08/03/2024
**How not to deal with a dog**
One of the main reasons if you are ever dog sitting or dog walking YOU MEET THE DOG AND OWNER FIRST AND MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW TO HANDLE A DOG!
Never, ever take on a job when you've not met the dog
If someone i lived with said nothing to me and a randomer walked in my home you best believe i'm swinging!
How this should be handled and what went wrong:
1) Meet and greet - Make sure the dog is comfortable with you when the owner is present so the dog knows who you are and that you arent a threat (they may or may not have done this but given the "dog sitters" approach this entire video, i doubt they did but thats me assuming)
2) Having a dog loose in the garden as you arrive (im assuming here) with no lead already on the dog, nor a slip lead in hand to prepare yourself for needing to take control if the dog tries to bite is a no no. This is why I always advocate for a dog to be crate trained, cuts that problem right out, a dog can be placed on a lead while in the crate so you have immediate control when its out of the crate and the dog should not be interacted with at all NO TOUCH NO TALK NO EYE CONTACT until it is calm, with the dog loose in the garden bare minimum the same no touch no talk no eye contact rule until calm should be used and a slip lead on hand incase it goes left
3) Use food to create a positive association to your presence, do not add to the problem by trying to semi open the door when the dog is not calm and say you might need to make a run for it as this further increases the bite risk. Saying the dog hates that noise indicates theyve either been told this or they have met the dog before, if she had met the dog before, clearly she didnt go about that the right way either nor created a postivie relationship as the dog was not happy to see her one bit!
4) When the dog enters, its body language is extrememly tense, stick to the NO TOUCH NO TALK NO EYE CONTACT rule not "go get your food" in a baby voice, this made the dog respond with a "back off" warning of barking and showing teeth. This would not have happened if she had previously dealt with the above appropriately. In this instance if the dog wanted to bite, it wouldve, this was designed to get her to leave it alone and go away, not injure or cause harm.
5) Taking a step backwards in this instance is again, telling the dog its behaviour has indeed scared you and that its working, this is not what we want to do as once she did that, the dog moved into her personal space, again increasing the likelihood of her being bitten. Instead NEVER BACK DOWN BUT NEVER ESCALATE is the approach thats needed, personally i wouldnt be in that situation in the first place but if push came to shove, you hold firm, use a slip lead to get the dog under control from a slight distance and you wait until it calms down, going back to creating a positive association with yourself using food.
6) Another massive no no in this situation is to scream or panic, the dog was extremely on edge and uncomfortable so why again add to the problem by screaming sit? Also note, the dog does not sit, it hits the deck absolutely terrified, tail completely under its body and retreats back to its food, and she retreats further and the video ends.
One thing to note is that she does mention she might have to run for the hills when the dog gets its food, this dog could very well be struggling with resource guarding over food, if thats the case things like this need to be discussed at the meet and greet and the owners should be working on this with a behaviourist and not putting a dog sitter at risk who clearly hasnt a clue how to handle the situation. Even at that, the owners may not have been in a position to afford a behaviourist or do not understand the severity of the issue so the dog sitter would not be at fault, yet said dog sitter still responded completely incorrectly.
There are soo many variables and possibilities with this video but my final point rests:
DO NOT ALLOW SOMEONE TO BE ALONE WITH YOUR DOG IF YOUR DOG HAS BEHAVIOURAL ISSUES THAT CAN BE DANGEROUS OR THEY DO NOT LIKE SAID PERSON
DO NOT HIRE SOMEONE TO BE UNATTENDED WITH YOUR DOG WHEN THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO READ A DOGS BODY LANGUAGE/HANDLE A DOG/RESPOND APPROPRIATELY IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS
DO NOT TAKE ON A DOG SITTING JOB/DOG BEHAVIOUR CASE IF YOU HAVE NOT MET THE DOG TO SEE WHAT YOURE DEALING WITH/DO NOT HAVE AN AT LEAST NEUTRAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM AND GENERALLY HAVENT A CLUE WHAT YOURE DOING
Rant. Over.
