Hi all,
I’m currently dogsitting for a woman in my city who’s in hospital. This is my first job dogsitting for people who aren’t friends or family. I’m by no means a professional but I’ve looked after quite a few different pets over the years. I’m between jobs so I figured I might as well sign up for this app that connects you to people who needs walkers or sitters.
So as I say this is my first job. It was very last minute, organised by an online friend (who shall henceforth be known as OF) of the dog owner (DO). OF contracted me and gave me all the instructions, address etc. She explains that DO has alcohol related liver disease and needs to go to hospital for tests and a blood transfusion. It’s all last minute and a bit panicked.
I’m excited for this first job so I do my best to seem keen and volunteer eagerly. I’ll need to stay in DO’s home overnight and take care of her Alaskan malamute.
Cut to days later, and I’m utterly exhausted. This dog is so handsome and cute, but SO ANNOYING. He just won’t let me sleep or even sit down. He’s too smart, intelligent and strong for his own good. Now granted I was warned. And I was prepared. But it’s been 5 days and they have no idea when DO will be back. I haven’t slept more than 3 hours in days because the dog just won’t leave me alone and shut up. And the DO herself keeps pestering me for photos and updates every hour.
I’m trying really hard to be patient, I know she’s essentially dying and misses her dog. But DO is so impatient and rude in her texts. OF is actually really nice and constantly backing me up. Frankly i don’t know why they’re friends.
I didn’t sign up for a week away from my partner and my home. I’m so close to just making up some emergency to have a reason to leave. But I know DO is having a really bad time. But maybe I would feel more charitable if she were nicer to me, given what I’m doing for her (admittedly for pay). I just want to sleep damnit.
How much longer are you expected to do this? And would they be able to find someone else to watch the dog if you quit?
Absolutely no idea to both questions. I thought maybe I could say something like “I need to go for X reason in 2 days, can you find someone else by then?” At least then I’m not totally hanging them up to dry
Totally fair but what will you do if they can’t find someone? If you booked this on an app can the company help you find someone to take over?
I assume you’re not being held prisoner there. You are allowed to leave the dog for a few hours, right? Crated or otherwise? Go home, mute your phone, take a nap, come back in 6 hours. It’ll help your sanity.
Perhaps suggest that a really active dog like that might be happier in a kennel setting where he can play with other dogs.
You need to put an end date on this, with notice. You also need to have a hard conversation with the owner about what to do if…something happens to them and they are not able to ever come home. is there a plan in place for the dog should it need a new owner and can That person start caring for the dog now. also maybe crate them at night.
It’s a job, not a prison sentence. Give a day’s notice and go. As you mentioned, there are numerous apps where one can find a pet sitter. NTA.
ESH – you _can’t_ just abandon a job when you’re caring for a pet, because they are depending on you to live. The dog owner being rude/demanding is also an asshole, though she’s going through a lot right now.
You can take a break and go home to nap, shower, etc. A dog isn’t a child, after all, and can be left for a few hours safely. You can also choose not to respond to the dog owner’s text messages so often, and set your phone on do not disturb – set a boundary and let the dog owner know that you’ll message them X number of times a day, at specific times.
The dog may also be anxious about missing it’s owner – see if she has a used shirt in her laundry basket, or take off the pillow case from her bed, and put that in the dog’s bed, which you should have outside of the room you’re sleeping in. Close the door to that room, if you haven’t been already. And take the dog for a good walk a bit before bed time to tire it out.
Set boundaries with the dog owner about when and how often you’ll send pictures and updates. Make them specific and concrete. Like set a window of 15 minutes a few times a day (eg, between 9:00 and 9:15, between 2:00 and 2:15, between 7:00 and 7:15, and a quick last note before you turn in for the night at whatever time that will be; obviously this is just an example, set them according to when makes sense for you!). Set yourself a reminder like 10 minutes before the window so you have time to write an update and take/choose a few pics, and have them ready to send at the start of the window. For most anxious pet parents, knowing when they’ll get updates (and actually getting the updates when promised) does one whole heck of a lot to ease their minds, which should translate to a calmer, more reasonable interaction with them. If they know when they’ll hear about their pet, they don’t get stressed and worried about how long it has been since the last time they heard from the sitter, because there’s a schedule and they know when the sitter check in. They don’t worry that they haven’t heard from you in 4 hours omg what if something happened?! It sets an expectation that allows more comfort and less worry. Hopefully that will make a significant difference in the contact between you two by letting their worried mind take a step back.
Decide how much longer you can do this and let OF know so she can find a new dog sitter. If you can do 48 hours, that’s a totally reasonable window to find a new sitter in this specific scenario, since you were a last second hire and it sounds like they didn’t give you any idea about how long you’d be there (I’m not sure they knew either, to be fair – it sounds like this has been as much a surprise to them as it was to you). Malamutes can be an absolutely exhausting breed, so if both OF and DO know you’re a brand new dog sitter, they hopefully will understand that you weren’t really prepared for how high energy and needy they can be.
NAH, it’s a difficult situation all around.
Edit: How much exercise are you giving this dog? Malamutes were developed to be a strong, extremely high endurance working dog, so they need an absolute ton of exercise. Your relationship with the dog may improve significantly if you greatly up the amount you’re exercising him.
If you leave them stranded then you would be an asshole.
Coming up with an end date like 2 days for them to find another sitter is perfectly reasonable. So NTA
This reminds me of the dog sitter we had when we went away for 11 days. Basically, didn’t really pay attention to the number of times or ways I said “this is a high energy dog who MUST be exercised enough or becomes a PITA”. She lasted 4 days. Luckily I was able to find another person to take over. She took the dog for a 3 hour forced march the first day and that made a huge difference.
Chances are good that you are not giving the dog enough exercise and/or mental stimulation. My dog becomes a destructive hose beast if she doesn’t get enough. She really needs solid running time every day as well as playing games that make her think. A Malamute is also a high energy dog.
This is why these pet sitting apps suck. They’ll platform anyone that has a pulse and no criminal record.
YTA. Petsitting is not gig work and should not be treated as such. Signing up because you’re broke is setting everyone up for failure. Yourself, the owners, and the pets.
Contact the person that arranged this and tell them you need to end by X date (giving notice is the only fair thing to do)
In the future try doordash or Uber.
Maybe the dog needs some exercise. Wear it out. Long walk or active play time.
Dog could be missing the owner!
You made a commitment without finding out how long this would be. Call OF and have her talk to DO. Get some kind of time line.
If it doesn’t work for you, give her a couple days notice so she can find a replacement.
Don’t abandon that dog!!!
“I know she’s dying and misses her pet but she texts me all the time and it’s so annoying.”
Wow. Just wow.
You should leave this job immediately. The sooner you get out of this lady’s and her dog’s lives, the better. Then hopefully she will have enough time left to find someone more suitable to be entrusted with the care of her beloved dog. Basic human qualities, such as compassion and empathy are essential right now to both of them. And you seem to be lacking in both. So yeah, get out now, change jobs and stop being a lousy AH!!