Also check your TV bill for purchased movies etc. I would definitely talk to her about having a dog in the house that was not approved. You will be very lucky if your home is not infested with fleas and ticks. We had someone do that to us years ago, left the dog in the backyard and in the house. We had to have professional extermination services come to the house, yard and our cars which were also infested. I was furious. They had not even asked. That kind of behavior is simply not acceptable. Same with your situation.

I suggest you don't pay her. If she balks, hand her a bill for damages.

I'm so sorry you came home to such a mess. It seems to me that this girl, since she lives with her mother, wanted a place to party without parental supervision which is why she volunteered to take care of things while you were gone. She obviously had someone else's dog in your home, which is really quite nervy of her.

I'd be tempted to ask her to explain how the rug fringe and frying pan got damaged, and why she had a dog there, and why she didn't scoop the poop.

Edited to add: If I were you, I'd have the locks rekeyed and I'd also change the code on the garage door opener.

wow Chisue, I'm so sorry. Sounds like she moved into your house without your permission, as a squatter, used it and abused it. I hate it when people let me down....

I can't even begin to understand how you are feeling, but knowing someone had lived in my home as if it were their own for months like that would give me the ibby jibbies. Not so sure how I would handle it but IMO, she is not a girl, she is a 30 year old woman and shouldn't require parental supervision under any circumstances. The fact that she still lives at home making a living in the manner she does would make me wonder if she has maturity or other "issues" that you're not aware of. I'm sorry you came home to this and hope you're able to come to some type of resolve with her that you're comfortable with.

In regards to finding another sitter for next time, I have a friend who does this on the side, she gets her jobs through several sites, one being the NAPPS (National Associatation of Professional Pet sitters and House Sitters America. It's how I found her originally to care for our then menagery of animals and she did a great job.

Yikes!! I can't imagine the immaturity required for a 30 year old to not only trash someone's house but also not be capable of living on their own.

In the future, I would suggest perhaps finding a retired person who doesn't travel to check on your house. Or your neighbors, that's what we have always done.

You could also do what my grandparents always did, stop mail service, turn thermostat down, turn off water heater and have lights in the house that are controlled by timers, giving the appearance that someone is there.

Those are not surprises when you have people live at the house and all ages. We had found out the kid up the street from us, my parents asked him to look after our pets and our golden retriever got into skunk and so he washed him in the bathtub but it didn't get cleaned out. Also he partied all weekend we were away. Another set of house/pet sitters the guy drank like something else and then he smoked in my dad's bathroom and the discolouring that was done to the wall paper and I can imagine the stink in it too, ugh.

And then the expense of the bills that came in which I paid for as I worked full time and lived downstairs and so they had all lights on all the time and also full heat and on and on it went.

No, you take those chances having anyone live in your home and take those as your full loses since you agreed to having her live there and no one knows what goes on when you leave. And you asked for alot from her too.

The only thing asked of one set of house/pet sitters was to ask them to bring down the furniture on the deck as it was really nice when parents left and they wouldn't do it, no way would that booze drinking, smoke guy do anything of that sort.

And the other was water plants as parents were gone for long time and fed pets and walk the dog and that was it, they had satellite tv to watch and a nice spacious house and use of my dad's station wagon car to drive.

Oh, yes, they had to walk down the driveway as parents never cancelled the newspaper and so they got that for free too and pick it up daily.

They had to buy their own food though and gas for the car but no bills to pay.

And so you never know what to expectd. I saw some awful things with pets and not happy over that but that is what you get, pets and house or both can suffer big time.

And so you live with what you see when you come back to the house.

Find someone that is totally responsible to drop by the house, pick up mail and do small things if you have plants water them but other wise you don't go on huge lists to do. And you also expect that you hope they clean the house but again not all will do that too.

My parents had clean houses to come too but very disturbed pets at times.

kathy

Sorry you cam home to a mess - what a disappointment, especially since she house sat for 5 years without a problem.

I think Snidely has covered it. Ask her to stop by your house, she'll probably thinks she's getting paid. Sit down with her, find out what you want to know and then give her a bill for damages - including changing the locks.

That's really sad. I'd be pissed. My daughter's friends have watched our dogs/house for the past few years (teenagers) and I never had any problems. I don't understand why this woman thought it was ok to bring a dog into your home.

I'm sorry this happened to you, too, Sue. It's a special kind of pain when our kindnesses are abused. Especially when it comes from someone we thought we could trust. But...

"Oh, no charge. I'd just like a place to crash and maybe binge-watch some TV."

...this statement should have been a BIG clue that the gal's intents weren't necessarily on the up and up. Or...that she would treat your home with the same respect that you would treat it.

Personally...I wouldn't pay her a cent and I wouldn't confront her. The damage is done. If she really had a conscience...she wouldn't have done it in the first place. Or...at the very least...she would have cleaned up and left your yard/home spotless. The only thing a confrontation will produce is angst on your part.

The next thing I would do is change your locks and any entrance security codes that she may have had access to. Then sit down...have a cup of tea and thank your lucky stars that's all she did. You're justifiably hurt and angry but from this outsider...you got away easy. I've had acquaintances who've had their homes so damaged by unconscionable adult children of friends of theirs that some rooms weren't worth repairing...and their valuables stolen.

I think Snidely s corect on how best to handle the situation.

However I disagree with those who said she was using your house a party pad. know a lot of animal people like this girl sounds. They don't party, they have little social life at all. They think of themselves as highly skilled with animals but often have few "life skills". Their lives are animal centered. It sounds to me like she was fostering or "rescuing" an animal(s) while you were away. It's so typical. Living guided by their emotions regarding animals without thought of unintended consequences. Many of these types don't recognize the issue of animal damage and boundaries until it is directly pointed out to them. Even then they may remain in denial. Seem to be wired "different" than people who lead more balanced lives. if she wan't living with mom and dad she would probably have a houseful of dogs or cats. Don't smell the cat urine or dog poop and immune to the damage.

watchmelol- good point. I also wouldn't be surprised if she thought it would be OK since you've owned dogs in the past.

Disfunctional thinking for sure but I could see that being her logic.

I know how you are feeling. Several years ago we left on vaction. We had a neighbors old freind to take care of the cat (dog was with another sitter), water the garden and feed the koi. She asked it it was ok to stay over some nights and we agreed to let her. After all the next door neighbor was there too. She is divorced, has a grown son and is in her 40's.

We came home a day early to find a huge mess. It was a very warm September day, all the windows were open wide and the air was blasting. Her dog was running through my flowers (mine are not allowed too), nothing was watered and plants drooping and dying. Kitchen was full of dirty dishes, even ones there were stored in the basement. Her dirty laundry was in the basement and she was on the couch, watching a movie and drinking my wine, all at 2 p.m. Seems she had a garden dinner party for friends on the weekend. My wine cellar provided the drinks and only a few bottles were left of the 45+. She also ruined the coating on my extra large roasting pan by putting it the dishwasher. Darned thing cost me over bigbucks at Williams Sonoma.

As she had no car to beat it out of the house, I made her gather her dog and junk and clean up before her ride showed up. She did apoligize and said she would replace the wine but I am still waiting. I like my neighbors so I kept my council.

The the best part was her saying that we should have let her know that we were coming home a day early. Excuse me?? It's my d*mn house and I can come home when I please!!

So have her come by and let her know how you feel but don't bother handing her a bill for repairs. You will not see payment.

Hugs to you on this disappointment.

Obviously you will never hire this woman again. I would feel so violated, and I certainly would demand an explanation for the dog hair and poop and the destruction of your property. Was she living and cooking there? I guess this is why I never go anywhere. There's no one I would trust, other than family, to take care of my menagerie and koi pond. Too much can go wrong even when I'm here...lol

Chisue,

I am so sorry you have to deal with this, when you thought you had hired someone reliable. I hope, going forward, that you can find someone else that will be more responsible to care for your home while you are away.

I am wondering why this happened this time when she has stayed at your place while your Westie was alive without a problem.

The $200 you left her up front, despite her saying that no payment was necessary, already more than covers the $160 she spent to send the checkbook to you and to fix the garage door. So she gets $40 extra. In my opinion, do NOT pay her or reimburse her with any additional money.

If she was just supposed to stop in a couple of times a week to check on things, her comment before you left of "I'd just like a place to crash and maybe binge-watch some TV". Sounds like she knew up front that it'd be more than you were asking for. I'm not blaming you at all - honestly - but perhaps that could've been a clue. I am sure that I'd not have picked her up on that but would reflect on it later and thought "Ugh; I should've known".

The situation is horrible - I feel for you! My home is just that - MY HOME. She has abused your trust and your home. Rather than stopping by, she made it her hangout.

I agree that you should not pay her anything (I'd even be tempted to ask for the $40 back!) and should hand her an invoice for all of the other things. I don't feel that you can ask her to pay for you to change the locks, as that's your option (but I'd recommend it, for sure!).

Horrible - just horrible. I'm so sorry.

You asked her what she would charge to stop in a couple times a week to check on the house and she replied, "Oh, no charge. I'd just like a place to crash and maybe binge-watch some TV." To me that sounds like she planned on staying there while you were gone. It didn't strike you that way?

Obviously she was living there with a dog at least part of the time you were away. Given the messes she left, you shouldn't have to pay her anything, she already got paid in "free rent".

Sorry you had to come home to all that. Are you going to confront her?

...and you may want to leave a honest review of this experience on her YELP page or however it is that she advertises her services.

I totally agree with snidely.

I don't think I'd take steps (leaving a review as an example) until I heard from her what happened.

You are all so kind to reply. The sympathy is appreciated. Always good to VENT!

I'm a little surprised that ALL of you would 'kick her to the curb'! You may not like what follows, but it's why I probably won't do that.

Her major error is having the dog here. I guess the dog ruined the back door screen, but she did get that fixed. I'm going to put the other two screens down to wind damage; we had wind strong enough to break our (just repaired) fence, and there are branches all over the yard awaiting the landscaper's Spring Clean. (Dog poop will go out with his clean-up.)

She did fail to clean up the floors after being asked to do so. I think she dragged out a 'beater' attachment for carpeting that we have not used in ten years -- and vacuumed the rugs with it. That attachment could 'eat' rug fringe. (I have showed her how to use the suction-only attachment on the central vacuum -- for wood floors and orientals.) I won't know cost to repair fringe until I send the rug out for cleaning.

If she had not been here, the sink faucet and the back hall toilet would have run on for days. The garage door motor may not have needed repair -- and not emergency repair. She knew what to do without calling us in some panic.

I see no evidence that she 'partied' here. I didn't expect her to *sleep* here or to *cook* here, but she has, of course, done so when she was pet-sitting our Westie. She did ruin my favorite pan...replacement will run under $100, but that's the only *permanent* damage. I don't think she knows *how* to cook or clean. Her mother works full time and may well have cleaning help. I was able to clean the cooktop with some elbow grease and Bon Ami.

If I want my house cleaned, I need to hire Molly Maids to come in the day before we return to the house.

Re: Finding 'someone else'. Maybe you have not had to find someone for this sort of job. We have had to search high and low many times in our fifty years of Westies.

Only three sitters were *wonderful*. We happened to catch them 'in transition' between jobs, and we then only needing help for less than a month. One of the worst was the mother of a neighbor who was delighted to entertain her destructive grandchildren in our home. Another (friend of a relative) was OCD. She 'cleaned to death', ruining ruined linens, woodwork, kitchen equipment. She broke things in her zeal. She also turned on every light inside and outside and left them on 24/7, according to neighbors -- and our electric bill.

One of the reasons I was so disappointed is *because* this gal has been so 'above average' over the years. She has also been honest. I do not feel any need to change locks, call my bank, etc.

Obviously most women of thirty are not still living with Mom (and a brother!) -- or making a living this way. I have no way of knowing why this is the case. Perhaps something *bad* happened TO her -- or maybe nothing *good* happened FOR her -- after college. People in town trust her to care for their kids for a weekend or a week. We first met her after posting pet-sitter-wanted ads at local schools. Her former high school counselor recommended her.

Most people have lives, a job, a significant other. She is atypical of the people who live close enough to us to do this. 'Normal' people here think such work is 'beneath them'. We had lived here for just one year when we had a response to a pet-sitter ad from a young couple who taught at a local Country Day School. They could have lived in our new upscale home and walked two blocks to work instead of commuting for an hour in winter. It was "too much trouble" for $2500.

Our DS and family have busy lives -- two kids in lower grades and DIL teaches. I don't want to ask them to spend an hour round-trip to check the house a couple times a week for three months.

*I* wouldn't want to check a neighbor's house for three months in the winter, and I wouldn't ask it of neighbors. May of them are also out of town some of the same time we are away! Asking somebody's kid is actually asking the mom to be responsible; I'm not doing it.

You have not wasted your time replying. It was good to vent, cool down, listen to you, and reconsider the situation. I will have to be more specific about my house rules and expectations. I will hire a cleaning crew to clean before we return.

I will call our sitter this week and ask her to come over. We'll try to get to the bottom of this. However, I see few-to-no better bets for next winter. (I don't want to hire this town's very expensive 'Security Service', which requires an annual contract.)

You know the saying about 'the devil you know'?

I have a great housekeeper who I could probably ask to house sit. How about asking the cleaning service if they can recommend house sitters?

Ask everyone you know from neighbors, doctors, dry cleaners if they happen to know someone.

Even though you no longer have a dog, maybe a pet sitting service, one that is bonded, can help recommend someone.

I'm so glad you'll work with her chisue! People have bad spots in their lives that they go through. She probably felt bad enough with the screen/dog issue to never do it again though. She seems fairly conscientious.

chisue, you're closest to the situation but I think you're trying to rationalize away a problem. I'm not sure why.

Here's another approach - with no pets, why does the house need a house sitter at all? Plenty of people have second homes (as you do) but most just sit empty when not in use. Get an internet accessible thermostat, a couple of internet accessible cameras and ask a friend to stop by every few weeks. Catastrophes can happen anytime, that's what insurance is for.

We go away for weeks at a time, including a 3+ week vacation two years ago. Our dog goes to a boarding kennel when we're out of town anyway, but we had a friend stop in twice to be sure all was well. I didn't give it a second thought. Try it.

A recognition that she had responsibilities she did not live up to is different from 'kicking her to the curb'.

I think you are wise to make the distinction between house sitting and house "checking". ;)

How's this? (We already have a 'no guests' rule.)

No dogs. No cooking. No sleeping over. Mi casa is NOT su casa.

TELL me about anything that goes wrong...immediately.

Leave the house as you found it. (*This* is how you use the vacuum.)

Re: Asking around. How do you do that without broadcasting that the house will be vacant? When we posted ads at the schools, we used a cell phone number as contact. We don't expect to find a local resident for this job, but might find someone who *works* in town. (I"d forgotten that one of our *good* sitters was a cop here; saved him a long commute to stay at our house.)

Snidely -- We don't want anyone *living* here. That's how this all went sideways. We do want someone to go around the house to monitor the situation every few days. I want a person to find the running faucet in DH's sink, the running toilet in the back hall, and to see that our deranged mail carrier isn't piling should-be-forwarded mail in our mailbox. I want someone to see the hole in the roof at the rear of the house where the giant sycamore lost a limb! (OK that hasn't happened, but it could.) I don't want to tango with an insurance claims agent or try to repair a disaster that could have been prevented if caught early.

I want to PAY someone to do this, not impose on friends or family.

Before I lived in my parent's home when they were out of state 6 mos. of the year, they had a friend in the neighborhood come by and check the house once a month. Just walk through and make sure everything was as it should be.

I understand you don't want to impose on anyone, but realistically how often do you really need someone "checking" the house while you are gone? If you have a trustworthy friend/neighbor couldn't you ask them to do it and PAY them as a thank you? In that situation, at least you know the person, and that they have their own home, and interest in protecting the neighborhood as well as your property. Possibly you could return the favor when they are out of town.

Is there an HOA where you live? You could consider asking the office manager for recommendations, if you don't want to ask someone you know.

chisue, why do some people's houses need a house-sitter while other ones don't? I think you're going to be worrying about your house no matter what, so that you're not open to considering all possibilities. That's fine, it's your choice.

Faucets don't suddenly start to run, and toilets rarely start to run, unless someone has just used them. Garage doors don't just break. There's more than a small chance, especially under the circumstances you described, that other than the blown down fence, ALL of these problems occurred BECAUSE you had a person in your house. How might the problems have been avoided? Yeah, the way you don't want to consider.

Friends trade favors, neighbors can do easy things like watching a mailbox and for accumulated papers on the driveway or deliveries at the door. I don't consider it an imposition in either direction. Maybe your relationships with friends are different.

So sorry you had this experience. Venting is good and it's also a reminder for those of us planning to hire dog/house sitters to think about setting ground rules. I don't think you owe her anything.

I'm going to be talking to a house/dog sitter who does this for a neighbor in my old 'hood. Usually, I board Brie when I go to France and have someone look at the house once a week. But, I've always lived in privacy in the country, and now that my house is in a city, I have concerns about leaving it empty while I'm gone -- due to the possibility of break-ins. This young woman would live in my house (like she does for my former neighbor) and works in clinical research one mile away at the university; close enough for her to come home at lunch, too. She likes to housesit because she shares a rental house with other women.

I'll have my cleaning team continue bi-weekly and I'll have my yard maintenance bi-weekly, while I'm traveling. That should help, I hope.

You've given me some pause on this plan!

This isn't 'that kind' of neighborhood. (We had such a neighborhood where we raised our DS.) This is more of a 'nodding acquaintance', empty-nester neighborhood, and houses are on one to five acre lots. Many people are home more in summer than in other seasons. We've watered some pots for neighbors, etc., but his is much more of a chore. Anyone I could ask to check the house would have to drive here to do it -- in winter. I know I wouldn't want to be asked to do that!

Snidely -- Evidently you have never made the mistake of buying American Standard fixtures. This is the third cartridge replacement on DH's faucet, and we've had to replace most of the others in the house at least once in 15 years. The running toilet is another of my cute ideas. I 'saved' two Kohler toilets from our teardown because I liked the 'quiet fill' and low profile. Not smart. I don't blame this gal for these things. It is also not difficult to believe that the garage door she was using needed repair after 15 years; we've had to repair the one we use most.

DYHgarden -- You've provided an idea. I could have cleaners come in twice a month, as you do. There wouldn't be much to DO in our small house, but they could look for trouble. Our snow-plow man continues to come to clear the drive. Still, good for you to set ground rules if you hire someone. Some of these things never occur to us -- because 'you and I' would never think of abusing someone's trust.

Chisue:

You've provided additional clarification which was not included in your original post. Others have given you excellent advice, depending on how much knowledge they had of the situation. If this woman is as honest as you say, she would probably welcome an open discussion to clear the air. Afterwards, you could decide whether to continue using her or not. I just don't think it serves either one of you to have this "elephant in the room".

Just an idea that I hope will take some of your worry away when you are gone. Our plumber installed an easy to use on/off valve to shut off the water to our house that we use when we are away. It shuts off all water coming into our house. We turn off the ice maker in our fridge, turn off the water, leave a note to remind us that "the water is off", and a big worry is gone.

maddielee -- Thanks for reminding me of something we had considered -- then forgot about. I like your 'reminder note'. That should prevent getting air into the pipes when you return. You must also drain the pipes, right? Do you have to 'winterize' the toilets?

We left the water on, with the forced-air heat set at 64F.

nannygoat -- She's knows she'd soon be without clients if she were not honest. She does seem to have some 'spaces' in her BRAIN!

Yes you must drain everything and use antifreeze too. Here's a link to a discussion about it.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2702989/turning-water-off-when-youre-away

watchmelol -- Thanks for the link. Thanks, all, for the good advice!

Next winter I will plan to leave the heat at 64F. I will also turn off the water supply into the house; open the taps; flush the toilets; turn off the ice-maker in the fridge -- and post a sign at the entry door as a reminder! I will still want someone to come in for a look-see twice a week -- and to move the timers around now and then.

Our home is single story and well-insulated. We *rarely* have a power outage and have never had one for more than eight hours. We have gas forced-air heat and cooling via ducts. We also have under-floor hydronic heat in two places. Our basement is unfinished -- water would have to cover over 1000 square feet of bare concrete up to four inches to reach the mechanicals.

chisue--the neighborhood you live in sounds like the one I left last year. Most of us were on 4+ acres and there were no security issues.

After I sold my house so quickly last summer, I moved into a neighbor's house (in my old 'hood) for three months while they were at their summer home. While I was there, I saved one of their AC units by catching a failed capacitor and had it replaced---it would have frozen the entire unit if I hadn't been there and known what to do. I also mailed things to them that they'd forgotten, etc. They were glad to have me (and Brie) there--the first time in 10 years that they'd had someone stay there while they were gone for five months. They have a 6,000sf house on 9 acres and it's secluded.

They didn't pay me and I didn't pay them. I sent their two Labrador dogs a toy as a gesture. I made sure there was coffee, milk, cereal in the house when the wife returned first.

My neighbor was very organized. Here's a few tips I garnered from her:

• They'd turned off the water, but told me how to go under the house to turn the valves back on.
• They had a notebook with a list of contacts -- plumber, electrician, HVAC, lawn maintenance, house cleaning, etc. so that I was able to contact the same services that they used when I encountered issues. I also had to have their garbage disposal repaired (they knew it was needed).
• She created a special security code for me to use and gave me the password if the security services called.
• They'd set the thermostats for AC at 76 (to prevent humidity issues here in the South in the summer months).

As a house sitter with my own dog, I did my best to "live lightly" on the premises. I think I was nervous about it since they have so many upscale antiques and items from where they'd lived all over the world! Maybe some of the things that I did would work for your house sitters?

• I crated Brie (for short times) or sent her to doggy daycare if I was out of the house tending to my renovations.
• I put a blanket over the sofa where Brie and I would sit the most. Brie knew she wasn't allowed on any other furniture.
• I brought my own doormat to use over their Turkish carpet at the patio doors that opened to the fenced yard. I kept a hand towel there, too and wiped off Brie's paws. Brie is trained to "wipe your paws" even in my own home. She waits on the doormat until I clean off her feet.
• I'm not a nosy person, so I didn't enter bedrooms or their office unless asked to do so--like when the husband wanted me to find his favorite pocket knife from their bathroom and mail it to him....or, when they realized they hadn't packed their dogs' meds and I found them in their bedroom.
• I took my own baskets to organize my food on the countertops since her cupboards were full of their food.
• I took my own printer and paper so that I didn't use theirs.

Anyway--this is a good thread to exchange thoughts on the subject. Thanks, Chisue

PS I have security cameras on both the front and back of my house. I can always see who's coming and going.

I'm thinking....Attorney....and find out just what I can do about it all.

Chisue - shutting off the main water line is definitely recommended. Even though you leave the heat at 64 - if the furnace failed for some reason then at least you wouldn't have to worry about your pipes freezing. Do you shut off the water line to your washing machine? That's another safety precaution.

We have a second home in the PA mountains and sometimes months go by without anyone checking on it. We do turn off the water and set the thermostat to 55. We do not drain the water and we don't add antifreeze. We've never had air get into the pipes. As long as the house is heated you don't have to drain the pipes.

Do you have a security system? Ours has a low temperature sensor that alerts the alarm company if the temperature drops.

There is also a detached garage with a full apartment on the second floor. We only use that in the summer so we turn off the heat. We do drain the pipes - actually you don't merely drain them, you blow the water out with a compressor, and add anti-freeze.

As antifreeze is poisonous, I'm going to guess you're putting it in drain lines - toilet bowls and sink and other traps. Not in (fresh) water pipes.

Sounds like the housesitter might have let her boyfriend and his dog "crash" at your house. Major judgement lapse.

Thanks for the clarification Snidely - yes the antifreeze goes into the traps of the toilet, sink, shower.

It's amazing to me how the terrible offenses in the original post went to pretty much closely all forgiven once feedback here was given about how to handle it. Chisue, I understand the need to vent. I think you're settled down now about the woman, yes?

I do have to say that I wouldn't be, given what you said originally. But I'm glad that you're ok with it all now and can justify her behavior.

Yes, that took a strange trajectory.

Perhaps it's wise to wait 24 hours before making a decision when angry.

Sorry you came home to such a mess, chisue.

Maybe not a boyfriend with dog attached: she dog-sits, remember?

There was some suggestion that her mom works ... and has a cleaning service?
I'd think that a responsible 30-year old, living at home, unless paying major room-and-boarding price, should help with the housekeeping.

ole joyful

You also don't use automotive antifreeze. You use plumbing antifreeze. The former is ethylene glycol the latter is propylene glycol.

The vent helped. Your comments helped. This was a hard lesson for me.

I've accepting my DH's first response -- which was pretty much the same as Jim's in the very first reply here. It's Good-bye and Never Again! There is no benefit for me in having any further contact with this gal.

More 'stuff' keeps turning up: There are faint paw prints on our mattress pad. (I'd made the bed up fresh and covered dust-covered it before we left.) By going outside, I can see scrapes where dog scratched at the porch and French door screens -- before breaking through them. Branches were 'planted'. I evidently needed these 'last straws' to give up my wishful trust.

My guess is that House-sitter is leaving town. She had said her mother was planning to remarry and sell the house here. She's probably moving downtown. It's where *normal* single adults live.

Calling a locksmith. Changing the entry code on the garage doors. Hoping nothing serious is yet to be discovered.

Better luck for next time ... if you choose to continue down the same or a similar path, chisue.

ole joyful

I'm so sorry you had to go through this, Chisue. Sounds like she did quite a bit of damage. You're smart to change your locks and code.