After scouring through Rover to find the perfect dog sitter, we came across Jessica's page and thought we'd found the perfect match. She has a number of excellent reviews and previously worked at a veterinarian clinic. We met for a screening and she seemed to get along with with the dogs so it was a go - she would be staying in our home watching after our 3 dogs for our 2 week trip over seas. We meticulously typed up their feeding schedules, sleeping arrangements, rules of the house, etc so no there would be no questions and no mistakes. We first suspected problems when she asked us a couple days before our trip if we would pay her outside of the Rover system so she could circumvent their fees. We declined as this was our first time using Rover and we wanted to be protected by their insurance and brand. Next, barely 3 days into our trip, we were notified that the dogs were being crated for an excess of 7 hours straight. We specified in our guidelines that 5 hours was the absolute maximum, anything beyond that is unacceptable and borders cruelty. From the outset, we were assured that this wouldn't be an issue as she works from home as a publication editor so any time away from the pups would be minimal. We next found out that she was pet sitting others animals as well which on the surface doesn't seem like an issue but when you're paying nearly $100/day you expect next to undivided attention. Did she promise the same level of care to those animals as she had to us? The next issue that we had was we specified that under no circumstances were she to have guests over. Somehow she interpreted that as it was ok to have a sleepover with someone in our bed. It’s hard enough to allow someone you don’t know into your home while you’re away, let alone someone you’ve never met. The last issue that we had was one of our dogs sustained an injury in our absence. Could it be from roughhousing with one of the other pups? Sure but as someone who works from home, who is being paid specifically to watch the dogs, and to crate them in her absence, wouldn't she have noticed rough play that resulted in an injury? Overall, the dogs are alive, the house didn't burn down, no large ticket possessions missing, but it appears that she loves dogs as much as a pimp loves his hoes; they're the means to her ends.

Jessica was great. We have a complicated brood of 5 pets with diff foods, personalities & exercise needs - she took it all in stride. She was equally comfortable with my 6 lb Chihuahua as she was with my 85 lb American Bulldog (both are a handful in their own ways). She's got a great even temperament and is good at handling unexpected things. She lost her phone yet still sent regular updates. We missed our flight and she couldn't stay an extra day, so she called family & friends to create an emergency back up plan until we returned. And she even did the laundry before we returned & moved our car across the street each week for street sweeping. Very respectful of our space as well as responsible with our pets.