⚠️TW: Blood & Bite ⚠️ This was back in march/april, but I just found this group! I need other sitters thoughts! I still think of how I could have done things differently: so what would YOU do in this situation or have you been in a similar situation before?

I own my own pet sitting co. One of my clients recommended me to their brother. I KNEW something was off while we were communicating before the meet and great. He kept saying she’s not aggressive, BUT. Ect. Claims dog had never bit anybody ect.

Fast forward to the M&G - I enter the home and the dog is put up. Owner makes me grab two handfuls of treats before he let her into the house. The owner was super nervous, and made me so uneasy. The dog was standoffish from the start and barked, and not in a “hello” bark, but a “I’ll eat you” bark. He takes me to the back yard to show me around and the dog followed. Owner was showing me how to open the padlock for the food container and when I crouched down to try to do it myself, the dog LUNGED at me. She made contact with my head and I fell to the ground hitting my head on the wall behind me. She jumped again - I went NUMB, ears ringing, and pain ripped through my face like a hot hot hot knife. I didn’t know what had happened, but I knew i was hurting BAD and bleeding. I stood up and tried to conduct the rest of the visit calmly and professionally. The owner offered me a paper towel and I left. I get to my car and just break down sobbing from pain. I pull my mirror down and see nothing but blood. My husband had been in the car waiting and made me go to er. I had a chipped tooth and several holes in my face. I was SUPER swollen for a few days and felt awful. I got a tetanus shot and a steroid shot as well. I had to give the ER their number and AC came and took my statement. At the end of all this they refused to provide ANYBODY with proof of rabies - they dodged calls, blocked numbers, and wouldn’t answer the door. AC and the ER asked if the owner might provide it to me directly, since we had some kind of “relationship” due to me working for his sister for the last year on and off. They ended up hiding the animal from authorities, once they located the dog she was quarantined. She also bit the animal control officer on the arm. She was added to aggressive dog registry for our county and the owner got several tickets also. He said I “blew” things out of proportion.

PS: (When we did consultation they said dog was vaccinated, I just don’t require proof until we agree on the contract and a M&G is conducted.)