I called Debbie from Trails and Tails pet sitting to see about her watching my dog, Luna, during a last minute family getaway. She said she was available so we set up a time for her to come to my house to meet Luna and go over everything. We scheduled the appointment for 5pm and when we hung up I sent her a text confirming our appointment for 5pm. So imagine my surprise when the day of the appointment rolled around and my doorbell rung at 3:45pm. Debbie mumbled that we had an appointment and she was "a little early ". I was caught off guard but figured everyone makes mistakes so I answered the door. We have a sign on our front door asking all visitors to please wear a mask because our baby is too young to be vaccinated. I answered the door - no mask - so I politely asked her if she had a mask and again explained the situation. Debbie was rude and combative and said she doesn't wear masks. Again, I explained that while I understand, I need to protect my baby and would be happy to provide her with a mask so she could come inside and meet Luna as planned. After much negotiating she finally agreed and I provided her with a mask (which she wore under her nose). She came into my home and immediately started telling me how my vet was wrong about this and that (including how much I feed Luna). I explained her medical conditions and how they can affect her appetite and how our vet has instructed us to entice her to eat by hiding treats in her food if she doesn't eat all day. (Note the initial plan was for her to care for Luna at my house but she immediately stated she knew my dog better than I did and she knew she'd do better at her house.) She then proceeded to tell me that at her house each dog is given their bowl (without treats) for 5 minutes and if they don't eat, they don't eat and said well she won't starve in the time you're gone and besides she needs to lose weight. Luna doesn't need to lose weight according to our vet, she has a fluffy coat but is absolutely not overweight. She continued like this throughout the visit. I later discussed the visit with my husband and texted Debbie and said we felt this wasn't a good fit but I appreciated her time. She texted me back that she agreed.
I can't comment on how she cares for your pets, because she didn't care for Luna however I was not impressed with our interaction and felt it would be helpful to share for others. I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and perhaps she was having a bad day but I was very concerned with how she handled feeding especially given Luna's history and medical conditions. I know everyone has different philosophies about caring for pets but I'm personally a big believer in treating them like family and caring for each animal individually as their needs require and I feel it's important to find a pet sitter with a similar philosophy. I was lucky enough to find that but as I said I wanted to share my experience to help others find the right pet sitter for their furry family members. read more