DID NOT STAY OVERNIGHT DESPITE PAYING FOR SERVICE This was not the first time we used Shahzoda to sit our 2 dogs but it will be the last. Our recent experience was a very poor one. I have highlighted the reasons for this below: 1. Failure to provide the service paid for: we left for Europe on Friday night. We received an update about the dogs on Saturday. We received no update on Sunday. On Monday I requested an update on how they were doing. At that point I was told that the dogs had been left on their own on Sunday night, due to the parking situation in our area. This is despite the fact we paid for overnight in-home boarding. We have always been clear about the parking in our area-you must have a residents permit between 8am and 8pm. We were told at the first introductions that this would not be an issue. However, this time, the sitter felt it was appropriate to leave the dogs during the night for fear of getting a ticket the next morning, even though they had until 8am to leave. As any dog owner can imagine, this was very stressful and upsetting to hear. Our dogs have NEVER stayed overnight on their own, which is why we pay a lot of money for overnight sitting where they can feel safe and comfortable in their own home. One of our dogs is a 10 year old Newfoundland and the other a rescue shepherd. They cannot be left on their own. When we called to ask for an explanation, we were told that they could stay over if that is what we wanted. That is what we had clearly paid for! According to the sitter they stayed until 4am and returned the following morning to feed and walk the dogs. This does not make any sense, bearing in mind the previous parking concerns. We contacted Rover about this who stated someone else could be sent, but this would have been more upsetting to the dogs at that point so we proceeded with the sitting as it was, being very clear, again, on our expectations. 2. Failure to follow instructions: our dogs have some special requirements, which we are always very clear about. We do not want our Newf walked twice a day. He doesn’t need it at his age, especially in the hot weather. We were very explicit in this but were told he had been taken for a walk one evening which was against our wishes -we want to receive daily updates and photos of the dogs and are clear in asking for this. We had to ask for updates more than once during the trip 3. Failure to communicate: our shepherd has anxiety issues and can have accidents in the house which we can expect. She did have accidents this time which we were told about. We were not however told that our Newfie had pooped quite badly in the house. We have runners on the ground for him and he had clearly pooped on that when we got home. There was some effort to clean this from the runner, but there was poop on the walls and furniture also, where he had some on his tail and it got spread around. It was totally obvious that he had an accident based on the condition of his back end. This was not dealt with at all. He has a sensitive tummy at his age. It appears that he was given a rawhide bone while we were away, based on the residue on his chest and paws. We never gave instructions that either dog was to receive this bone, which was in a closet in the house. This no doubt caused his issues, as he never has toileting accidents in the house. When we arrived home, he also had a lot of green hard pus around his eye, clearly an eye infection. This had obviously been building up for a few days but at no point were we informed he had an issue, nor was it cleaned. While accidents and eye pus are unfortunate, and not something most people want to deal with, I am afraid it is part and parcel of dealing with dogs, especially when you are being paid to do so. The apartment and the amount of evidence of accidents we returned to was very concerning and it begs the question of how long the dogs spent on their own. We don’t write this negative review lightly but we have no other choice based on the service we received and the situations we had to deal with. No dog owner should have to deal with this when they are paying for a service and only want their dogs well cared for when they are away. This was so stressful for us. We chose this sitter first day as our dogs had a very positive response to her and her boyfriend when they first met. As they have special needs this was important to us. Unfortunately we cannot recommend this sitter for overnight services and will be looking elsewhere in future.

Shahz and her fiance took great care of our pooch. Even in the bitter cold weather they gave him good walks. He clearly got lots of attention and came home happy and tired. They were very flexible and responsive about drop off and pick up times. I would definitely leave our dog with them again!