While You Were Out Pet Care We drop in while you're out! Connie Schachtel, Owner & Pet Lover phone 206.297.1834 connie@whileyouwereoutpetcare.com     Helping Your Dog Adjust to Having a Pet Sitter       At While You Were Out Pet Care, we want to make your pets feel as comfortable as possible while they are in our care. The following are some ideas for helping your dog to adjust to your absence—and to our presence! How you can help: Have While You Were Out Pet Care enter through the same door that you usually use to come in and out of the house. This will prevent your dog from being startled by an unexpected entry! Keep treats and leashes by the door. For many dogs, nothing is as exciting as a treat and the prospect of a walk! This can help to establish the pet sitter as a fun friend rather than a strange intruder. Let us know specific terminology (e.g., “Time to go!” or “Go get your ball!”) you use to get your dog excited about going for a walk or for playtime. Also make sure we know your routines and rituals for walks and playtime—which door you use, the order of events your dog is accustomed to (e.g., first out to the back yard, then off for a walk, then mealtime), etc. Leave an item of clothing you have recently worn in your dog’s crate or bed. The familiar smell will be comforting. Some dogs are calmed by a quietly playing radio or television. Just let us know if you would like us to turn a radio or TV on or off. If your dog has particularly difficult to find hiding places, let us know where they are (or consider closing those areas off while you are away). We will need to locate your dog at each visit. Please be up-front with us if you think your dog might be aggressive when we visit. We are happy to work with you to find a workable solution for you and your dog, but it is in no one’s best interest for us to be surprised by an unhappy and aggressive dog on our first visit! How we will try to help: We will always arrive at your home with freshly washed hands, so that the first thing your dog smells won’t be other pets. However, an occupational hazard of pet sitting is smelling a bit like animals! Please let us know if you feel your dog may be particularly sensitive to smelling other animals on our shoes and clothing, and we can take steps to minimize this issue. We will pay close attention to your dog’s body language—and to our own. If your dog seems nervous, we will avoid excessive eye contact, move slowly, approach your dog sideways rather than head-on, leave your dog as much personal space as possible, speak in soft and reassuring tones, and avoid reaching for your dog. If your dog is very nervous, our best route may be to ignore the dog while we carry on with other business about the house. We may also try playing with a ball or a toy ourselves to see if your dog might decide on her own to join in the fun. And we may try sitting on the floor and placing treats on the floor near us to see if your dog might decide that good treats = good pet sitter! If you think your dog might be extremely nervous, let us know if it is an option to simply leave open a door to your yard (after securing other pets, if necessary) so that your dog can get outside with a minimum of interference from us. We will need to know, for example, if we might have difficulty getting your dog back inside again!     Legal Notice      Choosing a petsitter Copyright (c) WYWO, LLC; d/b/a While You Were Out Pet Care