I never thought I’d write a post like this, but if you’re considering house sitting, it’s important to know what challenges you might face. And if you’re a homeowner inviting a sitter in, please be upfront and honest — let them know what they can expect, and warn them of any risks.
A Sit Gone Wrong
On one assignment, I thought we were walking into a mostly completed renovation. We'd done this house sit a couple of times previously and the owners are such a lovely family, with a gorgeous dog, they told us that they'd been doing a reno, and had nearly completed it, just a few things to finish off. We didn't worry and headed off.
However, in reality, what we arrived to, was a major construction site, in full swing — complete with scaffolding, tools everywhere, and, worst of all, a tradie’s aggressive dog that no one had warned us about.
When we arrived, we were stunned to see scaffolding surrounding the home. The only way in or out was directly underneath it. More than once we had to pass while nail guns fired overhead, hammers thudded, and tools and materials were stacked precariously above us. We had no hard hats, no safety gear, and often had to ask builders to pause just so we could walk through safely.
The owners knew that the tradie's dog was on site, knew that there had been problems, and yet never warned us about the danger it posed.
So completely unaware, we took off on our morning walk with the owner's dog. On our return to the home, I saw a dog lying near the building site.
I was a little wary as I watched it jump up and quickly run down the driveway towards us. It blocked our pathway and bared it's teeth and raised it's hackles and growled at us. To say my heart started racing, was an understatement.
Luckily I knew some behaviours to minimise our risks so I stood stock still.
The tradie only acted when I called out to them for help. He even gave us a very aggressive defense of his dog. The only proper response to this is to apologise, we never received one from him.
Some suggestions if a frightening off-leash dog approaches:
Things can turn bad very quickly with a dog like this that is unrestrained and protecting the area and person it thinks it owns.
Christmas Eve in 2021 a house sitter had their child killed by a dog while at a house sit in Varsity Lakes. The dog turned agressive quickly and attacked the child, who died of maul wounds. click here for the report
I will leave it to you to google house sitter harmed, or injured. One poor house sitter was taken down by 3 dogs she was minding who attacked her face.
Lessons Learned.
Usually prior to going into a house sit, I am careful to make sure if it is a good match for us. I look at the home, and interview the owners, so I have a good idea of what danagers we may face.
However, as we'd minded this dog before, and the owners were so lovely, I didn't go into a lot of detail with them.
Right now I'm feeling really shell shocked, the time away was very stressful, and not the lovely stay with a gorgeous dog I'd imagined.
I'm not so sure I want to house sit anymore, but if I decide to, I will be doing my due diligence every time.
A Final Word of Caution
Please don't take the risk side of house sitting lightly, the injury you prevent, or the life you save, may be your own.
