What to say to lying dog walker?

[oobeedoiwannabelikeyou]

Sent home sick from work yesterday, still off sick today. DH messaged walker at 9am to say dog was fine (she had been ill last week)
Dog walker messaged back saying Perfect I'll be to take her out.
Comes to 12pm no walker, DH messaged again to say where are you?
She messaged back saying she'd been and gone from 8:45-9:45 and would be back at 2pm.
DH said that's not true and that I was at home.
Walker messaged back assuring him she'd been.
DH said he would be coming home to walk her as I was too sick to and not to bother coming back in the afternoon.
She maintains she had walked her.
SHE DIDN'T I WAS AT HOME WITH HER!
Anyway the trust is gone, Therefor she is going. How do I word this?
I know she's lied and doesn't obviously give a shit but I would like to hold my head up high walking past her knowing I was right and handled it correctly without flying off the handle.
Please wise women if mumsnet help me with wording a message.

[ChardonnaysPrettySister]

It does sound strange.

But it's not like she's offered you a plausible explanation for the strange texts.

[BewareOfDragons]

I'm amazed she hasn't even bothered to reply yet. How long can it take to (make up a story and) tell you why she lied?

[ShowMePotatoSalad]

The timings on this don't even make sense.

[honeyroar]

It's just strange all round. She could've just said "oh sorry I'm mixing you up with Poppy's owner, I will be walking your dog shortly" and wriggled out of it. Why keep lying??

[oobeedoiwannabelikeyou]

Still no reply.
It is so very strange, the timings, the lies and the ignoring me.
From a normally caring kind and informative walker.
If someone told me this had happened to them with her I would be but it's happened to me and I know my girl was with me she never left the house.
I would just like some sort of reply anything would do.
If I don't hear by tomorrow morning I'll be asking for my key back and leaving it at that.
(I'll be removing my review from her fb page)

[monkeywithacowface]

All very strange! I suspect having been caught out in a lie she doesn't know what to do, is probably assuming you'll sack her off anyway so is just going to ignore any further communication out of embarrassment.

[monkeywithacowface]

This has reminded me to sort out some sort of "surveillance" for monkeypup on the days I work. It's shit to be suspicious of someone when you have no real cause but he can't tell me if he hasn't had a proper walk. I know she comes because I leave food for her to give him before she leaves but have no way of knowing if he's getting his full walk.

[Celebelly]

Sadly this is actually quite common with dog walkers, especially ones who don't have the proper training/insurance/other credentials. I suppose it's perhaps preferable to the other trick, where they load the dogs into the van and then just drive somewhere and leave them sitting in the van while they have a smoke and read the paper before driving them home again.

[Pinkbendyman]

For all those who employ, or are thinking about employing a dog walker, please ask to see the following:

1. A copy of their insurance certificate
   
2. A DBS certificate
   
3. Any qualification relating to animal care, e.g., a Veterinary Nurse
   
4. References
   

Ask for regular updates, photos and videos.
Ask them to use an app called 'Dog Walk' which shows, in real time, the exact route your dog has been walked. This can be messaged instantly to you, the customer.

[AlpacaLypse]

There is no compulsory register for dog walkers - in fact the whole pet industry is woefully under regulated. However there are voluntary associations and groups, for instance NARPS, who will take a pretty dim view if one of their members fails to abide by their code of conduct.

[oobeedoiwannabelikeyou]

Pinkbendyman
Agreed

Apart from the app (which I wasn't aware of but will definitely get if I decide to go down a walker route again)
Everything else she has.

[AlpacaLypse]

@Pinkbendyman if that's the app I think it is it was pretty useless when I first uploaded it, in the end I uninstalled it. Maybe it's been upgraded though?

[eddielizzard]

she probably hasn't done this before, but succumbed to temptation and murphy's law - you caught her out. tis a shame but the trust is broken now. you have no option but to sack her.

[MatildaTheCat]

Did you say she was sick last week? It is possible that it’s a one off and she simply can’t face being caught out. It is difficult because you have to trust her. It’s a shame she hasn’t responded because all she needs to do is confess she’s really fucked up and apologise. I would forgive a one off. Maybe she intended to walk at lunchtime.

If you get another walker or reinstate her consider getting a web Cam?

On another note I regularly see a couple of youths with a mob of dogs in the park. They never ever interact with the dogs, walk a few hundred yards at most and spend a couple of hours chatting and playing on their phones. It makes me both sad and mad.

[crazycatgal]

You should leave an honest negative review on her facebook page. It's obvious by her ignoring you that she knows she's been caught out lying.

[sonjadog]

I was looking at a dog walker for my dog a couple of nights ago and one thing that I was wondering over was how would I know if the dog walker was a good person who would treat my dog well, when I know nothing of them apart from an internet photo and webpage. This thread has made me think that those questions are well justified. I may rethink the dog walker idea.

[oobeedoiwannabelikeyou]

@MatildaTheCat

The dog was sick last week, she had a reaction to medication she'd just started (it was actually the walker that alerted us to it when she came for her last week)

Last night when I posted I was so angry, today I'm more just shocked, just want an explanation actually hoping for a reasonable explanation.

Still no response.

Just figured out how to tag, can you tell I'm new to mumsnet?!

[LindsayCartersCakeys]

could it be that she maybe has yourselves mixed up with another client of hers??

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Sounds like you caught her out and she has no answer. What’s she going to say? Yes I’ve been lying to you and taking money to which I was not entitled. Your dogs haven’t always been walked. I am a shitbag. That’s what she should be saying.

[oobeedoiwannabelikeyou]

@sonjadog

I genuinely think I've been "lucky" in catching her the first time it happened.
There are some comments on this thread where people have fabulous walkers.
I have 2 friends who are great walkers who unfortunately don't cover my area.
Is there a local dog walking area you can go to? Get chatting with other owners get recommendations. There are some fabulous people out there,
I thought I had one but you live and learn.

[oobeedoiwannabelikeyou]

@LindsayCartersCakeys

DH spoke to her through fb message in the morning with his full name.
My girl has an unusual name.
Then at 12pm another fb message DH said are you going for Unusual name today?

[BitOutOfPractice]

Has she not replied? I think that says it all

[JustJayne1959]

“Hello (dog walker), I would like to terminate your services from (date). We can not rely on you to walk (dog) when you say you are. Although you insist that you did walk her, I know you can’t have because I was at home ill and she was with me 100% of the time you say you were!
So, as we can’t rely on you to walk her and can’t trust that you have walked her in the past either, we feel that we have to go elsewhere.
Please don’t give our names as a reference because we wouldn’t be able to give a true one.
Yours

[user1499584467]

Bugger off I'd say. We've got two dogs and would be gutted if they'd been left alone all day when a walker should've been in I'd be furious! Change the locks!!

[user1497607114]

This happened to me with three different walkers. All three tried it on saying they had been when I knew they hadn’t. All three were generally unreliable and now I don’t have one - I have a trusted friend who just lets them out. I know there are good dog walkers out there but my experience was very bad. One also claimed to be insured but wasn’t. Disaster. Never again.