Dogsitting VENT

[Ausmumof3]

11 hours ago, teachermom2834 said:

Oh yeah. We actually had pee pads on hand because they came with our pup and we went and put a bunch out. I am just hoping the doggie actually uses them. Maybe if I line the whole room with them.

If it’s a small room I would buy pee pads and line the room then just throw out the soiled ones.  It could be that the dog usually only does one or two businesses off the mat and separation anxiety is making it much worse so they didn’t mean to leave you with that kind of mess.

[Ausmumof3]

7 hours ago, bolt. said:

People with pets (like people who change babies diapers, or people who have medical waste bags, or people who clean public washrooms, etc) can sometimes get so accustomed to "gross" things that they really do stop registering the fact that "normal people" would be seriously put off by something like indoor poop-scooping or puddle wiping. Don't get me wrong. It's absolutely normal for you to find it gross. It's just that there is an explanation as to why this didn't automatically strike the owner as "likely to tick off the people we ask to do it while we are out of town".

Not to share too much information, but we have 3 cats, one of which will pee in the litter box, but not poop in it unless it's just been scooped and is absolutely pristine. Instead she poops on the floor right beside it. At which point it doesn't feel at all "gross" to me to sweep it up with a dustpan (it's dry) and wipe any residue off the floor with a clorox wipe. It feels routine. Like sweeping up the scattered litter dust, and taking out the rest of the scoopings. But just because it's routine to me doesn't mean it's not gross to others. I wouldn't expect a cat-sitter to just deal with that without any warning or tools. (It's also not all over the house. I get it. You shouldn't have to deal with the uncontrolled leavings of their pup when you never agreed to any such thing.)

For her, maybe scooping dog business is just routine. You have to pick it up sooner or later: indoors or out. Maybe at some point it stopped mattering so much which part of the floor needed to be wiped afterwards. Maybe they clean it up immediately (or after a day's work) not after 24h, so they hadn't grasped quite how much cleaning they were doing. Who knows. Try to give them some slack when you have contact again. Don't keep up a pretense that you didn't mind being a dog's personal janitor, but don't act like they are just fundamentally gross individuals who lack basic human decency. They probably just got desensitized over time. It happens.

Yep true.  We had a cat with issues and it had to get really bad before I finally moved her to outdoors.  I don’t really want an outdoor cat due to the bird/reptile eating habits but in the end it was the only working compromise.  I will not have another cat due to the experience with this one.  But I will do my best to let her live her days out happily here.

[Ausmumof3]

2 hours ago, Tap said:

I have several friends with beach houses, who are going back and forth. It isn't uncommon to go between homes right now, to help fight off some boredom. 

I don't know if the person involved in this, has a beach house or not. Just saying that in our area, it is a common thing to have a second residence, ala... beach house, lake house, mountain house, cabin, etc. 

If she can afford a beach house she can afford a couple of packs of puppy pee pads!

[Shoeless]

Your neighbor is an example of all the things not to do.  Everything you've written, I think "Wow, that sound like a really bad idea".

Travel during a pandemic? Check.

Don't house train the dog? Check.

Leave half-baked instructions for pet care? Check.

Let children be primary caretakers for pets? Check. 

Leave a bag of stinking trash for a week while you go on vacation? Check.

[Matryoshka]

9 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

If she can afford a beach house she can afford a couple of packs of puppy pee pads!

And if they are at their own beach house, why wouldn't they take the dog with them? This is so much crazy! 

[Scarlett]

I would be tempted to take the dog to a boarder for the rest of the week and let her worry about paying to get the poor dog out.  
 

But as you say you want to maintain good relations with her.

I would definitely mention to her that they might think about rehoming the dog.  

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by Scarlett

[teachermom2834]

It is not their beach house. They got a deal on a rental for obvious reasons.

She texted me last night. I told her the animals were fine but I was frustrated that she hadn’t told me that dog no longer uses pee pads and that it was a much more involved clean up job than we had thought we were agreeing to.

She apologized profusely and said the dog has some accidents but usually not so many and that she usually uses the reusable pee pad in the room. She was surprised it was that bad. I told her that I was lining the floor with disposable pee pads and she offered to Venmo me money right then. She also said she would have her elderly mom come get the dog (which I don’t want for her mom) and called another friend who said she would come get the dog if needed. I told her we would see what the morning brought and I’d text her if we needed someone to come get the dog.

We went over this morning and she had mostly used the disposable pee pads we put out so it wasn’t so bad. I asked dd if she wanted to finish the week (I supervise and support dd but she is the one doing the physical clean up) or have someone come get the dog. She decided she would stick it out because she really wants to make some money. We left it this morning nearly completely lined with pee pads and we will go back frequently to clean as we go and not have a huge mess all at one time. We also cleaned the cat’s litter box this morning (we were too overwhelmed by dog messes yesterday to do that) and it was a big job so that had not been done in awhile. So we are getting things cleaned up to the point that we are not so grossed out and leaving it cleaner than we found it- mostly because we need it cleaned for our own sanity for the rest of the week.

This will be a bonding experience for dd and me and some life lessons for her on how not to leave things for someone who is watching your pets for you! We’ll survive. 
 

My neighbor said she felt so bad and didn’t blame me for being mad and hoped I wouldn’t stay mad at her. I told her I wouldn’t but she definitely can pay my dd this time and we won’t be watching her pets again. She laughed and said she understood. So that is where we stand.

I think we’ll be okay now that we know the situation and we are controlling the protocol and not just walking in and expecting to follow instructions and do it their way.

Oy. 

[Chris in VA]

You are a better person than I am. And I was a pet sitter for many years. 

[fairfarmhand]

1 hour ago, teachermom2834 said:

It is not their beach house. They got a deal on a rental for obvious reasons.

She texted me last night. I told her the animals were fine but I was frustrated that she hadn’t told me that dog no longer uses pee pads and that it was a much more involved clean up job than we had thought we were agreeing to.

She apologized profusely and said the dog has some accidents but usually not so many and that she usually uses the reusable pee pad in the room. She was surprised it was that bad. I told her that I was lining the floor with disposable pee pads and she offered to Venmo me money right then. She also said she would have her elderly mom come get the dog (which I don’t want for her mom) and called another friend who said she would come get the dog if needed. I told her we would see what the morning brought and I’d text her if we needed someone to come get the dog.

We went over this morning and she had mostly used the disposable pee pads we put out so it wasn’t so bad. I asked dd if she wanted to finish the week (I supervise and support dd but she is the one doing the physical clean up) or have someone come get the dog. She decided she would stick it out because she really wants to make some money. We left it this morning nearly completely lined with pee pads and we will go back frequently to clean as we go and not have a huge mess all at one time. We also cleaned the cat’s litter box this morning (we were too overwhelmed by dog messes yesterday to do that) and it was a big job so that had not been done in awhile. So we are getting things cleaned up to the point that we are not so grossed out and leaving it cleaner than we found it- mostly because we need it cleaned for our own sanity for the rest of the week.

This will be a bonding experience for dd and me and some life lessons for her on how not to leave things for someone who is watching your pets for you! We’ll survive. 
 

My neighbor said she felt so bad and didn’t blame me for being mad and hoped I wouldn’t stay mad at her. I told her I wouldn’t but she definitely can pay my dd this time and we won’t be watching her pets again. She laughed and said she understood. So that is where we stand.

I think we’ll be okay now that we know the situation and we are controlling the protocol and not just walking in and expecting to follow instructions and do it their way.

Oy. 

Wonder if the teen son told mom “I got it taken care of.” And just blew off his responsibilities. 

[teachermom2834]

39 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

Wonder if the teen son told mom “I got it taken care of.” And just blew off his responsibilities. 

Teen boy is a sweetie but not to the point of not needing follow up/support. 
 

It is also possible teen boy does a lot of cleanup without letting on to his mom the extent of accidents. Or that it was a gradual build up and he didn’t notice so much. Or just lacking much parental support or involvement he didn’t realize it was so out of the norm.

[teachermom2834]

Another update-

Neighbor texted this morning and said she was having a friend pick up the dog. But then I guess the friend decided to just take over care of the pets in the neighbor’s home. So I went over and got our cleaning supplies/sanitizer/ and spare shoes and left the key for her friend who is taking over the job. So our dog sitting job is over! 🙂

I think my neighbor was just really worried about putting it on us and her friend, I suspect, is a more similar housekeeper/ pet owner and she felt more comfortable that her friend wouldn’t be as put out as we are by it. Plus, we have our own new pup to take care of. 
 

I think my neighbor probably wishes she just paid to board the dog. She seems embarrassed by the whole thing.

But it looks like we have survived with our neighborly relationship in tact. She doesn’t seem at all mad at me. She might think I am uptight but surely she thinks that by how we handle all kinds of situations differently 🙂

[katilac]

I'm glad she responded well! I hope she still gives your dd a bit of money 🙂

Also, I am apparently incapable of not saying that I think it's super gross to only clean an animal's toileting area with Clorox wipes. I hope really hard that those particular instructions were just meant for the week of pet sitting, and that it's not the way they always do it. 

[Scarlett]

5 hours ago, teachermom2834 said:

Another update-

Neighbor texted this morning and said she was having a friend pick up the dog. But then I guess the friend decided to just take over care of the pets in the neighbor’s home. So I went over and got our cleaning supplies/sanitizer/ and spare shoes and left the key for her friend who is taking over the job. So our dog sitting job is over! 🙂

I think my neighbor was just really worried about putting it on us and her friend, I suspect, is a more similar housekeeper/ pet owner and she felt more comfortable that her friend wouldn’t be as put out as we are by it. Plus, we have our own new pup to take care of. 
 

I think my neighbor probably wishes she just paid to board the dog. She seems embarrassed by the whole thing.

But it looks like we have survived with our neighborly relationship in tact. She doesn’t seem at all mad at me. She might think I am uptight but surely she thinks that by how we handle all kinds of situations differently 🙂

I am super impressed with how you handled this.   You did not allow you or your dd to be ran over and yet you were kind.  

[teachermom2834]

1 hour ago, Scarlett said:

I am super impressed with how you handled this.   You did not allow you or your dd to be ran over and yet you were kind.  

Wow, thank you!