Pet sitter and dog aggression
I have a 15 month old ACD that has been with me about two months. I recently returned to work (5 weeks ago) and hired a pet sitter/dog walker to come and “relieve” my dog mid day for a potty break and some exercise. All was going well in the beginning when only one or two sitters were coming to the house.
The main sitter is on vacation for about two weeks, starting today, and one of the boys filling in who has seen my dog before has left me a note that my dog “lunged” at him barking when coming out of the crate, and scurried away from him and tried to bite him when he went to remove the leash from the collar after their walk. He said he is nervous around her now and will continue to care for her “and be patient with her” if I asked, but that he would like me to consider discontinuing the pet sitting service. My dog is quite shy, though she is socialized with other dogs and new people several times a week and is doing much better with the shyness. She has never been aggressive, only shy. She will go to great lengths to “get away” from a strange person or dog who aggressively invades her space, but always by removing herself from the situation, not nipping or barking. I actually think she handles those situations quite well.
I guess my question is what if any experience have others had with well meaning, but perhaps inexperienced pet sitters, and would my first instinct to simply discontinue the service and continue working with my dog myself be the best choice? I have discontinued the service until I can speak with the manager of this operation.
I have told this pet sitters story to family and friends who know my dog, and they can’t believe she would show any aggression towards anyone. My impression is that this young man is, for some reason, fearful of my (25 pound) dog (he once asked me if she was born in the wild!) and she senses that and it heightens her sensitivity and apprehension about being handled by him.
Any input anyone would have would be greatly appreciated. I have no concerns that my dog has any behavior problems, but am trying to clarify in my mind why someone would interpret her behavior in such a negative way.
How your dog acts with you around, in contol of the variables and able to provide valued reinforcers, is more than likely going to be WAY different than how that same dog would react to strangers without you around.
Occaisionally, at my vet clinic, we will admit what seems to be a perfectly nice and friendly dog, who we are unable to handle in the owner’s absence. This may be due to extreme fear, “cage protectiveness”, or a more assertive-type aggression. In these cases, if we have to, we will get the owner to come and fetch the dog, and rethink the needed treatments.
I would definitely consider stopping the dog-sitting, at least until the regular person is back, as it does no good for your dog to be stressed in this way. If you think you will need this service in the future, maybe rethink how the dog is left in the house, as the crate can be a very “emotional” place for the dog, and reaching into it, leaning over it, or trying to shove a dog into it can be problematic.
Shy dogs are tricky, and can become fear aggressive if they feel threatened. If she is shy and he is not too dog savvy, he may have stared at her when he came into the house. This can alarm a shy dog. If she barked at him from the crate he might have told her to hush, causing her concern (an almost stranger telling her what to do). Whatever happened, clearly her reaction was fearful and defensive. Was this the boy’s first time to come into the house when nobody was home? How old is this dog-walker?
I suggest you spend time at home with him and your dog. He and she need to repair this breech in confidence for both their sakes. Have him feed her treats, play ball and take her for a walk *with you* first, then turn around and go out without you for a two minute walk. He needs to re-establish trust with her (feed her lots of high-value treats) and get to know her better. He needs to know never to scold a *shy* dog for any reason whatsoever. It scares them and violates their trust in strangers. *She* needs to know that you approve of him taking her for walks. Lots of dogs are funny that way, they seem to need permission to go with another person, especially the shy and clingy ones.
He should read Culture Clash and Dogs Are From Neptune, both by Jean Donaldson, to learn more about dog behavior.
Because your dog is shy I would work with the pet sitters only when they can guarantee that your dog will be serviced by the staff members he is familiar with and likes. Having different individuals handle and work with your dog is only going to stress him out and lead to the rehearsal of behaviors you are trying to change.
I think a mid day dog walker is terrific for a high energy breed like an ACD but either hire your own dog walker/sitter or work with a smaller agency that can guarantee to you that only individuals the dog is comfortable with are coming to visit.
I have done dog walking/sitting for years. For all of the dogs I always made sure they knew me and had met me beforehand and I would have never sent a “new/unfamiliar” person to visit the homes of certain client’s dogs. Some breeds like Chows, Belgians, Rotties, ACD’s, Shepherds, SharPeis…are not going to do well with people they have never met before coming into the house to take them for a walk?! The dogs will be very suspicious and defensive. Some dogs where very suspicious of me for some time even though they had met me before…I would never have cornered/corrected or threatened them on their turf. Initial sessions were “getting to know one another” sessions.
Dog walkers/walking is a terrific service but only if your dog is familiar and comfortable with who visits AND your sitter has to be comfortable with them.
Go with a smaller company/individual I think you’ll find you get better service as well.