Joined
·
339 Posts
I've started to do some dog walking and pet sitting on the side to earn some extra money. So far I have a couple of clients for Canada Day weekend. My problem is the newest "in my home" pet sitting of two mini schnauzers. I'm met with the owner the other day who needed someone urgently to look after their dogs for 4 days because they has some work to do outside of the city. The dogs seemed alright, and I saw no problems to start (other than some behavioral ones), and the owner let me know there was no medical issues or anything. I offered to bathe the dogs and trim their paws as a complimentary service, little did I know I would find something so much more worst: TICKS!!
Apparently, the two pups (one 8 month male and the other 7 month female), were infested with ticks! It wasn't until I got my hands on them and dug through their fur did I find the nasty vermin! It was so bad I rushed them into the nearest groomer I could find to get them professionally removed. Over 30 ticks where ripped off of them, and I pulled off and killed 10 more when I bathed them again when we got back to my place.
I am just completely dumbfounded right now on what to do. It cost me $45 to get the ticks removed off of both dogs. I would of gotten them completely groomed, but it was way too expensive for me to afford. If it was for just one dog, then yes I would of gone for it, but two was too much. Did I make a big mistake for not thoroughly inspecting the dogs? How do I approach the owners about this? I'm definitely going to bring it up, but it is unreasonable to ask them to pay the cost of the de-tick-ing? The ticks were really bad and I couldn't just let them stay with me all ticked up. Is this just a lost I have to take for entering this kind of field of work? If it was just a couple of ticks I wouldn't have cared, but I actually had to spend my own money in this case. I offered a bath, not a whole de-tick-ing, but does a bath mean I have to de-tick the dog that is infested? Should I try to call the owner? I don't even know if I can reach him at this moment.
The two pups are from a low income family, and like I said before, they urgently needed a dog sitter for work. I lowered my price for them a little bit so they could afford my service, which I didn't mind at all. The family lives really close to me, and the dogs are small and do not take up much room. They seem get along alright with Wicket (my dog), but they do not have free access to my place. Since they are still puppies, I am treating them like puppies in my home when it comes to space restriction.
I'm just having a MAJOR freak out right now because this is my first long term (more than a day) pet sitting and the dogs were infested with wood ticks. I even think the female might be going into her first heat. Her genitals are swollen and I spotted a couple of drops of blood on my floor (though it could of been from a tick wound). OMG what do I do?! >.< What should I do about the grooming tab? Should I continue to dog sit these dogs? The family asked me if I could dog sit again for another weekend later on. What should I do if I find loose ticks in my home, on me, or my dog? What is the best way to kill these nasty things? If I find one on me, is it best to go to a walk-in to get it removed by a doctor? Vice versa with my dog and the vet? How do I deal with a young dog in heat?
Thank you so much for any suggestions and advice, I really appreciate it. I'm pretty sure I know exactly what to do (except for a good way to kill ticks), but I just need to talk it out with people who've been there and gone through the motions. I don't want this to spoil dog walking and pet sitting for me, my other clients are very nice with great dogs. But with this incident... I'm afraid
I have a sinking feeling I'm going to have to take a big lost on this particular incident. I just hope I can make up for it in my other jobs.
Apparently, the two pups (one 8 month male and the other 7 month female), were infested with ticks! It wasn't until I got my hands on them and dug through their fur did I find the nasty vermin! It was so bad I rushed them into the nearest groomer I could find to get them professionally removed. Over 30 ticks where ripped off of them, and I pulled off and killed 10 more when I bathed them again when we got back to my place.
I am just completely dumbfounded right now on what to do. It cost me $45 to get the ticks removed off of both dogs. I would of gotten them completely groomed, but it was way too expensive for me to afford. If it was for just one dog, then yes I would of gone for it, but two was too much. Did I make a big mistake for not thoroughly inspecting the dogs? How do I approach the owners about this? I'm definitely going to bring it up, but it is unreasonable to ask them to pay the cost of the de-tick-ing? The ticks were really bad and I couldn't just let them stay with me all ticked up. Is this just a lost I have to take for entering this kind of field of work? If it was just a couple of ticks I wouldn't have cared, but I actually had to spend my own money in this case. I offered a bath, not a whole de-tick-ing, but does a bath mean I have to de-tick the dog that is infested? Should I try to call the owner? I don't even know if I can reach him at this moment.
The two pups are from a low income family, and like I said before, they urgently needed a dog sitter for work. I lowered my price for them a little bit so they could afford my service, which I didn't mind at all. The family lives really close to me, and the dogs are small and do not take up much room. They seem get along alright with Wicket (my dog), but they do not have free access to my place. Since they are still puppies, I am treating them like puppies in my home when it comes to space restriction.
I'm just having a MAJOR freak out right now because this is my first long term (more than a day) pet sitting and the dogs were infested with wood ticks. I even think the female might be going into her first heat. Her genitals are swollen and I spotted a couple of drops of blood on my floor (though it could of been from a tick wound). OMG what do I do?! >.< What should I do about the grooming tab? Should I continue to dog sit these dogs? The family asked me if I could dog sit again for another weekend later on. What should I do if I find loose ticks in my home, on me, or my dog? What is the best way to kill these nasty things? If I find one on me, is it best to go to a walk-in to get it removed by a doctor? Vice versa with my dog and the vet? How do I deal with a young dog in heat?
Thank you so much for any suggestions and advice, I really appreciate it. I'm pretty sure I know exactly what to do (except for a good way to kill ticks), but I just need to talk it out with people who've been there and gone through the motions. I don't want this to spoil dog walking and pet sitting for me, my other clients are very nice with great dogs. But with this incident... I'm afraid