Dog Sitting- a few questions

[Thankgodforchocolate1]

I am looking after my bosses dog (3 year old Labrador cross- not sure what with- red coloured) until the middle of next week whilst she is away. I've never had a pet before so don't have any experience of animals (and feel very nervous about getting things wrong!) and have a few questions (things I forgot to ask before my boss went away!).

1. This may sound odd but other than if she waits at the door are there any other signs that she may need to go and do her business? I've had her since this morning and have been regularly taking her outside for little walks.
2. How often can you give treats without becoming too much? I've given her one every hour or so today as she's been well behaved but not sure if this is too much
3. I've got her at work with me (office with 4 of us in) during the day- today she lay on the carpet next to me and I held her lead in one hand loosely- is this ok or will she be tense with me holding her lead all the time? I've only been holding the lead as she jumps up and barks and runs if someone comes to the door
4. I gave her a bit of banana earlier- I googled and this seems to be ok but just wanted to check with people who have dogs? Not sure if the sugar is bad for a dog

Holding her lead is OK as long as it’s loose, or you could put your chair leg through the hand loop at the end. A treat every hour is way too much, and you’ll be teaching her bad habits which her owner probably won’t thank you for. And if she’s not used to banana then you are likely to give her an upset tummy, so no need for that either.
dogs are generally happy to be left to snooze for most of the time, and don’t need to endlessly be taken out for the toilet if they’re an adult and house trained. It would have been better if her owner had given you all this information, including when she generally toilets.
Hope that helps. (I’m a vet and dog owner.)

A treat an hour for a grown lab is fine!
When mine goes to stay with my parents he definitely gets more than that, they spoil him rotten!

Same with the banana, that much won’t affect him, he probably eats shit and garbage when out on walks.

For toileting, pacing or whining may be an indication of needing to go out, most toilet trained dogs will make it really obviously when they are busting.

Holding the lead is fine, especially if the dog is laying down and calm then. I tend to put it under my chair or foot for ease though.

@Wotrewelookinat Thank you! That's great to know about that being too many treats (I've just looked at the ones I have left and I'd run out quickly if I gave one an hour!)

This is bizarre

is the dog normally in the office?
why didn’t the owner give you guidance on routine etc?

Why would your boss leave their dog with you if you've never had a pet before?
It's a dog - why would you give it banana?!

I wouldn’t get into randomly
giving the dog bits of human food. It will become too much very easily and a dog with diarrhoea is no fun. Some dogs have more sensitive tummies than others.

Give it a treat after a walk and maybe one after the last wee at bedtime- that’s three a day.

don’t keep taking it out for wee walks. The dog will have a routine about pooing and weeing. Surely the owner told you this? I would pass this on to someone caring for my dog even if they were an experienced dog owner themselves because it varies for each dog and it’s really helpful to know.

As an example, my dog will wee when she gets up and I let her out the back door but she often sleeps in until past ten. Sometimes she will poo then also. Both of these are usually done in pretty much the same spot by the back door.

late morning walk will wee a few times (scent marking). Poo if not done earlier.

next walk is then evening about 8pm and it’s rare she would need a wee in the interim. She will sit by the back door and whine if she does. Evening walk again lots of wees to scent mark and usually a poo.

last wee when we go up to bed about 11pm.