Our experience with Carolyn for house-sitting over the Christmas holiday was disappointing. We had left written instructions that she should stay from the pet's dinnertime (6-7 pm) until breakfast time (7-8 am) and that she not be gone for periods longer than 4 hrs during the day since the pets are accustomed to us working from home. We have security cameras on the external doors and could quickly see that she leaving the house each evening and wasn't returning after 8 am. She was also gone from 10 am until 8 pm the first day and from 2 pm until 8 pm the second day, so the pets could not have had their dinner on time either. When she was gone for an extended period on the third day, I sent a text saying the dogs were barking in the canyon and she returned after a total absence of 6 hrs. By then the dogs had dug up the back yard (something they do when they are bored or anxious). I later saw video footage of her cleaning up the dirt, and then flipping the dogs off with her middle finger before turning to smile at the security camera. Carolyn never walked the dogs during her stay, and while it had been rainy, there were long stretches of time when it wasn't. Our golden retriever, in particular, needs a lot of exercise and so this would have been challenging for him. After our maid of 20-years visited the house on Day 5 and reported back to us what she found, we felt we needed to arrange an emergency replacement. Upon that person's arrival, Carolyn was apparently having wine with a gentleman friend in the kitchen, all of the windows on the first floor were open and the heat was blasting, there were piles of crumpled, clean toilet paper filling the toilet and the bathroom floor next to it (almost 12 rolls were gone on our return), and the mailbox was full of uncollected mail. They also said water jug shared by our 2 dogs was empty and that there was about 2 inches of water remaining in their dish. Carolyn has since offered the explanation that she interpreted something I said in the 2 minutes before running out the door to mean our house was haunted and that her gentleman friend was a paranormal investigator. While I am truly sorry for any misunderstanding (none of our previous house-sitters, housekeepers or friends have reported to us that our house is haunted), I don't understand how such a belief prevented Carolyn from walking the dogs, collecting the mail, or many of the other things that seemed to have been done (or not done) during her stay. I do feel badly if she really was scared staying in an unfamiliar home. I just wish she had notified us and Rover when she realized that she was unable or unwilling to fulfill her duties so we could have arranged for alternate care. The pets are the ones I feel most worried about in this experience.

This was our first experience with Rover and it couldn’t have gone better. It can be a stressful experience to not only leave your pets in the care of someone you don’t know, but also to have them living in your home. From the beginning, Carolyn was responsive to every question and was right on time in meeting with us for an interview, as well as a walk through before our vacation. An early flight out made it a VERY early start for meeting before heading to the airport, but again she was right on time. Our two dogs took to her immediately, and she kept them busy so they didn’t feel anxious about our being gone. I would recommend her for anyone considering house sitting or pet care. We already are dreaming of our next getaway, and not having to worry about who will watch over our pets and house is a huge relief.