Occasionally, I will host a stay for a owner or dog who I do not want to do business with again (eg: aggressive/destructive dog, owner who is discourteous, etc). Just curious about what others say in their message if and when they receive a request to book again in the future.
You will ALWAYS want to respond to the request, even if you are declining. Always be polite, but it's never bad to include a reason. I usually say something like this:
'Hey __, thanks for reaching out again. Unfortunately I'm not available this time. (dog name) had a hard time adjusting in our home last time and might be better with a sitter who doesn't have other dogs. Give customer support a call if you need any help contacting other sitters!
Best, Amber'
Recently, I hosted a dog who didn't end up being a good fit. The M&G was fine, and he was a perfectly sweet dog who got along well with my dogs, but the owners described him as being generally quiet, maybe barking once or twice when someone was at the door. While he was with us, he barked almost constantly, and woke us up at 3:30 every morning and didn't let us go back to sleep. He got particularly attached to my partner, and wouldn't even let my him nap - he started barking as soon as he was out of sight. For us, because we are in an apartment complex and share a wall with another unit, this was not a good fit. (That, and the not being allowed to sleep while he was here... after 4 days we were dead tired!) When his owners came back and asked how it went, I was honest with them. I said he was a very sweet dog, he got along well with our dogs, etc, but that he barked frequently while they were away and that wasn't a good match for our living situation. I still sent him home with goodies and thanked them for their business, and they thanked me for the feedback and for taking good care of him.
Being up front does a couple things - it gives them new information regarding how their dog acts when they aren't present. If you don't board your dog often, you aren't going to be aware of some of their quirks that come out when you aren't around. Second, if they need a sitter in the future, they go into that knowing more about the kind of sitter and environment that's right for them. Not only will they not request a booking with me, but they'll know he's not a good match for apartments or other places with close neighbors.
Of course this doesn't really work as well if the owners are the issue - but hopefully that's a rare case. In those instances, I'd use the Rover responses if they request to book again.
Sometimes it's hard to confront an owner with fear that they make take offense to your feedback, but I think it is best to be honest. I'll tell you the truth, when I first started pet sitting this was hard for me to do because I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but after a while I started getting more vocal. Now I let them know if they were not a good fit in my home and the reason. When someone books a stay with you and you don't want to stay with their dog you can respond by saying "thank you for considering me to stay with Fido but I think Fido will do better with another sitter. It is very important to me that all dogs are comfortable in my home and I didn't feel he was comfortable. It's all for the best interest of your dog." Then I usually refer them to Rover support or to another sitter that I have networked with. Usually I get a positive response back because I made it clear to them that it is in the best interest of their dog. Hope this helps.
What do you tell the owner when they've come to pick up their dog and ask how it went (and you don't want to sit for their dog again)? Do you straight up tell them it wasn't a great fit or do you wait until they message you again?
When you get the request, there's a dropdown menu to accept or decline with two boilerplate reasons, one having to do with availability and the other that would cover a dog you do not want to host for whatever reason. You are also able to add verbiage to that response. Sometimes I will add the reason, like the fact that their dog was outside my size range, but that is up to you. You might just want to say that, while they have a great dog, it wasn't a good fit. The boilerplate language gives them some assurance that they should be able to find another sitter here on Rover.