Last nerve!

[EnthusiasticPony]

So I have had a mega stressful couple of days, like, you know, when you feel like running away. I work from home and a member of staff was due in, I message her saying please don't wind up the dogs, as she comes in and goes into orbit talking to the dogs in a high pitched voice making them bark. What does she do? Comes in and winds up the dogs making them bark, my nerves are in shreds and I've just got them quiet. I poke my head around the door and say please and you not do that I'm on a call. Now she looks arsy and I'm the one feeling bad. Answers on a postcard please.

All sounds unpleasant

Well you aren't wrong but aibu?

Look at getting an office?

I can't, my business is dog boarding based. The staff was my cleaner but didn't want to put that.

Are you actually sure she’d read your message?

Do you otherwise rate her?

I'm sure because she replied 'I can't guarantee that'

Get a new cleaner!

Well that is odd

maybe she knows your dogs always go crazy when she walks in anyway.

but again - do you rate her otherwise?

I think you're in the wrong job if dogs barking annoys you so much and you don't like people talking to them

Clearly you need a new cleaner - one that respects you/your perfectly reasonable requests.
Maybe she thought you were joking?

And surely whoever you were talking to on this business call knows you’re a dog boarder!!

Did you actually read the post? I've had an awful couple of days and specifically asked her not to do it.

Thank you. Trouble is she is reliable and finding one of those isn't easy, I guess I just have to suck it up.

Where did I say it was a business call?

Are you sure she even understood what you mean because if someone told me don't wind the dogs up I wouldn't think you meant completely ignore them

ok so a friend or someone else. Doesn’t really matter. You’re a dog boarder!

either way - clearly you can’t stand the cleaner given steadfastly avoiding questions about the back drop.

so get a new cleaner who can guarantee not to excite your dogs

Suck up what? That on one occasion you said don’t excite the dogs, and with dogs there can be no guarantee!

So you’d otherwise get rid of her for this one off if you could find someone else?

Not sure why you’re getting such a negative response! This isn’t about whether dogs bark or not in general, it’s about whether it’s reasonable to ask someone to not deliberately make them bark and for them to listen and not do that.

And clearly that is not an unreasonable request.

I think it would be fine to say you understand she likes the dogs, but it’s disruptive to the dogs to immediately wind them up on arrival (particularly as it will be eating into her work time) . Could she perhaps leave the play time till after the work is done? Then you can plan for it maybe? And she can take as long as she likes to play but it’s in her own time.

I mean, that doesn't sound very stressful at all.

Ime some people don't know how annoying their voice is.

Could it be that she doesn't understand that fussing over the dogs is 'winding them up'? She just thinks they're noisy dogs and she's just saying hello/showing affection for them? She's a cleaner, not a dog training expert.

I don't think you should be angry with her, because you choose to work with multiple dogs who obviously will make noise. If that disturbs you a lot then you're in the wrong business.