Dog sitting expectations

[hollysh]

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How long do you think is a reasonable time to leave a dog on its own when your dog sitting? I know you have a certain routine when its your own but as a dog sitter i feel extremely guilty if i even have to leave for an hour or 2. This is mainly because i also do dogwalking and sometimes its just not practical to take them all out together.

Also do you think its reasonable to go out for a few hours when they are sleeping in the evening? 

Just wondered what your thoughts were on this. 

 

[JoanneF]

Do you have a contract that both parties sign to be clear about expectations?

If I needed to leave my dog with a sitter, I would expect to pay an hourly rate and if I was being charged for say, 8 hours I would expect the dog to be with the sitter for 8 hours. But if I was going on holiday and the dog was to be kept by a sitter for 2 weeks I would accept they had to do other things in that period. I would then look for a 'not alone for more than 2 hours at a time' clause or similar.

 

[hollysh]

No i dont have that written in the contract. Maybe that is a question i should ask. 

I read in some guidelines that its 4 hours for adult dogs and no more than 2 hours for puppies. 

 

[JoanneF]

That might be an acceptable time for some dogs to be left by their owner but to be frank I would be unhappy if I were paying for a service that wasn't being provided 

 

[gypsysmum2]

From a purely welfare point of view most rescues specify dogs should not be left, on a regular basis, for more than four hours.

As long as my dog had been exercised and fed then I would not be unhappy with him/her being left for up to four hours. I am talking about the dog I have now, though, who is a very independent character. I might not be so happy if it was a dog of a different age/with a different character.