Safety first! Please decline this booking if you have a bad feeling. I have declined several potential bookings because of a bad feeling as well. And yes, they were from men. Don't get me wrong I have had successful booking with men but if your gut says something is up decline and move on. I might even report this guy to Rover if he is saying he leaves his dogs in a car all day!

I have a Meet & Greet tomorrow and I just booked the dates this lady wanted. It only over-laps one night but that would give me three dogs (not including my own) which makes me a little nervous. I hate to cancel a Meet & Greet! What would you do?

Thank you!

Starting to get very upset with the booking score thing. I just had to archive two request and noticed that my booking score went down. One was a request where they put in a date but just wanted to do a Meet & Greet because they just moved to the area and were looking for a dog sitter for the future. The other was a lady that runs an illegal shelter out of her home and wanted help caring for the dogs, which I don't do. So I archive these requests and my score goes down.

I've usually walked dogs in their neighborhood. With most of the dog walking jobs I do I've received instructions from the client as to where their dogs like to walk. I have never taken a dog in my car to another location to walk them.

I've had quite a few people request a date but it's not a "true date" . They don't have an immediate need and they usually say they just moved to the area and are looking to meet dog sitters. So I meet them and then I have to archive it because they just wanted to meet and not book.

Does this affect your rating?

I don't house sit (for this exact reason, lol) But I'm just curious, do you do Meet & Greets for house sitting and inspect the houses before you agree to stay there for extended periods?

I agree, it usually takes them a few days. Especially older dogs that are not use to being away from their owners. I always ask owners to bring something from home like a dog bed or favorite blanket just so the dogs have the scent from home. I just has a 14 year old dog for 12 days and she was so skittish and wouldn't let us come near her and spent the most part of the stay under my bed. We just let her be and finally about half way through the stay she came out and at least sat on the couch with us.

I had the same problem and I would say invest in a crate for situations like this and get belly bands. You can find a crate cheap on craigslist or Facebook buy and sell groups. I found one for $15. Good Luck!

I think it's worth a gentle mention to them. I have a dog that is a breed that is notorious for teeth problems. I always had them cleaned but his teeth got so bad and I did notice lethargy. I finally took him to a different Vet who told me some of his teeth should be removed and he would feel so much better. Lethargy could be because the dog is in pain :-( I never heard of this so I googled it and saw it was common. I had three teeth removed and my dog was like a new "person"! So I would mention it to them.

I had this problem with an older dog that was marking up my home and I got the belly bands at Walmart. Very cheap and now whenever this particular dog comes back I use the belly band on him. Saved my sanity!

Thanks everyone!

I think I'm going to have to start doing this. I have a scheduled drop-off tonight at 8PM, which was already later than I liked. I like the dogs to get here and settled before my family starts to wind down for bed.

So here I sit..... and they are still not here.

I think I am going to start have drop off and pick up time frames. Do any sitters do this?

I find this to be a very odd request and it has happened three times now. I will send a picture of the dog in my home to the owner and they will ask me to remove the dog collar when in the house. Now, personally I NEVER remove my own dogs collar. He tends to be a runner (if a door gets opened he will bolt) and his collar has all his tags and personal information.

I find it an odd request for dogs that are staying with me for the same reason. I've never had a dog get out but God forbid they did, a lost dog with no collar would be a nightmare.

That and the fact that the collar on also let's me handle the dog easier without having to grab them. In situations where they might get aggressive with another dog or I need to move them to specific areas of the house or get them in their crates.

I am just not comfortable with dogs in my home without their collars and tags on.

Has anyone every had this request? And what have you done?

Yes, but I always let the owners know that I will sometimes be away from the home. Not only for other dog walking clients but for food shopping, picking up my kids, and other normal errands. I am usually never gone for more than two hours though.

I'm so frustrated. I have been dog sitting since March. Things are going really well and I am booked almost every week. However, it seems every new dog that comes into my house it marking all over. These are house trained dogs, usually older (I don't take puppies) dogs. I believe they are marking because they smell all the dogs that have been here. I have a dog here now. I just walked him and we came inside and he pee'ed right on my chair in my bedroom (this is where a dog that is a regular sleeps). After every dog I wash blankets and clean the floors (with Clorox) but these new dogs are still marking when they get here. I'm at my wits end!

Any ideas?

After each visit we get to rate the dog we watched. Rover says its confidential. I just got a request from a dog I had in March. I think it was not great but don't remember. How do I go find what I rated and wrote about this dog? Is there a way?

find******

So do you finad that only male dogs mark? The dog that was doing this in my home was a male

I had a last minute cancellation this weekend. The lady cancelled via Rover because she got her mother to stay with the dog. I ended up being out $180 and I looked at my archived requests and I turned down tow request for this date :-( Does anyone do a 50% cancellation policy?