If you clean the linens on the bed and put them back, be sure to leave a note so they know you did this.
Like someone else said, otherwise it will make it look like you did not stay there.
Just curious, does “all the legal stuff” you have covered include insurance?
A few of the things I appreciate about the pet sitting company I use: it is bonded and insured, it runs background checks on its employees, all employees are trained in pet CPR and first aid (they attend training every two years), it holds regular formal training sessions for employees so they know how to do things like break up a dog fight. These are also, in my opinion, a must for anyone who has access to my pets and house.
My dog walkers leave notes after the visits, so I know what the pups did, how they were, and how the visit went. These notes are left at every visit, whether it is a lunch visit or an overnight visit.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;8788508]
Just curious, does “all the legal stuff” you have covered include insurance?[/QUOTE]
:yes: Yes, absolutely!
[QUOTE=SugarCubes;8788576]
:yes: Yes, absolutely![/QUOTE]
Good job! That would be my first question personally.
Here is the link to the epic petsitting thread. Truly one of COTH’s classics. :http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?438158-God-help-me-with-this-dogsitter&highlight=petsitter
[QUOTE=clint;8790283]
Here is the link to the epic petsitting thread. Truly one of COTH’s classics. :http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?438158-God-help-me-with-this-dogsitter&highlight=petsitter[/QUOTE]
OMG! I had forgotten all about that thread!
EPIC of great proportions !!
[QUOTE=clint;8790283]
Here is the link to the epic petsitting thread. Truly one of COTH’s classics. :http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?438158-God-help-me-with-this-dogsitter&highlight=petsitter[/QUOTE]
Perfect! This will keep me entertained while I farm sit tonight 
It isn’t going to creep me out while staying at a strange house, is it?! And do I need some wine and popcorn prepared before digging in?
[QUOTE=shayaalliard;8782164]
We have considered making a book of them- there are pictures too but they are too hard to load-
This is butter she is my 13 year old “chug” chihuahua/pug mix
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=978310882198403&l=15dcd984fb
Here are some more:
Butter diaries: not Kristy brought home a magic gun that shoots bubbles. I am barking at it even though its not currently doing anything. O.O
Butter diaries: butter is such a small dog that she is practically a hover dog just barely keeping herself above the earth. So, when she squats down to potty there is like no space left for the poops to come out. To cope with this tragic height impairment she takes short little steps as she poops so she doesn’t end up on a tower of poos. I call this method… the turd train.
Butter diaries: I follow not Kristy all over the house nomatter what. If she stands up, I follow her. Well, unless she has my ear medicine. Then, I run away and hide under the couch and let out a small cloud of distress farts.
Butter diaries: Me and Star escaped from not Kristy last night when the door was open. She dropped everything in her arms and grabbed me, allowing everything else to break and Star to also run away. She shouted “Save Butter at all costs!”
Damage was minimal and Star returned after not Kristy ordered her to in the ‘angry mom’ voice.
Butter diaries: I look like a goat when I eat scraps of cheese off of the ground.
Butter diaries: I don’t always shed everywhere, but when I do, it’s on that pile of clean laundry you just took out of the dryer.
Butter diaries: Seth is saying my name but I am ignoring him. He is going on 5 minutes. I may have forgotten my name.
Butter Diaries: Not Kristy’s heater is broken, but she got a new comfy chair since last I was here. It is mine now.
Butter Diaries: Humans excited I am here.
William: Butter, Butter, Butter, Butter, Butter. Come see the bed I made you! It’s in my room.
Lex: Butter come. Butter. Butter. Butter come. Why aren’t you moving? Come on Butter.
William goes and gets cheese from the fridge.
William: Now she will follow us.
Butter diaries: Butter is protesting peeing outside by chaining herself (metaphorically) to the heater. lol She also hasn’t been barking at Seth so they may be friends now. She just looks at him quizzically like… 'I feel as though I have seen you somewhere before."
Butter diaries: Not Kristy thought she could sneak upstairs and leave me sleeping on the couch to avoid my snoring. Little does she know I am a loneliness ninja and whenever someone leaves the room without me I am made instantly aware of their need of my presence. snoooore
Butter diaries- the metal on my collar gets too hot b/c I sit 3 inches from the heater, but if you turn it off I bug you mercilessly.
Butter diaries: Butter just had an old-fashion standoff with Cat Sebastian. They met in the hallway and got closer and closer until Butter licked the side of his head. He then collapsed onto his side and she licked the full length of his body for several minutes. In my mind she said:
“Child! I remember when ya was nothin’ but a whelp, come here and let me clean ya up.”
Butter diaries: When I take a bath Butter sits on my bath mat and faces away from me. I can’t decide if she is protecting me in my vulnerable state, or if she wants to be near me but is a modest old lady.
Butter diaries: outside? (s)no(w)pe
Butter diaries: I can walk on top of the snow!
Butter diaries. Butter has been here for counts 5 days. In all that time she never barked at Seth once, until he came home today. BARK BARK BARK Who are you!? Why are you here!? Run not Kristy and tiny humans! I will hold this stranger at bay.
^ for 10 straight minutes.
Butter diaries: butter sneezed tonight. Have you ever heard a pug sneeze? I thought her lungs imploded seriously it was the most disturbing sound ever. I rushed over and checked her all. After like 7 seconds she stopped and just stared at me like - ain’t nothin but nothin.
Butter diaries: I only lay on things the same color as I am. But don’t worry, I snore so loudly no one ever trips on me.
Butter diaries: not kristy calls me melted butter bc I sit in front of the heater and on the heated blanket.
Butter diaries : a strange man people refer to as daddy keeps randomly appearing in the house no matter how incessantly I bark at him. Small man cubs and not kristy woman seemingly unconcerned.( butter forgets who you are if you leave the room or get up suddenly. But only guys for some reason. Selective memory)
Butter diaries: I come home “Hi, not Kristy Davis” children come home “Hi small annoying man cubs” my mom stops in to watch the kids “Hi older not mom,” seth comes home, or leaves the room “WHO THE F ARE YOU GET OUT OF HERE YOU DONT BELONG HERE!!!”
Butter diaries: Seth puts stuff on me while I sleep bc I don’t really care.
Butter diaries: The cat chases my tail and leaps on to my face, but I bear it with dignity before not kristy saves me.
Butter Diaries: Welcome to 16 minutes of Lex feeding butter imaginary cookies. Luckily butter kisses your hands if you stick them out so she ‘ate’ all of said batch of cookies.
Butter diaries: When I first arrive I like to suck on the carpet to see if it tastes like crumbs.
Butter diaries: When I have a nightmare, my whine sounds like a bubble popping in a video game. Bwowawa bwowawa pat pat
Butter diaries: Tiny girl not Kristy fed me an most of a hot dog because I ‘looked sad’. (and here I thought she was just sitting there eating it, not pulling bits off and giving them to the dog. She is now upset we are out of hot dogs)
Butter diaries: not kristy was gone for like 5 hours today and despite Seth’s assurances that I was not turned to stone, I was in the exact same spot when she returned as when she left.
Butter diaries: I have somehow evolved into ‘mega butter’. I have gained new attacks like bite and hypnosis.
Butter diaries: my constant snoring and light grunting at night sounds so much like whispering that on several occasions I have frightened groggy not Kristy and male not Kristy Davis into thinking someone was downstairs sneaking around.
Butter diaries: We took your advice and wallowed (laid on our backs and wiggled about to scratch them) on the carpet. Butter seemed to deeply enjoy it. She spent the last 20 minutes repositioning a blanket on the floor, presumably to fall asleep on.[/QUOTE]
That’s just what I thought when I read this! This needs to be a book!
Love it!!
As for pet sitters, I can only echo what many have already said, communication.
My only beef with “my” otherwise good pet sitter is that she didn’t listen when I said to please don’t try to find the shy kitty. She is afraid of everyone (but me - and sometimes she acts like she has no idea who I am!).
She takes a picture each day of the friendly cat and sends a text message so you know the pets are fine - great with that one but she stalked the scaredy cat and she ended up scaring her so that she busted into the cabinets (friendly cat can open the cabinets no problem - and open the door to my closet naughty cat) and made a mess of places where she shouldn’t be trying to hide from her (she found her hiding in the covers of my bed, lifted them and snapped a picture of her - nice getting a terrified picture of you cat!).
So just listen and if the owner says not to do something, trust that they know what is best for their pet.
We rarely use a pet sitter, normally it’s just friends doing it for us, regardless of who was doing the sitting, I really appreciate just a text saying “everything fine, all horses doing well” or something basic. One of our friends would send me a snapchat of our dogs everyday–especially the goof ball, and I loved that!
But for sure, just a basic everyone ok, drinking and eating well–preferably 2x a day, with feed time, was a huge help to letting me actually enjoy the vacation. If this was a business, I would add either a pic or some other small detail, so they know you were actually there. I would not want photos of my animals on social media posted without tagging me in the pics, and preferably not while I am out of town.
Also, if it is a species you aren’t familiar with, calling and making sure something is normal is a lot better than just guessing, it shows you are paying attention. Humorous example: we had very simple horse chores that needed to be done, my cousin isn’t a horse person, but he’s very responsible. It snowed, and our mare’s white foot looked pinkish, instead of just being dirty. He called just to make sure that was ok because it was different. Of course, that seems a bit goofy that he was worried about a sock on a horse, but if he noticed that, at least I knew he wasn’t missing anything else!
