4.6

When me and my roommate booked this sitter, we were very excited. I had sung praise about rover to my roommate, because with my last two sitters, I’d had only great experiences, receiving lots of pictures of my pup looking happy and going on ridiculously long walks. The reviews for this sitter were also great, which especially gave my friend reassurance, as she was very anxious about leaving her very sensitive bully with someone. He cannot tolerate human food even slightly, as it leads to a bad diarrhea spell for days. So after finding some comfort in this sitter’s reviews, we reached out to book with her. She agreed to sit them, but only after slickly changing her price for an additional dog from $19 to $40, expecting me not to notice. We were desperate for a sitter, and she was still the most reasonably priced option with good reviews, so I made no mention of noticing the price change to the sitter and booked. We dropped our pups off around 5:30, instructed her about feeding them separately so they wouldn’t get into each others foods, and my friend made sure to emphasize not letting him have anything except HIS treats that were placed in his overnight bag (we had separate bags for each dog with their respective toys & treats). We had these conversations outside, then we walked together into her home to let the dogs in and say our goodbyes before hitting the road for a long drive to Ohio. Immediately after we let them off their leashes, my roommate’s food-sensitive dog walks straight over to a bowl of cat food that’s been left on the floor to begin helping himself. I’ve never owned a cat, so I don’t know if it is common to leave their food on the floor, but it certainly seems nothing short of moronic to me to leave cat food laying on the floor when you know you will be sitting two dogs for a night. It’s pretty common knowledge that dogs will try to eat anything that is made accessible to them. The sitter quickly picked up the cat food and placed it on the counter, and at that point, we could only pray my roommate’s dog hadn’t gotten too many swallows in of the food to upset his very sensitive tummy. We left for Ohio shortly after, and we received maybe one update around 6, then nothing again until I reached out myself to checkin around 10:30 when we were still on the road. I got a reassuring update (no mention of nice long walks, or fun playtime, just that they were doing fine and on good behavior) that was followed by some pictures of the pups lounging. Those were the only pictures I received from the sitter our entire booking. Around 3:40 am (me and my friend were both sleeping after our long drive so I didn’t see this text until the morning), I received a lengthy text that began “I am having issues with Kilo” (my roommate’s bully) and continued on about how he has been having diarrhea everywhere, including on her sheets, blankets, and pillows and that she would have to charge and additional $40 for cleaning products and replacing her personal items. No mention of how the dog was doing or if he was feeling ok, just that he had relieved himself in the home and she would need MORE money from us, after already dubiously changing her prices before we booked. She had already made the price modification and was prompting me to accept it. Now I am not saying she is lying about the diarrhea, but to demand an extra $40 without proof of said mess or even receipts for whatever cleaning products and sheets…. I’d have to be a fool to just sent this woman extra money because she said so. Also, I have never known a dog to pop a squat and start pooping on such an uneven surface as a bed, and my friend even added that her pup would always hide whenever he was having a diarrhea fit in the house and go to a covert corner to do his business. It would be strange behavior for him to blatantly start defecating on this woman’s bed right in front of her. Potty-trained dogs who’s upset tummies drive them to begin pooping in the house usually go to hide to do their business, and I have had this own experience with my dog as well. Also, I completely understand how this could be an inconvenience to someone, but when you sign up on an app to sit dogs, am I wrong to assume you should sometimes expect the unexpected, and have cleaning products handy?? AND needless to say, both our dogs were in good health when we brought them to you, but as soon as we walk into your home, one dog is able to get into cat food immediately. It makes me wonder how many other opportunities he had to do so, and its MORE THAN LIKELY the cause of his illness. It was also just upsetting to wake up to such a lengthy text literally COMPLAINING about a sick dog and demanding money. What about the dog? Is he feeling okay? Has he been drinking water throughout? How is he acting? Those were the questions I responded with, hoping she would see the error in her approach with the first message. She responds to my questions, then asks again about the money, to which I respond I wanted to discuss in person. I’m not about to argue with a complete stranger who is caring for our dogs over text. I had received no voluntary updates from her past the 30 min after we dropped them off, and only one set of pictures the night of. At this point, we barely felt comfortable that our dogs were in the care of someone who cared more about her personal items and money than the health of an animal in her care. The last thing we wanted to do is anger her while we were hundreds of miles from our dogs in Ohio. Finally, after a long drive back, we arrive to get our dogs around 11:40 pm. The sitter and her friend who I had never met before handed my dog over to me on his leash, but handed over my roommate’s dogs by his collar. Literally holding him by his collar. We ask for his leash and she says “oh, its not in the bag?” We had already checked our bags, which by the way, had been mismatched with each other dogs toys and food, but we double checked again and nothing. This is how I know this sitter was on bullsh** because why would you attempt to hand over one dog on a leash, and one dog without, pretending that their leash was in their bag? She and her friend keep us outside on the porch with the front door closed for at least 20 minutes, holding our dogs (my friend crouching to keep a hold of her dog by his collar) while they “search” the home for this missing leash. Me and my friend are both puzzled, as she claims to have walked our dogs. How did you walk my friend’s dog without a leash? Finally, after keeping us waiting out in the dark after a 6-hour drive back from Ohio, she comes out and apologizes and ADMITS she cant find the leash and has been looking for it since their stay began (the same leash that you had us triple-check our bags for is the one you’ve been searching for for the past 24+ hours??? pick a story, I’m begging you). She hands over a thin rope leash as consolation. My friend has an XL bully who pulls on his leash during walks. How the hell did this sitter walk him with what essentially was, a piece of string? And what the hell does she think we are about to do with this piece of string because it’s certainly not a suitable leash for walking either of our dogs. At this point, we are both upset and ready to go. After keeping us waiting outside on her porch at midnight with two tired pups and only one leash, just to admit to having lost one of our leashes, I wasn’t expecting her to have the audacity to bring up the diarrhea spell. But she did. She did have the audacity. She repeats essentially the same complaint she had sent over messages, and my friend, who at this point is blown beyond belief, emphasizes how she explained he was sensitive when we dropped them off and he 100% had to have gotten into something he shouldn’t have because the sitter (and her friend?) hadn’t been watching them properly. AS SOON AS WE WALKED INTO YOUR HOME, her dog had access to cat food. There was some back and forth conversation, but the gist of what the sitter and her friend were saying was that they kept the cats and such separate and that it wasn’t normal for a dog to be having diarrhea through the night like that (CLEARLY not dog owners, also CLEARLY never been sick with an upset stomach themselves before?? I’ve never known a stomach bug to be one and done, but I am so happy for them and their amazing health I guess. Also you’re right, it’s not normal. He was clearly made SICK and all you could think about was your belongings and requesting more money from us). My friend continues emphasizing he was in GOOD health when we brought him here, having literally come back from a routine vet visit earlier that week, so whatever the cause of his illness was related to the sitter’s care, or lackthereof. She concludes with “so what do you want from us” to which the sitter’s friend sheepishly replies “we just wanted to let you know”. I guess it finally occurred to them at that exact moment, after all they had put us and our dogs through, they would be CRAZY to ask us to accept a request for extra money. We leave and get home and walk our dogs for the night. My friends dog has a bowel movement and it is completely liquid. Even now as I am typing this review the morning after, he has been going all over the house, and looks absolutely terrible. He refuses to get up and is just laying on the floor helplessly between pooping spells. His feces has been green and contained blood. My dog, the night we brought them back, projectile-vomited while running to say hello to one of our other roommates. I’ve never seen my dog projectile-vomit, especially not while in the middle of walking over to someone. Needless to say, we had a TERRIBLE experience with this sitter, and I truly feel so bad for my friend and her poor pup, especially after I so proudly raved about how much I love using Rover when I need a dog sitter. I don’t know what this woman did to get these great reviews all over her profile, but she nearly killed our dogs. some additional things to note: i had provided my dog a kong filled w treats and peanut butter, as well as some treats in a baggie. my friend had also put some treats in a baggie for her dog as well. the kong treat i provided hadn’t been give to my dog, and if she gave either dog any treats, she took care to make the contents of the baggies look untouched. not only were they probably only going on walks long enough for them to do their business and go inside, they weren’t having any fun or treats inside the house either it would appear. also, as soon as we got back, before even taking them out for the night, both pups were ridiculously thirsty. i hadnt even unpacked my dogs food & water bowls yet but he was pacing at his food/water mat and looking at me, trying to signal he wanted water. i poured a cup for him and he drank it very quickly, along with 2 more refills of water as well… bowl licked clean. my roommate shared a similar story to me. i have no faith this woman was making sure they had access to fresh drinking water during their stay. This is especially upsetting because any living thing that is experiencing diarrhea should be taking in as much water as possible to prevent dehydration. My friend also cleaned her dog’s bowl the morning after and the bits and pieces in his bowl in no way resembled the kibble she had provided him. She said it was red and flaky and likely the same cat food he had gotten into at the start of the sitting. After having to relive all this to write this review, I can only describe this woman and her friend as sick, sick people, who have no idea how to care for dogs, and should not be on this app to provide care for anyone’s fur baby. I also have no idea who this friend was that also seemed to be supervising our dogs, but she certainly had a lot to say, and I’m sure she was a big motivation for all the price increases, as her friend likely suggested she’d give her the extra money for her help in the sitting.

Chinenye was great, very accommodating and Loki seemed to have had a great time with her. Extremely easy to deal with and great communication. Would recommend in a heartbeat.

Deuce enjoyed his stay with Chinenye. I received pictures as well as videos of Deuce at the park enjoying himself. Chinenye didn’t hesitate to call me if she had any questions regarding Deuce’s care. I would highly recommend Chinenye as a sitter for your fur babies.

Chinenye did a great job with our dog, Jack! She stayed in communication with us and sent pictures. We will definitely be using Chinenye in the future!

Chinenye is an amazing pet sitter!! She took such great care of both of our dogs that they were both sad when she was gone. She she updated us daily about any going on with our dogs made sure they were fed walked and always tired. We will use her from now on anytime we are out of town ( or when we just need a break)!

My dog loved staying with Chinenye! She took great care of him and sent lots of updates so I felt totally at ease about being away from my fur baby. Definitely recommend her!