Actually, this was before I joined that other group. I haven't kept it up, so it's pretty defunct. There's also a more active Illinois group out there.

I've had several people try to attempt to low ball my pricing right from the get go. At first when I started and was hurting for clients, I was tempted to - now, I just decline their offer and archive the request. First of all, I'm very at the low end of the $/per day spectrum anyway, and secondly, I don't know you or your dog - your dog might be Satan. Why would I offer a discount straight away?

I have worked with people for repeat stays, or lowered puppy rates for puppies that are more housebroken than the average, but do you think asking for a discount straight off is silly? How do you guys handle it?

If a dog has a dental issue like exposed roots, he or she will make a chattering noise if something hits it (like food). It's the exposed nerves reacting to stimulus.

This is just my personal opinion - but using your option to rate the dog that Rover gives you may "flag" the dog unsuitable for a second stay with you...and maybe with other sitters too. I don't really ever use the Rover rating system unless I really don't ever want to be asked for a second stay.

I have this problem a lot. I don't do drop offs, pick ups or meet and greets EVER even close to the same time - it's chaos. Typically, if I know an owner is typically late for everything I'll put it in their notes and try not to schedule around anything else. If I do, I let them know, and I actually made one person hang out in the back yard with their dog until I got a dog out that was picked up ON TIME by the owners.

You can tell people until you're blue in the face that they need to be there by whenever, but some don't get it. You have to reevaluate these people and decide if you like their pup enough to work around their lateness issues.

Typically your regular kennel cough will be actively contagious for 10-14 days, so you should probably keep other dogs out of your home for probably 3 weeks to be safe. Canine flu has a longer infection period, 21-24 days. The only way you can know for sure is to get them tested. Canine flu also usually has a fever present.

I would be honest and let people know that currently your house is under quarantine by you. People will respect that you are watching out for the safety of their animals, I would think.

I think those are the only two available. I cut and paste a lot.

Rover.com would most likely be just another platform for you to get a few more customers. Karen and Amber said it nicely, but I'll give you the straight up - IF you do get customers through Rover, DO NOT(double repeat do not...lol) attempt to solicit them directly without going through Rover. You WILL get suspended, and then it's a huge pain to get unsuspended (if they even decide to let you back). I am speaking through experience - I've been suspended twice - once I'm still not even sure why (I was a newbie), and the second time I took a cash payment for an extra day without even thinking. Rover.com takes care of their sitters pretty darn well, but don't think they aren't keeping tabs on them.

Check out the competition's prices and then take $3-$5 off your daily rate. Some owners are all into cheaper, so you have it. The whole thing is about building a base of clients, and whether they picked you because you're cheap or extremely awesome, no one cares! Always be sure to ask for a review if they liked you, though.

I know right? I'm not sure why they don't have that option. The nice thing is once you've contacted them via a stay request, you can always go back to your archives and find them again if you want to contact them in the future.

Rover is awesome. I once got a robocall from them about a lost Rover dog in my area, and they would pay me to look for him. (I couldn't, I had to work, but the emergency response really floored me). Customer service is pretty responsive, They pay me on time when I request payouts. I've had to raise my rates recently because I couldn't handle the amount of requests. Honestly, I can't complain much about Rover.

You should be able to look at anyone's profile, even as a sitter. Just go to the home page and type in you or your client's zip code. All the sitters in that area should pop up.

I also refer out when I'm booked - I know who has been around for a pretty long time and has good consistent reviews - I usually point them that way.

As far as contacting anyone? You have to do it through a stay request. I've done it a couple of times, and Rover hasn't gotten mad at me yet. Then just let the stay request expire.

I would set aside 25% of your earnings in a separate account. Yes, you will get a 1099 at the end of the year if you make over $600 and have to pay taxes on it. The good news is that you can itemize anything you buy for your dog friends, or anything they destroy, or even a portion of your home. Keep your receipts!

I don't do travelling sitting - I sit in my home, however the first 24 hours are always totally stressful for any new dog, so I can relate to these dogs seeing you as "stranger danger" (I've had dogs that were extremely shut down and/or bitey the first day...thankfully they decided I wasn't the devil). And to be fair, the owner may never have saw it coming...typically people don't just walk into a home when the owner isn't there.

This may have been a one off incident, but if you're uncomfortable maybe start scheduling a walk in visit before the actual sit, when the owner is at work or something...that way you can make sure you can safely get in the home without worries. (And you can check to make sure the duplicate key works, if the lock is sticks or is hard to open, etc...always better to find out beforehand, right?)

I wouldn't let the bunny free roam in your home unsupervised if you've never dealt with rabbits,and would tell the owner that.There are way too many things that could go wrong (chewing electrical wires).You could set them up in a large puppy pen or a big crate and do extremely supervised wandering.

Yes, but if you're copy/pasting, you need to at least hit the space key to get the system to acknowledge you're sending a message. I ran into this same problem recently when I was sending out a mass email to my regulars.

I didn't have a receipt and my tax guy said it was fine, I think if it was a very expensive item, a receipt would be helpful just in case.

I get a lot of repeats, and will add "chronically late" under their dog's notes if I need to. Like Frances said, If I have multiple drop offs or pick ups during that day, I let them know that and most are usually good at letting me know, because I have made an owner (who was supposed to be here an hour ago) wait while I was doing an on time drop off or pick up. I typically will have the chronically late people pick up or drop off in a window where no other pets are scheduled for a couple hours. I don't mind hanging out if it's a good pup and a late owner.

Peanut butter Kongs, bully sticks...you have to find out what will engage him. What exactly is he doing? Dogs that like to play fetch will play until YOU drop. I watch a dog that doesn't bark - but SCREAMS so loud when he's excited he's set off my burglar alarm (apparently he's the same frequency as glass breaking). I have thundershirts - I don't really think they work, but sometimes I'll try anything.

I watch mostly smaller dogs because of my cats, and you're on the opposite end of the spectrum, but I'm very familiar with the bigger ones, and they seem to have more anxiety. Pitties and GSD's are the biggest babies ever (I'm just guessing) - maybe he just needs cuddle time (I know, you're a guy, you can't admit that), but try!

Don't be afraid to ask the owner for ideas...I usually do it in a non threatening way, so they don't get worked up and think their dog is all stressed out.

I watched a shep mix for a friend before, and went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of stuffed animals because he liked to destroy them - it gave him something else to do (he didn't eat them, just ripped them to shreds), and everyone was happy. Get creative!

You can actually write off damages on your taxes. Not completely, but every little bit helps. I actually just found this out today from my tax accountant. I had to replace a $100 area rug and that...and many other things - treats, crates, food - is deductible.

If you go to "past stays" in your mail box, you can send messages to your current clients letting them know you are raising your rates, but since you love their pup so much, your past rate is still good for them. That's what I'm doing. You will have to manually adjust their rate on future stays, though.

I started a year and a half ago with a low ball rate to get clients. I raised my rates SLIGHTLY on 1/1 of this year. I'm going to do an extreme rate hike very soon after I send out messages to certain repeat clients with awesome dogs who I love hosting that I will keep my old rate for them - it's been crazy so far this year and I can't handle the number of requests to the number of spaces I have. I think for those just starting on Rover, a lower rate is a good thing - then work from there.

I've had this happen once. A dog who got comfortable started going at my cats aggressively. We spent the weekend with her tied to a leash around my ankle. I didn't mention it to the owners when they picked up. Two weeks later they wanted to book another stay and I had to come clean...she was too scary for my cats. The owners were embarrassed by it, but very understanding.

I actually disagree on this. If the owners said they were picking Fido up in advance (although maybe hours later on the same day,) I don't see a reason to charge extra. If they booked a stay picking up at 8am instead of 8pm, and had to pick up at 8pm instead, I'd still be okay with that...because if they would have booked it and needed an 8pm pick up time originally, it would have been the same price.