Couple pays dog sitter upfront only for him to demand extra fees the night before they fly, leading them to call off their entire trip: ‘He had three weeks to clarify pricing or expectations.’

Author image for Ayala Sorotsky
Ayala Sorotsky • Writer and Editor
Mar 15, 2026 11:00 AM EDT

Not compromising for the person who will take care of your pets is never a bad decision.

Every pet pawrent knows that our pets are our children, and there's no debate over that sentiment. Especially when you adopt a dog - this adorable, intelligent, sensitive, and lovable creature - who truly feels like another fluffy family member. Dogs are both our children and our best friends. Every dog pawrent can attest to that, because we all live it every day of our lives.

So what happens when you need to entrust your doggo to another person's care? Dog sitters are very common, and some pawrent prefer to have this pawrsonal care for their floofy friend. Well, this one couple who took to the internet after their experience (or lack thereof) with a dog sitter that they hired, wasn't really experienced with inviting one over for their dog.

When you don't have that much experience with dog sitters, you rely on other people's reviews, but in the case of this one sitter - the reviews probably meant nothing. It has been a long time since we read about such an unprofessional pet sitter, and honestly? As much as we're sorry that the couple had to cancel their holiday outright - we're glad to know their dog stayed in good hands. Their hands.

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  • 01
    My partner and I had a music festival trip planned from Saturday-Monday
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 02
    Our usual boarding place was closed, so we hired a dog sitter we found on Google.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 03
    He said he's been doing this for 20+ years. He came to our apartment in early February for a trial run, so he was familiar with our dog and how to access into our apartment.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 04
    A dog walker with six dogs on a leash is walking in the street.
    via SB Arts Media

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

    A dog walker with six dogs on a leash is walking in the street.

  • 05
    He quoted $23 per 30-minute visit, and we paid upfront for all visits. After the trial, we didn't hear from him for about three weeks.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374

  • Paying up front for any sort of service is a risk. You can never know if you'll get what you asked for until the deal is done and over.

    If it were a trusted dog sitter that they know in advance, or even one who's trusted by a close friend, we could understand the total willingness to pay everything up front. But here? Well, Google reviews might not be the indication that they claim to be…

  • 06
    At 11 PM on Friday night (our flight was at 10 AM Saturday), he texted saying he would need to itemize and charge extra for tasks like wiping our dog's paws and wiping his b...t after walks.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 07
    He also said he didn't realize he'd need to use three codes to enter the building and mentioned he's busy with other clients.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 08
    We were surprised because: * He had already done a trial visit. * He had three weeks to clarify pricing or expectations.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 09
    * We had paid upfront. * The message came the night before our flight. We are actually fine paying more if a visit goes over 30 minutes.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 10
    We had even prepped everything to make it easier for him (left towels out, moved laundry basket outside, etc.).
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 11
    But the last-minute change made us uncomfortable about reliability and professionalism. Since we'd be out of town and he would have access to our home and dog, we didn't feel secure continuing.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 12
    A dog is smiling, tongue out, looking at something out of frame.
    via CX LEE from Pexels

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

    A dog is smiling, tongue out, looking at something out of frame.

  • 13
    We ended up canceling our trip. Are we overreacting for being upset and canceling? Edit: 1.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 14
    I didn't know that wiping your dog bat is something so new haha. Yes we do wipe our dog byt, if he poopoo.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374

  • It makes sense to wipe the dog's behind after he makes his doodoo business. Sure, it might not be common - but as long as the dog is okay with it, then there shouldn't be any pawblem.

    And regarding any dog sitting? As long as it's discussed in advance, what seems to be the case here, all is good. The issue is not with the act of wiping the doggo's rear side, it's about a dog sitter who doesn't know how to price it correctly…

  • 15
    We really don't want to see all over our marks furniture. We saw dogs with longer hair that have residue stuck on their bat hair and become matted.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 16
    I believe dogs will wipe their bat on the ground/grass to clean them, but my dog doesn't do that.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 17
    2. We just want to make it clear that we are 100% not against him charging more for the wiping parts, the door codes or if heating our dogfood would take more than 30 mins.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 18
    I am 100% understand all of that if he would just tell us anytime earlier than 11pm the night before our flight.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 19
    3. As of this moment, he told us he will refund us back, but we haven't received anything yet.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 20
    I will update this post when there's something new. Lastly, Thank you all so much for all of your comments, I tried to reply to every comment that i can see and learn more and more.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 21
    This is the first time we searching for a dog sitter so this is a very very valuable lesson for us.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 22
    It's 3AM now, I feel a bit better since I have a lot of people to vent to.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 23
    Thank you all so so much <3
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 24
    Cheeselover710 You shouldn't have paid upfront. You should almost never pay full price for anything upfront, unless it's trusted. He's been paid, and I'm sure sees the future work as unpaid since he's already clocked those hours into a paycheck in his mind.
    via Cheeselover710
  • 25
    OP Tall-Dragonfruit-374 We know that now honestly :( We are really just trying to be as flexible as we could so that he would take good care for our dog. In hindsight, I think we just making us look naive and easy
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 26
    FirstTasteOfRadishes If you were not comfortable with the arrangement and didn't have a backup, what else could you have done? I'm not sure in what sense you think you might have overreacted. It seems like you took the only action available to you.
    via FirstTasteOfRadishes
  • 27
    OP Tall-Dragonfruit-374 He did tell us about wiping our dog paws and bat are "a lot of details" and "maybe doing all of it would take more than 30 mins". We told him that if he needs to change anything please let us know, but he didn't send us any invoice, or mention about "itemize" the tasks until Friday night.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 28
    Somehow in the back of my mind there is still a thought of maybe he's a good sitter (he has good reviews for his business on nextdoor) and I'm overreacting to cancel the whole trip right away when he telling us about the charges. But then 11PM? while you have 3 whole weeks just to send us 1 text saying that is WILD to me
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 29
    Lolz79 As a former dog sitter myself, he's full of sh. Get a contract signed before
    via Lolz79
  • 30
    OP Tall-Dragonfruit-374 This is something that we learned from this experience :)
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 31
    A dog walker is having trouble maintaining control over six dogs while crossing the street.
    via SB Arts Media

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

    A dog walker is having trouble maintaining control over six dogs while crossing the street.

  • 32
    refreshed_anonymous That's BS. I'm a dog walker and pet sitter. I wipe the dogs' paws without extra charge and without even having to be asked because it's considerate to everyone involved. This dude's a scam artist. Glad you canceled. Pet sitting is more than just showing up, getting the basic job done, and leaving. Dude sounds untrustworthy.
    via refreshed_anonymous
  • 33
    OP Tall-Dragonfruit-374 Omg thank you for saying that because he also count heating up the dog food in the microwave as an extra task he has todo.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 34
    jonnythunder65 Sorry you had to cancel your plans. But he had plenty of time to mention his other charges. Not wait til last minute giving you only the option of using him or cancelling your plans. He was definitely thinking that you would just pay him I am petty. I would go give him a 1 star review myself because of him changing things last minute
    via jonnythunder65
  • 35
    OP Tall-Dragonfruit-374 We left a review sharing about this already. Thank you so much!
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 36
    cookiejars323 I do petsitting. This guy seems incompetent or is trying to rip you off. You definitely aren't overreacting.
    via cookiejars323
  • 37
    OP Tall-Dragonfruit-374 both my partner and I think is incompetent (idk why at the very end we still try to think good for him lol) He honestly listed out all the things that he think doing them would take him over 30mins (getting into the apartment with codes, wiping my dogs, heating my dog food which takes 50seconds honestly) We just feel like if it takes over 30mins he could communicate that with us after the trial run, and we all can work together.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 38
    And moreover, telling us that you're busy and have other clients has nothing to do with us since we ask him at the very first day that do we need to tell him beforehand when we need him since he could have a lot of dogs to take care of, and he said no.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 39
    griz3lda i've never heard about somebody having somebody else wipe their dogs bt. I do find that a little weird.
    via griz3lda
  • 40
    A man picks up the dog's stool while on a walk in the park.
    via Powerlightss

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

    A man picks up the dog's stool while on a walk in the park.

  • 41
    OP Tall-Dragonfruit-374 We do that, just wipe it with wet wipes since there could be residue left on their bt, and I don't want it to get on our bedsheet or our couch, or for him to clean it himself and kiss us on the face
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 42
    A dog is pooping on the grass.
    via RobertKovacs

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

    A dog is pooping on the grass.

  • 43
    RobotPenguin- Nope. Not at all. You did everything perfectly. The only thing missing is making sure you warn every pet owner you know not to trust that person.
    via RobotPenguin-
  • 44
    OP Tall-Dragonfruit-374 Thank you! My partner did go to Nextdoor and shared our experience about the whole thing. He replied back to my partner and said that he didn't know that it would take multiple codes to get into our apartment, tbh, I don't know how that's our fault since he knew about the codes when he did the trial run with us, and I don't know what he meant by that since I believe a lot of apartment complexes are using security codes to access now.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 45
    We gave him 2 options from the beginning 1. We can give you the codes to our apartment everyday since we can only give 24hrs access code 2. Download the app, we give you access thru the app, and use that one for 3 days. He chose the first option, and now he's trying to blame us because there are multiple codes to use.
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 46
    Lady Teraudrin Naw, nope, not the ah- a professional and reliable sitter would have said day of trial- this is more than the normal and I'll need a few days to talk to some people and do some digging but I'll get back to you on what I think is a fair price by x date and then have done that by or before x date so you had time to start looking for a back up knowing the cost was about to go up just in case. He waited till last minute giving you no time to find an alternative and not giving a set qu
    via LadyTeraudrin
  • 47
    He made an unprofessional choice that would have left me also second guessing giving this person access to my pets and home while I'm Not available in case of an emergency. That's a line drawn no for me you too the only action you really had without a prior set up back up and how were you to know you were even gunna need a back up. Like I'd be leaving him a one star review to go along with his lack of transparency and professionalism.
    via LadyTeraudrin
  • 48
    OP Tall-Dragonfruit-374 Everything you said is 100% what's going on my mind. We 100% let him know that if everything we ask him to do is over the 30mins, we can talk about it, or adjust things. The other thing that makes me feel so mad about this is we were trying our best to be flexible and easy so that our dog could be in good care. I just didn't know that he would blame us for his lack of communication/transparency
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374
  • 49
    Sudden_Childhood_824 Imagine if a babysitter said "I charge extra to help the child wash their hands"!
    via Sudden_Childhood_824
  • 50
    OP Tall-Dragonfruit-374 ikr? it's not like we're asking him to wash it with soap or anything, just take a towel soak it in water and wipe all the dirt out, same with the bot. Like i don't want any doodoo mark on my couch or bedsheet
    via Tall-Dragonfruit-374

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feud dogs drama pets dog sitting holiday pet sitter entitled holidays entitled people
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