Hearing about Rover's lack of oversight of their independent contractors makes me want to look for other alternatives. It sounds too much like what's going on with Uber & Lyft in which the clients are getting victiimized. I have not used Rover yet but the lack of quality assurance & enforcement is making me have second thoughts about using it. I'm sure there are good people listed but I don't want to risk getting dupped by a scammer posing as a responsible sitter not to mention risk the life & health of my dog. I think it is very suspicious that almost all the ratings are 5 star. Are negative reviews not posted???

I'm vistiting from out of town and have a dinner engagement to attend. I don't want to leave my dog alone in a strange environment in case he barks while I'm away. Does Rover offer nightime & evening dogsitting by the hour just like I'd do to hire a babysitter? Or 'Daycare' for the evening hours at the sitter's home? Will they provide the service when staying at a friend's home? hotel room? rental unit? How much would they charge and how would I book & pay for it since that is not an option offered on the menu? Also how can I do a search to find sitters who'd be willing to provide this service? Again, there is no option provide on the menu. This will probably not be a one time occurance also since I need to frequently come to town and bring my dog.

You can try teaching your dog the 'Leave It' command. In this case, he is barking to tell you there is something new & unusual you need to come see. Acknowledge this, let him know you have it under control & he needs to relinquish any concerns to you by obeying your 'Leave It' & 'Quiet/Settle'. He should then be rewarded if he remains calm & quiet. Another possiblility is to Classically Condition him to view all strangers as good & friendly. You would de-sensitize him by giving him a coveted high value treat or his favorite reward whenever he sees a stranger. The reward should be given while he remains 'Below Threshold'/ non-reactive. Creating some distance between the stimuli and the dog will help him remian calm. As he improves he can get closer. It helps if he gets the treat only under these circumstances. This can be time consuming training & requires lots of patience. You will have to do 100's of repetitions especially if he is being territorial. Classically Conditioning him will help change the way he 'feels' and have lasting results as long as nothing bad occurs that would make him feel differently. His barking should be addressed ASAP before it becomes a habit. Barking is self rewarding and the longer it continues the harder it will be to correct. Negative punishments like electric collars may give short quick results but usually are not lasting especially if the dog is willful. It may also lead to aggression because they will begin to associate pain with whatever they are barking at. To understand his behavior more fully, I would read 'Barking, the Sound of a Language' by Turid Rugaas. It is a short book that's concise, well written & packed full of info. It should be read carefully or more than once to fully absorb the concepts. It is fairly inexpensive paperback available on Amazon. If he is being territorial wtih people walking by, one other thing you could try is to create a neutral zone by using some wire fencing & stake poles to create a double fence.The neutral zone should be at least a few feet wide. If it works & he improves, you can always make it smaller to give him back more yard area to play in. Hope this helps. I have meet many a pitbull mix that were more sweet tempered than a lot of unsocailized Golden Retrievers. If you are interested in more dog training advice, I would sign up for the Dunbar Academy. It is only $8/month cancelable at any time. If you go to dunbar.info/id307, I believe you can still get a free 1 month trial. It gives you access to a plethora of videos, lectures, articles and advice. Let us know how it goes,