Dog was injured while I was pet-sitting! Opinions please

[Anonymous]

I've got a relatively new family that I petsit for occasionally. They've got a lot of dogs (all rescues) who are all very gentle. Well this morning two of the dogs started to fight over a toy. At first it was very playful and I thought nothing of it. Then they started to get aggressive and I could tell one was hurting the other. I tried distracting, making noises, etc, but nothing stopped the biting dog. Then a third joined in and they were literally biting on her ears while the one was crying out. After a few seconds I just had to break it up myself. Though I'm just one small woman and these were three medium to large dogs. Well when I got them off and in separate kennels (this was all I could do to make sure they didn't continue) then I could tell the one dog was pretty scratched up and her ear was almost chewed up entirely. I took her immediately to the vet and they were able to save the ear, sew it up, and she will be fine. Though they are keeping her overnight. I've called the "parents" but I know they're out of phone range, so I likely won't hear from them until tomorrow. I'm just so nervous, I'm a young college student and it's not as of I have a business just a dog lover, who dogsits on the side.

What would you do if this happened to your dog while away? Did I do everything right? Should I offer to pay the vet bill?

[Anonymous]

I would apologize to you profusely that you had to deal with this. It wasn't your fault and you did the right thing. Please don't offer to pay the vet bill. They were unreachable, and you used your best judgement.

[Anonymous]

I think you did everything right. They should have let you know that this could happen. Describe it exactly like you did here. I left my dog with a sitter and he had horrible diarrhea and scratched up my bathroom door (we had to get it sands and painted) because she needed to put him in there while she saw other clients. I paid her extra for having to deal with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've got a relatively new family that I petsit for occasionally. They've got a lot of dogs (all rescues) who are all very gentle. Well this morning two of the dogs started to fight over a toy. At first it was very playful and I thought nothing of it. Then they started to get aggressive and I could tell one was hurting the other. I tried distracting, making noises, etc, but nothing stopped the biting dog. Then a third joined in and they were literally biting on her ears while the one was crying out. After a few seconds I just had to break it up myself. Though I'm just one small woman and these were three medium to large dogs. Well when I got them off and in separate kennels (this was all I could do to make sure they didn't continue) then I could tell the one dog was pretty scratched up and her ear was almost chewed up entirely. I took her immediately to the vet and they were able to save the ear, sew it up, and she will be fine. Though they are keeping her overnight. I've called the "parents" but I know they're out of phone range, so I likely won't hear from them until tomorrow. I'm just so nervous, I'm a young college student and it's not as of I have a business just a dog lover, who dogsits on the side.

What would you do if this happened to your dog while away? Did I do everything right? Should I offer to pay the vet bill?

Obviously they aren't all gentle. You should NOT pay the vet bill. Nor should you pet sit for them again. These people should not have lots of dogs. What is lots?

[Anonymous]

OP - they are dogs. They do this. You handled it well: you broke up the fight, got medical treatment for the injured dog, and reported what happened. That is all that can be expected from a pet sitter.

Before I sat there again, though, I would make sure that this was an unexpected occurrence and not something they should have warned you about.

[Anonymous]

OP you handled it perfectly. You should NOT have to pay for the vet bill - don't offer. I have two dogs and I would be thrilled if you handled a situation like this the way you did.

If the owners aren't understanding, its not you, its them.

Good luck! You might want to type up an "incident" report like you wrote here - that way you can be assured they will get all the details without interrupting you or getting off track and IMO it also clearly shows you handled it very reasonably. A verbal explanation could get muddled or you could get frustrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would apologize to you profusely that you had to deal with this. It wasn't your fault and you did the right thing. Please don't offer to pay the vet bill. They were unreachable, and you used your best judgement.

This. You did the right thing. Honestly, you handled it perfectly. Of the parents ask you to pay the vet bill, the are a-holes.