Ripped off my dog walker? Advice please...

tango

arbroath_lass wrote: »

Ok, perhaps I was a little het up over posters who appear to have deliberately "misunderstood" my posts but I'm still entitled to my opinion and I stand by it.

Of course you are entitled to an opinion,but as has been said by Lifeisbutadream, this dog is new to the owners and they are finding their feet. When they do they may be able to leave the dog in a bigger area and the crate door open.

In the wild dogs sleep alot of the time,exercise/hunt, food sleep,they don't need much else.

Used properly a crate can be a godsend,it stopped my Pointer trashing the house as a pup whilst we were out,but now she always has the door open.

There are a lot of dog owners who treat their dogs apallingly,those are the ones that deserve our wrath ..

Almo

I haven't read all the replies so this may well have been covered but just my two cents:

My partner and I run a pet sitting/dog walking business and we frequently come up against people who only want a 1/2 hour service, for whatever reason, which is fine. We are always honest with them and tell them that we are happy to do visits of that length but that if anything other than simple walking (and a water change) is required, it will have to come out of the 30 mins. This, for us, would include wiping down a dog, changing toys/kongs etc. We would be honest about how long it would take (not long for toys/kongs, but who knows for wiping down the dog!) and wouldn't use that as an excuse to short change you. As others have alluded to, these visits are not financially particularly useful for us unless we happen to have another client down the street (so no travelling time lost).

We are both animal lovers but this is our livelihood and if clients don't want to/can't pay for a longer visit, we can't afford to give our time for free where we could be doing other visits. This is from bitter experience - I am a sucker for animals and feel guilty for dogs who are left alone all the time. I was spending hours of my own time, unpaid, with the dogs until it just got ridiculous. That said, if we have 15 minutes or whatever spare, we always increase the length of the visit rather than just go and sit in the car - we just don't promise this!

As someone else mentioned, if a visit is an hour or more, the actual hour will be spent exercising, plus whatever time it takes to get to where we're going/collect other dogs.

The other thing which you mentioned but didn't elaborate on was that the dog walker got there at 1.10 rather than the 12.30 you requested. We never guarantee precise times, we would say in your case, for example, that we would arrive between 12 and 1. We have had clients get annoyed by this in the past, but explain that if there is some kind of issue with an animal, or even bad traffic we would rather have that flexibility and therefore still be able to give your dog the full walk rather than feel we had to cut a visit short somewhere to get back on track. Most people understand this immediately and the ones who don't we usually decline to service.

All that said, if the dog walker is habitually spending only 20 minutes (all up) with your dog, I would get rid of them.

bouncydog1

Haven't read through the whole thread but have you thought about getting a child's stair gate, so that you could allow your dog a bit more access in your flat - say allow it to have half the hallway rather than crate it up.

Personally (and I am now going to get a lot of flack) I do not agree with using crates unless it is for safety reasons whilst travelling in the back of the car.

We have had dogs for over 30 years and always had them at my parents as children and crates were just not used. If we went out and left them at home, they were left in a room with toys and things to play with not put into a crate where they could hardly move.

Whilst your intentions are honourable, leaving the dog in the crate for such prolonged lengths of time, is, IMO cruel.

KS2008

I have just seen this again and would just like to post an update.

As others have said, both us as owners and the doggy are still finding our feet. I appreciate the feedback about the crate, and like others have said they may have done in the beginning - WE MADE A MISTAKE with crating her for that long.

Anyway, I am pleased to report that we have successfully left her for 4 hours alone out of her crate with no chewing etc!!! Probably something to do with the excessive amount of toys/kong/chews left for her!!

I think now that she feels more secure she is less inclined to chew etc, however we often find her back in her crate (with the door open) having a little snooze when we have been doing something in a different room

She genuinely does seem a happy little dog and we really are trying to do all that we can to make her a happy little un.

On the dog walker front - we have extended her time with the dog walker to 1 hour a day and are keeping an eye on things.

Thanks to those who gave kind and constructive criticism. :A:T

bouncydog1

That's good news and well done for taking on board info from people who are trying to help.

We have all been there with dogs that chew - my brother had a springer many years ago that ate through flooring, the back door, raw onions, an indestrucibtle dog basket, several items of dry cleaning hanging to air before being put away - it had loads of exercise, wasn't crated etc. It was just what it liked to do!

Sometimes, though, there is little you can do if it is in their nature.

Good luck with your little dog and may you have years of pleasure with her.

lynnemcf

I am so envious that your dog can be left out of the crate. Even if I am IN THE SAME ROOM my pup will find SOMETHING "bad" to chew (bleach bottle that I thought was on high enough shelf, while I was HAVING A BATH and had given him a rawhide chew).

mozzyc

So happy its all working out for you! :T

FabSascha

I was pretty anti-crate to start with (I have a 14 week old puppy) but I was advised by various different people that it was necessary so we got one and hoped for the best. We made it really lovely, with lots of blankets, soft bedding, cuddly toys and a heavy towel over the two sides to create a den like atmosphere and my puppy seemed OK with it, but I was keen to get to the point where it wasn't necessary anymore - I was told it was useful for the first few days whilst she settled in so she didn't get overwhelmed by the new surroundings. We'd bought her a lovely bed so after a few weeks we set the new bed up and took down the crate and there was chaos for a day and a half (she seemed to spend her time thinking up new and exciting ways to destroy the new bed) so we gave in and set up the crate again and she's been happy ever since. I think it all depends on the dog and also the dog's assocations with the crate. My dog loves hers but that's because it's her own private space and as long as she's happy, I'm happy