"Los Angeles couple asks for community help after Rover sitter loses dog"
Here's the deal with pet sitting. First, I recommend that before you consider leaving a dog with anyone, you do a full safety/ escape evaluation of your property. If you need help, then consider hiring a dog trainer to walk the property with you, in and out. I have done this numerous times over the years and have identified risks for the owner. There are too many to mention here, but some examples are...
Outdoors: I look for risks such as predators; weather/ temperature; obviously poisonous plants or supplies in the yard; tripping hazards; bothersome neighbors; quality of fencing and gates; swimming pool/ drowning risks; slippery or damaged patios; falling risks; etc.
Indoors: Falling hazards; adequacy of the doors to lock inside and at escape points; relationships between all the pets; food storage; water access; power cords; doggie doors; etc.
Next, I get to know the background of the dog. What is this dog going to be like alone? What will this dog most likely be like with a sitter? What about medical conditions of the dog? Age of the dog? Behavioral history of the dog?
Lastly, what can you find out about the proposed sitter? At the very least, you need to meet them with your dog and size them up. Does everyone like one another? Plus references, since there have been people who have posed as sitters who instead have been accused of abusing and/or stealing and selling the pets in their care. You need to create an agreement of everything they are to do, from the smallest details like how to put on a leash, how to feed your dogs, scheduling, whether they will bring any guests with them (I'm not in favor of them bringing anyone over to your place, especially their children, boyfriends/ girlfriends; and absolutely no parties). If they are staying at your home over night, then that needs to be worked out, too. Then a plan in case of emergencies. How to lock up the place. How to prevent your dog from running out the door. How to contact you or a vet in case of an emergency. And a whole lot more. I think it a good idea to also arrange to have a tracking device on your dog the entire time the dog is not confined in a home crate or kennel, while being supervised, such as a GPS type of collar.
I don't know what specifically happened in this case. It would be interesting to get more background so everyone could learn some important lessons.
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