Issue 1: Since your dog can't talk it's hard to judge just how well taken care of he or she has been during their stay with a Rover caregiver. However, there are some telltale signs you can look for before and after a stay. Recently, we reserved with Edwin for the second time to care for our Labradoodle while we took a six-day vacation. The reservation was made over three months in advance in order to ensure his availability and reconfirmed several times as to dates and particulars before the drop off date. Upon dropping the dog off at the appointed time (12 hours before our flight) we were shocked to learn that Edwin had erroneously recorded the dates of the dog's stay and would not be able to keep him the last night due to plans he had made for a vacation of his own. After a great deal of trouble, we were able to secure a family member to pick the dog up one day early and keep him until our flight home arrived the next day. We believe this is unacceptable especially after we paid in advance for the service, confirmed via Rover several times during the weeks previous to the stay (acknowledged by Edwin) and did everything else we could to ensure a smooth event. Issue 2: Upon arrival to drop the dog off we noted that, in addition to Edwin's two dogs, there were two additional dogs in the home that were being cared for by Edwin making a total of five dogs including ours. We never thought to ask how many animals a Rover caregiver is allowed to board at the same time but were troubled that the information was not provided to us ahead of time. Edwin's wife assured us that the two additional dogs would be leaving the next day but did not state whether additional animals would arrive during the week they had our dog. Again, our dog can't talk so we have no idea what actually occurred during his time with them. Conclusion; if we wanted the dog to be kept in a kennel we would use one and wouldn't need Rover. Issue 3: Communication. Unlike our first experience with Edwin in 2016, this time around we found that it was difficult to contact him or receive TIMELY responses to our questions. Calls to his number were routed to voicemail and getting responses to text messages was hit and miss. We learned that his Rover associated phone number is a mobile phone and not a direct link to his home phone. Given the mixup regarding the dog's stay, we were keenly interested in ensuring that the family member picking the dog up was able to communicate with Edwin to avoid further problems. It's our opinion that caregivers should answer their phones and respond timely to questions client might have. What we learned: If you think you've asked enough questions of a potential caregiver you probably haven't. I don't know how much more we could have done given our previous experience and the number of confirming contacts we made in the weeks prior to the stay but the notion that a caregiver would not honor a paid in full reservation is deeply troubling. In addition, the exact circumstances regarding how many animals will be under the care of the caregiver during your pet's stay should be clearly stated in advance. If your animal is sensitive to other dogs this could be an important determinant of whether you want to use them to fulfill your need. Finally, Insist that a potential caregiver has provided you with good contact information and agrees to respond to your inquiries in a timely fashion. We're not "helicopter" dog parents but, given the initial concerns at dropoff were anxious to know that arrangements for the dog's pickup would be unhindered by misunderstandings. The dog seems none the worse for wear after his stay with Edwin but next time.........

Our dog Princess was well taken care of while we were gone. This was our second time we left Princess with Sharon and Edwin and we will be using their services again the next time we go out of town. Very nice couple.