I have not had this occur while using Rover, but it did occur when I privately sat for former foster dogs as a rescue coordinator. I had a repeat guest who developed an abscess on his leg while staying here. It likely had already been brewing before he even got here. I communicated with the owner the second I noticed it and as a former veterinary technician asked if she was okay with me administering first aid (shave, wash, etc) which is essentially what a vet would do minus place the dog on oral antibiotics, which I had at the time because with my own dogs, I always have meds on hand. She was happy for me to treat him and by the time he got home, he was fully healed. I just made sure to give her lots of updates on his progress.

My own dogs wrestle and tussle with each other and sometimes get hurt, but I almost always notice it.

I am personally not a fan of dog parks. But I hike with my own dogs several times per week at a local national park and always ask permission for the client dog to accompany me weather permitting. I make sure the dog doesn't have any limitations to hiking and ask how far of a distance is okay with the dog.

Yes I would definitely recommend not staying at someone's home if you feel uncomfortable. I honestly decline the majority of requests I receive because I only seem to get folks looking to drop a dog off that same day, and I require a meet and greet before allowing a dog to stay here.

I simply respond to this end when someone asks for a same day. "Thanks for considering our home. I do require a meet and greet before a dog stays with us to assure a safe environment for our own pets and the house guest and am unable to accommodate same day requests. Please consider us in the future when you are able to bring him by for a meet up before your trip".

Meet and greets are the most important part of the Rover experience IMO. I honestly end up declining more requests than I accept because folks' didn't read my boarding requirements on my profile. Doing a M and G will show you immediately how things are going to go and saves you a lot of trouble in the long run.

Some owners will usually upload a profile of their dog to Rover as well. Look for things like photos of the dog with other dogs. If there aren't any, the dog may have not had a lot of exposure to other dogs. The owners also answer some compatibility questions there as well. That's how I know a lot of the requests I receive aren't good with cats which is a deal breaker for my home. So I just decline and don't even offer a meet and greet.

You can do a little cyber digging on those requests before you ever even respond to the owner.

Both my husband and I work outside the home; however he sometimes works from home a couple of days per week and our 21 year old is often home during the day.

I make sure to communicate this as I only accept crate trained dogs in my house except for repeat clients who have proven to be okay when we aren't home. It's just the safe way to do things as you never know how a new dog is going to act in a new environment.

I don't think most people expect sitters don't work in some capacity, but I know a lot of stay at home people who do. So just be honest and then it's their decision to book you or not.

This is so weird, I just had this weird request come through today for a dog in NJ. I'm in GA. The client asked to book tomorrow of all things. She had two messages, one where she is asking to book and another that just says Yes like she's responding to someone else as I had not responded to her yet.

I did decline the request because it was outside of my service area and told the client I prefer to do a meet and greet and cannot accept her boarding request as there is no time to do that before tomorrow. Not sure if this is a fake request per se or maybe she's from NJ and visiting locally, but it was strange.

The booking score is based on preferences set on your profile. Because there isn't a preference for cat friendly only dogs, it will make your booking score go down if you decline.

I deal with the same thing - but it honestly hasn't really affected my score that much. I decline more booking requests than I accept basically due to clients not reading my profile stating I only accept cat friendly dogs at my house. I am set to only host one dog at a time and only neutered dogs. Just received a request for two intact males, "maybe" good with cats and other dogs. Because my preferences are set to host one and not two and altered pets only, Rover included the msg "this doesn't fit your preferences, but..."

As someone else said, don't worry so much about the booking score. A lot of people wait until the last minute and just reach out to whichever sitters are in their area. Which to me, means the person isn't putting a lot of energy to finding the right fit for their dog. Which means I don't want them as a client anyway.

Belly bands are your best friend!

Kennel cough is a strange thing. I vaccinated my dogs for it when I was fostering, but then stopped after exposure was pretty much constant and they never got sick. Some dogs can be vaccinated all day long, and still get it. I would say if you have other clients' dogs in your home, I personally would not keep a potentially sick animal. I would consider boarding him on his own. Technically, he should be clear after that long on ABs, but sometimes KC does relapse.

My first payment took about a week to show up. The second payment was much quicker. Paypal seems to be a bit slow transferring to my bank account, but the availability of funds from Rover to Paypal was much quicker the second time around.

I work outside the home four days per week. My husband does work from home sometimes, but I am very honest with the fact that Rover is my "second" job. I have told all of my clients what my schedule is and they can decide whether they wish to stay based on that.

Hello all, I am a new Rover sitter. So far things are going quite well except one thing.

Despite having a tag line reading "Cat friendly dogs only please", I keep receiving requests from dog owners where the pet has no experience with cats.

At first I accepted a couple of meet and greets to give the owner and dog a chance, but both did not go well and my cats are pretty stressed out now, so I would rather not accept any dogs without a proven history with cats moving forward.

If I decline caring for a requestor's pet for any reason, will my score go down?

How do I make it more clear on my profile that I can only accept cat friendly dogs at my house?

Generic answers are best in these situations. "I'm sorry you were not satisfied with your pet's recent booking, and I would be happy to discuss with you if you wish to contact me through Rover."

As a former veterinary technician, sometimes the client's expectations are unrealistic. For instance, an elderly dog that was not far from death was left in our clinic's kennel. The owner brought special food and medications and all were given without fail - our staff kept a very strict boarding record of this. The care for the dog was top notch and according to protocol. The owner was livid that the dog passed away while boarding. Understandably so, she probably felt guilty that her dog passed away in a kennel and not in her own home. You just have to recognize that emotions play a big role in how someone may react to a situation. Be empathetic without admitting guilt.

Our team met with her and explained calmly that the dog received great care and showed her the documentation we had for the dog's stay. After some tearful accusations, she finally calmed down when she saw that our staff was just as upset about it as she was.

Long nails and unkempt coats have always been a pet peeve of mine. Whenever I have a dog stay with me that has Yeti feet and needs a nail trim, I always ask the owner if I can trim their nails and feet during their stay. I have hardwood floors and fuzzy feet make it difficult for dogs to navigate without sliding around. Most people say Yes Please! I've never had someone turn down a grooming service. Of course, if you don't feel comfortable trimming nails or the dog doesn't want you to, I would gently explain the dog had navigation issues while in your home due to longer nails. Maybe point out most vets will trim dog's nails on a drop in basis for little charge.

Hi there. I'm new to Rover; however we fostered over 100 dogs for Aussie Rescue. This is a common problem in many puppies. When I have a dog that is guarding something, reaching for it is usually the last thing you want them to do. Fighting over the object (tugging on it) makes it a game, so that's not an option either.

What I will do in this situation is offer the dog a high dollar item - something more valuable than what they are chewing on. Some cold cuts or really tasty liver treats. I offer the treat and tell the dog, leave it at the same time.

Most dogs will choose that treat, and when they do, you say Good boy, leave it! Practice this a few times until the dog is releasing the no no item proactively. Then go to a higher level and if the dog walks toward something he can't have, grab that treat and redirect him before those teeth even touch that item. Show him that treat and say Leave It firmly. Pretty soon, you'll be able to just say leave it and not even have to use a treat. Hope this helps.