Dog sitting trouble

[Tatiana007]

Hi,

my friend flew abroad 3 nights ago and we agreed to look after the dog (well trained, small one) for 2 weeks, partly as to let us decide if we should get one ourselves.
Dog is perfectly happy but we aren't.
We have 3 young kids and dog barked for the last three nights (everyone up). Last night I got zero sleep at all as the dog was tossing and turning (has to sleep in our bed).
During the day the dog follows me constantly. When I go to loo, it sits outside door barking. Delivery comes, yup barking.
in addition to this our child needs to have minor surgery tomorrow (unplanned) and instead of me spending time with him, I was downstairs with the dog all day as child is scared of dog barking now.
We can't keep carrying on, but equally don't want to bother friend. WWYD?
In addition, I spotted that there are fireworks this Fri literally next to my house. It will obviously spook the dog!

No, it’s a rubbish situation all round, but I figured knowing he’s stressed when the op hadn’t realised that’s what it was might make it a bit easier to tolerate.

Because presumably she’s been asked to take him as whoever usually has him can’t... which means there’s really not a lot she can do other than wait it out till the owner comes home.

Wont do. He is velcroed to me. Doesn't follow anyone else in house.

Sorry about your situation- what a perfect storm! Is there someone who can sit with the dog so you can go to the hospital?

Is it possible to take turns to sleep with the dog in the lounge? You each get a decent night's sleep, and the dog may settle better as less noise.

It's a real perfect storm for you, OP, but I bet there's ways to manage it better!

dog stayed with lotsof different people over the last year (her mum/sister/another friend/dog walker etc). I was told another friend is the emergency backup but she has no knowledge of it.

Doesn’t help you now but you should of done an overnight trial

you have two options

1. tell your friend they need to come home
2. suck it up

I’m sorry you are going through this. It’s a good thing to put this thread on here, so other people thinking of dog sitting know what they are letting themselves in for. Any dog sitter should do a dummy run and have a trial sleepover to see how the dog gets on with a different family.

The dog is stressed. Which is to be expected.
Just get through the next 10 days.
There’s not much you can do to be honest apart from suck it up and don’t have the dog again.

Unfortunately that's the reality of dog ownership.

I'm sorry your DC needs surgery, but at least you've learnt that having a dog isn't for you without all the cost and investment.

All you can really do is either pay for the dog to go to a sitter/kennels, or suck it up for the next 10 days and thank your lucky stars that you'll never need to do it again!

can you try some white noise in your room at night - just to damp down the sudden noises that may be putting the dog on high alert?