The focus of this isn’t about the sitter themselves, just the situation. I understand things come up. Now, onward to my current nightmare…
I just brought home my 8-week-old Golden Retriever puppy on Sunday that I have been waiting for years to have an ideal financial and work situation in place before adopting. In preparation, 2-weeks prior to pick up, I arranged a Meet and Greet with a great sitter through Rover with plans to have puppy at “day care” whenever I was at work (I do not have a job where I can just take time off whenever). I was adamant that I would not leave the puppy home alone, which I why I waited until the financial means were in place to afford day care.
However, when I messaged to sitter to adjust the meet and greet time by a couple of hours, they said they were now fully booked and could no longer meet or accommodate the daily day care. I scrambled to contact other sitters within a distance I could manage, but NOBODY was available. And since he’s only 8 weeks, he doesn’t have the vaccinations yet to go to either of the great doggy day care businesses that I’ll be taking him to once he IS fully vaccinated, he can’t go there.
Thankfully my gift-from-the-universe college aged niece has stepped up and happily said she will come be with puppy on M/W/Fs, and on Thursday this week I have a half day in the morning at work. But that means my only recourse today (and next Tuesday before Thanksgiving vacation starts Thursday) was to pump out his set up at home with a large penned in, puppy safe area with a den-like crate, puzzle toys, things to chew on, and a fake grass potty tray that BLESS HIM AND THE BREEDER he is already trained to use.
But my stress levels are through the roof for the puppy’s sake and my neighbors because every 45 mins-1 hour between naps, for 20-30mins, he’s been going on 30 sec-1 min intermittent howling/screaming binges between playing until he settles into the crate to nap. (I got a camera to check in.) I hate that he’s stressed, and I feel like such an a-hole to my neighbors because I live in an apartment.
I have calming classical piano playing, I put handwritten apology/thank you cards on my neighbors’ doors this morning, used as much as my time with him to give him love/accustom him to being in the pen with high value treats and colocating in the room with him in the pen so he sees he’s safe and rewarding quiet activity/get him good and tired before leaving this morning (and instructed my niece to do the same when she’s there so the times she’s not there aren’t totally unfamiliar and a shock to his system).
I guess I’m just saying that I planned for the ideal situation, it fell through last minute, and now I’m making the best of a less-than-ideal situation. But I’m incredibly stressed out and feeling terrible and helpless, and hoping for some advice or commiseration.
submitted by /u/amnbert
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