My practice is first person to book that I am willing to accept after meet and greet gets it. But this is your business and there is always exceptions to any rule. I do usually let people know other clients are inquiring about the same date as well and so if they can let me know as soon as possible if I don't hear from them within a certain time frame usually 24 hours after meet and greet I can not guarantee availability. A lot of times that will help you book up quicker as well. Good luck.

Yes this is really strange sorry that they have blocked off communication. If it is safe to keep the dogs separated I would at least give it another day or two and meanwhile see if you can communicate by finding out where they live and looking for them there.

This happens a lot on Rover. There were a lot less clients shopping around on DogVaycay before that got bought out by Rover. Hang in there, the more clients you book the less new meet and greets you will be inclined to go to. I have great customer retention repeats and so I haven't had to look for a new client for a while but I don't look forward to all the meet and greets its one of the reasons I have not accepted new clients as well.

How long was the agreed upon stay supposed to last? You say you have been watching them for almost a week but you don't say when the pickup was supposed to be scheduled for? Also since the food is running low it is hard to tell if that is because they overextended their stay or just under packed?

Before going to pound I would wait at least a day or 2 past the date of pickup with no communication. If they are away they may just be unable to communicate (just giving them benefit of the doubt) if not maybe you can reach out to alternative solutions like a foster home type situation I would have to have the dogs go to the pound.

Please consider you will likely be getting more requests for Holidays as it approaches so if you know for sure the dog is dog-aggressive I would likely not accept. I have only had one dog I consider dog-aggressive, I separated him from my dogs and he was unhappy and destructive to property so it was not worth it financially or otherwise . I do take one pair of dogs that are territorial which I consider different from dog-aggressive but still a safety concern, when I accept these dogs I block myself from accepting any other clients. I find it worth it since it is the fee for 2 dogs and usually a long stay min a week. Since the dog is territorial they can meet/hang out with my dogs in the backyard with no issues, inside they are both crate trained and listen really well so that helps a lot I leave crate open but if he growls even a little its back to the room he goes and then I will close the crate for a little while. (So maybe if the dog is crate trained it can work but realize most dogs will want to be with you especially dog-aggressive dogs seem to love people so this may not work if they do not get enough of your time and they will get anxiety they should be crate trained by their owners don't try to crate train yourself unless you are a trainer).

Great idea on the walk I haven't been taking new clients for a while but I have been thinking of doing this when I do as some dogs may be difficult to walk but not to take care of in the house for boarding.

To be honest even if your are home 24 hrs you still need to know. Like a previous person stated you can be on a walk with their dog or taking a shower or just whatever, I never understand why people don’t tell you the time. I personally don’t like disruptions while prepping dinner or eating. I just polite to try and plan day, I can make a quick run to pickup something to eat, etc. I have asked clients to let me know approximately and as time gets closer to text me with better estimates or confirmation as I need to plan around it, get myself ready and my dogs ready.

I like your idea of a virtual tour of house I think it doesn’t have to be a full house tour, just mostly common living areas and yard most clients are on concerned with size of yard and fencing height and gaps. I really like this idea as my initial meet and greets have to be in a neutral territory like dog park as my dog needs lots of dog sniffing if it’s in the house like way too much lol but I don’t like having to go show my house after as some clients did request that and a virtual tour would help eliminate that need. I would not charge for meet and greets as it is helpful to you as well to get to know the dog and client.

I agree with what everyone else said and just wanted to add reason for discounting on multiple dogs for me is, it is one pick up and one drop off (same waiting period if they are running late or something it is not 2 different clients running late) sometimes for me that can be the most not fun part of the job so I do discount for this and not because it is two dogs but because it is one client to deal with. Having said that the work is same as if it was two different dogs one may not get a long with a certain type of dog or vice versa so to me I discount $10/day but that is me and the importance I place on time saved for having one client.

Thanks Jennifer you are right I am overthinking it and will just put my terms out there, I think partly because it is not a great fit anyways.

Thanks Deb, didn't think about that option for drop in's but I think that does make even more sense as he isn't a good fit for the dogs I will be having that weekend.

I need advice on how best to let one of my repeat clients know I am changing my policy for stays over 24hours needing additional charge for daycare on additional hours. I have gotten to the point where I only take repeat clients as I have wanted to slow the business down some and make it more manageable, so I have been very loose and flexible on stays with a morning drop off and a pickup in afternoon and evening. But notice her in particular will always do it not just once in a while like the rest of my clients. Also they always tend to be weekend stays only where most of my other clients are longer stays. So most recently she has been doing instead of a 2 day stay for the weekend from Friday morning to Sunday evening, she has been doing 1 day stays from Sat morning to Sunday evening after 20% fee to Rover its literally $28 for what I consider pretty much to whole weekend, so its not worth it and I have just been saying I am booked. One of the reasons it is also not worth it is the dog is a handful, he is high energy and difficult to calm down and chill, and having the whole weekend like that can be too much sometimes. Also not every dog appreciates all that energy lol especially when they are timid, so it can be extra work and attention just to make sure he doesn't upset another dog. He also doesn't listen to me if I need him to go somewhere else so I always have to find creative ways to make him do what I need, he will get aggressive if you try to just pick him up and move him when he is trying to get his way, for those reasons he doesn't really work out well at other sitters. So now my client is coming back as it has been difficult to find a sitter and I feel bad so I am thinking of taking him but I can't do it for a one day stay so how do I bring up that my policy is changing in regards to the fee especially since I didn't charge her in the past for additional time over 24 hours?

Bitter apple didn't work for me, I haven't tried no go. What helped me was using doggie diapers for a period of time to help establish the potty routine as mentions by previous response. The diapers are not for potty training but since my dog is already potty trained and was basically marking territory it helped him understand he can't mark with the diapers on. He was marking my bed so that was the worst :(