Rant to the "dog sitter" in the big red truck

[Robindianne]

who I just caught feeding my highly allergic shiba over my fence! She yelled that “it’s what they need,” and then took off in her truck.

I don’t know if she’s a real dog sitter but a guy across the ally uses her so I don’t know who to complain to but for the money and health problems we have due to alpha interpheron, steroids, accupuncture herbs, allergy shots, and pain to this pup I am just livid! What kind of legitimate pet sitter would feed someone else’s dogs in their fenced backyard? I suppose now I’ll need to shut my doggy door and not let them out unless I’m standing there with them (although that’s how I caught her – I WAS there).

Sorry if there are typos and such and hope I followed the rant rules. I’m so mad I could spit!

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[mightymo]

Robindianne, do you live close to 44th and Andover? Someone in a red truck parked next to our house, sat there for a while, and then wandered around in a vaguely suspicious manner. I was feeling paranoid and wrote down the license number. If your dog ends up getting sick, I can get you that info (not that she necessarily did anything illegal you can report…).

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[thansen]

That is outrageous! With all the dog poisonings that have happened around here it’s hard to imagine a legitimate/professional “dog person” in West Seattle would do that.

Let us know your location so we can keep an eye out for the red truck!

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[flowerpetal]

Feeding dogs and getting friendly with them is a technique for casing homes before burglaries. Don’t know if that’s what’s going on here, just saying.

Reminds me of one more thing to teach my pups; not to take food from anyone else without an OK from me.

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[GenHillOne]

I hope you’re over talking to that neighbor right now!

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[hopey]

I have to admit, I was thinking “poison” myself.

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[anonyme]

I can’t think of any legitimate reason for a stranger to feed a dog in a fenced yard. Sounds either really fishy or incredibly stupid. I wonder what the guy across the alley “uses” her for?

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[KBear]

Any legitimate dog sitter knows you don’t feed other people’s dogs without permission. I hope your pup’s ok.

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[thansen]

Oh yeah that reminds me…we have a dead-end ally and the other day I was pulling out of the garage and I saw a guy coming from my dead-end ally walking his dog. He knew I saw him and was acting weird so I followed him. He was going down other allys looking into yards and then waiting…I think to see if a dog would bark. He saw me following him so he ducked down a side yard and I lost him but I think he was casing houses using his dog as ploy. STAY SAFE!

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[Robindianne]

I’m at 22nd, just a few houses north of Thistle. This woman came into my driveway off the ally to feed through the slats in the fence. The fence along the ally is solid and taller so she walked a few steps up my driveway. I”m less mad, but still pretty upset. And, her truck was in the ally just now again but was gone by the time I took out the dogs 2 min later.

I’m taking one dog back to work with me. Now I wonder if I should hire someone to house sit during the day. But omg the expense even IF I found someone. We do have an alarm (brand new hee hee) but I’d left it unarmed (disarmed?)

Guess I need to learn how to use it and leave doors locked and dog door closed when I’m out.

Thank you for all your kind words. Gizmo appears fine and not poisoned, but I don’t know about allergy affects until later. It’s just so hard trying to get him in a “plastic bubble” state so his skin doesn’t hurt him and then to have some nitwit think he needs food (and interaction with a huge (friendly but unneutered humping machine) puffball eskimoish dog.

Ugh.

OK back to work. I’ll get license number next time as well and we can compare.

Robin

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[anonyme]

I would get the license number from mightymo and report it immediately. I also would not leave the dogs unsupervised in the yard until this is resolved. The fact that this woman trespassed on your property to feed your dog certainly sounds like casing. Can you take a walk around the block to see if the truck is still around somewhere?

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[mightymo]

I don’t live anywhere near there, and there are lots of red pickup trucks, so I’m guessing it’s unrelated. And mostly I feel like a paranoid crank writing down license numbers. I only did it after she ducked down the alley, which I thought was odd.

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[fortheanimals]

Wanted to clear up a few issues if possible…Most importantly; your Shiba Enu; one of the ONLY proteins that a dog or cat w/severe allergies can have is duck. As I have a dog with this problem, I’m aware and concerned for other dogs. Just to be safe, all my treats are 100% duck. You had absolutely no way of knowing that the treat given (about 1/8″) was duck and I can only imagine the anger and fear I caused you.

I did not mean that your dogs needed food. I meant that Lucy (you pup) needed attention. Last week when she escaped, she could have been killed or kept by someone, living off of delridge and thistle, two extremely busy streets. She was just bored but thank the Lord that your neighbor with the samoyed rescued her, took your extremely frisky puppy in, called me for what to do as she didn’t have a name tag with your number. I explained that as she was licensed, to call animal control and if all was current, they would call you and let you know the situation. You were very prompt about retrieving Miss Lucy. Awfully nice of your neighbor…….as it made him late for work. Your puppy constantly barks for attention. It doesn’t matter if i drive up the alley or walk up the alley, I have other clients on the alley and I try to be extra quiet but with open fencing, she sees me, hears me, smells me, whatever. I am NOT saying this in a mean spirited or disrespectful tone, many of the neighbors feel sorry for your pup. She is just a little gal and needs to play – your older Shiba doesn’t seem to care for playing with her. If you don’t want to use or can’t afford a petsitter, there are many play groups for pooches. Even an all puppy play group in Greenwood.

Lastly, I deeply apologize for angering you or scaring you (ie poisoning). 6″-1’on your property is just that, YOUR property and again I apologize. For all the people who supported your fears, they are unfortunately correct to do so. We should ALL watch out for eachother. It can be a very scary and untrustworthy world. We must be vigilant and try to take care of one another.

Me, well I try to be a good and helpful person. I put in 16-18 hour days, 7 days per week working as a petsitter, volunteering/rescuing/fostering with animal rescue groups, treating sick pets when the animal is too difficult for the owner. I truly want to be a helpful and good person, not someone who would upset anyone. Please accept my heartfelt apology. I have let my clients on the alley know that I would not be picking up there anymore. Please, before all you people out there continue to flog me, maybe you could use the time to help the dog thats running down the street about to be hit by a car. Trust me, I’ll make sure people want me around before a come around, it’s just not worth the ridicule and painful words thrown at me. By the way, for those of you who’s pets have allergies or are overweight, many mailmen (just to form a rapport and show kindness), give your dogs biscuits if they are in the yard or even put them through the mailslot. Perhaps to be extra vigilant, you might want to post a sign saying, thanks for the offer but my dog can’t have treats. Appreciate the time you took to read all this……

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[BrutalPoodle]

What gets me is we live in one of the safest times in human history in one of the safest cities in the country and yet all these people instantly jumped to burglaries and poisonings. You people watch too much CSI.

I walk down alleys frequently, I wonder how many of my neighbors have called the police on me. I haven’t fed dogs but I have petted them over the fence. You people are paranoid.

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[charlabob]

thank you, fortheanimals.

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[angelescrest]

What a brave posting, fortheanimals.

A bit of understanding would go along way here, it seems.

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[BBGuest]

To Robindianne, the person that gave your dog a treat is compassionate, knowledgeable, and would never ever do anything to harm an animal.

I remember that she use to have treats in her truck for her own dog (with very special dietary needs), that she made herself from organic ingredients!

I hope you accept her apology as I know it is sincere. I am saddened that either of you had to have this experience.

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[alkilifer]

How can you write anything this unkind about the best pet sitter in West Seattle. She has dedicated her life to animals and they truly adore her. She saved us when we adopted an unruly girl and helped her have the best life ever. The treats in her pockets are so safe as she cares for animals with allergies everyday. Instead of lauding her efforts you write this terrible diatribe. This woman is a saint and an honorary member of my family and I am truly offended by your words. Get the facts straight before you attack. She is just the best dog whisperer around. She has a key to our house and has been in our employ for over 8 years.The dog I have now is due to her rescue efforts and my sweetheart cat she saved from the shelter. Think before you snap and write, something so nasty and hurtful. I really wanted to write something searingly awful to you, but I will follow the grace and kindness of this sweetheart woman and say again she is the best dog whisperer ever.

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[hammerhead]

Agreed. No harm was meant.

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[JoB]

fortheanimals..

all i can say is that you really don’t know much about Shiba Inus.

They are about the best watch dogs around and will always bark when there is anyone in the alley. You should hear mine…

they don’t have to be bored.. they can be in the middle of receiving a treat and if they hear something in the alley they are out of that dog door faster than most people could back out of the gate.

my neighbors like that about them.

they are also escape artists. If there is any way to get out of the yard.. a shiba will find it and will run happily off to explore the neighborhood…

yes… even if their owner walks them regularly and trains them every day and feeds them and treats them well.

yes, it is dangerous for them to escape… but it is also one of the pitfalls of living with a shiba. We all do our best and still they manage to evade us.

Next time you are in that alley you should take a closer look at that fence. Shiba owners become experts in escape proofing a yard.

As for the older shiba playing with the younger… i am betting that they do…

It’s probably a good thing you didn’t witness that though. Their play would have you calling the authorities to report dangerous dogs.

Never mind that every pass misses… leaving little more than wet fur around the jugular… they look and sound as though they are in mortal combat.

Had you knocked on the gate instead of condemning Robindianne.. you would have found a responsible and knowledgeable pet owner who would have happily educated you about Shibas in general and told you all about her little shiba’s allergies.

I know because Robindianne and I had many long talks after they adopted their first rescue shiba…

As for the treats.. allergies and misconceptions aside…

It is completely irresponsible for you to give any pet not in your care treats through the fence… no matter how “sorry” you feel for them.

Teaching any dog to accept treats through the fence from strangers is dangerous to the dog.

I don’t know what kind of training you got to start your dog walking business…

but even without training you really should know better.

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[JoB]

btw…

many playgroups don’t accept shibas..

and unless the dog is well socialized dog parks are not a great idea for shibas either as they tend to be more dog aggessive than other breeds.

there is a shiba meetup group that meets once a month on saturday…

if the dog is well socialized they are a great option.

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[fortheanimals]

Okay job – I take care of shibas’ myself (for several years). A. The barking dog, if you read more carefully was not the Shiba, it is a puppy, a very high energy chocolate lab. My apologies went to the owner. Your remarks are mean-spirited and w/o substance.

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[angelescrest]

Jeez–could this thread end now? Please!!!

(And–fortheanimals–if you need any more dogs to walk, please email me at angelescrestk at gmail dot com.)

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[Kimberley]

I’m with angelescrest can we stop flogging the dead horse?

I’d be mortified if some stranger I didn’t know decided to feed my chocolate lab treats through my fence, just as I’m sure that my neighbours would be upset if my very responsible doggie daycare peeps decided to feed their dog treats through their gate (and they drive a well marked van). The responsible thing would have been to make an introduction to smooth over the situation.

To touch on what JoB said, the way she described the type of play she witnesses from her shibas could very easily describe the type of play I’ve seen my chocolate lab engaged in with other dogs at doggie day care (including a dog of a fellow board member). It doesn’t matter how much experience you have with a variety of dogs, unless a particular dog is known to you, you have no idea what it is and is not capable of, nor whether the behaviour is normal for that dog.

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[JoB]

fortheanimals..

Please read the sticky notes at the top of the forum topics. It is ok to comment on ideas..

not ok to characterize others as mean spirited …

It is never ok to give a dog treats through the fence unless you have the owner’s permission.

You may have thought you were doing what was best for those dogs.. but unless they are under your care you simply don’t know enough to make an informed decision.

No matter how much good you do out there in the world…

You crossed the line when you offered a treat through the fence to a dog that wasn’t yours…

then you crossed it again when chose to defend your actions by sharing the limited information you had and your assumptions about the owners lack of responsibility with everyone on the forum without ever giving the owner the courtesy of speaking with them.

Had you done so..

you would have found responsible pet owners…

and perhaps a new customer for walks with that puppy.

Kimberley…

i responded to the shiba inu part of that post because they are a somewhat unique breed. They are part of a small group of “new” breeds with challenging characteristics.

Unfortunately.. or fortunately.. depending upon how you look at it.. except for a few pretty carefully bred lines… shibas have not yet been bred with the traits of domestication that we typically expect from our canine friends.

I have spent a lifetime rehabilitating rescue dogs… including abused german shepherds, pitbulls and Akitas… and i thought i knew pretty much everything there was to know about canine behavior until i rescued a couple of shiba inus.

I describe them as the japanese version of a hyper jack russel.. on steroids.

Lets just say they do everything intensely… with a speed and competence that is truly remarkable.

And when they play…

i always check to make sure that no-one drew blood.

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