Babysitter Sneaks A Dog Into Her Clients’ Home Without Telling Them Beforehand, Gets Fired On The Spot
Trust isn’t something given to you automatically—it’s earned! The best way to do that, especially in a professional setting, is to consistently do quality work, respect your client’s boundaries, and fulfill your promises. After all, it’s hard to work with someone who always goes back on their word and doesn’t give a flip about what you value. And if you break that trust, well… don’t be surprised if you’re never hired again.
Redditor u/Frosty-Barracuda-556 turned to the AITA online community for a verdict on a delicate situation that happened at his house. He revealed that he recently fired his babysitter after she brought her dog to his house, unannounced. Scroll down for the full story.
Bored Panda has reached out to u/Frosty-Barracuda-556 via Reddit. We’ll update the article once we hear back from him.
Dogs are absolutely lovely animals, but not every parent wants them near their babies
Image source: 30thte (not the actual photo)
A dad turned to the internet to ask if he was wrong to fire the babysitter after she broke his trust
Image source: Sandsun (not the actual photo)
Image source: Frosty-Barracuda-556
The babysitter quickly realized that she had messed up
There is no substitute for good and timely communication. It helps get everyone on the same page and it sets everyone’s expectations. A professional babysitter who values their job will always ask the parents’ permission before doing anything drastic like bringing over a pet. Look, we’re huge fans of dogs and cats, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is!
You might have the cutest pooch in the world, but you’d still need to get explicit permission to bring it to your clients’ homes, instead of doing it secretly. The main concern is that the animal might accidentally or intentionally harm the child. The odds might be low if the pet is well-trained and has a docile character, however, that’s not your call to make as the babysitter: the parents will decide whether they want their child interacting with your animal, especially when they’re not around.
That aside, there are other considerations to keep in mind. For example, the child might be allergic to dogs or cats (even if they’re super cute!). Or their parents might be, meaning you’ve just unleashed a giant floof into their homes. It’s a sneezing marathon just waiting to happen. Meanwhile, other parents might like to keep their homes extremely tidy and don’t want pets do shed their hair (or do other things) inside.
But at the core of it all lies a very simple issue—it’s someone’s home and they want to feel like they’re in charge. A guest wouldn’t bring over their pet without asking. Why should a babysitter? Someone who blatantly disregards your opinion and doesn’t even raise the question is clearly someone who doesn’t have much respect for you.
Image source: Prostock-studio (not the actual photo)
It’s difficult to build trust when there’s hardly any communication about sensitive issues
Sure, there’s a chance that the babysitter might have made an innocent mistake, but—here’s the rub—why didn’t she bring the dog with her when she came over to the house? That’s probably the biggest mystery here. She only brought her dog over when the parents had left. If it hadn’t been for the cameras in the house (which she knew about), they wouldn’t have realized that an animal was interacting with their six-month-old child. [Cue parental protective instincts.]
It can sometimes be quite difficult to distinguish between quality and iffy babysitters. The best thing to do would be to rely on someone’s professional reputation. For instance, if your friends recommend someone, they’re probably someone you’ll trust to take care of your kid more than some random stranger. However, as the redditor showed, even sitters that come with recommendations aren’t perfect.
In those cases, it’s best to meet with the sitter and talk to them. See if they’re a good fit for your child. And always, always, always trust your instincts. If your gut is telling you that someone won’t work out even if they look great on paper, then you should either do a test-run or look for somebody else.
Iamge source: LightFieldStudios (not the actual photo)
Parents have to find a sitter whom they’re fully comfortable with
Some other ways that can help you gauge how reliable a sitter is include seeing how your child reacts to them. If your kid is far from enthusiastic when the babysitter comes over or they don’t look cared for when they leave, it might be better to hire another professional.
Some other red flags, according to ‘Care,’ include a lack of communication and an indifference towards the instructions that you leave behind. Now, this doesn’t mean that the parents are always right. It’s not all black-or-white. Some moms and dads are incredibly scared to leave their kids in the care of strangers, so they have lists upon lists of instructions for them to follow and obsessively check in with them. Other parents might be on the other end of the spectrum: they might be very uncommunicative and break their own promises about what time they’ll get back.
Meanwhile, not all children are the darling little angels that their parents think they are. However, a professional babysitter will always remain professional. And good communication is the foundation for that! You definitely shouldn’t be bringing any doggos around before getting the green light, no matter how sweet, cuddly, and wholesome they might be.
Image source: AnnaStills (not the actual photo)
The dad shared some more information with the readers
Here’s how the internet reacted to the babysitting drama
On the one hand, NTA -- his kid, his safety rules and stuff like this should be cleared. But, as an aside, this level of concern and energy kinda shows that it is OPs first kid. By the third, many parents are just happy for any baby sitter as long as it isn't a serial killer. Heck, by then, they aren't just okay with dogs, but they are happy to have the kids run with the neighborhood wolf pack if it means ten minutes of peace and quiet to get some laundry done or dinner stared.
I made cheese omelette with jalapeño and olives 😍
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NTA. Don't bring a dog to someone's house without permission and don't assume everyone even likes dogs or will tolerate yours.
Well, you shouldn't really take your dog where you don't have permission into someone else's home. However, the father is wrong to not want his baby around dogs at such a young age, children born into a home with pets or who are exposed to animals before they are 6 months are much less likely to suffer with allergies and also will develop a better more rounded immune system.
This is so obviously not, why would he even ask AITA? If this is real and this person questions his judgement over something so cut and dry simple, wow, he is going to have a hard time making choices and decisions in life.
Maybe OP had a poor childhood where they learned to always take the blame and/or apologize for everything they did, because they had to as a survival mechanism. Perhaps OP's friends and family are dog lovers, and they're giving OP s**t because they think OP is over-reacting because awww doggos, how could anyone not love doggos? I think it isn't fair to condemn OP as being unable to make choices and decisions (or have a hard time doing so) just because he wonders if perhaps he was too harsh on someone else, even if the situation seems really obvious to a third-party observer. Simply because he seems clearly NTA to us doesn't mean it's so cut and dry to the people inside the situation.
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We own a dog and have a small boy. The dog came into our house when our son was 1 year old, the dog is absolutely brilliant with the kid. I would NEVER bring him unannounced to anyones house, kids or no kids. That's just rude. People can be allergic, the dog loses some fur, dogs are not always clean and so on. You don't impose your animal on someone.
NTA she was being sneaky to not tell you or ask you for a reason. Im guessing she left the dog in the car and waited till you guys left then brought him in. Then was going to probably put him back before you came and you would of never known had she not forgotten about the cameras. (She’s probably done it before) Luckily it was a golden retriever and not a pitbull at least.
I swear, common sense is so rare these days it should be a superpower. I even asked before I take my service dog to someone else's home because of potential allergies. Not only is it common sense it's common courtesy.
I am an adult and got scratched by a delivery customer's dog, so I can't imagine the damage that a strange dog could do to a six month old baby. The babysitter was wrong to bring the animal and he was right to fire her. You don't take your pets to someone else's house without permission. Period and end of discussion.
Even a terrific golden retriever is big enough to knock over a wobbly 6 month old. Yes, babies are soft and fall a lot before 2 yrs old, but that's just wrong to force Your child to be around her dog.
NTA for MANY reasons. 1. Pet allergies 2. Fleas or other transferable illnesses 3. She does not get to decide if her dog is ok 4. Pet hair, I do not spend X amount of hours cleaning my home for you to let your dog shed everywhere 5. If you did not have cameras then god help how this could have gone. Her transparency leads me to believe this isn't the first babysitting where she took her dog with
Big nope! I absolutely love my babies (Chihuahuas) but I know not everyone does. And then there is the possibility of allergy. I'd definitely be worried about my babies being hurt by a toddler. I won't sell any of my puppies (I'm a CKC Certified breeder) to a family with small children for this reason. Something as simple as being pushed off furniture can result in a broken leg on a 5-10lb dog. I carry a lint brush in my purse for when I visit people to make sure I'm not tracking dog hair in their home on my clothing. I can't imagine what OP was thinking here.
Maybe I'm just traditional but I still don't get how people can trust virtual strangers with their children, especially ones that young. Yes, I get it, it's not always possible to get family members or friends and blah blah, but this incident would absolutely cement that distrust for me
It’s a joke. Wow. I mean who wants to be with a guy who doesn’t like dogs?
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Well, clearly there are sh1tton of available babysitters in his area, that he is happy to interview. It's a golden retreiver, not a tiger, for Chrissake. Is it a bad idea of the sitter to just bring the dog? Sure. Did the op overreact? Definitely. I'm voting EIH (everybody is an idiot here)
I mean I would be pretty pissed if my "trusted" babysitter brought a whole a*s dog inside my house around my baby without my knowledge or consent too.
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My question is : How did the dog get there? (If she lived across the road and had brought a chicken, we'd still be curious.) She either (a) brought it with her or (b) went back for it later. If (a) how did she conceal it? Golden retrievers are not inconspicuous. She could have hidden it in the trunk, but that would be animal cruelty. (And a dog traumatized like that would not be safe around children, particularly a child it had never seen before) If (b) she either left the child alone to get the dog or took the child with her to another place without the parents' knowledge or permission. Both quite unacceptable. I suppose there's a case (c) - she got someone to bring the dog over. So what else is being dropped off at your house that you haven't known about?
It's most likely fake for the exact reasons you bring up. Also that the mom just happened to look at the notifications and did just assume that it was the sitter moving around (which I feel would be the normal reaction). It's also possible that they allowed the dog from the start, but then changed their minds to get some money and internet points. There is no way she would have smuggled the dog in the house, especially since the dog seemed well trained and pretty happy. So most likely not kept in the trunk. I also believe that if they have a motion censer or monitor that they check as soon as something moves, they'd have a camera or something by the door that would have noticed and sent an allergy if the sitter did go out and in again. If she had to travel a longer bit to get the dog she would also have to either leave the door unlocked or have a key which I don't think she did. So either OP is lying about the details or the entire story is fake
Load More Replies... NTA I love my pups like family! I loved playing with dogs and puppies as a child. And although I have nothing against cats I have an allergy to cats! So I have to keep my distance from them and cannot have one in my house or vehicle! She could have caused an allergic contamination inside your home and did in fact create a possible injury hazard to such a small child. You acted quickly to rectify the situation and ensure your child's safety! Every parent should be this concerned when it comes to our little ones!
Oh noes! My precious baby was exposed to a filthy canine animal! I understand why anyone would get angry if a dog was brought into their home without permission, but I still think OP went a bit overboard. You can't prevent every interaction a child might have in their lives, and this person will run themselves ragged if they try. The real problem here was the dog being in the same room as the kid without the sitter being present - that's not cool, but then, OP didn't run a background check on the sitter either.
If she was a good babysitter, why not just tell her not to bring the dog again? Nothing bad happened. He states things were calm and fine when he got home, and the dog was hanging out. I know something bad could have happened, but an airplane could fall out of the sky and crush you right now. I can understand not wanting a dog around, but it sounds like he overreacted.
Because she snuck a dog into his house without asking, a dog that wasn't even with her when she arrived so also she apparently left the infant alone to get her dog??? Automatically making her not a good babysitter...
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Who asked why she had the dog at the house? No one did Dad just acted on his feelings and did not find out why she had the dog there. Since none of the parents asked just reacted! Maybe this was an emotional support pet? Medical pet? You an employer and she does not have to tell you about medical conditions that would not affect her job or need special attention. If that's the case is that not discrimination on the parent's part? Since we don't know because people react with feelings instead of asking questions we will never know. You might be right and she has no medical conditions but I might also be right and she does have a medical condition and has an emotional support pet.
I, the employer, would like to know if you have an emotional support animal because I don't want some dog in my house or around my baby.
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They came home early to fire her for not doing her job properly and sneaking an animal into their house without their permission... The dog wasn't part of the deal, she broke the deal and is the one that has to live with the consequences of that.
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On the one hand, NTA -- his kid, his safety rules and stuff like this should be cleared. But, as an aside, this level of concern and energy kinda shows that it is OPs first kid. By the third, many parents are just happy for any baby sitter as long as it isn't a serial killer. Heck, by then, they aren't just okay with dogs, but they are happy to have the kids run with the neighborhood wolf pack if it means ten minutes of peace and quiet to get some laundry done or dinner stared.
I made cheese omelette with jalapeño and olives 😍
Load More Replies... NTA. Don't bring a dog to someone's house without permission and don't assume everyone even likes dogs or will tolerate yours.
Well, you shouldn't really take your dog where you don't have permission into someone else's home. However, the father is wrong to not want his baby around dogs at such a young age, children born into a home with pets or who are exposed to animals before they are 6 months are much less likely to suffer with allergies and also will develop a better more rounded immune system.
This is so obviously not, why would he even ask AITA? If this is real and this person questions his judgement over something so cut and dry simple, wow, he is going to have a hard time making choices and decisions in life.
Maybe OP had a poor childhood where they learned to always take the blame and/or apologize for everything they did, because they had to as a survival mechanism. Perhaps OP's friends and family are dog lovers, and they're giving OP s**t because they think OP is over-reacting because awww doggos, how could anyone not love doggos? I think it isn't fair to condemn OP as being unable to make choices and decisions (or have a hard time doing so) just because he wonders if perhaps he was too harsh on someone else, even if the situation seems really obvious to a third-party observer. Simply because he seems clearly NTA to us doesn't mean it's so cut and dry to the people inside the situation.
Load More Replies... We own a dog and have a small boy. The dog came into our house when our son was 1 year old, the dog is absolutely brilliant with the kid. I would NEVER bring him unannounced to anyones house, kids or no kids. That's just rude. People can be allergic, the dog loses some fur, dogs are not always clean and so on. You don't impose your animal on someone.
NTA she was being sneaky to not tell you or ask you for a reason. Im guessing she left the dog in the car and waited till you guys left then brought him in. Then was going to probably put him back before you came and you would of never known had she not forgotten about the cameras. (She’s probably done it before) Luckily it was a golden retriever and not a pitbull at least.
I swear, common sense is so rare these days it should be a superpower. I even asked before I take my service dog to someone else's home because of potential allergies. Not only is it common sense it's common courtesy.
I am an adult and got scratched by a delivery customer's dog, so I can't imagine the damage that a strange dog could do to a six month old baby. The babysitter was wrong to bring the animal and he was right to fire her. You don't take your pets to someone else's house without permission. Period and end of discussion.
Even a terrific golden retriever is big enough to knock over a wobbly 6 month old. Yes, babies are soft and fall a lot before 2 yrs old, but that's just wrong to force Your child to be around her dog.
NTA for MANY reasons. 1. Pet allergies 2. Fleas or other transferable illnesses 3. She does not get to decide if her dog is ok 4. Pet hair, I do not spend X amount of hours cleaning my home for you to let your dog shed everywhere 5. If you did not have cameras then god help how this could have gone. Her transparency leads me to believe this isn't the first babysitting where she took her dog with
Big nope! I absolutely love my babies (Chihuahuas) but I know not everyone does. And then there is the possibility of allergy. I'd definitely be worried about my babies being hurt by a toddler. I won't sell any of my puppies (I'm a CKC Certified breeder) to a family with small children for this reason. Something as simple as being pushed off furniture can result in a broken leg on a 5-10lb dog. I carry a lint brush in my purse for when I visit people to make sure I'm not tracking dog hair in their home on my clothing. I can't imagine what OP was thinking here.
Maybe I'm just traditional but I still don't get how people can trust virtual strangers with their children, especially ones that young. Yes, I get it, it's not always possible to get family members or friends and blah blah, but this incident would absolutely cement that distrust for me
It’s a joke. Wow. I mean who wants to be with a guy who doesn’t like dogs?
Load More Replies... Well, clearly there are sh1tton of available babysitters in his area, that he is happy to interview. It's a golden retreiver, not a tiger, for Chrissake. Is it a bad idea of the sitter to just bring the dog? Sure. Did the op overreact? Definitely. I'm voting EIH (everybody is an idiot here)
I mean I would be pretty pissed if my "trusted" babysitter brought a whole a*s dog inside my house around my baby without my knowledge or consent too.
Load More Replies... My question is : How did the dog get there? (If she lived across the road and had brought a chicken, we'd still be curious.) She either (a) brought it with her or (b) went back for it later. If (a) how did she conceal it? Golden retrievers are not inconspicuous. She could have hidden it in the trunk, but that would be animal cruelty. (And a dog traumatized like that would not be safe around children, particularly a child it had never seen before) If (b) she either left the child alone to get the dog or took the child with her to another place without the parents' knowledge or permission. Both quite unacceptable. I suppose there's a case (c) - she got someone to bring the dog over. So what else is being dropped off at your house that you haven't known about?
It's most likely fake for the exact reasons you bring up. Also that the mom just happened to look at the notifications and did just assume that it was the sitter moving around (which I feel would be the normal reaction). It's also possible that they allowed the dog from the start, but then changed their minds to get some money and internet points. There is no way she would have smuggled the dog in the house, especially since the dog seemed well trained and pretty happy. So most likely not kept in the trunk. I also believe that if they have a motion censer or monitor that they check as soon as something moves, they'd have a camera or something by the door that would have noticed and sent an allergy if the sitter did go out and in again. If she had to travel a longer bit to get the dog she would also have to either leave the door unlocked or have a key which I don't think she did. So either OP is lying about the details or the entire story is fake
Load More Replies... NTA I love my pups like family! I loved playing with dogs and puppies as a child. And although I have nothing against cats I have an allergy to cats! So I have to keep my distance from them and cannot have one in my house or vehicle! She could have caused an allergic contamination inside your home and did in fact create a possible injury hazard to such a small child. You acted quickly to rectify the situation and ensure your child's safety! Every parent should be this concerned when it comes to our little ones!
Oh noes! My precious baby was exposed to a filthy canine animal! I understand why anyone would get angry if a dog was brought into their home without permission, but I still think OP went a bit overboard. You can't prevent every interaction a child might have in their lives, and this person will run themselves ragged if they try. The real problem here was the dog being in the same room as the kid without the sitter being present - that's not cool, but then, OP didn't run a background check on the sitter either.
If she was a good babysitter, why not just tell her not to bring the dog again? Nothing bad happened. He states things were calm and fine when he got home, and the dog was hanging out. I know something bad could have happened, but an airplane could fall out of the sky and crush you right now. I can understand not wanting a dog around, but it sounds like he overreacted.
Because she snuck a dog into his house without asking, a dog that wasn't even with her when she arrived so also she apparently left the infant alone to get her dog??? Automatically making her not a good babysitter...
Load More Replies... Who asked why she had the dog at the house? No one did Dad just acted on his feelings and did not find out why she had the dog there. Since none of the parents asked just reacted! Maybe this was an emotional support pet? Medical pet? You an employer and she does not have to tell you about medical conditions that would not affect her job or need special attention. If that's the case is that not discrimination on the parent's part? Since we don't know because people react with feelings instead of asking questions we will never know. You might be right and she has no medical conditions but I might also be right and she does have a medical condition and has an emotional support pet.
I, the employer, would like to know if you have an emotional support animal because I don't want some dog in my house or around my baby.
Load More Replies... They came home early to fire her for not doing her job properly and sneaking an animal into their house without their permission... The dog wasn't part of the deal, she broke the deal and is the one that has to live with the consequences of that.
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