I have a question. If her dogs stops coughing and feels good, how long it takes for a dog to be not contagious? The stay is in 3 weeks.

Yes, thanks! That's what I was thinking about! I am so sorry to hear about your experience. It reminded me when I found out that one my client had fleas. I had to isolate the dog and send it home asap. After I had to sanitize the whole house.

My dog got the bordetella vaccine. Also all dogs I watch are required to be up to date with all necessary vaccines. But as you said, there is no 100% guarantee.

Yeah, I was reading that a dog while having symptoms is still contagious. And even after cough disappears, a dog can still carry virus for some time. I can't risk my or my guest dogs getting sick. I will ask an owner to wait for symptoms to go away completely + couple weeks before we meet.

I received a request from a client with a dog who picked up kennel cough at a boarding kennel last month. The dog rarely coughs and was put on antibiotics couple days ago. The owner says that the dogs is ok now and will take meds until the next week. I suggested to do meet and greet next week after her dog completes antibiotics. However, I am a little worried about my dog or my guest dogs catching cough during meet&greet. Supposedly, a dog contracted it a over a month ago, but I read that a dog can still be contagious. The owner says that a dog is totally fine. What shall I do? A stay is in 3 weeks. Shall I postpone meet&greet until the week after?

That's a good questions. I want to know it too. However, it is very strange that an owner thought to board dogs for $10 a nigh each...

I love how you give a firm but still an accommodating message. It helps pet parents to understand why you have set prices and if they decide to opt, you still have good relationship with them.

I will do. Thanks:)

weed out "price shopping" customers. Btw I agree with you that we live in a time where everything is cheap. However, if people wan't the cheapest price, they shouldn't expect the best care.

My prices are average in the area. I tried once to raise them and got a request from a customer who later wrote that she would never pay that kind of money...so I thought maybe it was a little high so I returned to old prices. But I will consider Jennifer's and your advice on pricing if it helps to

Thank you! I really needed to hear that I am not alone facing this situation and to hear some words of encouragement. I will keep on providing the best care to my clients and try not to get discouraged. Also I will also try to explain why I am charging what I am charging if people try to bargain.

Yes, I guess it is a balance to be happy that your business is profitable and to have a satisfied customer:) Gladly, a majority of clients don't negotiate and appreciate when their loved ones are well taken care of.

I am a bit worried to sound negative if I state no negotiations. Maybe I can give a pricing policy in the top section of my profile in addition to a rate box just as a reminder. Maybe people will pay more attention.

I am pretty flexible and I do offer discounted prices for longer stays and multiple dogs from one family. All prices are stated clearly in a pricing section on my profile. I also give additional generous discounts to my existing regular customers because I know their dogs well, enjoy watching them and appreciate them coming back to me. But every month I get two or three new clients who contact me and try to negotiate my prices! I mean if you have a pet and can't afford an accommodation for it while you are going on vacation, please don't get one. Or sometimes people with two or more dogs expect a much lower price than my discounted price, but it takes the same amount of work to take care of each one. And after a rover fee and taxes are taken out, that would make a penny. I had a client who knew my prices and showed up with two dogs and still asked me if I would offer a lower rate. She ended up asking her relatives to watch her dogs because she didn't want to spend that amount of money. I mean I understand that we all have different budgets. But I feel upset when my time is wasted and services are devalued. On top of that these unbooked stays affect rating in search. So I am thinking how to state" no price negotiation policy" in my profile a nice way:)

Now I understand the reason behind it. I guess it is better to extend the stay so that each dog is covered under rover's insurance. Thanks

I called to Rover again and was told that insurance won't cover any pets after 24 hour period. They also said that all sitters should book any extra time as a day care not as a cost adjustment.

I used to add an extra fee for a late pickup as a cost adjustment. But this time when I had to call rover to help a client to add another dog, they insisted that I book a late pick up fee as a day care. I was told that the reason behind it is boarding insurance covers only 24 hours from the drop off time. So any extra time needs to be booked separately and not as a cost adjustment. My question is how does rover know what time a booking started? How do you add a fee for extra time?

I would actually clarify what they meant by a short visit. Some people might expect you to come for 5 minutes. Maybe these owners wants you to stay for 15 minutes. I always ask in a written form through rover in the beginning. I would also be as nice as possible through the stay just to avoid any problems. Then I would never provide services to them!

I agree with Fannie, an aggressive dog should be separated. Do you have baby gates? I don't like to use crates in my house, but I do use play pens and baby gates if needed. That way a dog has room to hang out and everyone is safe. She might even feel more comfortable and at ease in a separated area just for her.

I think this merging did stir a lot of sitters with many reviews together. If before there were only a few sitters with many reviews, now there are many more. I do feel that I wasn't getting a high number of new bookings as it was last year. However, I have my regular customers and it pays off. Actually, I am happy that everyone is accommodated and I don't have to turn people down because I am busy. As for dog vacay and rover sitters merging, I think with the time it will all even up. There are a lot of people with dogs and now rover is the major dog care website! When it comes to lower rates, I was tempted to lower them at first. Then I decided to keep them as they are because I value the services that I provide. I keep the house clean, walk dogs multiple times a day, keep the number of dogs small and I only care for smaller dogs. I want my client to be the one who values services that I provide, not looking for the cheapest rate.

There is this dog I took in. The owner said she is aggressive on the leash. But she actually does fine on the leash. The problem is when we get home. She tried to nip on my dog when he smelled her toy (which I put away now) and over a bowl of water. She is extremely possessive. She also tried to attack a couple of times a dog I was sitting. Luckily I was there and grabbed her right away. Nobody was hurt. Now I separated her in another room and told a client that she is aggressive. While it works ok when she stays in another room, I worry about a bad impression my clients get when they come to drop their dogs off and pick up. This dog barks like crazy and has very deep and strong bark.

Would you care for such dog again? Do you sit such dogs?