"Must be okay with dogs." Well, there are dogs... and then there are dogs!

[Anonymous]

I began a position three weeks ago with very nice employers and a wonderful 18 month old little girl. Their ad said they had dogs - which is no big deal for me as I have nannied for other families with dogs. During the interview, their two dogs were outside.

So I start the job and the dogs are horrible. One has diabetes and smells like concentrated urine and they are both horribly behaved. They trip me every time I put my change in her high chair to get at her food and never leave her or stop begging when she is eating. They will not be put outside when she is eating - I would have to drag them both by the collar with them spread-eagle on the floor. They both bark like crazy over everything and ALWAYS wake up my charge. The house smells and I come home covered in dog hair an there is no piece of furniture that they are not allowed to sit on. I initially loved the idea of being a nanny in a house with a yard (I've been in apartments) but this is just like an apartment as I cannot let my charge play in her own yard since it is covered in piles of dogshit. So basically I am commuting for the same situation I could have walked to in the city.

I have asked both MB and DB how to handle the dogs and they have no answers.

So, I do think I need to give my notice. Here is my question - should I tell my employers why? I know some people think of their dogs like children and I want no hurt feelings.

[Anonymous]

Yes
You should take a video on your phone. You can't get the smell but you can get the barking.

[Anonymous]

I've been a nanny for the past year for a family that won't pick up their dog poop in the back yard! I just take my charge to the park and refuse to play back there. I probably won't take another position for a family with dogs because of the extra hassle. I've lost count of the number of times I've had to clean up dog vomit in the past year. The only thanks I ever get is a verbal "thanks for cleaning up the extra mess!" Yeah, what was I supposed to do, leave it there? Sorry OP.

[Anonymous]

I used to work with a family that had a HUGE dog, don't remember the breed, but he was so scary and I'm not even scared of dogs because I grew up with big German Shepards. This dog was so big he could easily knock me over, he couldn't be forced to do anything because he was too heavy and he would snap at you if you tried to push him or get his collar, if he was outside he would bark nonstop at cars and people, if he was inside I was always scared one of the kids would get mauled by getting to close to one of his toys or bone. The final straw for me was when my fears came true and he bit one of the kids.

The oldest boy was about 12 years old. I had just tricked the dog into coming inside since he was just barking nonstop at some workers repairing the roof of the house next door. The 12 year old come into the room and let the dog out (not knowing I just brought him in). As he was heading to the door I yelled don't let the dog out but he still opened the door and the dog ran out. So in a sigh I said "please bring him back in, he is just barking at the guys on the roof over there." So, he went and tried to bring him in, I tried to help him too, we got a leash and tried to clip it on but the dog wouldn't let us. The 12 year old, who is much more comfortable with the dog than me, was behind him trying to push him up the yard into the house. I decided to give up and told him to just leave the dog and lets go inside. The 12 year old kept trying and suddenly he was on the ground. The dog spun around and bite him right between the legs.

We took care of the situation and settled everyone down and when mom came home I told her what happened and I told her I just can't do it anymore. The liability and risk was too much for me.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I live in a "dog town", pretty much every family I've interviewed with and worked with here has / at least/ one dog, and often two or three of them. It sucks. One of the families I work with has a pit bull mix that has to be kept separate from the kids because he growls at them etc, and their house is kind of small so I'm always shuffling him back and forth between the family room and the kitchen, and it's increasingly difficult to keep the kids away from him. The other family I work with has two dogs and I have to clean up dog vomit there at least once per week. One of their dogs is especially a pain; I can't leave food out in that kitchen unattended for even a second or she will jump up and eat it. The family I used to work with (for 2.5 years) had a dog that smelled so so bad and was always up in my business. I tried to keep her outside but she often barked a lot and had to be inside (and they had the muddiest yard so I had to clean her paws every time she came in which was a pain as I was in charge of an infant and toddler who were both very high needs).

Interestingly enough, many of the families I babysit for on occasional evenings and weekends here don't have dogs, but their kids are in daycare all day. I wonder if some families who have dogs opt for nannies so they have someone to take care of their dog during the day too?

[Anonymous]

Yes, you should let them know. They need to learn to put the dogs somewhere else BEFORE pulling out food for the baby to eat. They need to train their dogs to stop barking.

[Anonymous]

I hope your getting hazardous duty pay for these dogs.

[Anonymous]

I don't think there is any point in saying anything. The reality is that people who have horribly behaved dogs simply do not know anything about dogs or about training them. For what it's worth, if you would like to successfully have employment with dog owners in the future, knowing a bit about dog behavior and dog training Will help you a good deal. Frankly, a lot of it is quite applicable to children as well.

I have definitely worked with families that had horribly behaved dogs who behaved halfway decent for me but only because I put a lot of energy into training them upfront to recognize me as the Alpha and teaching them boundaries. It may not be worth it to you to have to put in that effort with this family or with any other, and that is totally fine. You should be just fine going back to working with apartment dwellers and their small manageable dogs

[Anonymous]

Same case as PP, I know how to train dogs quickly and successfully. I actually prefer big dogs, because once they know you are Alpha, they relax. Smaller dogs don't stop, and toy breeds can get aggressive if you don't start training as puppies. The worst are the people that say their dogs not only have had basic command training but also are service dogs... Sorry, there's no way a dog under a year old is a service dog. My sister has had medical alert dogs for over 7 years, and she's trained all of them herself, and none went through the training for both levels of testing in under a year.

[Anonymous]

Yikes! Sounds to me like they had the dogs in the backyard during your interview so you wouldn't see how bad they were.

Then they were hoping that you would fall in love with their child and their pets so much that you wouldn't want to leave.

I would give them my notice, state that you enjoy spending time with their daughter and love the position, it's just that you are not well-equipped to deal with two dogs as well.

Stress to them it has nothing to to with your feelings toward their dogs, it just makes it difficult to care for your young charge when the dogs are so needy. (I wouldn't mention the smell or the dog fur.)

You already asked them for advice on how to handle things, and they had zero answers for you so you have no choice now but to leave this job.

You honestly gave it your best shot.

[Anonymous]

I'd be honest, that way they will know how to advertise for the next nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be honest, that way they will know how to advertise for the next nanny.

I agree. Your employers should know the truth.

I never hated dogs until I became a nanny. The one time I was between positions, I would not answer any ad where the family had a dog of any kind.