Nanny’s dog can’t stay

[Anonymous]

Our long term live-in nanny split up with her boyfriend last month. He had been taking care of their dog but he moved out of state and now she has it. She has an en-suite bedroom in our home and leaves the dog in there while she works. It barks absolutely endlessly and scratches at the door. This is particularly challenging as DH works from home and our home is not very big. We like dogs but we can’t take it with the barking.

We like our nanny very much and don’t want to lose her but the dog is too much.
What can we do to fix this? She doesn’t have any family members or friends who will take it and she can’t afford to get her own apartment, which I think would be also challenging with such a noisy dog. She does take the dog out for a walk each day and even if we have the dog around our family, which we definitely don’t want, it still barks at everything

Any suggestions?
Thanks so much

[Anonymous]

Um, pay your nanny enough so that she can get her own apartment.

[Anonymous]

Why can't the dog be around your family?

You know what the options are: Either find a way to make this work - by letting the dog stay, by paying her enough for her to get her own place, by having the dog go to doggy daycare during the day, etc - or your nanny is going to have to choose between working for you and her dog. She will have to find herself a new job and apartment, or find the dog a new home, or bring the dog to the shelter.

[Anonymous]

Wow, did Nanny know she was working for anti-dog people? She should go now that she knows.

[Anonymous]

Pay for the dog to be boarded a few days a week (or heck, all week).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um, pay your nanny enough so that she can get her own apartment.

Or welcome the dog into your home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our long term live-in nanny split up with her boyfriend last month. He had been taking care of their dog but he moved out of state and now she has it. She has an en-suite bedroom in our home and leaves the dog in there while she works. It barks absolutely endlessly and scratches at the door. This is particularly challenging as DH works from home and our home is not very big. We like dogs but we can’t take it with the barking.

We like our nanny very much and don’t want to lose her but the dog is too much.
What can we do to fix this? She doesn’t have any family members or friends who will take it and she can’t afford to get her own apartment, which I think would be also challenging with such a noisy dog. She does take the dog out for a walk each day and even if we have the dog around our family, which we definitely don’t want, it still barks at everything

Any suggestions?
Thanks so much

Oooof. You pay her so little that she can’t afford her own apartment. No advice, that bit just stuck out to me.

[Anonymous]

Barking habits when a dog feels isolated is bad for their vocal chords and psychological state. When my teen dog started to bark when he was left alone, we got an electronic dog collar that gives a little zap when the dog barks - I tried it on myself first, and it didn't hurt, but make sure you calibrate it at a low setting. It took two barks for him to stop barking. He hasn't barked since when left alone, and is left alone only rarely since one of us is usually always home. He occasional barks when we're here, usually when someone is at the door, or he senses a fox at night, and of course that's all right, we don't mind - it's "normal" barking.

You have more than a barking problem, however. It's cruel to leave a dog all day in one room without interacting with anyone. The dog will not be well-behaved when let out, because he will have pent-up mental and physical energy.

If you can tolerate it and the dog doesn't get into things, it's best that the dog be allowed to roam part of the house where there are people. Right now, you're probably not seeing their good side, because isolation is making them act out.

If you can't take it anymore, then you should discuss rehoming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um, pay your nanny enough so that she can get her own apartment.

Or welcome the dog into your home.

You need to re-read the OP. They've tried that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, did Nanny know she was working for anti-dog people? She should go now that she knows.

Not wanting a dog that barks endlessly isn't anti dog. I've never had a dog that barked all day. The dog is miserable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um, pay your nanny enough so that she can get her own apartment.

It's perfectly legit to include an en suite apartment as part of a compensation package. OP is not cheap to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our long term live-in nanny split up with her boyfriend last month. He had been taking care of their dog but he moved out of state and now she has it. She has an en-suite bedroom in our home and leaves the dog in there while she works. It barks absolutely endlessly and scratches at the door. This is particularly challenging as DH works from home and our home is not very big. We like dogs but we can’t take it with the barking.

We like our nanny very much and don’t want to lose her but the dog is too much.
What can we do to fix this? She doesn’t have any family members or friends who will take it and she can’t afford to get her own apartment, which I think would be also challenging with such a noisy dog. She does take the dog out for a walk each day and even if we have the dog around our family, which we definitely don’t want, it still barks at everything

Any suggestions?
Thanks so much

Oooof. You pay her so little that she can’t afford her own apartment. No advice, that bit just stuck out to me.

Well, right now OP doesn’t because she gets room and board. If she moved out OP would have to pay her more. But yeah I get what you’re saying.

[Anonymous]

She just brought the dog into your house without asking you? She either needs to find a new permanent home for the dog or board it. I don’t know of many nanny employers who would be okay with having a barking, scratching dog in their home.

[Anonymous]

She needs to re-home the dog. Part of her employment is housing, but she knew the dog was not welcome when she accepted the job or got the dog. This is why it wasn’t living with her before. It sounds like you tried to make it work, but it’s disruptive to your husband’s job - the job that pays her salary.

It sounds like it is distracting her from her duties during the work day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um, pay your nanny enough so that she can get her own apartment.

We pay her a lot, over market, on the books with over time etc., pay for all her meals and utilities
She chooses to send all her money home