12/05/2025
“No, thanks, I’m the Pet Sitter.”
As many of you know, I’m a professional Pet Sitter in business since 2007.
When I am taking care of my clients dogs, I don’t socialize their dogs with other dogs during the walks.
If someone wants to come over with their dog, I will usually say “no thanks, I’m the pet sitter”.
As I get to know a neighborhood and also in speaking to the client with a description of the person to find out if they really know each other, I’ll find out that yes these two dogs know each other and see each other all the time.
So if that happens, I’m still cautious and I keep distance between the dogs. I don’t encourage it though.
The dynamics between two dogs, even two dogs who know each other, can change in a heartbeat.
We have to love our animals enough to realize that they are, at their core, an animal and will sometimes be unpredictable.
We have to allow for that in order to keep them safe.
The best way to keep your dog safe is to not only believe this, but allow for it.
Sometimes there’s not logic or reason in the behavior we’re seeing.
Just because your dog has always done something one way doesn’t mean one day they won’t surprise you and deviate from that behavior.
One of my long-term clients had adopted a dog who was labeled as being dog aggressive. She had had a terrible experience in her original home and the foster home as well with other dogs meaning the people who should have known how to acclimate her into a household didn’t do this right, and that’s what I believe made her into being that way. For her it was survival.
As far as her being dog aggressive , I would label it more as being reactive than actual true dog aggression.
When either I or her owner walked her she would sometimes bark a little at other dogs, quiet down when told to, and bristle a little which is a very mild reaction.
A truly dog aggressive dog will bark, growl, lunge and jump trying to get to another dog. She didn’t do that. Sometimes she didn’t react at all and continued walking.
They had a neighbor two doors down who had another dog who was a male who with a very balanced temperament.
The owners and their dogs used to take long walks together. The dogs had a good relationship.
One day the dogs were playing in the yard with their owners supervising and a full on dog fight started.
The owners were able to break them up without anyone getting hurt. The female dog (of my clients) was the one who was the instigator I was told.
So two dogs who knew each other, who had exposure to each other positively on a regular basis and seemed to like each other, for whatever reason one day the dynamic shifted changing everything.
The dogs never did socialize with each other again. It was the right call.
This though- is why I don’t socialize my clients dogs with other dogs we see on the walk.
I try to maintain my distance. Sometimes I’ll have someone marching over and I have no idea who this person is and my hand goes up and I’ll say “no thanks I’m the Pet Sitter”. Basically that means don’t approach. I am trying to be polite while maintaining the safety of the dog I am entrusted to care for.
I’m very protective of these animals that I take care of and it is part of my job to keep them safe and I do that.
I can’t do that however if I were to allow everybody to approach with their dogs.
Dogs will sometimes behave differently with their owners than they will with a pet sitter or walker so we’ll add that to the mix as well.
My first priority is and will always will be the animals that I take care of.
Your priority as a dog owner should be and should always be the safety of your own dog. This should come before you not wanting to hurt someone’s feelings.
If you are socializing your dog with other dogs on the walk, then I suggest that you keep your dog on a short leash and watch the behavior of both dogs carefully because you never know when that may change.
It may never change. But all it takes is one time, one day and everything you knew to be true is different.
Love them and keep them safe.
K.R.
