I had a disappointing experience with Melissa. We met a couple of times before the sitting and my dog, Paco, really seemed to like her. He let her pet him a ton and seemed to really be taken with her. Let me preface this by explaining our home setup: Paco and I live primarily in the detached apartment. My parents live in the main house on the same property. We made it clear to Melissa that she was more than welcome to use that house for cooking, laundry, hanging out etc. We never imagined that she’d spend most of her time in the house away from Paco. The first day she arrived two hours late past our agreed upon time. Spent some time in the house before bothering to go to the apartment where Paco was. Immediately sent me an unfriendly message saying he tried to bite her? This was immediately concerning because he’s not the type of dog to bite unless he’s being threatened. We have many security cameras that showed she spent 36 minutes total with him the first day. She spent the night in the house away from him, fed him breakfast for like 5 minutes the next morning, before leaving for a yoga retreat. The next couple of days seemed to be okay, she was able to take him out and he was apparently more friendly with her. However things went wrong on the fifth day of the booking. She left in the morning and didn’t return for 7 hours, which is way beyond the 3-5 hours she describes on her profile. Four minutes after she returned, she sent me a very curt text message saying Paco had bitten her and she was ending her pet sitting service effective that night… What? My dog is not the type to bite without provocation. I’d given her plenty of warning that he is a rescue and prone to resource guarding, reactivity to other dogs etc.; she had reassured me she was experienced with behaviorally challenged dogs. Well, she agreed to do the right thing and at least drop in and feed him meals until I was able to fly back from South Korea. It was unbelievably stressful to book a last-minute flight home, not to mention costly. This was a trip with my parents and I missed spending Mother’s Day with my mom. I came back and things were not exactly ship-shape. My poor Paco had spent so much time alone, he chewed the carpet and wooden baseboards in an act of despair and anxiety, leading to an emergency vet visit to ensure he hadn’t swallowed any foreign bodies. Melissa left the lockbox open with numbers completely exposed; anyone could have come and helped themselves into our house. She had gone into a house bedroom we had asked her not to enter, taken a blanket, and left it crumpled in the living room. The disrespect she showed to our family was pretty astounding. If you hire Melissa be aware that she is a very busy woman with 3 other jobs. Her yoga, photography and consulting businesses will take her away from your pets for many hours per day. She was not honest about the amount of time she would spend with my dog. She never bothered to explain what happened with the alleged dog bite. Apparently she needed medical care but why didn’t she give me the details of the events of that day? She spent only minutes with him before the alleged “bite”. Who’s to say she didn’t handle him roughly? My dog is a 16-pound Chihuahua mix. He has had two previous successful 2-week-long sits through Rover, and two previous dog daily dog walkers. Her account simply doesn’t add up. Be warned, Melissa’s primary priority is Melissa, and she will fit your pet into her schedule if/when she can.

Melissa is a compassionate, trustworthy, and reliable pet sitter who has taken loving care of our dog several times. Our sensitive dog is relaxed and happy when we return. I highly recommend her as a pet and house sitter. Peace of mind around pet care is everything. Melissa goes above and beyond.