I think this makes sense for your "normal" household critters, but not so much for livestock. For someone who's hied to look after the dog(s)/cat(s), it's well within reason that a client might say "hey, could you also feed our hamster/rat/iguana?" But livestock typically require more specialized and more frequent care.

The great thing about Rover, as others noted above, is that you can advertise these other services as you see fit. I'm not a travel sitter, but if I was, I'd post that I have no problem "sitting" snakes (love snakes!). I'd even feed your tarantula if you need it!

I require that all owner-clients provide the food their dog(s) eat, with the exception of one meal for dogs staying over Thanksgiving or Christmas (I provide a healthy and pet-friendly holiday meal that is what my dog is eating for dinner that night (plain (boiled) mashed potatoes, plain steamed green beans, plain roasted butternut or acorn squash, and skinless white meat turkey)). For dogs on "special" diets, clients have largely bagged things up individually, so all I have to do is dump the food into their bowl. The only exception to that was when I sat a dog on a raw diet for nearly 3 weeks. The owners came in and took a look at my freezer, and we agreed that I couldn't keep that much of his food in my freezer (I just didn't have the space). Their solution was to send an Instacart delivery of what he needed for his last 4 days to my house, and then I just had to portion up the chicken, liver, and veggies he got. It worked out beautifully.

I don't cook for myself every day, so I would be hard-pressed into service to do so for a client. Pre-cooking the food and packaging it so that you can just heat it up in the microwave or by steaming/boiling it seems reasonable. "Mixing" whether it's wet food, yogurt, a little warm water, or even some warmed coconut oil wouldn't seem unreasonable to me. Likewise simply slicing up a provided boiled egg wouldn't put me out much. But I would absolutely charge more if they wanted me to do anything beyond pop something in the microwave/drop it in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes.

It's unclear what they're asking of you. Steaming veggies is clear...but do you have to cook the meat that's mixed in with their kibble as well? I'd charge $3-4/night extra for only steaming fresh veggies (assuming they don't let you just nuke them in a little water), and $10+/night if they are also asking you to cook the meat add-ins from raw (again...whole different ballgame if they give you cooked chicken breasts and say "please microwave these," I'm talking about you having to cook them fresh).

I would also suggest that if you are doing long-term drop-ins while the owners are away, discussing how to handle the outdoor cans. They may have a housekeeper or neighbor putting them out at the curb/alley, but if they're not, they might be willing to pay you to put them out/bring them back in.

I should caution that the deductions wouldn't be for ALL treats or toys or whatnot, just what you buy for your "business." If you regularly provide food/treats/toys for your clients, those are deductible. If you buy those only for your own dog, they are not (excepting certain circumstances like you intended a toy to be for your dog but it was destroyed by a client dog and you replaced it).

If a client brings up whether their dog will be the only dog with me (besides my own), I tell them that, yes, overnight I only take one dog at a time. However, there are times when a new client arrives a few hours before they are scheduled to pick their dog up. In my case, because I only sit new clients on weekends and holidays (when I'm home almost all the time), that would also mean the "overlapping" client is a returning client that I have determined is fine with my weekday work schedule, so I know the "overlapping" dog pretty well. I've never had a client be uneasy about that. If they said that they would prefer their dog absolutely be the only other dog for their whole stay, I'd probably charge more since they could cost me a week (or more!) of business from a returning client.

If you usually sit multiple dogs at the same time, and they want a solo stay, I think an upcharge is well-justified.

Thanks! I understand that there can be a delay in all the technology working harmoniously, but I'm still marked as available for tonight, despite the fact that my stay for this weekend was booked over a week ago and, well, said dog is now sleeping on my foot. I'll contact support so that they know this seems to be a site-wide problem.

In the past, once I booked with the maximum number of dogs I am available for (in my case one), the calendar I could see showed me as unavailable for those dates. Starting maybe a week ago, on the calendar on my dashboard, I still showed as "available" for dates that I had booked stays on. Is this an update or a bug? If it's an update, do I need to go in and mark myself as unavailable for those dates myself? Will marking those dates as unavailable cause any issues with the booked stay?

Like the others, this has happened to me a couple of times. Since I only sit one dog at a time, it's not been a problem to keep their pup for another night. I charge the regular rate. On each occasion where this has happened, they have also given me a nice tip for being flexible and helping them out in a bad situation.

I agree with the comments that if you can't keep the dog another night, you should ask for an emergency contact. When I put my dog with a sitter, I ask friends to back me up in case something goes horribly wrong and I can't get home and the sitter can't keep him. I've always made it home (even if later than expected), but everyone should have a back-up plan in case things go wildly wrong. Rover can probably help you if it gets to the point that you can't keep the dog and the client has no one who can help them (I've been called for emergency sitting when a sitter canceled on a client at the last minute).

You should expect to pay self-employment taxes of 15.3% PLUS ordinary income taxes (whatever your marginal (top) tax bracket is, if you have other sources of income). For me, that's a nice, whopping, 48.8% (SE + Fed + local). You won't pay any tax on expenses, as mentioned (treats, toys, transportation, advertising...anything you ACTUALLY spent running the business). You also won't pay the full self-employment tax if your income otherwise is over $118,500 (you don't owe social security taxes on income above that number...I'm not sure how that works if you're married filing jointly). You may be eligible for other deductions or credits.

Because I already use an accountant, I just told him that I was doing this and he told me how much to set aside (as a % of earnings). If you don't use an accountant who you can easily consult, you probably want to set aside at least state/local and federal taxes at your top tax bracket and the 15.3% self-employment tax. If you do that, worst case scenario, you owe less and can give yourself a bonus!

You're absolutely right that OP should investigate dog body language and vocalizations so that they have a good command of what's going on with their charges. My current client is JEALOUS. She tries to block my dog from getting near me. I spotted that right quick and put an end to it. She's now waiting patiently for me to switch from petting my dog to petting her. It will be a good weekend. :)

I usually ask: "will your dog be due for its monthly flea/tick or heartworm treatment during its stay?" at the meetup. I've never had a client NOT offer what their dog is on and when they get it with that question. You could also ask in terms of wanting to know what they're on in case of emergency.

I also ask if the dog wears its registration tag on its collar "since it's required to use the dog parks, and we might go to the one up the street." (all 100% true) I've had a few clients just give me the tags (rabies and registration) to hold onto while their dog stays since they don't keep the tags on the collar, but have them. Here, to register your dog, you must have the rabies and distemper vax (unless medically exempted, and they still issue a "special" tag for those dogs).

I get where you're coming from, and yes/no questions for various vax and treatments would sure be nice on the client side. That said, a couple easy and non-accusatory questions can confirm that the dog you're sitting is good to go. If the potential client says they don't vaccinate (at least for the bare basics), register, or treat their dog for fleas/ticks/heartworm, you can always decline. I've never encountered a client who didn't do those things.

A dog mouthing another dog's neck or front legs isn't necessarily an aggressive move. You really have to read their body language. Is she really biting/nipping, or just mouthing? Is her tail high and wagging? Is she play-bowing? Dogs playing can look pretty aggressive, but it's just all fun if they're just mouthing with their tail wagging high in the air and inviting play with mannerisms like play bows and rolling over. Whenever Buddy is around another dog, so long as their mouths are generally open and tails are being happy, I let them be. They're having fun! He's on the small side, and I've watched him be pinned to the floor by a very large dog, and wag his tail, and then get free and mouth at the big dog's front paws. They were having a grand old time, no blood was shed, and they curled up and slept back-to-back with each other that night. :)

It just depends on your preference. Yes, Rover requests payment for only overnights (without respect to drop off and pick up times). But, you have the option of charging for daycare or overstays as others have mentioned above. You should ask about drop off and pick up times pretty early. If not during initial messages, then during the meet-up. If you want to be paid for someone dropping their dog off early or picking them up late, that's the time to relate that information.

That said, I don't charge extra for a dog to be dropped off early or picked up late. I get a lot of repeat business for being flexible. My go-to sitters also don't charge for "extra time," and I am a repeat client of theirs (and they sometimes "make out" a little when I don't drop my dog off until 9 PM on his first night). This may be a consequence of our circumstances. Sitting with Rover is not my primary job, I only sit on weekends, and I only sit one dog at a time. It doesn't really matter to me if the owner comes to pick their dog up at 10 PM on Sunday, I'm not sitting that night, so it's not like I missed out on anything. On the VERY rare occasion that there is some reason I have overlapping bookings (not that long ago, I took a "staycation" and made myself available for an entire week...a regular client booked for the weekend and a new client for the week), I just tell the clients that if they drop their dog off early or pick them up late, there will be another dog around for a few hours, and give them the chance to either accept or reject that arrangement. In that case, both the clients said "that's fine...thank you for being flexible." It was no skin off my back to have 3 dogs (including mine) for 4 hours.

About a week and a half ago, for the upcoming Labor Day weekend, I received 5 requests to sit (all new clients) within about 48 hours. I responded promptly to all the requests, setting up a meet-and-greet with the first person to request quickly, and promising the rest I would get back to them if things didn't work out with those who had requested before them (and letting them know where they were in line, i.e., "I have three requests that came in before yours. I will let you know ASAP if those fall through and I can sit your dog."). Client #2 worked out (client #1 found a friend to watch their dog for free, so it was understandable, and they let me know quickly, so not even a little put out).

As soon as I booked with client #2, I went back and responded to the three clients after her and said "I'm sorry, but I have now booked a client who requested before you. {other polite things to say}." and archived the requests as "I'm not available." But, of course, I got the "every time you turn a client down, it hurts your search ranking" message. In this case, it's not that I wasn't available, just that someone beat them to the punch but I hadn't yet booked the stay.

Anyone have thoughts on how to handle this? Do you mark yourself as unavailable once you get a couple of requests for the same dates? Have you seen an impact on your search rankings from turning people down in such circumstances, if you've experienced them? I'm a responsive sitter with a high rating, and that puts me in demand, especially for holidays. I don't want to un-do all the good sitting I've done to earn that rating by having to turn people down because I just can't sit 6 dogs on the same weekend, and all the clients requested within a few hours of each other!

I'm advertised as only one client dog at a time, so I don't normally get requests for multiple dogs. One time I did have a request to sit two dogs from the same household, and I took the same tact you did. $5 off/night for the second dog. That seems fair, to me.

I simply request that owners fill out the care instructions section on Rover with:

how much and when to feed their dog; *vet and vaccine information; *behavioral concerns (e.g., will bark at children passing by, *hates bicycles, etc.); *any training they want me to specifically reinforce (e.g., not jumping, staying off furniture, sitting for the leash); *medication information; *any grooming needs (e.g., my dog gets bad sleepers, so I request a sitter wipe his eyes out once every two days); *anything else they want to add

I check this, and if that info is not there, I request they fill it out or send it to me in a message (either is fine, but written is best because I am liable to forget if you just say it). I've had many clients new to Rover, and none have complained when I requested they fill the info in. I will show them how to do it if they need help, but I've only had to do that once (the client wasn't seeing the link to fill in the info...as soon as I specified where it was, they happily filled it in).

So long as the client provides the food and are aware that my dog eats kibble (high quality and grain free, but still kibble), so their dog might unearth a piece or two of "lost" kibble in the house, it's not a big deal to me. I've had a client who did a full raw diet, and they just bagged everything up in individual servings so all I had to do was dump the baggie into the bowl and ask for a sit. Nothing all that different from any other dog. Maybe fridge/freezer space might be a concern for a long stay, but for the 4 days I had him, there was plenty of room to store his nums in the fridge.

Personally, I feel that it's not my place to judge what my clients feed their dogs. If they ask about what I feed my dog (and the client with a dog on a raw diet did...and then said they had tried the same food and, while they felt it was a good food, their dog gained a lot of weight on it, so it wasn't the right choice for them (i.e., if their dog found a stray piece of kibble...NBD!)), I will tell them and tell them how I decided on that food. Otherwise, it's between them, their vet, their budget, and their preferences. I supervise meals so that my dog and my client's dog eat what they're supposed to.

I always feel bad when the owner spends time measuring out the dog's food into individual baggies unless there's some special consideration (raw diet springs to mind). I own a measuring scoop and just need to know how much and when. And, yes, they should provide their own so that their dog is happy and healthy!

I guess I haven't gone this far, but I do operate on a somewhat "first come, first served" basis, and let clients know when other requests are pending. For example, I currently have 3 pending requests for Labor Day weekend. I have a meet-up scheduled for the first, and have told the second and third that I'm meeting with a potential client soon and will let them know if that falls through.

Good, regular clients will book far in advance. I've had two regular clients message me about Christmas week already ((1) it's AUGUST...thank you for planning as much as I do :) (2) which, unfortunately, I am out of town for). I told them I was unavailable for Christmas specifically, but am in town for Thanksgiving and New Year, so if they are going to be needing a sitter for those, book them ASAP so they "beat the crowd."

My dog is small, so feeding him high-quality food is not really a budget stretch (he eats only 1 cup a day). That said, even if he were larger, good food would be a priority. Feeding them well can save so many health issues down the line, and vets are more expensive than any food on the market.

I feed Taste of the Wild. I default to the Wetlands formula (high protein for my active little man and 5* on dog food advisor). Honestly, the local "boutique" pet store sells it at a very reasonable price. $38 for the 30 pound bag, and pet food isn't taxed in my jurisdiction. I haven't found it online cheaper and with free shipping (or cheap...it would have to be less than $1.85 shipping since that's the bus fare for me to use the local pet store). It's extra-special convenient for me that I can hop on a bus right outside the door of my office that will drop me at the door of that pet store in about 15-20 minutes, and then walk around the corner from that pet store and hop on another bus that will drop me 2 blocks from home in 15 minutes.

I don't think tipping is necessary, but I do think it is NICE, particularly if a sitter does a little something extra for you. Say, accommodating your desire to keep your dog with you the night before your trip (and, hence, not paying for an extra night's stay) and dropping them off at 5 or 6 AM, or picking them up very late (after about 10 PM). In such cases, I tip about 15% when I put my dog with a sitter, making up the Rover fee out of their bottom line. If an EMERGENCY comes up (cancelled or extremely delayed flight that has me picking up my dog later than expected, which can disrupt the sitter's schedule, for example), I tip even more.

For me, I think of Rover kind of like a "doggie hotel." If I "check in" very early or "check out" very late, I give a token of my appreciation. For me, that means if I drop my dog off before 10 AM or pick him up after 8 PM (any hotel or boarding facility would charge extra for an early drop off/check in or late pick up/check out with those times). For others it might vary (and, for me as a sitter, I don't mind any drop offs or pick ups between 8 AM and 10:30 PM...those don't "disrupt" my regular sleeping/showering schedule). I'd also tip if my dog needed any kind of special care or had a known problem (housebreaking issues, medical issues that required extensive attention (a pill slipped into their food or given with a treat isn't a big deal, an eye or ear ointment they tolerate well isn't an issue...your dog has to be given their pill with a shooter that they don't tolerate well...I can do that, but it's not exactly easy!).

This is a tough nut to crack. I'm usually booked far in advance for my available times, but if it happens that I'm not booked, I am frequently deluged with extremely last-minute requests. Case-in-point, I wasn't booked for this weekend (I only sit on weekends), so I went ahead and planned to attend a party tonight LAST NIGHT. That's right, I didn't make any plans until less than 24 hours out. This morning, I woke up to two last-minute sitting requests (came in between 6:30 and 7:30 AM). Yes, I probably should have gone in and marked myself as unavailable last night, but, if you're requesting a sitter with less than 12 hours' notice, there's literally no time for a meet and greet and you're asking me to take your dog on faith that he/she will get along with mine and is generally well-behaved.

I want to be available for the person who has a serious emergency and needs a last-minute sitter, but I'm uncomfortable taking a dog in non-emergency situations without a chance to meet them. If those who contacted me this morning said something like "I just had a family emergency and have to go away unexpectedly, can you help me out?" I would understand and help. However, that was clearly not the case (both clearly stated that they wanted a sitter for a last-minute fun weekend getaway). I know if I got a call that, say, a family member was on their death bed or had a bad accident, I'd like the option to find a last-minute sitter, and I'd like to BE that last refuge for someone (and would totally have called in lame for the party to help someone in that situation out), but I'm not going to rearrange last-minute plans for someone else's last-minute fun. While I'd say an emergency-only last-minute request option would be a good idea, I'm sure people would just say it's an emergency when they get an invite to the no-pets beach house for the weekend on Friday morning. There's really no good solution other than being very polite while saying you can't do it on such short notice.