I would like to meet other sitters to network, share information, and potentially partner with when I'm booked up. Is there a way to do this? I can't message sitters through Rover for obvious reasons. Is there a way to meet up?
You have several options and as Deb said you can always send a 1 day booking request to another sitter. I've done this early on and it worked for me.......sure some will totally ignore you, some may say thanks but no thanks, but some will love the fact you asked them and now you can help each other. When I've done this in the initial msg to them "THIS IS NOT A BOOKING REQUEST" I'm a Rover sitter and looking for backups when I'm overbooked or cannot take on a client. I also include my cell number so we can discuss off the platform.... 4 year later those sitters and I still work with each other from time to time, in fact one of my walking clients is boarding with my first backup right now.
You can also join the Rover groups on Facebook, they are more active than the Q&A forums https://www.facebook.com/groups/rover... https://www.facebook.com/groups/96872...
After a while, I started a local FB group and now we have just over 30 members, mostly Rover, but also some independents, we help when we can. https://www.facebook.com/groups/10753...
Great question -other sitters have also wanted to do so and requested Rover to add some function to facilitate messages between sitters for this purpose. On Rover's other Q&A community, they set up two cities as a test market to allow sitters to engage with one another and stated that if if didn't get a specified minimum number of responses weekly, it would not be rolled out. It didn't go anywhere, so it seems unlikely it will happen.
For now, the only way is to contact a sitter with a pet sitting request. I'd choose the person(s) that you think you'd most likely share future business with and send the request for the current day, to avoid messing up their calendar.
I have met other Rover sitters through the Nextdoor app. Lots of people in my area are on there. They are alway very helpful for general recommendations, discussing community issues or just general help or chat. I have asked for help with the dogs on there and met several Rover sitters that way.
One thing I found odd though, is the one I met with says that she has a friend that helps her, by keeping some of the dogs at her house. I usually show people around my house and the backyard where we have a pool and beach that the dogs love. And, I take a lot of pictures. So if they see that the dog is not at my house, that would not go over well with them. So that is not an option for me. Now I have my son helping me and things are going smoothly, but we are always slammed with pets.
I would too! I've had my first daycare transaction and need help with Rover cards!
I am also interested in this! I have many times that I have had to turn down repeat clients due to already being booked and would love to meet other reliable are caring sitters in my area that I can refer people to if I am not available.