Thankfully it doesn’t happen often, but every once in a while we encounter an aggressive dog. Sometimes the owner is up front about this during our initial conversation but occasionally we don’t find out until our consultation when we are greeted at the door by Cujo. We will gladly come and meet your dog and see how they behave with us but we have been known to turn a few dogs down.
We never judge a dog by their breed.
We’ve met some of the goofiest, friendliest Pit Bulls and some of the meanest, nastiest Chihuahuas.
We have also found that your dog may act completely different when you are not there. I once signed up a client whose dog wouldn’t let me leash her with the owner present and kept barking and growling at me. I was new and didn’t know any better; I should have turned the client down. I sat in the driveway before going in for my first visit and thought for sure I’d be coming out looking like hamburger. Would you believe this dog greeted me at the door, tail wagging, happy to see me?! She happily let me put the leash on as she was very excited to go for a walk. This dog was completely different without her owner present.
We kindly request that if you do happen to have an aggressive dog, be honest with your pet sitter. Don’t try to hide it and hope for the best.
If we feel any dog is questionable we will suggest doing a trial visit or two (at your cost) before you leave to make sure we can get into the house and perform our duties safely.
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