Am I being a crazy dog mum?

[Psychgrad]

Ok so I met a dog walker the other day who seemed ok, I wasn’t crazy about him but he seemed like he knew what he was doing so I asked him if he could come by Thursday to do a walk while my partner and I were off work. He seemed happy with this, all seemed well. He was sort of slow at responding to messages last week, a bit nonchalant, I asked him again if he was ok to come Thursday he said yes. On Thursday, he came an hour early without any notice (bit annoying but no biggie) and dropped my dog off an hour later than expected, this was fine as he didn’t charge for taking her longer than the agreed one hour walk. My dog is very nervous, she’s a rescue and can be temperamental with dogs. He knew this before meeting her so I obviously had lots of questions when he got back and I was delighted to hear that she got on really well with the other dogs in his care. He was reserved but chatty, I think that’s just his personality, I still had a weird ish feeling about him though. However, he gave me no real reason for concern and I booked him in for Friday, gave him a key and off he went. I heard nothing from him all day Friday, and when my partner and I got home from work in the evening, we realised she pooed on the floor (not terribly unusual for her but unusual if she’d had a long walk). As I heard nothing by 7pm, I messaged him to ask how she got on, but got no response. It’s now Saturday evening and still no response. Isn’t that a bit unusual? During the week I had noticed he was not the most responsive, he has a Facebook page but there’s no posts since 2019, he has a few reviews all 5 star, he also has a website. He hasn’t even invoiced me or sent me bank details to pay him. I find this really strange, especially since our previous walker would send us videos after every walk. I was actually planning on booking him in for next week but I can’t really justify that now since he’s blatantly ignored me.I think even if he did message me at this point, I’d still have a weird gut feeling that somethings not right.
What the hell should I do now, dog walkers are like gold dust at the moment. I’ve messaged so many who were booked up or won’t take dogs that are a bit odd.

Ps. I know he was definitely here as he left a doggy bag holder in the hall which isn’t ours.

I would change my locks.

I was afraid someone would say that. I’m just so disappointed, when he dropped her back Thursday I was so happy as she struggles with strange people and other dog’s so I thought this was it. He said on Wednesday that he would send contract, and a form for my dogs bet details, I haven’t received either. He also said he would text me Friday when he dropped her off. Maybe my dog ate him 😅

Vet

Sounds incredibly dodgy! He vanished after he got your housekey. I'd be changing the locks and maybe seeing if there is anyone doing doggy day care in your are instead.

Well you see I can’t work out if he’s vanished or is just bad at responding, he was slow to respond sometimes this week and fast others. You would sort of think he’d be responsive, as messaging is the only way he can take bookings. He did have three dogs with him when I first did a meet and greet in the park, come to think of it, he didn’t really walk them, they were kept on the lead while we stood and chatted. I assumed he was going to walk them after our chat but he got straight in the car and left.

I am a dog walker. I wouldn’t take out a clients dog until all the forms were completed so I had vet information, any particular behaviour traits the dog has, any medical conditions etc. I also show new clients my insurance certificate, dbs and first aid certs and put a label on their keys. I am hoping he showed you insurance documents etc? He might be great with the dogs but not so good on the admin side perhaps. However if it was me I would go with your gut instinct, sorry.

I’ve had three walkers before and they never showed me any of that stuff. Reason I was getting this guy to do it was because he does dog sitting which I’ll need in few months time

I would change the locks and find someone with insurance and who doesn't give you an "odd feeling".

Find someone who communicates reliably. Do you really want to have to wait 3 days every time you need something?

Personally, I'd check the house to see if anything is missing. Does not sound good.

Did he ever get back in touch OP?

I used to do dog walking and took really detailed but anonymised (so nobody could ever link the file with the house keys stored separately in a safe) histories of all the pets in the household (in case of house sitting) and vet and emergency contact info, signed agreements etc long before ever taking a dog out on a walk. It sounds ott written down but the whole thing is based on trust. I’m a little bit shocked that it isn’t the norm with all dog walkers

Didn’t hear from him all weekend, I text him once more yesterday and he called me almost immediately and said his phone was broke and he just picked it from the service provider etc etc. I found that a bit of a weird coincidence that I text him just at the time he apparently picked his phone up. Anyway he made me even more suspicious because he said that he had her out from 11-4 (when it was supposed to be 11-12) and if that’s the case then she definitely wouldn’t have pooed in the house as my partner was home by 5 and she had a walk before he left that morning. I have a feeling he just gives them a quick walk and then leaves them in the car or something while he runs errands. He asked me to let him know when I need a walk again and I said I’ll book him in when he sends me insurance and contract, he said he would, but of course he still hasn’t. I’m done! I’ll ask him for my keys back and say I don’t need a dog walker anymore. Never distrusted a dog walker like this before.

If anyone recommends a good dog walker and over night sitter in SE London please send details.

That all sounds really disturbing. I don’t know your area but nationally Animal Aunts are good for house sitting and probably dog walking too?

Don't get the key back OP you need to just change the locks I think. He could have made copies quite easily, if you find him suspicious, better to be safe than sorry