To think the nicer you are the more the people take the piss?

[SecretsInSpitalfield]

First of all on a phone so apologies if it doesn't make perfect sense!

In a nutshell I look after other people's dogs. I offer dog walking where I'll drive to the persons house and pick up their beloved pet and walk him for sometimes nearly two hours then take the dog back home.

I also offer boarding where the owner will drop the dog off and pick him/her up either the next day or after their holiday.

I live on the outskirts of London and others in this profession normally charge £25 per night boarding and £12 per walk.

I charge £10 for walks (normally up to two hours whereas others do 45 mins to an hour) and £20 per 24 hours.

I have a dog currently that barks all the time. He has just pooed in two separate rooms and weed all over my sofa. The owners want me to have him all day for £7! They are not backing down and even the MIL got involved and said 'look they are not made of money you know'.

The most I will get from these people will be ten pounds a day (begrudgingly)

Another client - she said she'll drop her dog off 7.30 and now it's 6.30am. She said there's nothing she can do as her work hours has changed. I suffer badly with insomnia and sometimes I can manage an hour or two of extra sleep in the morning. I don't have to get up until 7.30 as DC start school at 9am. Also she's another that moans about money and I am going to get a pound an hour (my DC is livid with me for falling for their stories)

Client number three - me and DC don't live near family. Once (sometimes twice) a year we get a child free night. Said client picks up the dog at the same time every night. This particular night (after getting ready hair make up ) client texts at 8pm 'still at work haven't a clue when I'll be back'. To cut a long story short we didn't end up going out, client didn't say sorry and DH livid with me!!

Another client regularly goes on holiday and I have her dog. She is not short of cash! She never ever has the manners to tell me when she is coming back! Then when I eventually here from her she messages saying ' I'm so tired after my flight could you pleasebuy me x,y,z from sainsburys/waitrose'

Another one went on an exotic holIday and extended his trip by four days and didn't say a thing.

Another dog I look after regularly rolls in foxes poo. I use my time to clean the dog and the owners still moan!

I have just been on some pet caring websites and they charge extra for washing and drying dogs if they roll in mess.

I have had people pick their dogs up as late as 11.30pmand I'm exhausted.

My DH says I'm too nice and he's getting to the end of his tether (as I am)

Why do I let these people walk over me? I feel like an idiot.

We also have a chewed sofa, countless shoes chewed up among other things.

I haven't yet had the means to get a website made so no 'terms and conditions' have been made in print. That is part of the problem and downfall. In the meantime I'm thinking of writing T and C's on paper and giving to the clients.

My DH said if things don't change and if I don't say anything he will.

Sorry for the essay. Just wanted to see if anyone has ever experienced things like this and if so how they dealt with it.

Thank you for reading :-)

OP I'm pretty shocked at how selfish and bossy your "client's" are (and I'm referring to the owners, not the dogs!) So the first thing that you need to do is to draft (you can easily research and find templates etc... online) a contract that gets signed by the owner when they first start using your services, in this contract should be a firm end time for a day's worth of doggy daycare, say 7 or 8pm for example. If they do not pick up their dog by the agreed time it is an automatic overnight fee charged - NO EXCEPTIONS! Furthermore they cannot come and pick them up after that end time without express permission, it will have to be the next day before the day session starts (7 or 8am) or at end of day, in which case another full day's service will be charged. This is absolutely the normal practice in my city where I put my dog in daycare, otherwise owners would take the piss and turn up whenever they wanted -as they seem to do with you OP.

As for the dog mess and pee, that's more tricky really, even house trained pets can do this in a new environment. Is it possible for you to cordon off an area and proof it against accidents? I have to say that pet accidents are generally thought of as part and parcel of the dog-sitting business.

At the end of the day, your client's don't seem to respect you, remember you are offering a professional service and it's perfectly acceptable and reasonable to put firm deadlines in place and actionable consequences. In fact I'd insist on a credit card kept on file to charge for unexpected overnight fess when selfish owners don't pick their dogs up on time. Every dog daycare service I have ever used (which is about 4 now over 8 years and two cities) have insisted on such things, so don't believe the clients if they tell you you are being too unreasonable, every other dog service is already doing this.

Thank you Rainbunny. Your advice is food for thought. Great tips and will be going back to your post as well as others.

Thanks Secrets. I hope it works out for you. Tell the £7 a day dog's owners that you can't look after the dog any more. Glad it wasn't your MIL. Big hug. MUM

Bloody hell! Poor you! There are some jaw dropping people..

You've had some good advice here...

Being assertive is a lifeskill - the first few times you assert yourself feels pretty uncomfortable - but it does get easier!!

You need to definitely dump the piss- takers....
Something like the broken record technique is very effective,...also do NOT apologise...!

Something like: ' my usual charges are very competitive at 12£ for a dedicated service. I'm unable to take a 40% cut on my fee.'....repeat ad nauseum..

Also people are much less likely to try and take the piss when they are confronted by a decent professional 'front'.

We use a pet care facility that was started as a home business. We have to sign a booking form, with our dates and approx pick up times, then sign that we agree to their terms and conditions. If we go outside those terms, we pay extra. I think it's well worth looking at some of the websites and seeing how they manage their business. The one I'm referring to is a cattery in Wantage. If you felt like it, have a look at the booking forms.

I think with small businesses of any kind, you have to be one step ahead and have a plan of action for any eventuality, clearly laid out in writing with what the consequences will be.

If you think about it, most childrens day nurseries charge £10 for the first 15 minutes late for pick up. After an hour ours had it in writing that they would call social services and hand your dc over to them. Nobody was ever late.

It sounds like it's going really well on the whole, you just need to formalise it and stick to your rules without exception. You won't lose customers you want to keep over it - everybody else has these rules in place.

Iamthedevils- thank you I need to learn to be assertive. I've always admired people who appear to be naturally assertive. I need to work on that.
Thanks for the reply.

User- thank you :-) Will look into the cattery. And yes it's time rules are written out.

The reason one of the customers didn't want to pay is because 'I was so lucky to spend time with her dog while she had to go to work'.

OP I am guessing your lack of normal adult boundaries comes from some kind of dysfunctional childhood?

You sound like a lovely person to me, but you are confusing having boundaries, saying no, with being unpleasant. As well as making all the professional changes that PP have wisely advised, maybe you can find time to reflect on why you have been such a pushover? If you can get to the root cause of it, it might prevent you from falling into a similar trap (maybe personal rather than business) in the future.

Best of luck!

Tumblr and wordpress are also free and easy to use websites you can use, you can then buy a domain name later. Good luck OP!

Its not because you are nice, its because you are not assertive.

I have had an abusive father and mother and I know this thread has opened lots of issues for me. I'm still dealing with nasty piss taking dog customers as I speak and I've had enough.

The reason one of the customers didn't want to pay is because 'I was so lucky to spend time with her dog while she had to go to work'.

Payment in advance is another tactic we have learned to use. You can have in the terms you ask for payment in advance which you will fully refund as long as x working days' notice is given of cancellation. Then if no money upfront, don't let them in. Sorry - it goes against our terms and conditions. I need to see the payment (preferably by bank transfer in your bank account) before I can take him/her.

You're getting clients - you're in demand - the ball is in your court to manage how you want it to work. If customers are worth having, they'll comply. You can totally turn this around into a working business that you are happy with. You just need some rules.

Good advice here. I know i tis not easy especially in a role in which the service is personal and your clients are local.

Absolutely though start to be more assertive and professional. I would also take a break - say you are redecorating etc - and relaunch the business. Maybe get some training crates to deal with dogs who poo/destroy your house, proper ts and cs, deposits to cover late collection - and don't answer the phone/door to early droppers off.

Good luck

Have you had counselling for the abusive childhood OP? It might help you going forward with other areas?

As you may have guessed, I had a very abusive childhood and am NC with my biological mother. It took me until I was in my forties to see it all for what it was, it's not easy. I am far more assertive now and my life is so much happier as a result. I wish you all the best.

Hi, I'm actually in the same position, actually yours is worse, but I do find that pet owners do not take into account that we have lives ourselves.

I think we're in a weird position because people take it to heart when we would like to be paid more.

I think that if they cant afford you, they shouldn't be using your services.

You sound lovely, but if anything, god forbid, happened to their dog whils in your care they'd not hesitate in charging you for vets bills etc.

Get T&C drawn up and watertight. You're a businesswoman, not a kid earning pocket money.

Just remember, no good deed goes unpunished..

I've seen A Woman in Your Own Right recommended as a good book on assertiveness on here previously.
Your clients are behaving disgustingly.
Good luck with relaunching your business!

Some good advice here on websites, Ts&Cs etc.

I'm not naturally assertive but will also add based on my own experience - be clear about your rates and stick to them. Do NOT do people favours and knock rates down - you are running a BUSINESS.

Think about what some of your clients say when they're taking the piss and write some little scripts for yourself and practice them. Have your scripts by the phone as backup when people ring and you're flustered.

For example, with the customer who wanted to drop their dog off at 6.30am, you could say "I'm afraid I can't do that, but 7.30am is fine. Let me know if you'd still like to go ahead on that basis."

If you get stymied and can't think of an answer when someone is asking for something unreasonable, then stall. It's perfectly OK to say you need to think about it or check your other commitments or your calendar. That gives you time to word an appropriate response and call back.

That was how I learned to more assertive when I became self-employed, and it gets WAY easier the more you do it.

I used Moonfruit for my website and it was really easy and only costs about £3 a month. Get it set up with your rates and Ts&Cs on and it will give you a confidence boost.

Good luck OP.