I am writing this review to make sure that no one has to go through the experience I went through after hiring Nicole. I interviewed Nicole in person prior to hiring her and really liked her. She came across as friendly and trustworthy. I hired her over another sitter because I thought she seemed great and she said she had a flexible schedule and would not need to leave my dogs alone all day for more than 4 hours. I gave her detailed notes and she visited on the day prior to my 7-day trip to the east coast for business at which time I emphasized that the dogs should not be left in the yard early or late am because they would bark and disturb the neighbors. I left for my trip at 9:30 am and Nicole said she would come by that day at noon. I had a 9-hour delay at the airport during which time I texted her to see if she made it to my house mid-day. I received a text from her in the late afternoon saying that it had been a "busy day," she had left her phone in her back pack, and she had to "meet up with someone unexpectedly" and she would be by after 5 pm. She texted at 5:57 pm to let me know she had arrived after the dogs had been left for 8 hours. After some texting back and forth of photos at 6 pm she apologized for not being more communicative and indicated that she was "used to more laid back pet owners." I made light of the situation and figured all would be well. At 12:50 am while I was on the plane flying to the east coast, she texted me another photo of one of my dogs and indicated that she was about to go to bed (which I assumed meant in my house as she agreed to do). When my plane landed at 1 am pacific time/4 am east coast time, I noticed a text from my neighbor who has an infant who said the dogs were in the back yard barking. I looked on my backyard camera and saw video footage showing that the dogs were in fact in the back yard from 1 am - late morning. After texting and calling Nicole multiple times I was left with no other choice but to call Rover. I did not hear from Nicole until 8:25 am/11:25 am east coast time at which time she indicated via text that she was sorry and that she got sick and had to sleep in her own bed so she put the dogs in the yard and went home. She was apologetic and offered to watch the dogs the remainder of the week for free. However, after spending over 3 stressful hours of my business meeting texting and calling Rover, Nicole, neighbors, and family and friends to try to find a solution, I was not willing to trust her again with my dogs (If this is what she did for $90 per day, I was not willing to risk seeing what she would do for her offer of "free"). Bottom line - This was my first time using Rover and it was a colossal disaster. In addition, Rover did little in the way of assistance or compensation for the situation beyond offering to find another sitter which I was not willing to do without having first had the opportunity to do an interview. I no longer trust Rover as a company for overnight sitters. While there may be very good sitters and I did have one good experience with a Rover walker who helped out after my friend had to come to emergency rescue my dogs and watch them for the entire week, the uncertainty of the Rover experience and the risk of my dogs being abandoned while I am away and helpless to take care of them is not something I am willing to risk again. Nicole did not do her job, attempted to make it appear that she was staying at my house when in fact she put my dogs in my backyard and left my house to sleep in her own home, did not handle the situation responsibly if she was in fact sick (I had left multiple phone #s for her to call), and put me in a difficult situation that I had little control over. I wish her all the best in her endeavors and do not want to be unfair in my review in the event that she simply found herself in a situation where she was sick and did not use the best judgement in resolving the situation. However, I cannot recommend her as an overnight pet sitter and want to do what I can to prevent this from happening to anyone else in the future.

Nicole was great with our puppy. Good communication, followed all requests, and sent plenty of updates. Recommend Nicole, especially if you have a young puppy.