Is my dog walker turning up?

[DogWalkerWorries]

I've NCd for this because i've mentioned my dog by name and also the town I live in under my usual name.

How would you approach this? I pay a dog walker to come in and walk my dog 3 days a week. Sometimes he puts pictures of the walks on his facebook page, sometimes he doesn't but I had no doubts or worries before. Yesterday I managed to get home from work early and when I let pooch out for a wee he was absolutely desperate. As though he hadn't been since I left in the morning. So today, I left his lead out, on the table, in a very specific way, so that it would be obvious if it had been moved and put on him to take him out. My son has just got back from college and sent me a photo and the lead hasn't moved and once again pooch was absolutely desperate for a wee. It seems like the dog walker hasn't been but how on earth would you approach this if you were me? Help please.

If it's only yesterday and today then maybe something's happened to him? Ill or injured? I'd contact him and ask on that basis, saying you're concerned about him. Then you get your answer and 'cover' yourself if you're worried about looking like you're 'checking up' on him.

I'm afraid that when we had something similar happen it turned out that the dog walker was having us on and had not been walking our dogs. Trust your instinct.

Poor doggie.

Check the dog walker is OK, but if he wasn't he ought to have let you know so you can make some alternative arrangements.

Ah yes I suppose something could have happened. I will give him a ring and phrase it like that. I'm such a wimp with confrontation! Thanks guys x

Don't think about it as confrontation.
You are paying for a service, and you are perfectly within your right to ask what's happening.

Doesn't sound like it does it? Out of interest, how well do you actually know this person to have presumably given him a key to your house? Not the issue you're asking about I know but if you're not sure you can trust him to walk your dog how on earth can you trust him to have full unsupervised access to your home and all your possessions?

DH is a dog walker. There have been a handful of occasions over the years when we’ve made an administrative cock up and missed a walk. Always makes us feel really guilty. Definitely send a quick message. Hoping you’re not one of our clients

‘hi dog walker, did the dog get a walk today? He was really desperate for a wee when I got home today. Hope everything’s okay. DogWalkerWorries’

You know they haven't been walked. Don't give leeway to lie!!
Is everything OK as the dogs have been crossed legged all day?

I agree about being direct. Just message saying - is everything ok? Just noticed dog hasnt been out today.

What did they say?

Yes - I'd go with pp suggestion 'is everything ok as you haven't been in today?'

Ask if he has the days wrong as he hasnt been this week.

My friend has the hive heating controller and for £29 you can get a door sensor to tell you when your door has been opened and closed. Turned out she was paying her dog walker for an hour but they were only coming for 20 minutes! It made me so paranoid I got the same sensor!

Meant to say - you could pretend you've got something similar and ask why he hadn't been round.

Are you sure walker uses your lead? sometimes they use their own, prefer the length/handling etc.

Still I'd send Nacho's suggestion: is everything ok? Just noticed dog hasnt been out today.

My dog walker sometimes uses her own lead but we have a camera to keep an eye on the dog.
We prep our dog's lunch in the morning and get the dog walker to put it down.

Could you leave a treat out and say to the walker to put the treat down for the dog ?that way you'll know for sure

We had this exact situation, suspected then text and asked why dog hadn't been out, she made some stupid story about that day but not the other days we knew she hadn't been. I was furious. I asked for my key back and never used again.

Years ago, I had two dogwalkers (neighbours of each other who were doing a dogwalking business together) who shared the job and I was suspicious that one of them was, sometimes, not doing the walk in the middle of the day, as agreed, or not doing it at all. I tried that lead trick but could never be quite sure that it hadn't been moved by the dog herself. One day I came home at about 5.00 pm from work (early for me) and dog did not seem to have been out at all (she was in garden, so could wee there though never liked doing it on home ground). I took her out to the park through the back garden fence door and walked her round the park. We got to a point on the far side (big park) and I was checking my back garden fence - sure enough, dog walker and her daughter turned up at my back fence door and gazed around the park, spotting me. Later she told me that she had taken the dog out earlier but "brought my daughter back because she wanted to see her when she had finished school". She was quite shifty. Luckily, I moved very shortly after that (and the other dogwalker was honest and lovely).

Good luck OP. If nothing has happened to him then that is appalling. Some animal lover. I assume you will find another if he hasn't been bothering?

If the dogs are kept indoors, I'd take their collars off and place it on the kitchen table or on a hook so the dog walker will have to put it on.
Or buy a harness and tell them to use it.
Place them somewhere else the dog cannot reach.