Overreacting?

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Hold on I just re-read that first post. Did your cleaner come to collect her payment and let herself in to your home even though she knew you were home? If so I would be going equally nuts over that as over the guinea pigs. Yes she needs a key to do her job but not just let herself in as and when she feels like it! That right there is a huge breach of trust in my eyes.
 
Jaycey said:
A bit of a topic derailment but this makes me so mad. It's not just kids either. People just let their unleashed dogs run over to your leashed dog.

My last dog loved playing with other dogs but as she was getting older she started to get a bit snappy with dogs. She was going blind so her reaction was to snap if she didn't see a dog coming.

I didn't want to muzzle her so I was always very careful to keep an eye on our surroundings when we were out. She was always on her lead as she didn't walk very fast or far.

The number of times I'd have to shout at an owner whose dog was dashing towards us and hear "he/she just wants to play". And then to get a snotty look or comment when Jess snapped at them after it almost wiped her out at top speed.

When Jess was younger she always came back when called if she was ever off her lead.

Control your animals people, whether it be a dog or a child!

Sorry! Bit of a rant there.
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I see a lot of dogs here just roaming the street's with no owner in sight completly unleashed. I don't think the owners know they are missing or care.
 
Lady Kelly said:
Hold on I just re-read that first post. Did your cleaner come to collect her payment and let herself in to your home even though she knew you were home? If so I would be going equally nuts over that as over the guinea pigs. Yes she needs a key to do her job but not just let herself in as and when she feels like it! That right there is a huge breach of trust in my eyes.
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No she doesn't have a key and the door would have been locked. My partner and I live with my dad as he has has had two ankle reconstructions and not as mobile as he used to be so he is always here to let her in.
 
I'm also annoyed that there was two other adults here that just sat here and let it happen, my partner said that he didn't feel like it was his place to tell them off as they weren't his children but he was at the cage watching it happen and could have just told them to look at the piggies from outside the cage. He told me that apparently the kid's just let themselves into the cage without even asking. I will calm down eventually just right now I have a bee in my bonnet about it lol.
 
Yes that would annoy the heck out me too...I do tell off other people's children, usually for kicking the back of my chair at the cinema. I think you need to talk to the cleaner about it and that you're not going to feel better until you do. It can still be non-confrontational, refer to the other day when she brought her children round and say that it was not alright for the children to put their hands in the cage or make noises near the guinea pigs. Say that you would appreciate it if she would respect your views on the matter. If she has to bring her children again, they are to wait in the hall and not touch anything.
 
Kids are unfortunately brought up to believe that animals have been put on this earth for our entertainment :(

When I'm at work kids and parents are CONSTANTLY coming up to me asking if their kids can hold the animals (half term now so it's a lot more atm) and get all pissy at me when I say no, it frightens them unnecessarily, puts them through stress and you and your kids could pass bacteria onto them. Some get confrontational about it but they don't scare me, we're not a petting zoo. I don't agree with those in any case lol.
 
If your not there Kylie, what's going to happen, they drop one.
I really think you need to be firm. If it's agency cleaners I'd have a word with there employer.
You have all of us on your side & not one of us disagree's with you.
So your not overreacting.
 
No you're not over reacting! That is so rude! The mother should have stopped this really. Poor little pigs! This is why children need to be fully supervised with someone responsible with pets... very sad that some people just don't respect other people's homes or belongings. This makes me mad!
 
I don't think your over reacting at all. In fact, if I was in your place, I'd would have struggled to keep my cool as well as you did!
I can't believe how rude some people can be. Like you, I was brought up to not touch anything when we went into other people's houses. My parents always told me to sit on my hands! It's so disrespectful to you and your pets and it's so sad to see a mother who obviously isn't interested in teaching her children how to respect animals. :(
 
That's very rude indeed.

I have two children and they have been taught from a young age that you always ask before touching an animal and that some animals don't like to be petted. Our piggies belong to my daughter who is 8 but she fully understands they are not toys and must be treated accordingly. So, for example she is not allowed to catch them, an adult does that for her and she understands that sometimes they are not in the mood to be petted and to leave them be. We have made sure she understands that their needs come before hers in terms of watching and understanding their behaviour and what they might be communicating.
Any other children who come to our house are not allowed to try and touch the pigs and are told not to play roughly near the cage. If we do get them out there are clear rules and if they don't abide by them, such as no loud noises, the pigs go back. Luckily all the children we have had over so far have been really good and listened carefully.

I am mostly shocked at the mum who let her children behave like that. Also I think your partner could have said something but I understand people get nervous about being seen to tell off other people's children.
 
As a parent to two boys and two fur babies, I would absolutely not allow my boys to do this nor would I tolerate anyone else allowing this to happen to my guinea pigs. I would have a word with the cleaner say that the piggies are precious to you and you don't allow anyone to touch them without your permission. Then if I happened again I would let the cleaner go. Your house your rules!
 
I would have been furious.

As someone else mentioned, animals are so often seen as a form of entertainment. Awful. Poor guinea pigs.

You most certainly did not over react. Respect for small animals is relatively rare sadly.
 
I just had an incident this afternoon with a friends child.

They came over to visit and the rats (the boys) were out. Now our biggest male has a very nice nature about him, he has never hurt anyone even with kids being a little heavy handed sometimes.

Now I'm not really a fan of the aforementioned child, he is 8 and a bit of a brat so I decided the rats should be put back in the cage (for their own safety) just as the friend arrived. Rats are back in the cage minus Tonto who is still on me at this point, I crouch down as I open the lower part of the cage for him as I had just placed some fresh veg in there for them to snack on.
Anyway...the 8year old brat takes this opportunity to come up behind me and grab Tonto roughly by the tail just as he was about to vacate my shoulder. Tonto did what anyone would in that situation, dangling briefly by his tail he must have twisted up on himself and nipped the kid pretty hard. He then dropped to the floor as he was let go (this all happened in a nano second so I had no time to register what was going on and try turn to catch him). Tonto was unharmed.....but he did draw blood, it wasn't a very deep nip at all and could have been far worse.

Cue child's parent freaking out about "disease" and "savage dirty animals".
Her rant didn't last long though when I said "Imagine you are heading home and someone suddenly grabs you from behind. What would you do? You'd do anything to break free right? Well that's how Tonto felt. He was minding his own business when a hand he is not familiar with wrenched him roughly off my shoulder by his tail, he panicked, he was spooked and I'm sorry he nipped but to be quite frank perhaps it's not such a bad lesson in respect for animals. It could have been far deeper, that really was a gentle attempt to gain his freedom.

My rats have never nipped or bitten myself or my kids. They don't have diseases as they are not wild rats, nor are they savage and groom themselves more than cats do.

They didn't stay long and when they left...Tonto got extra peas.
 
My goodness @Squeakz , Really glad Tonto is ok, poor little guy. Actually that was probably a valuable lesson for the kid. Sounds like the Mum doesn't properly respect animals either.....
 
*eye twitch*
I'd be furious if anyone manhandled my PRECIOUS BABIES. Children should be brought up with better manners- yes, you see sweet animals. But you have no idea what they're like! Young children should definitely be able to snuggle guinea pigs but not MANHANDLE THEM. *steam pours out of ears* I'm impressed that you kept your cool, well done! In no way are you overreacting.
 
OMG I'm so glad Tonto is ok. What a awful child, poor Tonto must have been so scared. Kid got what he deserved and bet he didn't get told off at all. I Hope he thinks twice about mishandling your rats again. I would have been so angry.
 
You're not overreacting (and I DO have children!) It's your house, your rules, and both parent and children were rude at not respecting the fact that you shouldn't touch a person's belongings (or animals!) while doing a job in their house, and that when the owner says no, it means NO. I would be really blunt- you do not want the pets touched, PERIOD, and if it happens again there are other cleaners out there!

Edited to add, I'm horrified at how some people allow their children to treat animals. At our cottage there is a public beach with a swampy area over to one side where there are quite a few frogs- there are always kids over there catching them and then throwing them, shoving them into tiny bottles, leaving them in the sun in buckets to die in the heat, etc. Their parents just sit there and watch them do it. By the time everyone goes home, there are dead and injured frogs all over the place! It drives me crazy... who would just watch their child terrorize or maim or kill an animal and not interfere? My kids liked going to the swamp to find frogs too, but our rule was always that we catch them if we can do so without hurting them, then we look at them and learn something about them and then we put them back in their home where we found them because that's where they belong.
 
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Definitely not overreacting! You were way more polite than I would have been with the woman for being so disrespectful. Kids learn from their parents, so its easy to see why they behaved as they did, but that doesn't make the behavior acceptable. I watch my 11 and 13 year old kids like a hawk when they have friends over who want to "check out" the guinea pigs. My kids know the proper way to handle and care for them, but they don't always pass this knowledge on to their friends. I've caught them just watching their friends fumble around with the piggies and they laugh and think it's funny. I can't stand it when they do that because they know better and now they ask me first if it's okay to show their piggies to someone, so I can be there to supervise. I'm sorry you were treated so disrespectfully in your own home. What the cleaner did was not okay at all and she should leave the kids at home or with someone else the next time (if you give her a next time) she comes to clean. I am glad to hear that your piggies are back to their old selves again, at least.
 
Kylie80 said:
So last night I came out of my room after having a shower to find the cleaner had come to pick up some money and bought her two children with her. The kids were over at the guinea pig cage with the cage doors open with their hands in the hidey's and screaming with excitement and one of them yelling out "I've caught one, i've caught one". Naturally I went into over protective pet owner mode but not wanting to be rude and told them to please take their hands out of the cage as one of the piggies bites which is actually true Coco will bite when she's scared. The mother just looked at me and said "it's alright, they have had guinea pigs before" (they apparently left the cage door open and the guinea pig escaped). To me this is NOT alright, when I go into someones home I respect their home and their belongings which includes pets. I was bought up that you don't touch when you're in someone elses home unless told otherwise. I had two stressed out guinea pigs all night who wouldn't even come out for their night time veggies. Thankfully they are fine this morning. Maybe I am overreacting as I don't have children.
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Not overreacting at all. They shouldn't have done that, I,m a cleaner a wouldn't turn up at any of my jobs with my children. I treat my place of work properly even though I'm just a cleaner!
 
No way. In fact I would have found it hard not to have smacked there hands! But I don't have kids and am old fashioned in that regard.

It's rude, and the mother should have known better to treat other peoples belongings better.
 
Critter said:
My goodness @Squeakz , Really glad Tonto is ok, poor little guy. Actually that was probably a valuable lesson for the kid. Sounds like the Mum doesn't properly respect animals either.....
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She does like animals but she's a parent that for years let her child do as it wishes. She has never told her him "no" when he was younger and possible as a result he has an issue with authority and acts out. Difficult child.

Kylie80 said:
OMG I'm so glad Tonto is ok. What a awful child, poor Tonto must have been so scared. Kid got what he deserved and bet he didn't get told off at all. I Hope he thinks twice about mishandling your rats again. I would have been so angry.
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Not a chance, the rats will never be in reach of him again.. EVER.
 
Sack the cleaner, if she is that disrespectful towards your living animals, imagine what she does to your inanimate objects when you are not around. And she was bang out of order anyway.
 
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