I’ve taken a couple of days to gather my thoughts to accurately write my experience using Taylor as a dog sitter. Firstly, I think she is a kind and positive person who does have good intentions and loves animals. However, I think the summary of my experience using Taylor’s services can be summed up as completely missed expectations and some unnecessary negligence on her part. When I first dropped Leo off, I had a bit of a gut-check when I met Taylor. Although she was bubbly and so incredibly kind, I felt like I had to slow her down from taking Leo to explain how his food needs were handled and some extra things about his care. She asked very few questions and just seemed to be in a rush to take him. This might come across as reassuring to some, but for someone like me and my dog who is older, I appreciate a dog sitter who is calm and takes a bit of time with drop off to ensure questions/thoughts are communicated. Ultimately, I thought my gut was being ridiculous as she had great reviews (and experience?) so I left Leo in her care. He was dropped off on a Saturday at 9:30A. On Sunday late afternoon/evening I hadn’t heard from Taylor at all about how the stay was going. When I requested her services I also indicated that I would like daily updates/pictures on Leo’s stay. So when I hadn’t heard from her in over 24hrs I sent her a message on Sunday at around 6P asking “hello, how has Leo been? Has he been ok with the other dogs?” (She has two in her home that I knew of) To her credit, she responded swiftly saying he was doing ok…but no pictures or videos to prove it (like I had requested). I once again was a bit nervous, but pushed those thoughts down again thinking I was being overbearing. The next time I got an update on Leo it was a phone-call on Tuesday (if you’re keeping notes, this is two days later from her ONLY update (prompted from me.) And guess who the call was from? Was it from Taylor? Uh no. It was from two guardian angels who I will be eternally grateful to…they had found Leo wandering the mountain roads outside and called me directly from my number listed on his collar. Luckily they were nearby neighbors to Taylor (so he hadn’t gone far) and they let me know he was safe and ok in their temporary care. To say I was absolutely horrifically shocked would be an understatement. I was across the country and no way to get back to retrieve my dog, so ultimately had to arrange for Leo to go back into Taylor’s care for the duration of my trip. I asked her to PLEASE send me a photo of Leo so I could see he was back in her care. Once again, to her credit, she was communicative when prompted and she did send a photo. However when the photo came through it made me and my family members I were with gasp —- he was dirtier than I have EVER seen him in the 10 years I have owned him. I realized in this moment that Leo, my senior INDOOR dog had most likely been spending quite some time outdoors to get that dirty and rough looking. This right here is the crux of what I believe were our missed expectations. When I pay to have Leo watched in someone’s home, I expect him to be in their home. Leo is not even 20 pounds—if he’s spending that much time outside that means his safety is in major jeopardy. When we messaged and chatted in person Taylor never mentioned he would be outside for significant portions of time. Everyone who owns animals in the mountains knows that coyotes are a threat up here to their pets, especially small ones. So, the thought of Leo being kept outside AT ALL or at the very least, without constant eyes on him while he’s outside was horrifying to me. Coyotes jump fences all the time and kill small dogs. This is where I take ownership, perhaps I should have shared this with Taylor, (I.e, he’s little, don’t keep him outside.) but, honesty…isn’t that pretty darn obvious? I booked IN HOME care. We talked about IN HOME care and letting him lounge around the house and go on short walks, and to put up the trash can because he’s a trash monster…and that he has a bad back leg so please be gentle with him…etc etc…we didn’t talk about how he’d end up looking like a dirt pile because she’d just let him roam around the yard with big dogs unsupervised. I’m sorry, WHAT??! How did we completely miss each other on this? I’m baffled. I’ve booked over a dozen dog sitters using Rover and never once has this expectation been so readily missed. In short, I will say throughout the ordeal Taylor was extremely apologetic about Leo getting out. I do know she was horrified and cared deeply about making it right. Apparently he was outside (ermmm) in her fenced in area with her large-breed dogs. She put them all out there and just let them all be together without having eyes on them I guess? Anyways, her dogs dug holes around her fences and apparently Leo must have snuck out through one of the holes they dug. No further comment. I’m honestly just eternally grateful he’s ok and to the couple who found him. At the end of the day, that’s what matters…he’s ok. Wednesday I flew across the country to get back home and drove the remaining 5 hours back home like a bat out of hell as fast as possible to get my dog. Upon retrieval he was extremely dirty, extremely smelly (also his dog bed was very dirty too) and I was still a bit in shock but just relieved to have eyes on him so I did not mention my shock at his appearance to Taylor. I dropped him off not being as perfectly clean as he generally is (I even mentioned to her at drop off “sorry he’s not super fluffy clean right now!”, but his drop off appearance was 5-10x cleaner than his pick-up appearance. Haha. If I was in Taylor’s shoes after this ordeal I would have given Leo a bath, washed his bed and at least made that physical attempt to try to show I was doing all I could to make the awkward as poo situation just a tad better. Also, as I was talking to her about what had happened her significant other came over and apologized mentioning something about how he had built the fence (I’m like, ok who are you? You were here watching my dog too? Lol. He also said “Leo is the smallest dog we’ve ever watched.” And this right here…THIS…is the main reason there were missed expectations I think…Taylor and her family may be experience watching larger-breed dogs and treating them as mainly outdoor/farm pets, but there’s a significant difference watching elderly indoor dogs and large breed outdoor dogs. I know as I have experience owning and caring for BOTH. Prior to Leo I rescued and owned a very active husky mix for 6 years and I also had an Australian shepherded for 16 years who was a trained agility dog. I’m not just an overly-extra small breed owner. I have a lot of dog-experience and care equally about large and small breeds. If you think you’re going to care for a less than 20 pound dog (Leo) the same way you care for a 60 pound dog, that’s not a good mindset as a professional dog-sitter. I’m not saying this is her mindset…but honestly it’s the ONLY thing I can think of given my observations and personal experience corresponding with her and reading her other positive reviews. I think she’s just not at all experience with small breeds. If I don’t give her this benefit of the doubt, then I honestly don’t know what I can give her. So, in short, my opinion is…if you are an owner of a dog that is a larger breed, has fur, NOT HAIR, and needs major outdoor running/play time —- sure, book Taylor. She’ll probably be able to handle and care for your dog just fine. But, this still doesn’t explain her lack of pictures / communication throughout the stay and overall, what feels like, lack of awareness to how an owner is feeling. Lastly, I sent a $60 nearly new bag of dog food with her and at pickup she didn’t give the remaining back as well as his bowls were missing. So, I had to meet up with her a few days later to get what was missing. Upon retrieving the missing items she let me know that her dog also ate the rest of Leo’s speciality food. To her credit, she tried to make it right and had bought me new food to replace it (thank you!). However, once again I was caught off guard — why hadn’t she told me this upfront at pickup? Also, why was my dog food anywhere near other dogs? This didn’t make me feel that great. Imagine if it was medicine or something her other dogs got into. Because of all of this, I honestly cannot in good conscience leave more than a 2 star review. I’ve never left a negative review before on Rover, but feel it’s important to be honest in this case. Best wishes on Mountain_Mutts_, Taylor. I truly hope your business is successful. Thank you for being apologetic too, I know you were upset and cared. And, As I mentioned earlier I’m just so glad it all ended with Leo safe! That’s the only thing that ultimately matters. ❤️

Taylor was great. She was very caring and patient towards Jordy. It was his first time away from home. She did everything she could to make him feel comfortable and taken care of. Taylor kept me updated and made herself available. We appreciated her and recommend her. Thank you !!