any advice please?

lurcher98

lurcher98

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I occasionally look after dogs for other people , mainly friends.
I had 2 dogs staying last week who went home on tuesday. The day before they were due to go home one of them developed something that looked like a stye on his eyelid so i bathed it with salt water and pointed it out to the owner when he picked up and the owner seemed fine about it.
Then tonight i get a phonecall from him accusing me of not taking care of his dogs as yesterday the other dog developed diahorrea(sp?) and vomiting and is very lethargic. When he left me tuesday he was fine, he'd had his breakfast and was very lively and happy.
I can understand why he's a not happy but i really dont see what i could have done to cause this. None of my dogs are unwell and as i said his dog was fine when it left.
Ive had his dogs for the last 3 years with no problem :(
 
lurcher98 said:
I occasionally look after dogs for other people , mainly friends.
I had 2 dogs staying last week who went home on tuesday. The day before they were due to go home one of them developed something that looked like a stye on his eyelid so i bathed it with salt water and pointed it out to the owner when he picked up and the owner seemed fine about it.
Then tonight i get a phonecall from him accusing me of not taking care of his dogs as yesterday the other dog developed diahorrea(sp?) and vomiting and is very lethargic. When he left me tuesday he was fine, he'd had his breakfast and was very lively and happy.
I can understand why he's a not happy but i really dont see what i could have done to cause this. None of my dogs are unwell and as i said his dog was fine when it left.
Ive had his dogs for the last 3 years with no problem :(
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Are you insured?
Im not saying anything is your fault, but im assuming you have insurance and these people where paying for the service you gave.
Ask if they have been to the vet and what the vet advised?

I home board and have to say there are some things I will clear up my self, very minor, the eye issue would definatly have been seen at the vet with myself.
Where they fed their own food with you? I also insist on this, on occasion when a dog has knicked my cat food the owner has been warned they may be squittery:D I have never ever had a complaint mind you and have taken in some seriously ill dogs to board for clients. (as in ill health when they arrive):p I just sent a dog home today with severe heart problems, he is always fine here.
 
Ps, my advice would be, ask if they had seen a vet and this may give you a better idea if this was probable to come from you/their stay with you, ask for bill and offer to pay atleast some, and use your insurance.
This is what I would do in other words.
Ps, he could have been harbouring something, so he would seem fine on Tue, or his owner may have given lots of treats when he got home lol.
 
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the owner says he's taking them to the vet tomorrow.i didnt take the one with the eye to the vet as i only have permission for emergency treatment from this owner. he was perfectly happy to leave his cancer riddled dog with me last year.i insist on their own food as i dont want to be swapping foods around as it can upset tummies.
i have public liability insurance and yes they pay me a small amount.
 
I always look after friends dogs in my home when they go away and they know its at their risk. I know which dog goes to which vet but have never had a reason to go. I know if this had been any of my friends they would have just accepted it for what it is. The fact that your dogs are ok also points to the fact that it was not picked up from yours. My friends always supply their own food and any meds and one dog is quite elderly and could go at anytime. I would only take him knowing if I was not happy with him and took him to the their vet and the vet wanted to pts i would agree and my friends being practical agreed. Knowing my friends they would be very sorry that I had to deal with this and would go out of their way to make it up to me.

I dont accept any money for this and the dogs live with my dogs as family but my friends are very generous and bring me back lots of goodies.:D
 
lurcher98 said:
the owner says he's taking them to the vet tomorrow.i didnt take the one with the eye to the vet as i only have permission for emergency treatment from this owner. he was perfectly happy to leave his cancer riddled dog with me last year.i insist on their own food as i dont want to be swapping foods around as it can upset tummies.
i have public liability insurance and yes they pay me a small amount.
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Did he pay for the service?
Did he sign anything re the "emergency only" if so then suppose he made the choice and in that case the sickness came after he left you so nothing you could have done then it lies with him.
It may be worth covering yourself for vet fees in future, I have a very good and inexpensive policy for what it pays out for me in time of need.
Maybe call tomorrow and ask how the dogs are doing.
 
Dobiegirl said:
I always look after friends dogs in my home when they go away and they know its at their risk. I know which dog goes to which vet but have never had a reason to go. I know if this had been any of my friends they would have just accepted it for what it is. The fact that your dogs are ok also points to the fact that it was not picked up from yours. My friends always supply their own food and any meds and one dog is quite elderly and could go at anytime. I would only take him knowing if I was not happy with him and took him to the their vet and the vet wanted to pts i would agree and my friends being practical agreed. Knowing my friends they would be very sorry that I had to deal with this and would go out of their way to make it up to me.

I dont accept any money for this and the dogs live with my dogs as family but my friends are very generous and bring me back lots of goodies.:D
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I can totally understand that....my friends dogs stay with me soon and I don't charge, so basically they get unwell and she has a bill when she comes home:D
Paying customers are different though, they expect you have insurance to cover for these eventualities as part of the service. I do however get alot of clients saying " this is my vet if anything happens I will settle bill when I get home" lol:D obs some things are not preventable and are not as result of where the dog is at the time.
If like DG said, he is your friend and its free, then tuff titty.:D
 
The friends with the elderly dog also had a guinea pig that I looked after and whilst away he didnt look well and had been treated previously for an abcess. I took him to the vet who diagnosed an agressive tumour so pts, I cried all the way home because he was a lovely little chap. My friends husband had originally found him in the middle of nowhere and had given him a home.My friends were devastated for me when they got home that I had to make that sad decision.

Another friend has a rescue greyhound who is their child and they know if anything happened to them on holiday and they died I would keep her.

The point Im trying to make is with all myfriends this is all discussed as a matter of course, animals get ill and die at anytime. I am often asked to take in other peoples dogs and I dont because I dont want the responsibility and the sort of situation that the op finds herself in.But if I was the op I would be insured up to the hilt and would insist i could take to the vet if I was at all worried not just in an emergency.That for me would be my red light and I would see that client as being a cheapskate.
 
i dont charge friends but he was a friend of a friend who was desperate a few years ago and has come ever since. like yours they live in the house with my dogs. i didnt know i could insure other peoples dogs for vet cover. there is no written agreement for the emergency only treatment, only verbal.
 
He could get a bit awkward if he wanted then, I would wait and see and try to be accommodating regarding the outcome and put it down to experience.
You can get all sorts of cover, vet cover, liability, loss of dog, loss of keys (if you dog walk/collect dogs from the home) cover from when they are travelling in your transport. I use Cliverton insurance.
If you charge for a service you have to make sure you have the correct cover, are you licenced by the authority? this is something else you need to do.
Don't let it put you off if you make a living from it but make sure you are fully covered.
If you do not want to cover any vet fees then I suggest you make the owners aware and get something signed.
 
CAYLA said:
He could get a bit awkward if he wanted then, I would wait and see and try to be accommodating regarding the outcome and put it down to experience.
You can get all sorts of cover, vet cover, liability, loss of dog, loss of keys (if you dog walk/collect dogs from the home) cover from when they are travelling in your transport. I use Cliverton insurance.
If you charge for a service you have to make sure you have the correct cover, are you licenced by the authority? this is something else you need to do.
Don't let it put you off if you make a living from it but make sure you are fully covered.
If you do not want to cover any vet fees then I suggest you make the owners aware and get something signed.
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i dont make a living from it, i only charge a very small fee to non friends. ive never been in this situation before, if he does insist on me paying his vets bill then it will prob cost me more than he payed me. will look into vet fees cover for future dogs
 
Well to be fair he would have to prove he paid for your service, unless he gave a cheque, he cannot!. As much as you have to understand that to charge is to offer a service, he should also look into the service he uses;) I assume because its cheap he did not give much thought. Now there are vet fees involved he is not to happy, so maybe he will learn a lesson too.
I don't think he is in any position to demand you pay the bill, but he could look up licencing/insurance/tax and stuff and get you into trouble that way.

If its not a living/business then leave it to other establishments, because it's not as easy as taking dogs in and making a few pennies, there are regulations and a bit of pull out in regard to insurance and licencing/tax. It's only when things go wrong (him complaining) that you realise.
 
CAYLA said:
Well to be fair he would have to prove he paid for your service, unless he gave a cheque, he cannot!. As much as you have to understand that to charge is to offer a service, he should also look into the service he uses;) I assume because its cheap he did not give much thought. Now there are vet fees involved he is not to happy, so maybe he will learn a lesson too.
I don't think he is in any position to demand you pay the bill, but he could look up licencing/insurance/tax and stuff and get you into trouble that way.

If its not a living/business then leave it to other establishments, because it's not as easy as taking dogs in and making a few pennies, there are regulations and a bit of pull out in regard to insurance and licencing/tax. It's only when things go wrong (him complaining) that you realise.
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i must admit this is making me wish id just stuck to friends, as i only have him and one other non friend id never looked into running it as a buisness.
 
lurcher98 said:
i must admit this is making me wish id just stuck to friends, as i only have him and one other non friend id never looked into running it as a buisness.
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Don't stress to much, wait and see what happens, although it may have nothing to do with you, you can now see how things can get over your head.
If you do want to do it as a business then just do it legit:)
 
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