Does anyone else use daycare as a trial for boarding?

Yes, after a successful meet & greet, I'll often suggest a visit prior to boarding, whether it's daycare or overnight. It's an ideal way for the sitter to get to know the dog, the dog to get more comfortable with the sitter (and realize that the parents do return), and the pet-parents to become more comfortable with the care & communication updates the sitter provides.

Many pet parents agree after discussing benefits, but never considered it. You can even offer partial day care for a few hours. For those that want to forego it, you may have to make an educated decision based on what you know. If you find out that it isn't a good match, it's best to let the pet-parent and Rover support know, so they can work on finding the best match. If you find that out before boarding, that still allows other options to be considered, to provide the best situation possible for the pet. Messages are received better if you speak in those terms (what's best for Rover) as I believe most pet-owners want their pets cared for in well matched environments.

If I see a dog that might not be a good fit I tell the customer to leave them with me for daycare at no charge to see how they will react. I just did this recently. I had a customer worried about how his dog will react when they are not around. I offered them a free play date/daycare and he said he would rather do one overnight stay and if it didn't work out he at least had time to find someone else. We did and the dog was perfectly fine.

If it hadn't worked out I would have told them, "you know, I don't think Rover felt comfortable in my home and the most important thing for me is for Rover to be comfortable. I think your best solution is to find a traveling sitter or a sitter with no other dogs or dogs of her own" (depending on what the problem was with the dog.) I think its always best to blame your home being the problem and not the dog. You know customers can be very sensitive when it comes to their pooch.