4.8

Nicole G. cancelled a booking within a day of the start date.

Nicole was absolutely fantastic with my two dogs (a 4-year-old Puggle and a 5-year-old German Shepherd) while we were away for five nights. It was such a relief to enjoy our trip knowing they were in such great hands. She went above and beyond with walks, feedings, and plenty of affection. She also kept me updated with wonderful photos throughout the stay—the dogs seemed so happy and relaxed that I joked they almost didn't want me to come home! I highly recommend Nicole to anyone looking for a caring, reliable, and attentive sitter.

Nicole accepted my last minute booking and meet and greet! She provided great care to my pup and from the pictures it's clear he took to her immediately :) Thank you so much for coming through, Nicole!

Very flexible and great with our two basset hounds. I’d definitely recommend her!

Nicole is great and goes above and beyond to coax timid dog out from hiding :)

**Ignores repeat instruction and prioritizes gas mileage over animal safety.** Bare with me as I wrote this and it deleted. My friend who also does walks talked with me at length. I contacted Rover after my dog was left for 2.5 hours after being notified he was chewing on things. This is after I checked in on him because I noticed she wasn't there yet [an hour after the official Rover time] and was curious. This was 3.5 hours after the Rover time that she showed. I agreed to a window understanding the gas prices are high and she preferred to organize her walks based on neighborhoods. However, I would think that an emergency you would prioritize the dog you know is eating things they shouldn't. It is my fault for not being harder on the kenneling. However in her 2-hour meet and greet where I struggled to be assertive and say I needed to focus on moving into my new apartment [which she later said was dirty and used as an excuse for cleaning instead of making sure my dog was properly exercised while simultaneously saying that I asked her to do], during this meeting she said that she had an anxious dog herself that had chewed up floorboards. I naively understood this to mean that she understands the importance of ensuring dogs don't do that. Furthermore, communication is extremely rough. And accountability is lacking. I contacted Rover to see how to handle this situation and received the following message: "Really? You called the emergency line? There's mud on the pillow because of the pouring rain the day before. You didn't have a towel for me to wipe his paws and he got on the bed immediately and laic on the pillow. To complain that didn't spend enough time with him because you asked me to clean up the mess is spiteful. I would've absolutely walked him longer if I didn't have to clean up. Yesterday was a day where I had back-to-back obligations from morning thru the evening. I couldn't linger." [I'm coming back at the end of writing this and realizing through reading text exchange that this is actually full of twisting what has literally been said in text to make me feel guilty as I quite literally have told her the statement at the very bottom of this review in which I state, "don't worry about cleaning" and further tell her to focus on my dog himself.] The bed by the way is my actual fairly new mattress that is in a cover. She didn't communicate that there was mud [I'd have directed her to the front desk where they would have let her into the dog washroom or even my shower which is a walk-in-accessible shower or even just kenneling but letting him on my brand new bed is wild] to which even my friend from out of state was trying to figure out where the mud came from. I didn't ask her to clean up I specifically said, "please don't trash it. Just put it in the cabinet and put him in the kennel when you're done today." Which was in reference to me finding out he was getting into things. Had she told me that he had muddy paws I would have figured something out or told her to put him in the kennel. Allowing him to just lay on my mattress with muddy paws is wild [I'm just now realizing that he had muddy paws two days ago after her text today.] This is the extent of that communication: Her: "It's cold and wet outside. Is there something in particular you want me to wipe Ike's paws off with when we get back?" Me: " No. I don't really have anything" Me: " Did Ike get into something??" [I was confused on how he'd have gotten into anything that messed up his paws.] She reassured me by saying: "I don't know if he did it, but there was cat food on the floor. He did poop but then essentially dragged me back inside. I guess he's not a fan of the cold rain" It was actually dog food. Which is also crazy because she's filled that bowl before. But I had no indicator that it was anything other than wet weather she was trying to get off of his paws. I live in a neighborhood that I pay a ton of money for her to have resources like a dog wash and an actual dog park with artificial turf which I literally walked her to so I'm still confused and am at present moment getting more angry while typing that she tried pinning her lack of communication on me. I noticed the mud last night while on the phone with Rover trying to figure out how to handle the situation. I didn't know it would start an investigation, but upon further reflection, maybe it needs to happen. Either way this is why my friend has been saying I needed to consider looking into someone new. Clearly she was right and I'm nervous because of giving people grace because I'm a mess sometimes too. I should have listened to my gut when she was talking about, "I'll f* with a narcissist" unprompted. This and her not understanding "hey make sure nothing bad is out or actually just kennel him but make sure you're focusing on him" is why I didn't feel comfortable trying to directly communicate with him further. I've said directly what I've needed. And she didn't hear me even though she stated that she understood it. The worst part is her not taking accountability and saying that I was just mad because she didn't "linger" [idc about lingering. I just want her to do what she agreed to and actually communicate. Per my friend, "the bare minimum of a dog walker."] It's the worst part because that's in response to me calling Rover because at 2 hours after she was supposed to show up I checked my Furbo and realized my dog was getting into things because he hadn't been walked, yet she assured me that she would be there shortly while not showing up for another hour and a half. This is why he was actively getting into things. After which, when she actually did show, she didn't listen to me ask her to not trash things and simply put them in one of the bags available to her which I gave her a location in case she didn't feel comfortable simply putting them on the counter and kennel him per my request. During the exchange today she blamed me and said that I asked her to clean up which I directly did not. I explicitly asked her not to trash things. The importance being that I felt like I might not get the information I need and clearly I was correct because I didn't even realize until 2 days later that his paws have been muddy. The issue isn't the muddy paws it's the lack of communication. The lack of communication is concerning because my dog got into something with chocolate and ate gum and the indicators were in the trash where she directly did the opposite of what I asked her to do. It wouldn't have been nearly a problem if she told me the things that she saw he ate or took a picture of them but neither of those were done. It's important because for anyone who doesn't have a dog with a trash can gut, that could potentially kill their dog. Both chocolate and xylitol are deadly to dogs. I'm just fortunate in this instance. Next time I'll cancel and go home myself. It's a huge lesson learned. He was scheduled for 12pm, I agreed to flexibility of no later than 2pm. I assumed she wasn't so irresponsible that she wouldn't be outside of the 2pm hour when my phone died at work and I was stressed because it was week 2 of work. Me @ 12:57pm: "Hey he dragged stuff onto the floor. Please don't trash it just put it on the cabinet and put him in the kennel when you're done today." Her @ 12:58pm: "Okie doke" Me @ 13:05pm: "Actually just the soup box can go in the box by the trash. But yeah if you can put him back in the kennel and everything on the counter near the microwave I'll deal with it later He got into a bag of mail with my calendars" Her @ 1:20pm: "Good Lord! He is on one today!" Her @ 1:49pm [11 mins before the max latest time]: "By the way, I'll be heading to Ike as soon as I wrap up the walk I'm on with two big goofy dogs" Me @ 2:11pm: "Sounds good" Her @ 2:16pm: "Sorry for being so late. My walks are scattered all over today." Rover notified me she got there at 3:20pm. 1.5 hours after his scheduled walk time, 1.5 outside the agreed upon latest time, and 2.5 hours after being notified he was getting into something. Essentially it devolved into me wanting her to just make sure my dog was okay because at 2:30pm it's too late for me to go home. While I understand trying to maximize timing for gas, there just really are some limits when it comes to an animal's safety or what you've agreed to do. I'm sure other pet owners would understand if a dog you're walking has an emergency. I know I would. I've even demonstrated that I was accepting of her needing to walk other dogs in a schedule that worked for her. I have flexibility, but not that much flexibility. If she knew she was that late, she should have said something. I told her there were bags available in the counter " There are paper bags above the microwave you can put things in to put back on my calendar." ← I was stressed and didn't realize I said calendar not counter, but instead of just picking things up and not throwing them away per my, "Hey he dragged stuff onto the floor. Please don't trash it just put it on the cabinet and put him in the kennel when you're done today.", she spent time GOING THROUGH EVERYTHING and trashing whatever looked like trash [the wrappers of the things he consumed which were important for knowing if he needed to go to the eVet.] She then had the audacity to be pissed that I would call about her "not spending enough time with [my dog]" when it was the fact that she was so focused on "helping me" with my apartment rather than focusing on the safety of my dog. [She'd spent part of the two hours telling me she could help me go to my old apartment and pack because she "felt bad for me", she also asked if I wanted the litterbox cleaned and said she had clients that she "organized for them".] I think that maybe while she loves dogs, this isn't the right job for her because, like me because I am ADHD like she has stated multiple times both to me and in her responses to people], we struggle with focusing on the correct things. The difference is, that I know a dog's safety and my actual job are of higher importance than whatever my Neurodivergency is itching at me to do. In fact, yesterday was so stressful, I couldn't focus at my actual job because I didn't know if I should tell my manager I needed to go home [something I'm trying to reserve for my actual disabilities] or trust that she would show up and do the correct thing. And today when I actually have a flare-up where I needed to focus on driving home, I received the message about contacting Rover. Regarding Kenneling and Safety and apparently me *literally telling her to not clean*: Her: "Yeah, he seems very happy and excited when we're walking. He was definitely thrilled to not go in his kennel. He was very reluctant to go in yesterday." Me the following day: "Oh yeah I forgot to tell you earlier today that if Ike does that, dont worry about cleaning, just walk him, take him to the little dog park, and put him in the kennel and tell me if it's hot because otherwise he continues to be destructive throughout the day." [She consistently told me if she was hot, but failed to do every other item in that text and tried to say I told her to clean the mess.] Me: "I think he did it because the water fountain was empty." Me: "He has good days and bad days. 🤷🏻‍♀️" Me: "He doesn't just stop with food. He's chewed a door. [Sorry been moving out of old apartment.]" Her: "Dang it! I should’ve noticed that the fountain was empty. Sorry about that. 😔 OK. Next time he makes a mess, I’ll put him in his kennel after the walk. 😕" Her: "Not a door! My dog has previously chewed thru floorboards, a door frame and ate a whole in the wall. She used to have horrible, separation anxiety." Me: "Lololol it's okay! He's a mess. And I hate putting him in the kennel too, but I have come to terms with that's what's best till I can get him settled. Half a day out is better than no time out" Me: "And he's better safe" Me: "Yeah that's what I'm worried about is that whatever triggers that in him sometimes causing him to start chewing on something and then he gets an obstruction." Me: "I'd rather him safe." Me: "I put water in his kennel but that's only so that he has the option. He frequently chooses to not drink water or eat until I'm home." Her: "No, you're right. Dogs are very good at looking pathetic. I pretty much fall for it every time." She eventually said: "Totally fair! And, if that's what you request, that's what I'll do. You know what's best for your pup and unless it's some kind of cruel and unusual punishment, I will comply. I know that you won't do anything like that and I've never experienced that. However, if someone said to tie a dog to a tree and leave them outside, I would never do it. As an example." All of that being said, I communicated my needs and she agreed then never met them. No indication she couldn't handle them. No indication she didn't want to. Only stating that I made her do the things she did when I quite literally asked her to not do said things. No real communication either. Left my dog at risk of an obstruction when I'd apparently literally ensure to verbalize that concern. And then blaming me for everything when I reached out to Rover. Maybe she's overloaded, but in trying to find new walkers, they've not been worried about missing an opportunity with me and instead been upfront about their capabilities vs my limits on my needs. If she can't handle it she needs to evaluate her load. And I need to evaluate why her getting herself locked out of her car with 4 dogs in it [granted with AC] wasn't a red flag. [I can accept stuff happens because it certainly does to me, but I'm also allowed to realize that I don't want this person caring for my animal. Sadly, I thought it was going decently just some communication issues. I was willing to silently walk away, but her response makes me feel the need to warn others.] It's definitely my fault for not vetting walkers until last minute and now I'll be testing out several so I have a list in case I have one that doesn't work out or in case something happens to my primary. Lesson learned.