| commented question | Why do some sitters offer day care and several walks same day? You can't be so sure that these sitters *don't* have someone at home. Even if they don't, if the owners know their dog will be unattended for a period of the stay, that is between the sitter and owner. As long as their clients are aware of the situation, I don't see the problem. |
| commented answer | Anxious dog won't stop pacing and whining. We've tried nearly everything. What should we do now? She started to trust us a few days in, and by day 3 or 4, she had no issues with the leash! She was still a very nervous dog, but she became comfortable enough with us that she at least stopped pacing and whining. We even worked our way to snuggling on the couch for the last couple days! |
| commented answer | Anxious dog won't stop pacing and whining. We've tried nearly everything. What should we do now? That is a great idea for future stays! I will absolutely look into that, thank you! :) |
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| commented answer | I was away when the owner came for a surprise early pickup, and now she's angry. What do I do? We are definitely incorporating a "paper trail" on both sides for all bookings, and we make sure that pick-up/drop-off times are confirmed several times. This situation has been a learning experience, for sure! |
| commented answer | I was away when the owner came for a surprise early pickup, and now she's angry. What do I do? Agreed! We are now incorporating a questionnaire during the early booking stages so that everything is documented and that way we can ensure we're all on the same page. It's awful when things like this happen, but it's a learning experience for sure. |
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| commented answer | Anxious dog won't stop pacing and whining. We've tried nearly everything. What should we do now? The owner has been non-responsive, but we are doing much better. She's still anxious, but the pacing has all but stopped and she is eating every other meal now. Another of our guests seems to be the cause, and we've pretty much sorted it all out. Hooray! |
| commented answer | Anxious dog won't stop pacing and whining. We've tried nearly everything. What should we do now? The owner has been non-responsive, but we are doing much better. It seems like her main cause of stress was one of our other more rambunctious guests. As long as they are kept separate and given different periods of attention, everything is fine. I'll have to look into those collars for the future! |
| commented answer | Anxious dog won't stop pacing and whining. We've tried nearly everything. What should we do now? We did try the diapers, which worked for all of 15 minutes. Haha :) We have alleviated the piddling by earning her trust, and we have only had a couple leaks over tile in the last couple days. She is doing so much better all around! |
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| asked a question | Anxious dog won't stop pacing and whining. We've tried nearly everything. What should we do now? My husband and I are sitting two dogs, one of which is a calm quiet senior, and the other is younger and incredibly anxious. She doesn't stop pacing and whining, and hasn't eaten in the 24 hours since she's been with us. The owner warned us that she is a finicky eater and sometimes won't touch her food, but I'm a little worried since she's skipped two meals now. I've tried offering treats just to make sure she gets something in her tummy, but she refuses the variety of treats I've presented to her. Due to her constant nervous piddling, we unfortunately have to keep her in the kitchen unless she is going outside. She doesn't seem to like this, but there isn't much we can do since we can't reasonably clean the carpet every time we accidentally move too quickly or a noise startles her. She is constantly either pacing or whining. The whining is triggered whenever there is something different going on (other dogs are playing, she can't see my husband or I, etc.) and it just doesn't stop. Last night, we put her and her brother in the kitchen and our two dogs in the living room separated by a gate. She whined for a solid hour before eventually stopping, then she woke us up at 4am whining again. My husband tried to let her outside thinking she needed to potty, but she was too afraid to do anything so back into the kitchen she went. The only time she isn't whining is when she is allowed to roam the living room and when she's out in the yard. But the only reason she isn't whining is because she has resumed her pacing. It's not a methodical pacing, either; she will walk in a direction, then erratically stop and go a different direction, and on and on and on. It's like she's lost but doesn't know what she's looking for. When trying to direct her in a certain direction, my husband and I have to stand near where we want her to go (such as into the yard so she can potty) - but we can't look at her. If we look at her, she'll run back inside and pace in and out several times until she decides we aren't a threat anymore. Any verbal cues, like "go potty" or "come on" startle and distract her from whatever she's doing and starts the erratic pacing all over again. Occasionally she'll approach us and put her paws on our legs asking for pets, but she flinches if you try to per her otherwise. In dealing with this, we've tried so many things to get her to calm down and none of them have worked. She hasn't played with my dogs at all, so I thought maybe they were making her anxious ... |
| commented answer | I was away when the owner came for a surprise early pickup, and now she's angry. What do I do? Hi Wendy! Rover's recommendation was to try to communicate to her my position, but the client just wasn't having it. We agreed to escalate the case, and Rover ruled in our favor and didn't issue a refund. I totally agree to get everything in writing now, both as protection for us and the clients! |
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| asked a question | I was away when the owner came for a surprise early pickup, and now she's angry. What do I do? My husband and I booked an overnight boarding for two Chihuahuas. The owner wanted to drop the dogs off at 10-11pm and pick them up at the same time the next day - a little late, but agreed upon. I had a work function from 8-10pm, but knew my husband would be around if I didn't make it back in time. As it turned out, there was a family emergency and he had to leave shortly before my appointment. I took the client's dogs out for a potty break, got them situated (they had to be separated from our own dogs since their dogs would bark non-stop when anywhere near ours), and left. Shortly after 8pm, when I hadn't even been gone 30 minutes of the 2 total hours away, I got a text from the client saying they were home two hours early and could come over in 5 minutes. I apologized for our absence, but let her know that I was away at a work function and would be available at the agreed-upon 10pm. Her next text was sent from our front door, panicked because no one was home. I explained my husband's situation to her, and let her know I would be home at the agreed-upon time. Her texts grew more and more frantic, so I gave her a call and let her know where our hide-a-key was so she could access her dogs. In retrospect (and after a freaked-out phone call from my husband about strangers in our home) I realize that was probably a bad move, but I felt I couldn't deny her access to her own dogs - even if she was at least two hours early. She collected her dogs and left, and sent me a rather nasty message asking for a refund for the stay. She says that by being away briefly, I didn't provide the service agreed to, and that because of this she doesn't trust the dogs were taken care of during their stay. I do understand where she's coming from, and I'm unsure of how to deal with this. Do I issue a refund? If so, do I give a full or partial refund? Do I need to contact Rover Support before she opens a case? I've never had a stay go badly as an owner or a sitter, so I'm not really sure what to do here. |
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