Let me preface this by saying Stephanie has clearly cared for other dogs well given her 5 star reviews from other people. So we’re only sharing our experience because it was particularly troubling and in the event that it helps other owners. One final preface - we obviously weren’t at the house with the dogs, so it’s difficult to assess the level of care throughout the whole week. We only know what we saw during pick up which was not great. On the positive side, Stephanie seemed very nice and kind and we received some helpful communication throughout the six night stay including photos and videos so we assumed all was going well. However, we were very disappointed when we picked them up. When we coordinated a pickup with Stephanie, she unexpectedly wasn’t present and someone else opened up to let us take the dogs. They were confused by our arrival and when they understood who we were, they still kept the door shut while they got the dogs who appeared to be crated. I finally went in and I found our two crates in a back room with no space for the dogs to move. There was shredded black plastic bits all around and in one of our dog crates. Most alarmingly, one of our dogs crates and bed was also completely soiled with urine. The other dog who didn’t pee in her crate immediately ran outside and stopped to pee for a long time which is unusual for her. Both of our dogs are fully potty trained and don’t have accidents. Which leads us to think that our dogs were crated for 12+ hours consecutively with no opportunity to relieve themselves. Both of our dogs smelled like urine and their fur was dirty and soiled. Unfortunately, they also both came home with fleas which we’ve dealing with for a week. Fleas happen, it comes with the territory, but the soiling isn’t ok. Importantly, besides not having had the opportunity to go potty, they were also seemingly extremely dehydrated. Both dogs were desperately looking for water when we picked them up, and even tried drinking liquid from a Dunkin’ cup on the sidewalk out of desperation. They emptied multiple water bowls when we got home in one sitting. Again, it’s hard to assess exactly what happened during the full duration of their stay, but potty breaks and water are basic necessities that were not met when we picked them up, causing both of our dogs (and ourselves) a lot of stress. As mentioned, Stephanie was polite and nice to us and has a positive record according to her reviews. She did apologize during pick up (she arrived just as we were leaving) and shared that the dogs were let out frequently. Only she and the people who were there really know. All we know is what we described above which isn’t ok. If we did this again, I would make sure to clarify and confirm expectations and request more photos and updates to confirm feeding, drinking, and peeing schedules were being met.

Stephanie did an amazing job. It was my first time using Rover and she kept me updated the whole time! My dog seemed to be having the time of her life!