A Dog And Babysitters

[Guest GreyFan09]

Need some advice if anyone has dealt with this before.

 

Comet is normally a sweet and friendly dog with everyone who comes into our house. However, except for my sister-in-law, he does not like it when we have babysitters over to watch our daughter when we go out. He's fine when the sitter gets there, wagging his tail and goes to them for pets like usual, but when we leave the house, he changes into a different dog. The sitters report that he will growl at them and show his teeth if they walk by him in the same room. He has never tried to bite them, but certainly shows his displeasure with them being there without us. We tried having them give him treats, but that only works for a while, and he will snark at them again later. We tried putting him in his crate when we leave, but when he hears people in the house, he proceeds to bark, whine and howl like a lunatic, which is not very pleasant for the sitters to listen to while there.

 

As soon as we come back home, he changes back to his normal self and goes up to the sitters for pets and attention. I understand that he may be doing his "job" in letting people know they shouldn't be in the house without us, or perhaps he is nervous with them being there without us, but whatever the reason, we need this behavior to stop, as we are running out of babysitters to come over!

 

If anybody has dealt with this type of situation before, or has any suggestions to help change his behavior, I would really appreciate it.

 

Thanks!

[GeorgeofNE]

I'd baby gate him in a room where he can see the sitter, but not get too close.

 

A dog who isn't comfortable in his crate is going to bark/whine or whatever, but many dogs are just fine as long as they have some freedom. The baby gate offers a physical barrier but still gives the feeling of freedom.

[Guest GreytOD]

If you could, I would have the sitter you want to use come over a few times and do what they would do while sitting if you weren't there (play with your daughter, make her dinner, whatever you normally expect) but while you are still home. That way Comet can associate the sitter as "family" much like your sister-in-law, who comes over sometimes when you are all home, and sometimes when your not. Then the sitter wouldn't be so much of a "stranger" alone with your daughter in his mind. If possible, maybe even have the sitter come over and pay attention mostly to him one time (again while you are home) have the sitter have him do any tricks he knows, give him some treats, play with his toy, etc.

 

Whenever I babysit for a new family I always have one day where I come over and spend time with the family before they need me to watch their children, even if its only for an hour or so, so that we are all comfortable together. If they have dogs I also try to pay some special attention to them while I am there, such as doing tricks and playing with them. I also greet the dog individually every time I arrive, after I have greeted the family. Meeting with the family while everyone (or most of the family) is home not only helps me become more comfortable with their routine, but helps the children or any pets to be more comfortable with me. Although I will admit, I've never had any initial problem with any of the dogs of the families I've sat for; I don't tolerate growly behavior and if I was sitting and the dog growled at me (aggressively and not playfully of course) I would certainly reprimand (stern no, or akk akk sound) and crate them (if that option was available) or put them in an enclosed area (shut or babygate in a room) if the behavior continued. As a sitter I would not feel safe for myself or the child if I was continuously being growled at. But I have never had this happen before.

 

Last, but not least, are any of your sitters confident around dogs? If they are acting nervously around him maybe that is making a difference?

 

Best of luck to you! If you lived in VA I'd be happy to baby sit for you

[greysmom]

It's unclear if the babysitter is doing anything with the dog while they are in your house. If that's not part of their responsibility, I would do as Susan suggested and baby-gate them in another room. If that's not an option, an x-pen or crate in an out-of-the-way spot - someplace he can see what's going on but not be part of the action. I would also have the sitter come over and feed him, give him treats, and also take him for a walk.

 

I also probably wouldn't hire a babysitter that wasn't comfortable around large dogs. If this is a sometime thing, you might see if there's someone who you can drop your dog off with for the ocassional dinner out. More time and more expensive (unless you can work out a deal to watch their dog), but safer for everyone involved, including the dog.

[kamsmom]

Muzzle too.

[kudzu]

^^ What they said. You've been given great advice so far. My experience says folks are giving excellent suggestions. My first choice might be to use tallish xpen to block your dog into a room rather than a baby gate. That is simply because I've had dogs who would go over a baby gate. Your dog may be fine with a baby gate though.

 

As soon as we come back home, he changes back to his normal self and goes up to the sitters for pets and attention. I understand that he may be doing his "job" in letting people know they shouldn't be in the house without us...

In my experience with shy, fearful, wary & guarding dogs what you are describing sounds more like fear than guarding. Only Comet could say if she is doing her perceived job or not but she doesn't sound like a guard dog. We've had guarding dogs as fosters, one capable of scaring the poo out of the toughest person. Those were very confident dogs who knew the boundaries of the house & property. The best guards were also very well socialized & usually friendly dogs. They had no fear of approaching or being approached by people. If the guards didn't want you in they would remain blocking the door. They may growl or bark to warn you off but they weren't moving. If you happened to get in before they knew it then they would limit your access with things like body blocking, a light growl to block passage or even knocking the person down & pinning them. Guarding did not include laying in one spot while the suspect moved around & only growling when that person passed by.

 

In contract the shy or fearful dogs usually tried to stay away from the intruder showing increased signs of stress, concern or fear when the intruder came closer to them. Retreating to a place they felt safe or most comfortable was a normal response from some. Even some normally confident, friendly dogs can become fearful & wary when a stranger enters the home while the owners are gone. My late, great Lab mix Pepper Bear did that to our first critter sitter. These dogs were more likely than the guarding dogs to display some form of stress, arousal or aggression like raised hackles, growling, a lip curl. Actually the very shy or fearful dogs can be the ones who put on the biggest show appearing like a fearsome guard at the doorway but backing off if the person continues to enter. These dogs are a greater danger than the guard dogs. You might say they spend more time with their finger on the trigger so are more prone to accidentally shoot.

 

If anybody has dealt with this type of situation before, or has any suggestions to help change his behavior, I would really appreciate it.

From your description it sounds likely your dog is somewhat fearful or at the least something akin to wary &/or apprehensive. Without your reassuring presence that fear is showing through. Sounds like she doesn't want to be aggressive but just wants to be left alone. You've already gotten good suggestions like the sitters coming over to 'sit' with you there. You can practice leaving & returning during that visit by perhaps stepping just outside the door for a moment or two. Having more visitors stopping by with you practicing leaving & returning may help. Going out to meet the visitors, leaving dog inside & having the visitors enter the house ahead of you can help your dog learn it is ok for strangers to come inside.

 

How you proceed depends on your dog. One caution is if she continues to want to retreat & be left alone then just let her. The idea isn't to push her out of her comfort zone but more to help her expand that comfort zone. If she needs a gated room to feel comfortable that is OK. Much of this can be done with her gated into a room. If that sounds like the best management technique for your situation then you can start there. I would not want a sitter to reprimand the dog for growling at him/her. First, it could escalate the dogs concerns with the possible result of increasing the aggression. Second, it could cause the dog to suppress warning signs leading to "she just bit me without any warning."

 

Is your dog food motivated? If so, I have an idea that might work well with her gated into a room while the sitter is there. There is a product called the Manners Minder. They are pricey but I bought one used for a fraction of the price. (Just send an email out to a couple of local dog clubs & someone had one they were not using.) It is basically a remote controlled food dispenser. The sitter can use it to feed your dog her meal by just hitting the button on the remote. It comes with various dispensing modes. There are limitless ways to use it but you could start as simple as starting out with the sitter randomly & frequently hitting the remote to dispense one piece of kibble. Then maybe dispense only when the sitter is nearer the room, then only when passing the room, etc., etc. The idea is for the dog to get rewarded just for having the sitter in the house. This would allow it to be done in a way that would not force your dog to interact at all with the sitter. However, in time it will become obvious to the dog that it is the sitters presence & proximity that causes the reward. (Note: The dispenser jams sometimes. My solution for a different problems was to pull the tray off & put the dispenser up within easy reach. That allowed the food to drop on the floor but the human could still safely access the dispenser.)

[Guest 2dogs4cats]

I have babysitters too and I have an x-pen that I can open up and gate them in their room, but they can still look out. I always tell my sitters to just ignore the dogs no matter what they do. I have never had a problem with any of my dogs, but I wouldn't want anything to happen while I am gone. I have always done this, so now the dogs expect when I go out, they are gated away and they don't complain. I think if it is a matter of routine, the dogs know what to expect and will whine less. Mine don't whine at all and the sitters say they don't even know they are there, which is what I want! Personally, I wouldn't encourage any interaction between the dog and sitters. I don't let the sitters give them any treats or touch them, because I am not there and well, you just never know what can happen.

[Guest GreyFan09]

Thanks everyone for the great advice and ideas giving us some tools to come up with a future plan for him. I agree that he might be a bit fearful, as he 's not an aggressive dog at all. I think that by the use of high-value treats, we will try teaching him that the sitters at the house are a good thing. I like the idea of using an x-pen, but need to find a place to set it up. The baby gate idea is good, but we tried that before during Thanksgiving when we had a lot of people over and he was getting pesty when dinner was served. He had the gate knocked over in about 3 minutes and was back to join the party.

 

Thanks again!

[greysmom]

Get the baby gates you can attach to the wall and stack them two high. He might still be able to get out but it's much more discouraging if he can't see over the gate.