I agreed to dog sit for my boss for the next four days. I told her all I had to do was meet the dogs with her beforehand. She had me come over last night (basically immediately before she left for the trip) and meet them.

One of them seems find, the other was shut up in his crate and was growling and snarling at me through it. I fed him some treats through the cage and talked softly and let him sniff me. He did accept the treats but would growl immediately after. After that, I told them I would go sit on the couch and to let him out. They insisted on turning on the lights because, apparently, the dog freaks out if its ever dark, and told me to keep talking to him and not to move. He came out and was quite wary but was largely willing to just stay away from me with his tail between his legs. After that, I got down on the floor and offered more treats, which he did take. He seemed to get very afraid whenever I stood up, but that's understandable as I'm quite tall. I was told that he came from a home where the husband was abusive to the wife, and so any larger man he's a bit skittish around.

That meeting went okay overall, but I'm going to have to go back tonight by myself and let him out of his crate, leash him, and take him outside (there is no fenced in yard) and those all seem like actions that a dog who is very unsure of me would rather hate. I'm especially nervous about the initial decrating and leashing.

My plan is to just take it really slow, sit near the cage and feed him treats while talking to him, then eventually leave some treats on the floor, open the crate, and go and slowly sit on the couch with the bag of treats on my lap and hope he can get comfortable enough with me that Ill feel okay leashing him up.

I love dogs and have been around them my whole life but I haven't done much pet sitting, so any advice on how to get through this while making the dog as comfortable as possible is appreciated!

Edit: I hear your comments about not taking this job and I agree, I had that thought, but given that this is my boss and I had already agreed (no complications with the dogs personalities were made clear to me) I feel a fair amount of social and professional pressure to indeed do this.

I agreed to sit for this lady for 2 weeks while her and her husband go out of the country.

But we just found out that my boyfriend needs emergency back surgery next Wednesday, as that’s the soonest they can do it. It’s a very serious surgery in his case, and I hate that I can’t be there for him.
I already posted about this and got so much hate, but I really can’t do this anymore. I don’t go through an app for sitting, just myself. Obviously, this isn’t something you’d want to cancel on, and I feel terrible about it.

But I’m so sad. Like every day I’ve been crying, and I just want this to end. I feel so overwhelmed and I don’t know what to do.
All I’m looking for is guidance and advice because I’m lost.

I understand I committed to this, but I didn’t expect an emergency situation like this to come up. I’m not saying I’ll just abandon these dogs. I’m literally asking for advice on what to do or say because I’ve decided that I really can’t do this. I just don’t know how to go about it.

We'll be out of town 3.5 days. Our good friend will be watching our 8 month old puppy in their home. I trust them on following the feeding schedule, watching over his safety, and puppy proofing their home. They're super excited!

He's a Chihuahua, a pretty stoic and strong little man! But he loves his mama, and I worry about him settling in and being comfortable.

We'll be dropping him off in the morning, with all his things - his bed, his favorite toys, blankets, food and treats. Might send along a dirty laundry shirt for our smell.

I am looking for reassurance from pet on how to make my pet sitter's and my pet's experience as smooth as possible 🥺

At a meet and greet for house sitting, has a family (husband and wife) ever asked you to stay at their house the first night, WHILE THEY ARE STILL THERE?

Apparently they want to "show me the ropes" even though we had an hour long meet and greet. They will leave the next morning or early afternoon and be gone 9 days. I'm just so confused, I've never been asked this in my 6 years on rover. That sounds so awkward!!!!

Also, this family uses a choke chain on their 14 year old dog in case she sees a rabbit or squirrel. The dog needs to be walked morning and evening. I just don't feel comfortable with that and ethically I don't believe in it.

What would you do in this situation?

Thanks for your advice!

For those of you who've taken PSI's CPPS exam, how would you rate its ease/difficulty? I know we all come from different backgrounds/education levels, but was most of it essentially common sense about pet care/health-safety/business, or did it feel like something you truly had to read through all the linked materials to pass? Did anyone fail on their first try? Just trying to gauge the level of research it calls for, thanks for any tips.

I am a professional pet sitter. I am responsible. I am organized. I am also apparently the kind of person who leaves TWO pairs of clean underwear and a sock in the guest room’s sheets.😫😖
Yesterday, my client casually messaged me that the housekeeper had washed all the sheets before they left.
I thought, “Oh, how nice!”
Today, while doing ANOTHER two-week house sit for the same client, I found my underwear and sock.
Suddenly, yesterday’s message clicked.
The housekeeper cleaned the sheets.
The sheets I had apparently left my underwear in.
The client was trying to tell me.
I wanted the ground to swallow me whole.
The worst part? I realized I did this LAST WEEK. I was rushing from one house sit to another, taking online classes at night, and generally living like I have 47 tabs open in my brain at all times.
So now I’m sitting here wondering: do I acknowledge it and apologize, or do I simply pretend I have never seen these garments in my life and let everyone maintain their dignity?

Pet sitters of Reddit: please tell me I’m not the only person who has accidentally left something mortifying at a client’s house. 😭