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Does any other sitter find it odd that in the "About your pet" section, Rover doesn't ask pet owners if their dogs are vaccinated?

I hadn't even thought of this until I was at the dog park today and told a woman that I was a pet sitter. She sd 'great, I'm looking for a sitter" and asked for my number. Then we sat chatting and she starts talking about how vaccines, especially Covid, are poison....then says "I would never give my dog any of those poisons." I asked "not even rabies?" and she said "no".

I guess I just naively assumed all dogs in this day and age had their rabies, Parvo and bordetella shots.

Rover asks if your pet is micro-chipped, but I think asking if vaccinated is much more important.

Should we be asking about vaccinations for any dogs coming into our homes and being around our dogs?

2 Answers

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Rover doesn't ask or require any of this information for several reasons. Vaccination requirements vary by location, although rabies is pretty much required by all states. Without getting too complicated, there are some alternatives for holistic vet care that might be accepted.

But the most important reason is that Rover is not providing the pet care service and, therefore, puts the responsibility on you to set your business rules and practices. If you decide you can only have vaccinated pets in your home because you have your own or take in pets from other families, then that is your decision. Plus you have to decide what vaccinations a pet must have at a minimum.

At the M&G, I give pet owners my Dog Info Sheet, which asks about vaccinations and requires proof, which is so easy for them to obtain electronically from their vet's office these days. It has never been an issue for any of my pet owners. So the short answer to your last question is YES you should.

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Rover should put these questions and leave it up to the sitters in various locations to decide if they are comfortable with unvaccinated. It's self-serving to not ask that question, instead of having sitters take time out to ask this question.

I agree with you, Grace T. I personally require vaccinated pets (rabies, etc). I won't take unvaccinated pets and I should be able to indicate that on my sitter profile. Rover is providing a DIS-service with their lack of letting the sitters customize their own profile.

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Agree with the answer already provided.

Along the lines of this topic, many people do Not test fecal sample regularly, which I find as alarming or even more so. Only by testing the dogs feces would you know if your dog has an intestinal (not visible) parasite, such as giardia/coccidia, that is contagious to other pets and humans. Equally alarming, some vets don’t even suggest this as part of health and wellness exams- instead the pet (and humans & household) could be infected with parasites for years!

Output can be brought into a vet or sent to a lab. So, It can be a completely Non-invasive process and the cost is so minimal, comparative to other pet expenses.