"In the course of reporting this article, I heard from plenty of people who wanted nothing to do with the doggy care business, but the minute they were asked to go on the record, they immediately rescinded. A number of people told me they leaned on their 'allergies' when declining requests. 'You can’t tell people you don’t like dogs,' said Melanie Nyema, 41, a performer who lives in New York City. 'They automatically think it makes you some kind of psychopath. You may as well have said you like to kick babies.'... Jason Duffy, 48, a producer in Los Angeles said dog sitting was akin to 'driving a friend to LAX. I love you, but woof'...."
From "It’s a Dog’s Life, if You Want It/As travel returns, so are requests for dog sitting — after all, those pandemic puppies aren’t taking care of themselves" by Glynnis MacNicol (NYT).
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I met a man in Minneapolis who is a dog courier. He flies around the world w/ wealthy people's dogs, delivering them personally.
I'm not really a big Seinfeld fan, but one episode I enjoy is the one where Jerry and George manage to befriend Keith Hernandez, a big star with the Mets, and then they work to suck up to him in somewhat self-abasing ways. Then Keith asks them to help him move. They are very dubious, their slavishness kind of falls away and they ask sharp questions. How many floors to your building? Do you have an elevator? Do you own heavy furniture? The answers make it clear this will be a difficult move, so they regretfully turn him down. "We don't know you well enough."
The business about a trip to the airport is funny. Surely it's a great luxury to have someone drive you there, right to the departure level, with no worry about parking.
They automatically think it makes you some kind of psychopath.
Doesn't It? i mean DOESN'T IT??
No one asking to sit wolves, or hyena, or even coyotes.. We're talking doggies!!
Why I don't own a dog. I like dogs, but you have to find minders for them if you want to travel, and asking someone to dogsit only really works if there is equal reciprocation. Otherwise it is rude to try to impose the duty on someone.
I was the neighborhood dog-sitter as a kid, meaning visit house and feed and walk the dog every day.
I use a park in the neighborhood that includes a off-leash walking area.
I'm amazed by the dog-walkers. They arrive with family vans full of 10-12 dogs........all barking to a different drummer.
For some dog-walkers, walking your dog is their livelihood.
No thanks. I'm not interested.
"'You can’t tell people you don’t like dogs,' said Melanie Nyema, 41, a performer who lives in New York City. 'They automatically think it makes you some kind of psychopath. You may as well have said you like to kick babies.'"
It's funny, because in NYC, if you told people you 'didn't like babies', nobody would think you were a psychopath who just said you like to kick dogs.
comedian Joey Diaz has problems taking a bike ride because of the avalanche of people and their dogs everywhere.
Link to video 👉🏽 https://youtu.be/5QAldL4Qz-M
I learned there is a dog sitting website for rich people who pay people to live in their mansions and take care of their pets when they are gone.
A couple I know sold their lake house at Ginger Cove (all residents pay land rent to Ginni Lamp Thomas) and drive around the country and do that. They own an Airstream trailer, but are otherwise technically homeless.
People are idiots about dogs now, or rather "doggos" - ugh. It must have something to do with not having big families anymore.
Switzerland was like that when I visited in 1986. Everyone and their fucking dogs...
You can’t tell people you don’t like dogs…. They automatically think it makes you some kind of psychopath.
True. Telling someone you’re a psychopath does carry a risk them thinking you’re a psychopath.
We have had dog/house sitters for years. The dog stays home and the cost is about the same as boarding.
I have the opposite experience. Our neighbors go away and leave their dog home to be “dog sat” by someone who comes by only once a day to feed and walk her. We volunteered to take the dog and they turned us down! I think they felt judged (and I confess I was judging them).
I do enjoy the dogs allowed to run around off leash in the common area next door. I've never found any dog poop over there yet never noticed the owners cleaning up after them either.
The dogs must be eating each other's shit. Very convenient!
It feels like all these lifestyle articles reduce life to a sitcom episode. Now that Noë wants to jetset again she has trouble finding a friend who will puppy-sit Delta her COVID companion. And like sitcoms where the ensemble all have million dollar city apartments and menial jobs, the Times’ real life protagonists always seem cheap. Pay for boarding already!
" Surely it's a great luxury to have someone drive you there, right to the departure level, with no worry about parking."
Get a cab!
"Why I don't own a dog. I like dogs, but you have to find minders for them if you want to travel, and asking someone to dogsit only really works if there is equal reciprocation. Otherwise it is rude to try to impose the duty on someone."
I guess you should actively pair up with some other dog owners who are going to want to request the same favor from you.
There's also the thing of people who love to take care of a dog but don't want to own one. It's easier to BE that kind of person (and meet the dogs and their people) than to find such a person (if you are the one with the dog). It helps to have a very good dog!
If you have allergies, I understand.
But if you don't like dogs, you are a communist.
Dog-sitting is another issue entirely...
"You can’t tell people you don’t like dogs…. They automatically think it makes you some kind of psychopath. "
While I hate dogs, at an intellectual level I understand it's not the dog's fault. It's the selfish dog owners who think you're a psychopath if you object to the imposition they're placing on their neighbors (bark, bark, bark, bark, bark, bark, bark!!!) and friends. I wouldn't have even thought it a thing to ask other people to dog-sit for you, but I guess after having it brought to my attention I am not surprised.
If you want to have travel in your life, don't get a dog.
I don't like doggie woggies. Or they don't like me. When I was growing up my aunt got bitten by one. Also, I would take long walks and would have to relieve myself sometimes, and the beasts thought I was marking my territory and regarded me as an intruder.
Man's best friend doesn't seem to like pedestrians anyway. Maybe that's why we domesticated horses and invented automobiles. Puppies are cute, but dogs and I have trust issues.
In the future robot service dogs may allow us to kick them without being made to feel like psychopaths -- at least until robots' rights groups get involved.
A producer and a performer are the people quoted. Now, to me, talking about a dog sitter is coming from wealthy people who can afford to hire people to watch the dog rather than kennel the dog or have a neighbor look in.
So my question is aren't there professional dog sitting businesses or are destitute actors all that are available?
My wife and I had a dog-sitting business for nearly 4 years. We have 5 acres and lots of space for pups. We love dogs (currently have 3) and host guests with dogs in our Airbnb property as well. (It's great for people who like to travel with their pups.) We stopped the dog-sitting because we were tied to our property for too much of the year; now of course the Airbnb take up that time, but at least we can block the calendar if we so choose. We still care for a few favorite clients' dogs. Our youngest daughter is a dog/house-sitter as her livelihood. She has so many clients that travel that she has foregone having an apartment because she stays in others' houses so often.
Can't understand why people don't like well-behaved dogs, but surely can relate to those who don't like owners who don't train their pets.
So my question is aren't there professional dog sitting businesses or are destitute actors all that are available?
Sure. We have used dog/house sitters for years. We don't travel much anymore but do go to California to see kids and grandkids every few months. We have a basset hound and a fenced yard so I like to leave him at home. The cost of such a sitter is around $50 a day and that is close to boarding charges. We are rarely gone more than 5 days. It's also good insurance to have the house occupied but we live in a very safe area.
I actually like dogs, but am otherwise on the same page as original Mike. An ufortunately large percentage of dog owners are self rightrleois jerks who think whatever their dog does is just fine and anyone who objects is an ass. They wouldn’t like it my son puked in their shoe; well I don’t like it when their dog runs up to me and jumps up getting muddy paws all over my clothes. Just keep your damn dog on a leash in public like the law requires and there would be no problem.
"Can't understand why people don't like well-behaved dogs,"
Well-behaved dogs are fine.
Penumba, food, water, and a squeaky toy.
I also dog-sat in my youth, meaning I would go two doors down 3 times a day, check the papers laid out in the kitchen, replace any that had been used, and check food and water. I don't recall letting the dog out, however!
This was a dog who had 1 litter consisting of 1 pup who was still-born, and the owner tried to give the dead pup mouth-to-mouth (according to Mom, who played bridge with the owner). That behavior certainly baffled my teen self and kinda made us kids think she was a few cards short of a full deck.
I like dogs but I'm not going to get one until I either retire or can work from home again. I don't think it's fair to leave it alone at home for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
As cat person*, I don't get this. Why not take a vacation that allows you to take dogs with you? You might be limited to road trips, but so what? Cats don't want to go places with you, but dogs do. Problem solved.
*love dogs too but lifestyle never appropriate for one - but that may change soon yipee!
I like dogs, sort of, but they don't like me. I'm a cat person and they can tell. I've also crossed paths with too many poorly socialized dogs, with rather unpleasant results, that I just assume they all are.
When I was five I was pinned down against the library building near my house, by an aggressive German Shepherd. I have a strong dislike for that breed specifically.
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