'She does not get paid for sending a stranger to [my] home for 12 minutes': Dog mom of 4 ghosts a flaky pet-sitter who tried to scam her for $300/night despite getting caught leaving the dogs alone for 11 hours

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Apr 4, 2025 4:00 AM EDT

When you have dogs, going on vacation can turn into a nightmare. With the wrong pet sitter, a stressed-out pet, and the thought of all of your furbaby's habits getting upended is enough to send most pawrents into a tizzy. So when you're in the process of picking out the fated pet-sitter to take care of your dog family, you must choose wisely. 

While the woman in this next story chose a 'professional' sitter from one of those dog-sitting apps, she learned very quickly that this caregiver was far from pawfessional: She was a scam. 

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  • This pet sitter was every dog parent's worst nightmare. But with cameras around the house and a baby monitor inside, u/Confident_Whole3825 was able to survey exactly how thorough this sitter would be. Initially, feeling weird about spying on the person caring for her animals, but as the evening rolled along and the sitter was running hours late, the feeling of distrust spiraled into panic—especially when the sitter sent in some strange man into her home without permission, only to let the dogs out for 12 minutes before skedaddling. Naturally, things got quite heated after that.

     Pooch pawtector to the rescue!

  • Cheezburger Image 10489371136
    via chalabolah photos
  • Pet sitter left my dogs alone for 10.5 hours I hired a pet sitter for this weekend while my family and I went a couple hours away to celebrate my mom's birthday. I
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • offered her 300 dollars to watch my 2 dogs and my sisters 2 dogs from Saturday at noon to Sunday morning 7 or 8 am - whenever she wakes up. She was asked to sleep over and let the dogs into
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • the yard for potty breaks / play and asked to feed them all dinner and breakfast. I wasn't asking her to walk them as there are 4 dogs and they'll be fine in the yard since they had a walk Saturday
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • morning and will have one when we return. I have a 80 lb bernedoodle and a 30 lb pitbull - both 5.5 and fully potty trained. My sister has two 7 lb chihuahuas that are kept in a gated area with pee pads, food, water and beds
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • when left alone - the younger chihuahua is accident prone. The pet sitter agreed to everything, saying "sounds good! Perfect!" To all of the instructions - when to arrive, potty breaks, feeding and general attention etc etc.
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • The house has a security system with cameras and alerts when the garage door opens / closes. We have her the code for entering. Around 2 pm we noticed that the garage door didn't alert us it had
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • opened at all. I texted her to check in asking how the pups were doing nd she didn't reply. I then asked my family member who referred her (they're friends) if they knew if she made it to the house okay to which they replied "I think she's working till 4".
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • Cheezburger Image 10489378304
    via pixabay

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  • At this point I was a little nervous she wasn't replying and had neglected to tell me she was working as she confirmed that - noon arrival worked for her. We left around 8 am so I wasn't too
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • worried at this point, but a tad annoyed. The dogs aren't left for more than 5 hours usually. I responded to my cousin and said "woah. Didn't know she was working today, she said she would be over at 12" which I
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • assume she relayed to the sitter. The sitter then sent her boyfriend (who I've never met/spoke to) to our house - gave him the code and let him in the house. She did not tell me she was doing this
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • and I would have been very opposed to as my pit is very weary of men. She then finally replied with a photo of my dogs saying "sorry for the delay! They're great" .. I replied asking if
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • my sisters dogs had been let out of their fenced area and she sent another photo a few minutes later with them all together. Her boyfriend then let them back in and left. Time stamp was 3:31 garage entrance and 3:43 exit.
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • She sent a random man into our home without permission and then pretended she was there? I assumed she would be there by 5 at the latest if she was working till 4 and I know she doesn't work
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • far. As 5 pm approached we kept an eye on the security system. No notifications at all. I texted her at 6 saying "hey, checking in! They should be ready for dinner" no reply for about 20 minutes. At
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • this point my husband is already packing to head home for the night. He hops in the car and leaves. I then texted her "hey, no need to stop by the house. My husband is on his way home and
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • will be there for the night" She replies at 6:35 saying "they're great" as the security notification goes off that she entered the garage. She then said "he's on his way? Should I leave?" To
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • which I replied, "yes he should be there in a bit, you're welcome to leave" she didn't even make it into the house from the garage - she left (we have a camera in the garage). At this point we're
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • calling the neighbors to help since my husband is still 2 hours away and this woman has lost all of our trust. My husband made it home, took them all out and gave them tons
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • of attention. They had spent from 8am to 7pm alone with the exception of less than 10 minutes outside (mind you two of the dogs are in a smaller penned in area while alone).
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • Cheezburger Image 10489379328
    via Darren Baker
  • This is our first time using a pet sitter other than our family and friends. We are completely confused. Is this normal? I can't figure out why she was lying about being there and sent a stranger into our home? I'm
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • shocked she thought 6 minutes outside was adequate? I don't think I asked for much and I thought the pay was reasonable for one night with 4 dogs as I didn't request walks and they're
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • all rather laid back dogs.. I guess I'm writing this in shock and confused. Am I wrong? Were my expectations too high? Does anyone leave dogs alone for 10.5- 11 hours?
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • schliche_kennen Change your security code (and locks, if necessary) and do not pay this woman. If she never actually performed any of the duties (and in fact have proof she never even entered the home), you are under no obligation to pay her. She does not get paid for sending a stranger to your home for 12 minutes.
    via schliche_kennen
  • Confident_Whole3825 OP We're are definitely changing the garage codes. Very spooky to see a strange man walk into the home unknowingly. She has not been paid anything and we are unlikely to pay her anything at this point
    via Confident_Whole3825
  • loveisjustchemicals She isn't a professional dog sitter, she went to her job. You got scammed.
    via loveisjustchemicals

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