Unfortunately, we had a very stressful and poor experience with Sydney, which I realize is at odds with the majority of her other reviews on this app. There are certainly two sides to every story, but from my perspective, Sydney did not follow instructions, was uncommunicative, and demonstrated a complete lack of respect for our home and privacy. Sydney was hired to stay and watch my dog, a 1.5yo shepsky and my parents' dog, a 16yo chiweenie in my parents' home for 6 days. While we were gone, there was an unfortunate situation in the beginning where my skittish shepsky escaped into the backyard and refused to come inside all day. I know this was stressful for Sydney and I truly would not have written a poor review if this was the only issue we faced. This situation was the start of the lack of communication, however: it wasn't until I prompted Sydney asking how the morning was going that she mentioned she was having difficulty with bringing her in, so I have to wonder when exactly she would have told me about the issue if I hadn't been proactive. Furthermore, although I had requested daily pictures and updates, I only received pictures on two of the days and no updates unless I deliberately asked Sydney about how the dogs were doing. She never mentioned any other issues, so I assumed all was well. On the day we were to return home, she informed us that a neighbor's dog (who we had invited into the house to bring my shepsky back inside on the first day) had broken something in the backyard, which was strange because 1) the dog should not have been in our backyard and 2) the dog was only supposed to have been over on the very first day, so why was this only being brought to my attention on the last day? But again, I didn't want to make a big deal out of it since this was at the end of the trip after such a bumpy start that I knew was stressful for her. When we returned home, we were stunned to find multiple poop/pee accidents in the house, which has never happened before with other sitters. These were not new accidents, as they were extremely dry/hardened and the house reeked but Sydney had not informed us of the accidents at any point, and obviously she hadn't cleaned them (or cleaned them well) because the carpet had to be thrown out and the bedding taken to dry cleaning. Pet sitters should immediately inform the owner if the pet has had an accident or if they are having any issues, in case there was something seriously wrong. This is especially true in my case because I had mentioned my shepsky has been having stomach issues and going through food allergy testing over the last few months so Sydney would need to be extremely watchful with what my dog eats inside and outside. Additionally, when we went to the backyard, we found tons of dried poop left around, even though I had left out poop bags and clear instructions about where to throw the bags in the backyard. We also found broken glass in the master bathroom upstairs, which Sydney should not have been using for any reason other than to fill up the dogs water bowl upstairs. When asked, she said that was from a glass contacts bottle and she thought she had cleaned it up, but there were at least five significant pieces of glass left on the floor that any of us or the dogs could have stepped on, and, again, she was supposed to be staying downstairs and should not have been using my parents bathroom. Lastly - we have a closet downstairs where we keep some coats and shoes. I had mentioned, during both the meet and greet, and in the printed instructions I left Sydney, that my shepsky will chew shoes left lying around, so she should make sure to keep her shoes on the other side of the gate (we have a baby gate in the house so Aasha can't go upstairs) or she will eat your shoes. At some point during the stay, for some unknown reason, Sydney took my shoes out of the closet, left them on the side of the gate with my dog who (as expected) chewed them up, and then put the chewed up shoes back into the closet, and didn't bother tell me. It was truly horrible to come back from a trip and feel like the space had been misused and dirtied and to question whether your animals were properly cared for. Given the rest of her reviews, maybe Sydney was going through something over the course of this booking and therefore distracted and unable to provide the necessary care for our pets, but the bare minimum of care in my opinion is following instructions, staying in communication, and keeping a client's space as clean as possible, and unfortunately Sydney did not do that at all.

Sydney has been a fantastic sitter for our dogs, Jettson and Slinky. Our home is treated with respect, and Sydney's thoughtful updates, complete with delightful photos, keep us connected with our fur babies throughout the day. We feel a remarkable level of comfort, knowing she adheres to feeding schedules and ensures regular walks. Jettson and Slinky clearly adore her, and we're grateful for the peace of mind Sydney brings to our time away from home.