Meet-n-greets should be standard for timid dogs
Never leave your dog with someone you’re nervous about
Can you watch my dog in less than 24 hours? It’s the kind of question I receive on dogsitting, dogboarding and doggy day care apps that always makes me shake my head. While I’m always down for watching anyone’s dog for the day, there’s a peculiar connection between last-minute bookings and the pet owners. They’re almost always from pet owners who couldn’t find anyone else to watch the dog. And there’s a reason for that.
Three recent examples are two senior dogs with bladder issues and anxiety. Then yesterday I got a request for a dog with high anxiety who does not like strangers — and an inquiry about whether I could watch this dog all day less than 12 hours before drop-off time. I was immediately curious about the circumstances of this foster dog. Why did she need immediate medication before she got to me? What does she do around strangers? And how long had this dog been fostered?
While I’ve dogsat, dogboarded and walked all sorts of dogs, the one rule that I’ve made an absolute priority is meeting the pup first. Why? One reason is because I remember one dog who waited until she was out of the crate to be over-the-top hostile, and this was just a for a 30-minute walk that I finally gave up altogether on. A second reason is I encountered a pet owner who never updated his profile.
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In photos, this dog was about the size of both of my hands in a glorious puppy body. The weight and age also matched that of a small puppy. When the owner showed up with this waist-high dog, I thought he was at the wrong unit and ignored him going past my windows altogether. He had to be here for someone else, but nope, he was here for me.
It turns out this dog was a few years old, could stand on my shoulders and pooped massive dumps every single time she walked. She was a wonderful dog and I loved my time with her, but I must admit I was mildly annoyed that the owner never informed me of the profile update slacking. I lucked out that she was big but friendly, and not even slightly aggressive. That’s not always the case though.
Recommended Read: “Dogsitting 101: How to sift through dogsitting gigs ~ Bonding with the dog and pet owner”
There was another case in which I went to a “friendly” dog’s home, who growled at the sight of me, stared at me everywhere I went and it took almost half the day for the dog to even let me touch him. I wanted to cancel the job and walk out the door — and that included a meet-n-greet. (I had a similar experience with a puppy.) I never really won over the first dog. He just tolerated me. The second dog did end up liking me a lot — and my shoes even more. I snuggled up with dog number two repeatedly but pretty much stayed out of the way of dog number one, until I somehow fell asleep on the couch and woke up to him staring at me. I thought he was going to bite my face for a millisecond, but he really just wanted to be petted.
This type of dog needs a meet-n-greet and you know it!
But there is a very particular dog whose temperament must include a meet-n-greet. You just cannot drop a dog off to random strangers who has high anxiety, mild-to-severe aggression or other sporadic outbursts. Of 80 dogs (minus the two that I owned for 22 years), I have only been bitten twice — once from an overly friendly Labrador Retriever who nipped my bare foot while wrestling with another Lab and a Dachshund who acted like he was starving his entire life every single time treats were exposed. I gave up on the latter and dropped treats to the ground. It was next-to-impossible for him to just bite the treat, but I love that Dachshund and would scoop him up into my arms in a heartbeat.
However, as with any dog, if you know your dog does not react well to strangers and can already confirm that there will be immediate issues (trembling, barking, growling, hiding, jumping, excessive panting, howling, loss of bowels or control of urine) around strangers, it is absolutely important that a meet-n-greet be had.