My dog who passed away 2 years ago is in many of the photos on my profile plus I mention him in my bio. However I don't have him listed as a dog on my account so that if an owner is searching for a home without other pets mine will come up. I have his ashes and a memory box displayed in my house, so during meet and greets owners can see that as well.

Reach out to Rover support. If you cancelled it within your cancellation window I think you'd still get paid per those guidelines. Rover support can refund the owner the full amount!

I would contact Rover support. I wasn't aware they provided this service as I have never seen it advertised, but hopefully their support person can assist you.

However, microchips are not a GPS device - you can't "track" your dog using them. They get scanned if your pet is brought into a shelter or vet's office, and which point your contact information would be available to them to reach out to you. In the meantime you can call around to shelters or vets, post on local groups (facebook, craigslist, etc.) or put flyers up around the area your dog was lost.

I hope you find her soon!

If the cat absolutely must have the medication within a certain time frame, you ask the owners if you can have a friend assist you. One of you could toss a towel over the cat and hold it in a way that the other could administer the medication. This is obviously far from ideal as it would stress you and the cat out, so I'd encourage you to keep trying to win the kitty over, but if it's life or death, a scared cat is better than a dead cat!

I've received requests from owners new to Rover, and have asked owners to fill out their dog's profile prior to the meet and greet so we can avoid redundant questions. Most owners apologize and oblige! Many owners just don't take the time to complete an entire profile if they're looking for someone right away, so don't let the lack of information alone be a red flag!

For house sitting (or any service where you are doing the M&G in a client's home) you could have a friend or spouse stay in the car out front while you go inside. That gives you an out if you feel uncomfortable or need to end the visit - "I've got to go, my friend is waiting for me in the car". I've also given my boyfriend the name and address of the person I'm meeting, and asked him to call me a set number of minutes into our meeting. That way if I'm uncomfortable I can use the call as an excuse to go.

For boarding I try to have M&Gs when my boyfriend can be home. If he can't be, I tell him who/when I'm meeting and to ask him call me if he hasn't heard from me by a set time. I also will leave the front door and windows open (weather permitting!) and close the doors to the bathrooms or bedrooms to make it feel like as 'public' of a space as possible.

Best of luck!

As a sitter I actually had a similar situation from the other side. An owner contacted me about a service for the next day, which I did show availability for, but they wanted to drop the dog off at the one time I wasn't available. I tried offering alternative times and even offered to pick the dog up after my prior commitment, but the time he needed was all he could do. Rover doesn't allow sitters to block off time slots on our calendars, so in this case I wasn't available to fit this customer's needs, despite my calendar showing otherwise.

I would suggest reaching out to Rover Match like Walt said. And like Erica mentioned, I do think that most sitters want to be available, and hopefully they will make an effort to work with you and your schedule! Best of luck to you.

When the client got home early did they mention anything about when you could leave? I would have assumed that you should still leave at your planned time if not earlier! If you're uncomfortable with leaving unannounced, you can message them through Rover ("Hi owner, I stayed until the time we previously discussed, and since you're now home I think doggo will be fine. Please let me know if you have any questions when you wake up!") or leave a note to the same effect. Just let the dog out for one last potty, feed any planned meals, and head home!

Personally as an owner, I would be weirded out if I woke up from a nap to find my dog sitter still hanging around. I'd assume that the owner wanted you to gather your stuff and leave early, or no later than your previously discussed departure. Unless there's some reason that the dog has to be constantly supervised, I don't see any reason you would need to stick around any longer.

I would let them know that in order for you to be able to care for their birds, and in order for the birds to be covered by Rover's insurance, each bird needs to be added to the reservation. Then decide how much you want to charge for each bird and communicate that. Hopefully the owners understand that the care of 5 large birds is extra work and will take you significantly longer than just the 2 dogs!

In the future when owners have surprise pets at M&G, you can say "oh, I didn't realize you also had [insert extra pets]. Just so we're all covered under Rover's insurance, we'll need to add them to your profile as well. My rate for each additional pet is [$X], so once you add them to the reservation I will update the quote!"

Your time and service are worth this, so don't be afraid to talk to the owners!

A lot of owners don't fill out their full profiles. They may have created the profile in December but ended up not booking any services. Are there any other reasons you would think this is a scam? Has the owner asked to communicate outside of Rover, or are their messages oddly specific?

I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. Continue to message with them and feel it out - if you still think it's not legitimate, let Rover know, archive the message and move on.

I would suggest asking your dog sitter what her plan is if she goes into labor during her stay - perhaps she has a partner or family member she's planning to pass it off to, in which case you can ask to meet them as well. If she has no plans, Rover does offer a guarantee that if the sitter you booked with is unable to continue the booking for any reason, Rover will facilitate finding and hiring another sitter for you.

It sound like it this is a little bit on everyone.

• RM#1 is the primary responsible party for the dog while it's in your home
• RM #2 knows that dog is inclined to jump on tables, and should put away things the dog could get into or ruin
• RM #3 took responsibility for the dog this day, and knows the dog jumps on tables, so should have been conscious of where they placed the glass of water and what it was around

Personally, I think the boyfriend should be paying for the laptop replacement. He is getting free doggy daycare out of the arrangement! RM #3 should have apologized for not thinking. RM #2 should take responsibility for leaving their $2k laptop out and in a place that it could be damaged.

Think of it as if it were a pair of shoes. RM #2 left them out, when they knew the dog would be in/around the house, and RM #3 didn't keep a close enough eye on the dog, and the dog chewed them up. In this case, why would it be RM #1 fault?

Many pet owners also work full time, and as long as your rates are fair they probably will understand that you have to work as well.

I work a full time job in addition to watching dogs on Rover. I make sure clients know this in the initial message (as well as it being in my profile) and that their dogs will be left alone for up to 4 hours at a time on weekdays (I always come home for a long lunch when I'm dog sitting). I've never had an issue with an owner or dog by not continuously being home.

For what it's worth, I think Kristin C.'s rates are already very low. As long as she is up front and honest with owners about the level of care and supervision she can provide, I think working in addition to Rover is just fine!

With your additional dog fee for house sitting, I would think $45/night is fair, or you could bump it up another $5-10 for the cats. You can explain that the first cat is free, but since they have 3 you will charge a nominal fee to cover them.

I'd also suggest you check the rates of other comparable sitters in your area. You shouldn't sell yourself short, as I'm sure 2 high energy dogs and 3 cats (2 of which are kittens!) will be a lot to handle. Also take into account how long the animals can be left alone - will you be able to take other walks or drop-ins, or work at another job during the time?

As long as you have reasons to support your rate, I think you'll be fine!

I think we've all been there and had a dog that wasn't as described/expected/etc. You always have the option of contacting Rover support and asking them to find another sitter, but I would suggest you try to tough this out and use it as a learning situation!

First things first - find a way to keep the dog separate from your cats. I have purchased 2 collapsible crates and 2 fold-able gates/playpens to use for my business with Rover. You can keep the dog separate from the cats by baby-gating her into a bathroom or kitchen, or keep the cats separate by closing them in a bedroom. No it's not ideal, but it can be manageable for another couple days. Check Amazon for crates and gates (Amazon Warehouse has good deals!) as well as local garage sales, Craigslist, etc. You don't have to spend a fortune to be able to secure your home.

Second, add something to your profile about the dogs size and weight limits. I've had bulldogs that look small, but when you pick them up they are hefty! I would also suggest that you let owners know in one of your first messages that you can take their dog to work with you, but only if they are able to be carried and can behave in an office environment. Additionally, you can stress that the dog has to really be okay with cats because of your home's set up (not just "well we don't have one and he's never seen one except once in a while on our walks, so he'd probably be fine").

Finally, as all the others have said, make sure you do a meet and greet going forward. It's not worth your sanity for future bookings if you end up in a similar situation. It sucks that you had to have this experience, but hopefully you'll be better prepared next time!

I would send them a message and explain that because their dog is in heat and due to the extra time and energy that will require from you, you will send an updated booking request for an additional $X fee per day. Hopefully the owners are amenable to this, but if they refuse you'll be faced with either keeping the dog for the same fee, or having to contact Rover and find a new sitter.

In the future when accepting unfixed female dogs you now know to ask if the owner knows their dog's heat cycle and approximate dates to expect it, should it overlap with your care.

I agree with Walt. Another option would be to list both at 6, and as you fill up with one, manually adjust your calendar for the other. For example, I offered both house sitting and boarding, but I obviously wouldn't be able to do both on the same night. But since I didn't know which service potential clients may want, I listed myself as available for both services. Once I booked a request for one, I dropped my availability to 0 for the other. This will only work well if you're able to update your calendar frequently, but may alleviate some of the unknown about what potential clients are looking for!