PLEASE READ BEFORE HIRING RICHARD. I have used Richard "house-sitting" services 3 times thus far. During my Christmas vacation, I learned Richard was not staying over night at my house. I have a dog and a cat he was supposed to be caring for and the dog is always crated when unsupervised so the "over-night" part was vital for Oso to have some freedom, romp around, and have some company as he is a VERY affectionate dog. I immediately flew home early out of concern for him and my cat (who is scared of Oso - another reason he is crated when no one is home). When I returned home, Oso was unsupervised and loose in my house with access to the back yard (escapable by Oso, a huge, strong 90 pound dog) via a dog door. Thank God dog and cat were okay. When I asked Richard how many and what nights he stayed over night, he would not answer me. He admitted he had not been staying over night on previous trips I paid him for "house-sitting" services, as well. I have no way of knowing if Richard ever even stayed over night one time at my house, but my guess is he has not. Richard said he decided Oso did not need crating in his absence because he never observed Oso to be aggressive to the cat - not Richard's call. Further, I had told Richard that Oso fixates on neighbor dogs and sometimes goes into a frenzy if neighbor dog is in their back yard next to ours. I was reported to the police during my absence for the on-going and unrelenting barking Oso was doing while not supervised. Richard's behavior was reckless and abusive (leaving a dog crated for excessive times, leaving him loose and unsupervised when he could have easily escaped the yard and wreaked havoc on the neighborhood). Rover.com is aware of all of the above and I am appalled that Richard is still showing as a provider on this site. In preparing for a law suit I am filing against Richard, I noticed that he got two other reviews for "work" he did over Thanksgiving (when he had committed to "house-sit" at my house). So, he was being paid for two "house-sitting" jobs and for "boarding" a dog at his own house. So, Nick V., you may want to double check with Richard if you believed he was staying at your house at all versus going there once or twice a day to put food in a bowl. Once the lawsuit is resolved, if Richard is still on this site, I will post the result of the trial.

Richard is GREAT!! Due to circumstances that arose, I had to leave the house quite a mess. I called him in a panic to warn him. He was so kind and reassuring that all was okay. Richard sent pics and texted probably once a day (did not keep count, but he was staying connected throughout, which is a must for me). Love the pics!! When I got home, house was so nice and clean! Richard is amazing!! Thank you, Richard!