Why do requests I get for dogs who are not cat friendly affect my booking score?

The booking score is based on preferences set on your profile. Because there isn't a preference for cat friendly only dogs, it will make your booking score go down if you decline.

I deal with the same thing - but it honestly hasn't really affected my score that much. I decline more booking requests than I accept basically due to clients not reading my profile stating I only accept cat friendly dogs at my house. I am set to only host one dog at a time and only neutered dogs. Just received a request for two intact males, "maybe" good with cats and other dogs. Because my preferences are set to host one and not two and altered pets only, Rover included the msg "this doesn't fit your preferences, but..."

As someone else said, don't worry so much about the booking score. A lot of people wait until the last minute and just reach out to whichever sitters are in their area. Which to me, means the person isn't putting a lot of energy to finding the right fit for their dog. Which means I don't want them as a client anyway.

I agree with Jennifer. We all have to decline a dog if it isn't a good fit. You don't want to take a dog that isn't a good fit. Ask the owner if they also have meet & greets with other rover hosts. At the meet & greet see how they act when they can see your pets. Tell them you would like to do a trial stay (over night or weekend). You may want to take small dogs or small to medium even if they aren't cat friendly, but there are some big dogs that are fine with cats. Good Luck.