An owner whose dog I am currently sitting -- let's call him Moe -- is not as housetrained as the owner claimed... at the meet and greet, she insisted he only needed to go out twice a day, 30 min after each meal.

Yesterday was my first day with Moe. As I work from home, I am fortunate to have the luxury of letting allowing very frequent potty breaks. My own dog doesn't go more than 2-3 hours without a trip outside. Moe spent plenty of time outside, sometimes peeing, sometimes not.

Today, as I was eating dinner, Moe left a large yellow puddle on the floor. At no point had he approached me or the backyard door to indicate he might need to go. And he had just been outside not long ago.

What do I do about this? Moe is with me for another 3 days, and I don't want to be in constant fear that he's going to make a mess (omg, what if he goes #2???).

Can I charge the owner for the mess? How do I do that?

Thanks for your comments!

Apparently if they just give you stars and no written review, it will not show up on your profile. Only the count will increase.

Turns out that if your client gives you a star-rating only, with no written comments, for your review, you are not notified and it does not show up as a 'verified stay' review on your profile :\

There was no food in the vomit, just very mucus-y filmy viscous liquid. It was so thick that when I wiped it up, it all moved together and nearly picked up together. I've never seen anything like it D:

Owner just said "Sorry to see this. He wasn't throwing up at home" :| Not helpful... Called Rover and they said to call the vet. I called the vet and they suggested to withhold food and water because it might be nausea. In the evening, try feeding him a quarter meal, then if he can hold it down, great. If he can't, make a vet appointment.

[edit] The real unfortunate thing is that I have to crate him now, to keep him away from the water the other dogs at my house have access to :[ This is one sad pup.

[edit again] Informed owner that I'll be withholding food and water, and he said he'd really prefer his dog have access to water... but the nurse said no water -_- I wonder if he will leave me a bad review now...

This is about a 7-8 month old Rhodesian Ridgeback.

We'd met him before, and noticed he had a fishy scent, so the owner gave him a bath before dropping him off this morning.

The day after meeting and playing with the pup, my dog threw up his food [very early, before breakfast] and had a very wet potty a little later. My dog is not known to throw up his food; I can only think of one other time he did that and it was because he had something lodged in his throat. We saw nothing in his vomit except mushy kibble.

This morning, the Ridgeback was dropped off for his first overnight stay. The owner mentioned the pup hadn't eaten breakfast at the normal time and said maybe he was protesting the boarding and we laughed it off. But then the pup threw up a a lot of very thick, mucus-y white foam. I've never seen anything like it. He still won't eat, from bowl or from hand [he just takes it then spits it out].

Also, I can still smell it, but it's definitely not as strong anymore. So I thought nothing of it.

I've told the owner, but no response yet. I'm about to call the dog's vet.

Any advice? :[ I'm extremely worried...

re: the phone number To be fair, I keep my out-of-state cell phone number because it's the one I've had for a very long time. I don't think the area code should be any factor. Also, if you're using Rover's provided numbers, mine doesn't match my cell phone or current state!

re: meeting a stranger If you are not comfortable, I'd suggest having a family member and/or friend at your home with you at the time of the Meet & Greet. I try to always schedule mine so that my husband is home with me. Alternatively, you could meet somewhere near your home, perhaps the corner coffee shop, and then if you feel safe, have the dog owner follow you home.

re: Rover account The fact that a person has contacted you on the site means they must have an account with Rover. Click on their name and make sure they have their dog(s) listed. I've had clients who are first-time Rover users, so they don't always have complete profiles. You could ask them to upload some pictures of themselves and their dog(s), if that helps you feel a bit better about them!

Good luck! I know working with strangers online can be pretty scary. Just remember to keep yourself safe first, even if it means a little bit of inconvenience for your clients.

Hehe I don't have that link since I only have 3 reviews. Plus the new one should be on top since it's most recent first, I believe. I hope it's not lost in cyberspace!

I got my second review from a client [yay!] but it's not showing up.

My profile says I have 4 reviews [two are testimonials from friends], but I only see 3.

Not sure if there is an approval process for these things. But for my first review, I got the email notification pretty immediately and was able to read it on my profile as well.

I think people can still leave a testimonial; if I recall correctly, it's something Rover encourages you to do during profile set-up!

Wow thanks everyone for the lengthy, informative replies! They offered much for me to consider and try out throughout the rest of her stay. [and for future guests]

What I ended up trying was giving the Maltipoo my cat's carrier crate. It's a hard-sided crate that is mostly covered except for the front door, which is metal wire. There's a plush comforter inside, which the cat loves to just sink into.

I placed the houseguest into the carrier and left the door wide open. She immediately laid down and whimpered a little bit, but seemed to settle. I watched her in there a few seconds, then went downstairs. I changed nothing else: she's still alone in the room, her bed and toys are scattered around her, and the doorway of the room is gated.

This seemed to work!! I heard no barking as I was leaving, and it was silent when I got home 20 min later!! I went up to see her, and she was still looking snug and comfy in the cat carrier. I'm not sure if she left it at all, or barked when I was gone, but this is a significant improvement :D

I told the owner, and she seemed really pleased and grateful for the results.

Appreciate your help, Jean :] Some of your suggestions are a bit more work than I am willing to commit to this guest haha, like the baby monitor, but the tips for training sound like things I should look into. Thanks!

I asked the owner, and she has never done anything to discourage the barking [at sudden noises, strangers in the house, men outside, etc]. Your suggestions are great, thanks. I love that you say 'make good choices' haha... I often tell my dog 'you know better!' :]

Thanks, Amber! I've read a bit about citronella, but am reluctant to try something that seems so new/invasive/startling. I wouldn't do it to my own dog [thank goodness he doesn't bark!], so I'd feel bad doing it to someone else's :P Those Rescue drops sound interesting, I'll look into them!

I can see your profile! So it looks like the link is active and you can directly send people to your profile if you're advertising:

https://www.rover.com/members/susan-b...

I don't as of yet see you in search results, but there are TONS of dogwalkers listed for your area. You'll improve your chances of showing up near the beginning of the results if you respond quickly to all messages, get some testimonials/reviews [you can get friends to help you with these before you get your first real review from a Rover client], and posting photos.

Not sure how long the process to come up in search results actually takes, but I know for me it was about a week for the email to show up. But like you, the link worked perfectly fine from the get go, and they can contact you on the site.

• EDIT * Oops my apologies, guess you actually can't be contacted yet :[ Just the link works and they can view your profile. My mistake! Hope they get back to you soon~

This is about my current houseguest, a 1.75 yo female Maltipoo. Some background on her:

• she's been here two weeks so far, out of her 50+ day stay
• mostly very sweet, warmed up to us humans quickly
• very much a lap dog at times, but seems fine curled up on the floor too
• not crate trained
• easily startled by sudden/unfamiliar noises
• barks her head off at people at our door, cars passing by... super annoying :[

We've left her alone twice so far. The first was when we went out to dinner, and we left her and our dog in a single gated room on the second floor, with their respective beds and toys. The night air was cool and breezy, so we left the windows open for them. She was barking SO loudly and shrilly that we had to come back in the house to close the windows, for fear of complaints from the neighbors. We could still hear her from outside, but she was much more muted.

Second time was when I had to drop off my husband somewhere. I was gone ~20 min. I thought maybe she was uncomfortable with Whisky in the same room, so he was crated in his usual spot in the basement. But the same thing: she barked like crazy and I had to keep the windows shut.

The worst part is that Whisky could still hear her -- she is VERY loud in the house -- and he seems to have picked up on some of her barking :[ We have never heard him bark when home alone, and normally he had been a quiet and calm pup. I think she riles him up a bit and he wants to join in the ruckus. I'm afraid our dog will pick up on her bad habits.

I mentioned the barking to the owner. The owner knows that her dog barks at noises/strangers, but she said the dog has never barked when home alone, as far as she knows.

Any suggestions?

I've heard that dogs might do this because they aren't getting all the nutrients they need. It's a totally 'natural' behavior [though of course we find it totally disgusting!]

Did you gradually transition him from his original food to this new one? You may want to take another look at what this new brand is offering him, compared to the old one. Depending on the age, size, breed, and activity level of your doggy, he may need something more appropriate for him!