My husband and I have an adorable 6-month old mini Sheepadoodle, Goon. He is the very definition of “first they are sour, then they are sweet” except the reverse. Our pup was house sat in our home by Andy for a few nights in April 2022 and I’m here to tell you we did not have a good experience. So much so that we cut our trip by 1 day to relieve Andy of his duties. To give you some background - my husband and I both pride ourselves on having a pretty well-behaved pup. We put a lot of work into his training and keeping things fairly consistent. In return, we have received many compliments from friends, family and Andy himself about how well he listens for his age. We recognize that the saying “no one loves your pup like you do” reigns true when it comes to hiring someone from Rover. Which is why I created a 4 page guide for Andy with some of the more basic things to stay consistent on to keep Goon’s experience as seamless as possible. This guide contained a good bit of content: feeding & walking schedule, maximum crate times, cleaning procedures, basic training “don’ts”, how to use our TV, where to park, what he can/can’t use in our kitchen, and much more. I had the experience of communicating these expectations pre-booking via the Rover app, in-person 2 days prior to the sitting and again on the day the sitting started. Throughout Andy’s house sitting for our puppy, Goon, there were several things that showed us that Andy did not have respect for our home, did not properly care for our puppy and did not respect us, the owners. I am appreciative that we have video footage from internal and external cameras (that Andy was aware of) of all of these items: eating about $75 worth of food from our fridge and cabinets (even though we specifically called out not to do this), neglecting to communicate accidents (including one to our couch), using a urine-soaked mop head to clean our floors (thus leaving a hefty urine smell that took 6 hours to remove), leaving our backdoor unlocked while he left for several hours and our puppy was home alone, leaving our puppy in his crate overnight for almost 12 hours (he is good for up to 10) or during the day for over 5 (he is good for up to 4), missing walks that help get out the pup's energy (at least 1 per day), giving late breakfasts by anywhere from 60-90 minutes (and only waking up because I texted him asking him why I didn’t see them on the indoor camera), leaving our only semi-house trained puppy to run around the house without supervision or a house-line on several occasions and (my favorite) littering the trash from our eaten food in our backyard. My advice to you? Don’t book Andy. But if you must, here are my suggestions: (1) don’t book him for a house sitting stay until you are confident that your home and furry friend will be cared at the level you desire. I recognize that the schedule and expectations I set for Andy were likely way more than he could handle. However, I communicated each of these expectations not only in the guide but in our messages pre-booking and Andy agreed to all of them. Additionally, (2) don’t book Andy if you have an animal that requires a stricter schedule (e.g., puppies, senior dogs, animals with behavioral issues, animals with medical needs). With Andy’s work schedule, he will say that he put’s you first but if he gets a last minute showing, you best believe he will leave your pup in his crate (missing walks, late meals, medication, etc.). Lastly, as a lesson learned from me (3) set clear communication expectations about accidents, leaving, behavioral issues, etc. I was a bit relaxed in this area and I wish I would have called out "don't leave from 10pm - 3am the first night our puppy is without us." Don't assume Andy (or whatever sitter you book) knows where you are uncomfortable. You may be asking, Liv, aren’t you in a previous review that gave Andy 5 stars? Why yes, yes I am. To give you some background - prior to booking this stay, we had chatted through the Rover app and booked him to do a drop in visit to feel him out for the longer stay. Our pup took very well to him and I really trusted that when he said he could commit to the schedule. At the time, I had no reason not to trust him. He had great reviews and even one that said their experience with Andy for their puppy went so well! Looking back, I really think he was just trying to get the sell. I’ve worked in sales for years and I’m embarrassed that I didn’t see this coming.

What an amazing person Andy is. He is so kind and polite. He made our dogs feel at home and safe. Thank you so much Andy. You are certainly a true animal lover.