Why are sitters hard to find?

I'm sorry you're having trouble finding a sitter. During this time of the year, it's more and more common that sitters are booked up way far in advance. To answer some of your issues:

Some sitters may be booked, but are showing as available because they have bookings that have not been accepted yet. They may be waiting on a meet and greet or payment, etc. Or they could technically have spots open on their calendar, but their bookings for another service may not allow them to take those spots. I technically have boarding spots open, but since I will be house sitting overnight, I am not actually available.

I'm sorry to hear that there are sitters that are just not responding. Try looking at their profiles to see what their response rate and average response time are. This can help you better gauge if a sitter is consistent in responding to clients.

There is no "black mark" that would be on your account. Even though sitters would like a way to communicate with other sitters about their client experiences, none exists at the moment. Some sitters use the owner's profile to determine if they'd like to take a client. Try filling out your profile with fun pictures of your dog and all of the relevant information. I know there are many sitters that are cautious to respond to profiles that are incomplete.

Good luck finding a sitter!

As for myself this is the busiest time of the year. July 2-July 18 I'm completely booked and have been for some time. Even though my calendar is booked I had to manually go in to adjust it to unavailable. I'm sorry you're having difficulties and I hope the Rover Match service will be able to help.

Hi Nienly: I'm sorry it has been so hard to find a sitter! I'm not sure how you are presenting yourself, so I can't answer that. But I can say that it doesn't seem normal that you're having such a hard time. It is the "busy season" for most sitters, especially for those that have dogs in their home. I am a travelling sitter myself, so I'm not as busy as those that do doggy day care and boarding. It's good that you reached out to Rover Match for assistance, but not all Rover sitters are included in Rover Match. I don't think there is a "black mark" on your account - I've never heard of that in the "Rover world". I'm sorry I don't really have an answer for you, but sometimes it takes time to find a sitter that suits your needs. Keep trying and good luck!