I would cancel the stay and tell him this is not what you singed up for, or agreed upon. You can also suggest that he find a Rover house sitter, since his dog does not adjust well in other people's house. Rover sitter does not charge a premium, ruining your house and belongings is not worth it. I've been a Rover sitter since 2012. This is what I realized over the years.

Sorry that I am a bit slow, where do I find these scores? thanks!

Nicole, I feel for you, and I understand how you are feeling. I recently have had similar experience with not very honest owners. It also made me question why I even bother to be a dog sitter. My way to deal with this negative experience is stop accepting new clients (for a while), and book only with repeat clients who I know are nice/reasonable owners and good dogs. They help cheer me up and maybe one day I will be willing to accept new guests again. I agree with Mark that you should contact Rover and find a suitable substitute. From my point of view, chewing and destroying things and other bad behaviors were NOT what you signed up for based on the previous meet and greet. I believe you had every right to contact the owners in a professional manner and discuss alternative solutions instead of you and your family suffering through the whole stay. Owners should evaluate their dogs and judge if they should go into someone's home or not. I've been a Rover sitter for more than 4 years, and I've met very reasonable owners who would gracefully find solutions during stays when mishaps happened, and others would leave an emergency phone numbers if their dogs are not behaving. But there are some that just feel entitled to everything because they pay you a fee. Dog sitting is a business for Rover and a business for every dog sitter. In other businesses, if reality is different than what it was agreed upon, there would be negotiations or the deal is off. Why should dog sitter be any different? I love dogs and I enjoy dog sitting most of the time, but I aspire to be strong when doing business.

I've called Rover regarding damages before, the representative suggested that I could always negotiate with the owners. I do not think it is Rover policy that sitters just have to accept any damages in the house. It is just something they do not want to put down in writing. Sitters provide the service of caring for dogs, and I believe most sitters do not factor in the potential property damage cost when setting the rate. Sitters do need to be careful of the placement of things, but owners should also evaluate if their dogs are suitable of going into someone's house . Owners should not be encouraged of taking no responsibilities when damages happen. A hotel for human would charge for room damages, so does a dog boarding house in my opinion.

I think 15% is totally reasonable for getting customers for the first time. Rover provides an online platform and payment assistant. But for me, the advantages of using Rover does not go too much beyond. Sitters say the insurance is great. Is it really? It ONLY covers dog on dog injuries, and OWNER's properties if you watch dogs in owners house. I had dogs damaged items in my house and Rover told me" sorry, but you are on your own". Also, does anyone think they keep taking 15% from repeat clients is really reasonable? My clients come back because I did a good job. Rover did not do anything to help maintain the good relationships. I understand they need money to pay their employees, etc....but, I personally do not think this is fair.

I would give Rover a call. Let them tell you. I think its the quickest way to find out :)

I too have a problem of getting reviews, even the first timers. I asked at the end of the stay, owners agreed, but they often forgot. I do not want to bother people after waiting for the review a few weeks. However, I do not completely agree with not asking repeat clients to leave reviews, or repeat reviews are not as important. New owners can see that you have many repeat clients that way, and they represent a certain degree of trustworthiness. A few of my repeat clients understand that and are happy to help. In a perfect world, I would like every stay result to a review, no matter repeats for not :)

I've been with Rover for 3 full years, according to my experience. The slowest months are Sep after labor day until November. The time between January after the new year holiday, and Spring break is pretty slow too.

I am sorry this happened to you, unfortunately, the answer is no. Rover insurance only covers dog to dog injuries, and OWNERs' properties if you watch the dog in THEIR house. (personally I do not think this insurance is very useful). The only thing you can do is to settle the damage with the owners on your own. I hope these owners are gracious and reasonable people. In the future I suggest you have them sign a contract with you, stating property damages do not include in the fee they pay Rover.

I like your way of calculating. May I ask did you run into any owners that refuse to pay extra for late pick up, or you felt you lost a booking because of it? I would be a great help. Thank you!

I've had a lot of similar situation, and felt I've been taken advantage of too, but I've done nothing about it. I think I will start charging more for late pick up with new clients next year! thanks!

I like you policy, I've had dropped off at 6am, picked up at 12 am. I think I am being too nice. May I ask how did owner respond to the 9 to 9 picked up, dropped off policy? Have you lost bookings because of it? Thanks so much!

Unfortunately, I think this is an area Rover chose not to get involved with, which is too bad on sitters' part, good for themselves.

Thank you for the comment. I totally agree with you, and I am sorry that happened to you. I still believe sitters should ask for compensation when bad things happened. I think our fee is for the care we provide, and it does not include property damages. I think we need to make clear to owners from now on.

I guess if they don't agree to take responsibility, I will not watch their dog. I guess I just think being a dog sitter is a person to person business as well. Common curtesy in society should apply. Sitter should not automatically lay down and give in when unfortunate things happen.

Thanks for the comment. I think in my situation. The thing that bothered me the most is the owner did not seven say sorry, no apology for the dog, did not offer anything. From reading your post, at least your owner looked embarrassed, and there was a gesture (no matter its useful to you or not)

Yes, I would still give them a call. There is still hope and nothing to lose :)

I've just read other sitters having their own contract with dog owners about property damage and vet release. I might start doing that. Putting down pet owners are agreed to take part of responsibility for damage.

I would contact Rover for the situation for the extra cat care. Rover gets a cut of it for the additional service. I am sure they will help you contact the owner and make the payment right. We are sitters here, not running a charity.

Being a sitter has risks, but I would expect people to still have common courtesy. Owners paid for their dogs care, but it does not mean their dogs can do whatever in the sitters house without them taking part of the responsibility. Dogs are like children, if their children damaged things in their baby sitters house. How would a decent person not offer to compensate in any way? Human cant reason with dogs does not mean we cant reason with their owners.

Thank you for bringing up this issue. I have been a Rover sitter for 3 year and it never occurred to be to have my own contract with them to protect my property. I think I will write my own contract as well!

I have been a Rover Sitter for 3 full years. Today I experienced my first unpleasant pick up with a owner. Her 1 year old dog ate my Ugg boots, even though she told me many times her dog does not chew things. I told her the situation via Rover text, her response was "are you sure it was her? Thank you for telling us her behavior, we will work on her in the future." No saying sorrys or offer to compensate me any ways. I brought up the situation again during pick up, same thing, no sorrys, nothing. I finally asked her for some compensation. She became angry and said I attacked her character. People like this made me question why I even be Rover sitter. Rover insurance does not cover any property damages. We are left on our own when these things happen. Please share similar experience and solutions. Thanks!

Good point!

In my area it is a lot worse. 5 sitters in 1 to 2 mile radius. I hope it wont ever get that bad around you :)

Thanks for the comment, I am in a suburb north of Seattle. When I joined 3 years ago, each sitters are probably 3 to 5 miles away from each other. Now there are 3 or 4 sitters around me within 1 to 2 mile radius. I think this is something Rover should care about and not assume seasoned sitters are only affected minimally.