Right on the nose. I'm gonna add don't reward barking at all, not even by saying or yelling don't bark. That's reinforcing the negative behavior even when the reinfoment is also negative.

While it is a nice thing to do to include a dog in the holiday dinner it can be bad for them. I buy them a special can of dog food they don't usually get and add a teaspoon to their regular food. Sudden dietary change can upset a dog's tummy and give them gas or runny poo. There are a lot of spices and things we add to our cooking that isn't good for dogs. On the extreme end of bad things that can happen a friend of mine lost her dog on Thanksgiving by giving her dog turkey. The dog wasn't used to it, got an upset tummy and regurgitated the turkey. The dog choked on it and died.

I offer one free day for a 10 day booking so 22 days would get 2 free days. I do not offer free night discounts over holidays but I do not raise rates either. Please, do not ever take abuse from anyone. There is a spot to flag a profile if they are abusive. I've had to do it. Total nightmare of a client that would not come to get his dogs. Ugh. He wanted me to keep them an extra month for no extra money and I didn't want to keep them extra. Nightmare! Rover support was brilliant!

I give a meet and greet dog plenty of time on their own to sniff around before introducing my dog. Always give dogs plenty of room to meet. I keep the meet and greet dog leashed for initial sniffing. I had one little dog that lunged and tried to bite with 1 sec warning-and there is always warning, growl, hackles up, hard stare-I pulled him back and walked him out and ended the meet and greet. Sometimes it doesn't work out.

Ditto on the asking what the dog eats and if any special prep is needed. If it is a complicated diet it is perfectly reasonable to ask them to pre package and freeze anything like you mentioned. I do not charge extra for meds. To me, that is a big difference in how home sitting is better than big box care where they nickle and dime for every little thing. Again, ask them to prep doses into individual doses. You can ell them you want to make sure it is right and they know it better than anyone. If they won't it's not a good fit and you shouldn't feel bad about declining. If they spring it on you tell them you'll need their help making up the doses while they are there.

Marking is often confused with a housetraining accidents. Most dogs and even cats, will attempt to mark in a new place. It's a dominance behavior. A perfectly housetrained dog will still try to mark. They want to make the new area theirs. A host home must be as free as possible of other dog's accident/marking scents. That's why carpets are preferred pee spots. It's harder to completely remove the scent. It's there even if the human nose can't smell it. Carpets and rugs need to be deep cleaned often with a pet odor eliminator as well as any other spots that seem to be pee magnets.

A car ride usually jangles a dog around enough to have to eliminate as soon as they arrive so dogs immediately go outside. The owner will be in the middle of telling me, " oh they went out right before we left" and the dog starts pooping.

I do not allow dogs that are untrained unless they are puppies and I do not allow potty pads. A dog that sneak pees or poos in the middle of the night or while I'm not looking would be crated for sleep or while I showered if it happened more than once and I would tell the owner. Face it, we cannot have our floors and carpets professionally cleaned between every guest. They need to know what their dogs do when they aren't around. I explain to them that it is perfectly natural for pets to exhibit unusual behavior when not in their care. I go over all of those things during the meet and greet or in messages if it is an out of town client.

Neutered dogs don't mark as much as unneutered dogs so I don't accept un neutered dogs. The biggest complaint I hear from new clients about why they didn't return to a past sitter is bad smells in the home so we really have to keep up on that at all times. I always have a mop and bucket ready for immediate clean ups and a hot water carpet cleaner to run once a week.

I require proof of vaccination for rabies and bordetella. I'll check paperwork but sending me a photo of the records is fine.

I offer a weekly rate, a 2 week and a monthly rate. I also offer a discount for multiple dogs. Repeat clients are gold and they love knowing how much to plan for the sitter when they are planning their trip. I've had dogs for 6 months at a time.