I have gotten a few boarding requests for dogs that are either bigger than what we're comfortable with or aren't spayed/neutered. In my Sitter profile, I've listed that we don't keep dogs who aren't spayed/neutered, so why are they still able to message me? By turning them down aren't I hurting my scores?
It could be that they searched for sitters without completing their Rover profile, in which case, Rover will not be able to filter their searches. I've had several requests that filled in their profiles AFTER sending several requests. Most often, though, I find that clients just do not read profiles.
I get these requests sometimes too, and the vast majority of these come from people who don't read my profile or don't look at my calendar. The note at the top of the request says that declining this request will not hurt your search rankings. I've turned down most of them and so far I'm still in the top 10 in all my categories.
Hey Leslie, I have the same situation happen to me quite often, Unfortunately, I believe some people like Shane W. had mentioned do not read all of your description, or they are simply searching for dog sitters in their area and are only paying attention to that. When I get a dog request that does not fit my requirements listed on my page, I will simply ask the owner in the conversation if they meet the requirements (ex: Does your dog happen to be spayed?). When they reply back I will typically tell them that I unfortunately can't watch them for so and so reasons. Or, you can also discuss these types of issues at the meet and greet and deny a request if you need to with listing your reason for denial.