trained at all and let them...

I would slightly disagree on the drop in vs walk pricing. For a drop in they are almost always 30 minutes or less per th...

I ask the owner what their dog’s routine is when they first message and again at the meet and greet. If they want me to ...

I have never encountered this except when I have moved and not updated my location because I wanted to keep servicing my...

This is a pretty simple situation and easy to bring up to the owner in a non confrontational way. Explain the merits of ...

This is a pretty simple situation and easy to bring up to the owner in a non confrontational way. Explain the merits of ...

How's Business? Hey Sitters, With Covid n all that we have all seen a slowdown, but how has your business been. Have yo...

I am not there to judge their housekeeping. If someone's house is uninhabitable during the meet and greet I may not take...

My first year with Rover I was so accommodating with clients and would sacrifice my own well being for their satisfactio...

When I meet with a house sitting client I ask their preference for communication. In the absence of a tangible answer I ...

This leash is my go to for my personal dogs and client dogs including board and trains. Easy to clean, very adjustable and able to be used as a dual dog lead, slip lead, european style lead and hands free.

https://www.starmarkacademy.com/produ...

I meant the health insurance provided.

A few months ago Rover came out with a health insurance option for sitters. I was wondering if anyone was using it and if so, what do they think? Even if you aren't using it I appreciate opinions if you have looked into the details of the program.

Becky

It has happened to me and I have no negative feeling about it. I am there to do a job and they have requested my time to help with their pets regardless of who else might be there. I run into a lot of cases where there are roommates and I am still hired to play with a cat or something because the roommate doesn't want to.

The only time it is a real problem is if people are showing up when I am house sitting. I try to always be presentable when house sitting, but you basically live there so having an unknown person, even a gardener outside, can be a bit jarring.

I thought it would, but I am as busy as ever. I currently only offer house sitting , boarding and limited drop-ins.

I tend to increase my rates when I am bombarded by bookings because it indicates the demand is greater than I can supply. Surprisingly, increasing my rates has yet to impact the number of requests I get except when I used to do walking which I have since stopped doing.

You really can't cancel the booking midway unless there is a serious health and safety risk. What you can do is "puppy proof" your house and make sure there are plenty of interesting and approved dog toys around. My house looks like I just moved in because I don't have personal things all over where the dogs could grab them. You can also just puppy proof a single room and put him in there when you can't watch him. Another option is tethering to you, which also helps train them the proper behavior and generally to respect you, though that can be a bit of a pain. As a last resort you can crate him when you can't watch him completely. A lot of dogs are already crate trained which helps tremendously with potty training and destructive behaviours.

Give the owner a call though and see which of the above options they feel is best for their dog and explain what a nightmare he has been.

I was in your situation this weekend with a dog who wasn't doing well and then got pneumonia during our time together. I think whether he will pass or not, you need multiple local contacts and make sure you have complete vet information and directions from the owner about what to do should he get sick and you can't get ahold of them.

In my case this weekend, they thankfully had a friend who could help lift him to get him to the vet and I was able to reach the owners when the dog did not get better to ask if they wanted me to take him to the emergency vet as their vet suggested when I called.

The key is communication whether the dog ends up dying or not, but to answer your question I would call the owners first, their emergency contacts and then Rover if you absolutely need to. Rover support does nothing except call the owner and I believe it is best to get that call from the sitter who has hopefully been communicating the circumstances along the way.

They don't offer it, but I have a lot of Rover clients who utilize my training services for basic dog manners. I also offer training to run along a bike and then offer bike walks. I just add extra charges separately as needed. Just keep training in mind when you work with clients if you are a trainer, point out problem behaviours if they don't and in a friendly way say that you can help. Even if not hired for training I do little stuff and often that gets noticed.

If it's only once then just walk separately, but teaching heel takes 10 minutes during a walk to get some nice improvement and probably 30-45 minutes to fully teach for future reference. Harnesses and prong collars almost immediately.

It comes down to training, but up to you to decide if it is worth your time rather than walking them separately. The energetic dog needs to learn heel and/or your dog to walk steadily and not stop all the time. To teach a solid heel in this case you can do the stop-start method which is basically you stop as soon as the faster dog outpaces you and your slower dog. You can also hook up a no pull harness, prong collar or get the energetic dog tired first before your walks.

I second the recommendation for dogfoodadvisor.com. I use Nulo and the Wellness stews which both get top marks. Nulo is a more solid paste and the stews are more liquid. You can also make your own bone broth in a slow cooker, place a raw egg or a bit of bacon fat over dry food if you are just trying to make it a bit more enticing. You will notice a huge improvement in your dog once you get him off of Cesar and people food.

I personally do not think you are on the hook for a "stud fee". Their dog may be an amazing AKC registered champion show dog etc., but your dog isn't and those puppies have no real value except as pets sold with all the other poorly bred dogs on Craigslist unless yours happens to be an amazing specimen of the same breed. A responsible advocate of the breeds in question would actually request that you get the puppies aborted or at the very minimum make you sign a contract to not sell them with any association to the fancy registered dog's name or likeness.

The good news is, fear aggression is actually easier to fix than true dog aggression. I could give a variety of tips to you that have worked for me with shelter animals and animals I train, but your best bet is to get with a Behaviorist or Trainer to assess your dog and make a program to build up their confidence.

Until then I would play it safe and take precautions with her around strange new dogs or in anxiety inducing environments. Dogs can also sense their owners' anxiety and feed of off that. You may want to consider a muzzle for your peace of mind and the dog's safety in situations where she needs to meet another dog and you are worried about how she will react. Also as a rule I wouldn't let screeching children run up to her or pet her a lot unless you are confident you can read her body signals and take her out of the situation when it becomes stressful for her.

For housesitting I throw small mammals and tank dwellers in for free unless there is a mess factor. Feeding a fish or mouse is about as much effort as watering a plant or getting the mail which is typical housesitting stuff. If the care is more involved like setting rabbits outside each morning or cleaning cages then I charge additional dog rate per cage/tank as someone else suggested or have it as something to throw in free because the person has done something to make my life easier like stocked the fridge with my favorite snacks or lets me use the car.