I had a pet owner drop off a very dirty dog for overnight weekend boarding. The dog had a very strong odor and his fur and paws were dirty. Has anyone else experienced this situation and if so how did you handle it. The owner was leaving immediately for a trip so declining the pet was not an option.
Colin, sorry to hear about this situation. In my experience, it has usually been the opposite. Many of my guest dogs had been to the groomers. Their owners wouldn't think of taking them to someone's home unless they had been cleaned up and smelled great. Of course, that's probably more the case with smaller dogs.
If, however, you have the ability to bathe the dog, then when it was dropped off, inform the owner that you will be giving the dog a bath and you will send them a Rover bill for it. Kindly tell them that this is your home, not a kennel, and you feel it important to maintain a higher level of cleanliness. If the owner is at all reasonable, he or she will understand and shouldn't take issue with the nominal charge.
"send them a Rover bill"?? OOoo I like that sound of that. Is that something new? I didn't know we could do that.
Rover bills are sent all the time, for example, when you are extending a stay. There's no reason you can't send a Rover bill for a providing a dog bath using that mechanism.
I know about extending a stay because that is allowed/an option as part of the actual billing for boarding, But I've never seen anything about being able to bill an Owner for separate services after the Stay has been initiated. Can you provide a link to that? THANKS, this is great news!!
Do you mean using Extend a Stay to bill a customer for something other than extending the stay??
No, there's no link and no documentation. Be creative, Sitters who already have baths on their rate table should be able to send a bill not on the original. I would say use the adjustment or modify capability to send another bill or call Rover to do so.
This would be no different than billing the customer to transport their dog home when they hadn't arranged for it when the stay was booked. Other services rendered.
I just went into both past and current bookings. I do not see a way to edit the price. As far as I know the only way to edit the price is before the booking occurs. There is a "Request Stay Modification" which contacts Rover Support. I guess you could ask for money there. Is that what you mean?
I'm sorry to keep asking about this but I've been doing Rover a while and I feel pretty stupid that I know nothing about this "Rover bill" option.
Yes! I had an owner drop her two, large, puppies off for boarding. They were extremely dirty and smelled horrendous. I had to give them both bathes, it was that bad. I didn't even bother charging the $10 I normally would, because it wasn't even an option they were so dirty. However, I did inform Rover of the amount of money I needed to spend on these dogs (it was quite ridiculous) and how I ended up with a net loss on that stay. And I refuse to board these dogs again.
I would ask them before bathing the dog. You never know if the dog has skin sensitivity issues, fear of water etc. Also, the owner could give you tips on how to handle the dog for bathing.
By making that call it gives you an opportunity to discuss getting paid for the service. If they sound like they don't want to pay for it, don't do it. Or if the dog is too dirty to have in your home tell the Owner you'll bathe it this time "on the house". Then at pick up let them know you understand that sometimes there isn't time to do everything before going out of town so in the future you'd either expect payment for bathing or cannot take the dog.
Can you tell I've been through this myself once or twice??!! I'm amazed at what some Owners will try to get away with and I've learned that a little understanding goes a long way but you also have to protect yourself from being taken advantage of.
Yep! I've had only 1 owner (twice) drop off his little all white dog really dirty and crusty around the eyes. I gave the pup a good bath and he Love it! When I sent the updates and pictures I let him know his pup got a bath and the pup went home clean. Amazing the difference. My fee is inclusive with walks, baths if needed, etc.
Last summer I had 2 different - at the same time - customers tell me when they dropped off their pups they had fleas but the vet gave them something for the itching and it really helped. Soon after the pet parents left the pups were scratching like crazy. They got baths and a homemade diluted vinegar spray. Not to mention that I had to keep a very close eye out while cleaning And on the other pups. When I sent the first set of pictures and update on the same day I let the pet parents know their pups were scratching like crazy, got baths, collars washed, etc. When the pet parents picked up I told them they still had fleas when dropped off but are now flea free. They are my repeats and thought the topic the vet gave them would also kill the fleas. Of course they didn't bring any of the med. so I could see it.
I had a little Pomeranian that stunk of cigarettes every time he got dropped off. Made me so sad to know that poor little thing was having to breathe that. But I would use waterless bath on him and he smelled better, never had to get wet and I could stand him while he was here. And yes I mentioned it to the owner. They just said, "oh yeah, I know it's bad and I don't smoke around him, but my dad does." I told her to ask her dad for the sake of her little guy to smoke outside.
Into the bath they go. Make sure that you mention that they got a bath. Sometimes owners really don't know when it's time. I had a dog that reaped like cigarette smoke every time she came over. I'm Sure that it was something that the owner was nose blind to.