I pay someone to come and walk my 2 dogs every Thur because I am out of the house for 5 hours and don't like leaving them this long.
I pay £8.50 to an insured person who does it as a living and for that she is mean't to come and take them out for 40 mins. Let my big girl in the garden after her walk because she refuses to pee or poo on a walk and holds it till home and give them some cuddles.
She asked me a few weeks back if she could take them seperatly as they are both young and full of beans and one big and one tiny, so I said yes that was fine as they would still get 20 min each.
However last week my daughter was off school ill and had a bed on the sofa while I was at work. When i got home I asked my daughter if dogs had thier walks ok she said yes they were taken out together for about 10-15mins, but the lady didn't let my girl into the garden afterwards for the loo and she went on the carpet so my daughter had to get up and clean it up.
I was a bit peeved as well that they got not even half the walk i was paying for but my daughter said she had been in a hurry that day. So i thought fair enough we all have those days, but still felt she should have at least left me a note to say dogs had only had a very quick round the block and maybe not taken the full £8.50.
Today although i felt sneaky I asked my daughter to sit upstairs quietly when she came so she would think noone was here and see how long she was with them, I left her a note to remind her to let my big girl in the garden when she got back and said she had soiled in the house last time because she didn't let her out.
My daughter wrote down all the times of everything LOL She came in went to the kitchen where the leads are. My daughter then heard her shuffling around downstairs for 7 mins before she went to the room the dogs were in. She took both dogs together for 16 mins, did let my girl into the garden then straight back away she went.
I would like to know what she was doing for 7 mins round my house before going to the dogs I must say. Why they are not getting the walk i am paying for and also i left her a £10 and she left no change and no note to say take it off next time just a note to say I didn't let Shady out to toilet last time as I thought your daughter would probaly do it. 
My daughter was laying ill on the sofa and this woman is paid to do it and if she hadn't she should have told my daughter she may need to go out.
I can't confront her as I really do need the dogs morning broken up for them, so i am going to have to try and find someone else, maybe just to let them in the garden and spend some time with them and i will walk them later when i get in. Then it will be goodbye to her as rightly or wrongly I am not paying for what i am not getting.

i would row her out fast! she is exploiting you and your trusting nature. I would  put in a dog door for them to toilet and leave stuffed kongs rather then let her in my house!

Sounds like she is having a good old snoop around your kitchen and definatley taking the P*** out of you.

Do you have a family member who you could offer the money too? who would be prepared to do it.  At least you could have someone you trust in your house.

That's disgusting!!!

And expensive! I pay £2.50 a day for my petsitter to come in and sort out my four dogs. She doesn't walk them as we have a large garden for them to tear around in, but she spends about 40 minutes with them...

No unfortunatly I don't have any family around me and i'm not sure the best place to start looking for another petsitter.  I got this person because an elderly  friend uses her and she does a good job for her but then she is always in when the dog is collected and returned.

Bev

Hi Bev,

That's ridiculous   You're being completely taken advantage of when all you're doing is trying to make the ideal arrangements to suit your dogs

I really hope you can find an alternative person to see to their needs but quite honestly the fact that it's only one day a week I'd get shot of her now rather than wait until I'd found a replacement.   Five hours alone on one day a week will not do them any great harm - it sounds like this woman has been snooping in your house too which is completely unacceptable.

Good luck with the search but don't feel compelled by guilt into giving this woman another penny!

regards, Teri

Blah, some people.

I'd have it out with her, confront her or something.

Or, you could only leave a fiver next time... She seems a bit expensive to me x.x.

Good luck Bev, give her a rollicking from me!

Once you start having to behave sneakily yourself in order to check that someone isn't ripping you off then the arrangement isn't worth continuing. You have to be able to trust anyone who has access to your home and quite clearly that trust has broken down.

As Teri says, if the worst comes to the worst, five hours alone once a week won't be the end of the world but have you considered speaking to the woman directly and getting your concerns out into the open? I'm not recommending a confrontation I hasten to add but sometimes a face to face conversation is the best way to resolve things one way or another.

Our dobe girl is curled up in her beanbag alone in the house from 7.45am till 1.15pm every Mon to Friday. Granted, my daughter works some shifts and leaves the house later or is home earlier. But she's at college in term time on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, so she's gone quite early on these days. Rowan takes advantage of this quiet time and sleeps. Whats the point of having some stranger coming into the house and disturbing your dogs for a 15 minute walk if you can call it that? They may of been quite happy with their quiet time and your girl wouldn't wee on the carpet if she hadn't been disturbed. Are we are quite mad to think that dogs cannot survive a few hours a week by themselves in the house? Surely when theres 2 together they are not lonely? And also, what do the kenneled dogs do in the hours they're alone?

my dogs are left for five hours three times a week, i don't have any problems,
I leave them stuffed kongs, have a walk beforehand, and let out straight away,
when i get in from work.
this is what happens In reality

they don't touch thier kongs and eat them when i get home, then go out!
I have, in the past, sneaked back and all they do is sleep.

I wouldn't worry about just once a week save you money,they only get 15mins
of attention, which is probably a bother to them anyway.
IMO :-)

Donna

I would set up a web cam and find out excatly what the person is upto whilst they are in your home. That way if they are upto no good at least you will be able to alert the other people they could possibly be ripping off ;)

5 hours home alone won't harm your dogs as a kong will keep them occupied for a while and they will more than likely snooze until mum gets home :D

SO SACK HER!!!!!

You can only sack somebody with sound proof ;)

This day and age you have to be very careful :rolleyes:

Unless you have a contract that states you have to give X amount of notice, so many warnings etc before dismissal  & you employ her & she isn't self employed then yes she needs notice warnings etc

However I would thinbk she is self employed & you don't have a contract you don't need any reason & ccan just stop using her, She appears to be a "cowboy"dog walker IMHO

Verbal Contracts can still be legal :)

It doesn't matter if she is self employed as well :)

Yes the person does sound very iffy but I do think you need to be able to back this up unless you just give her notice for another reason :)

If & only if you have said the contract(verbal or otherwise) is for a set period of time ie two years etc Self employed casual contractors do not have the same rights as an employed casual worker

If it was just can you come & take my dogs out etc & I'll pay you I think you will find you can terminate the agreement

Self employed casual contractors( which is what this woman is)are not employees If the work isn't there the contract is ended & if you opt for leaving your dogs & IYO they do not need a dog worker there is no work for her

Simple way of ending it is to say the home circumstances have chnaged & a dog walker is no longer required ! Polite & to the point & in a way honest ;)

(Just checked with a guy who sits on Employment Tribunals-at £80 a session !!! 2 sessions a day ;))

if she is working as self employed,
(i assume it's not a big business she works for)
can she just not say your business is no longer required.
it's bye bye. or has along term contract been signed?
anyhoo off to watch super vets :-) :-)

Donna

When I have employed cleaners, they are always cash tax free which I would suspect this lady probably is? If thats the case, there is no employment anyway, so Ta Ta to her.

Good Idea with the WebCam:)  The General Manager at my place set one up in his house after his dog had a stroke.  He wanted to be able to keep an eye on him.

Good idea not just to see what she is up to but also it might be worth it for a trial to see how happy your dogs are and how they cope with you being away for 5 hrs.  As most have aid on here 5 hrs is not a lot of time, especially 1 day a week.

You might find they do nothing but sleep and mosey around, put your mind at rest and save all round.

Worth a go.

Ali
x

I would really want to know what she was doing snooping in my kitchen for so long.

I would find another dog walker, or try the web cam idea.

If it were me Id leave some small change, a few pound coins in a dish in the kitchen and see if they are untouched next time she comes to walk the dog. If not give her the boot right away.

Bottom line is she is not giving your dogs the 20min walk you are paying for, shes not taking them out to toilet and she is wasting time snooping around in your kitchen. Whats to say she doesnt snoop in the rest of the house when you or your daughter arent at home?

I don't like leaving them for 5 hrs as although they are in the same room together my big girl who is 7 months has to be in a crate for her own safety as she will chew and swallow anything and everything she can find.  I have tried dog proofing the room as far as possible but she always finds something even if a table leg, fridge door etc etc.  Although its a large crate she is massive and I don't think its fair to keep her cooped up in there for 5 hours.
This lady runs this as a buisness, just her on her own.  Has a van with the name on the side and she also does microchipping.  Although she does always prefer cash.
When I left the note today about Shady going to the loo indoors last week (she was not in her crate then as my daughter at home ill) she just replied saying I thought your daughter would probaly let her out.  Well my daughter was laying on the settee very unwell and she didn't ask my daughter if she was going to, or tell my daughter she hadn't let her out so how was my daughter mean't to know she hadn't done her job properly and as my daughter said as soon as she had gone she fell back to sleep and awoke to find the mess. Before I left I told my daughter not to worry about the dogs as this lady would be in and do all that needs doing and I also left the lady a note explaining my daughter was ill on the sofa, the dogs were in there with her, but to just do everything as normal so as to disturb my daughter as little as possible.
I really don't know where to start looking for another person, couldn't find anyone local listed on the internet and am a bit dubious at putting an ad in local shop as you just don't know who is trustworthy these days.  May nip in the vets tommorow and see if they have any ads up in there.

Bev

It might be an idea to tell the vets of your experiences too, just in case they are actually promoting this woman's business.  Preferring cash smells of tax avoidance too :(

Yeah it's difficult with a young dog like that, but once they're both grown up, they won't have any problems waiting for about 5 hours. My dogs always slept anyway. I myself don't trust anyone but myself or other members of the family..... besides, my dog wouldn't even let anyone in the house, so there's absolutely no way anyone he doesn't know really, really well would be able to touch him. So even if I wanted to have a dog walker, it wouldn't work for me.

hi, can i ask where abouts you live?

Something funny going on there. Best to leave your girl alone for 5 hours once a week than to risk this woman snooping around your house anymore. And as others have said, you are paying for a 40 minute walk split between 2 dogs, and only getting 17 minutes altogether!

Hello all,

Thats appauling! (sp). It gives us dog walkers a very bad name!. I walk dogs for a living all week, at the end of the day its all about trust. These people trust me to go into their houses and care for their dogs. They have no way of knowing if their dogs are walked for 10 minutes or 3 hours, but they TRUST me to do my job. It sounds to me like this woman doesn't really like the job, she seems like she wants to be in and out as quickly as possible. It's not a job for everyone out to make easy money, not if you do it properly. Dog walking is about you walking in all weathers!, you have to love doing it ( or be completely bonkers!).
I would visit your local vets, many dog walkers advertise there. Ask them to visit and ask for references and follow them up. I expect my clients to want references, so I take the details on my first visit.
When you find someone, just advise this woman that you no longer need her - write her a note if you don't want to say it to her face, and make sure that you get any keys back.

Good luck in your search, we're a good lot generally (honest!)

Ali :)

Went round the vets and found a ladys number in thier book of adverts advertising that she does dog walking.  rang her and she wasn't keen as she said she only likes to do one dog and even though i said they can go seperatly or not even have a walk (I can walk them when i get home) just someone come in let them out in garden and give them some attention for 30 mins or so to break up thier morning she said she would have to think about it and if i hadn't heard back from her by Sunday evening then it was no.
She didn't sound very proffesional and i think its just a lady trying to earn some pin money walking easy little dogs as when she heard I had a Rottie x GSD she went off the idea even though i said she was a big softee.

Bev

To be honest, Bev, I'd far rather someone was upfront and said that they didn't fancy the job rather than take it and then discover they aren't up to it! So I wouldn't dismiss this woman as unprofessional - quite the opposite in fact since she has a clear idea about what sort of work she wants to do! As for little dogs, whoever said they were easy? :D :D

I'm sure you will find someone suitable but you really want someone who is 100% enthusiastic about walking your dogs.

I agree completely Roz, I didn't mean she seemed unproffesional not wanting to take on the dogs I mean't she didn't sound like it was a proffesional buisness for her just more someone wanting a little pocket money, if you know what i mean.
I would much rather someone is open and upfront with what they can or cannot do and my big girl is a very big strong youngster who I do need someone capable for if they are going to walk her.  The walking although would be nice is not essential its more just the company to break up the morning for her and my little lad.
Think I will put an ad round the vets next week.

Bev

Its a shame Im not in your area.  I love big dogs and Id walk them for nothing.
Just to have the opportunity to have a play with some big dogs.

Me too!! I love big dogs, but at this point I can only afford a little Chi ;). But every time I get the opportunity I love taking some big goofy fella for a walk......