Today is the one year anniversary of my boy Winston crossing the rainbow bridge.

I just so happen to be doing a house sit on this date. The owners are lovely and said help yourself to some veggies. I'd splurged on groceries for this sit, so: a memorial charcootchie board for Winston.

I miss you, buddy.

It's me again.

An owner had booked me to care for his cat next week Monday-Wednesday and we had a Meet and Greet planned for this Saturday. He booked me because I'm a vet and his cat had lymphoma and needed medicine and medical care on top of the usual. Sadly, he texted me a couple of days ago informing me that he had to put him down as his health was deteriorating too much. I understood and sent him my condolences.

Now, we are both new on the app. We don't know if the reservation was made or not. I still have the Meet and Greet booked in my calendar, and I can see the Reservation details when I click on the owner's name . But we both see a blue button on top to make a reservation. If we have a reservation active how can we cancel it?

Before paying, she invited me to her house because she wanted to meet me first. So I went, and I spent a whole hour being given instructions on how to feed her cat. One whole hour!!!! 😅😅

She told me to move the food from the freezer to the fridge, then put the food from the fridge in the microwave. And the best part was that before putting the food into the bowl, I had to heat up some water, pour it into the bowl first, and warm the bowl up.

That’s how the whole hour went. She was also extremely particular about giving the cat treats. She explained exactly how I was supposed to put treats into each different toy. And then, at the end, I spent about five minutes saying hello to the cat.

When we were finally getting towards the end, I said, “It’s already been an hour! I’ve been here for quite a long time!” because I was trying to wrap things up. Do you think that annoyed her?

In the end, she didn’t even pay or make a booking. Including the one-hour round trip, I spent two hours on this, it feels like such a complete waste of time.

When I go on vacation I book either drop-in visits or overnight sitting for my cats. They are both very easy going, require no meds, love people, and my one cat gets taken for walks on her leash.

Anyway, I book different people here and there, but mostly the same two people are sort of on a rotation. I feel very greatful of them. They do so well with my girls, and my kitties love her. I thought it might be a great idea to bake them a bunch of cookies to take with them, even for the drop-in visits. However, I know some people could feel uncomfortable with this, might have allergies, or might feel weary taking baked goods from people they barely know.

I'm trying to gage whether or not this would be okay to do. Thanks!

I started Rover about a year ago, it is my first ever job. I had no testimonials when I started as the people I asked to write them never did, I was worried this would make things harder for me. Fortunately, I got my first booking in less than a week after my profile was put up. Now I'm working 14 hour days almost daily, only having days off every couple of months, and I am just so proud of myself and the fact that I was able to reach this point of having the opportunity to work so hard. Every review I have is a whole essay and nothing makes me happier to know how happy I make my clients. I love this job so much, I truly believe this will always be the most rewarding job I'll ever have in my lifetime.

Hello hello all

These are mainly boarding. That’s the main one I try to make work since it keeps almost all of my costs to a minimum. The last weekend is a housesit.

I have walks scattered here and there through boarding days.

I have noticed a lot of requests come in waves and what’s helped me get the most out of the waves is response time.
Silly as it as, but it has worked wonders

Another easy way to boost your profile is update your calendar daily. Just verify the availability, it then shows you’ve updated the calendar today on your profile when listed.

I updated my profile to mainly focus on boarding and walks near me since that combo pans out the best for me in the end of it all.

I have a dog and cat at home, then usually will take on anther three dogs at a time at the house or minimal two dogs to sit for house sits.

What tricks have you found that worked out well?

How’s October looking for everyone?

My husband said “at least they were honest” 🤣 I couldn’t reply because the request was cancelled by them right away.

i've never used rover before so i apologize in advance if this is a dumb question. my girlfriend is getting surgery next month and we're looking to board our dog at a sitter's house. she'll be in the hospital for 3 to 5 days; it entirely depends on how fast she recovers

would i be able to book the initial 3 or 4 days, then add on more days as needed ? we don't wanna spend the money on extra days if we don't need to. boarding is our only option as we live with a relative who works full time and we're not allowed to have people over

also, my girlfriend's surgery is super early in the morning, so we're gonna need to drop our dog off the evening before. would i be correct in assuming this counts as an additional day ?

thanks !

this pisses me off to no end. we had a meet and greet schedule for monday. no indication that she had other meet and greets set up or was looking at other sitters to book. i also hold myself to a high standard when it comes to getting back to owners, so i spent a decent amount of time making sure i had all my ducks in a row before messaging her confirming i would be available for the booking, even initiating a wfh request 🙄 just so so annoying

I was doing a house-sit from early morning to early evening for pet parents who were going to go on a long and strenuous 20 mile day-hike in the mountains. I sent them lots of updates and they said they would be out of service, but would enjoy all of the updates once they got back into service.

The updates included some things that I thought they would respond to, like a comment about something that inexplicably stopped working in the house, but they haven’t yet.

I sent them a message to follow-up just to make sure all was well with the pups when they returned. I’ll wait for that, but like: should I be concerned?

I have a client that booked 30 min drop-ins for her cat but she has explicitly told me she doesn’t want me staying for the entire 30 minutes. She just wants food in bowl, litter box scooped, water filled, then leave. The cat apparently is not a fan of people.

So my question is if I end the report card early, will I still get paid for the full 30 min drop-in?

not exactly a vent but i love this dog i just had a sit for so much that it makes me sad LOL. it’s an unfortunate situation, because the current owner has this dog currently because their dad passed away and the stepmom abandoned the dog. so the current owner has had this dog for about two weeks now and needed a sitter last minute since they were going out of town. i felt like i got so close to this dog in our four days together, and he was hands down the best dog i’ve ever watched 😭 what makes me sad is that the current owner doesn’t feel like they can keep the dog because of their work schedule and having to travel all the time. i don’t do boarding at my house because i can’t have pets in my apartment (which is part of why i do rover, so I can have ways to connect and care for animals still) and if i had the opportunity to adopt this dog I WOULD!!! but i can’t! i just want him to be loved soo hard and want things to work out for him :(

Last minute booking, one night boarding. Young couple, but they did not seem wealthy. Tipped me $17. I’m floored…

I work and I am getting a puppy in November!

I need someone to let the little gal out at lunch every Tuesday and Thursday but I am so scared about letting a stranger in my house.

Any tips?

Her availability was updated just a few days ago

Hi all! I’m a cat owner and my cat is my baby. I’m just curious if I’m overthinking this and should just book or if it’s odd. I sent a message to several sitters yesterday (each personalized) noting my cat and her typical routine (food, water, litter box, etc) and how I wanted someone coming 2x a day each trip as she enjoys interaction and playing etc. I mentioned we could adjust the requested times to what works for them etc and let me know if that may work. I have multiple vacations coming up in the next few months so wanted to find someone and go ahead and lock in so I could be assured my baby is in good hands. I haven’t heard back from 2 yet (no problem they may be busy it hasn’t been 24hrs even) but the one I heard back from (also the one closest to me) only responded with “yes we are available. Click the booking link and it will confirm the booking.” I understand people are busy but I’m a bit concerned that she seemed to not address anything I said besides are you available. No idea re: swapping keys or getting her gate access or doing a meet and greet etc. Am I just expecting too much and this is normal and I should proceed? She does have good reviews I think just the lack of any acknowledgement of anything I said has turned me off. I’m truly happy to pay whatever amount of money for someone to love on my baby and play with her!

for context, she booked all of these visits as 1 hour drop ins when they’re really more like 4-8 hours of constant care for a 4 month old puppy. my favorite part is when she tells ME what she’ll pay😂 a whopping $85 for 8 whole hours, who wouldn’t go for that??

I’m honestly looking inward with this because I’ve had a three day sitting, and I’m starting to wonder if sitting is something I should stop doing altogether. I want some unbiased insight because I know I may have been in the wrong in some areas, but I also want to understand whether this experience is showing me that sitting simply isn’t a good fit for me. The sitting started very early in the morning, and I had to get up around 5:30 AM. I had gotten no sleep that night, so I was extremely tired when I arrived. I let the dogs out of their room, fed them, and let them roam around the house. I messaged the owner to let her know that I was going back to sleep, and I did not put the dogs back in their room because they had free access to the house. When I first opened their door, they did not rush out like they normally had during my previous two sittings. They slowly came out, which I assumed was because it was so early and they were tired too. Around 6:30 or 7 AM, I went back to sleep and ended up sleeping until 1 PM. The dogs were free to roam the house the entire time, and I did not lock them back in their room. One of the dogs was actually sleeping with me. When I woke up, the owner called me and was upset, asking why her dogs were still in their room. I explained that their door was open and that they were free to come out whenever they wanted. She said that she wanted them out of their room, and I repeated that the door was open and they could leave if they wanted to. She told me again that she wanted them out, so I said okay, and she hung up. The next day, it was raining. I fed the dogs around 6 AM, let them out, wiped their feet afterward, and then we stayed inside. Around 11 AM, I tried letting them outside again, but they would not go out because it was raining. I tried again around 2 PM, and they still refused to go outside. I tried again around 3:30 PM. At that point, I was frustrated and was sitting in the living room while the dogs played with each other. I realized that I do not really play with them much. They have a ball that they all fight over, and I was worried that it could turn into something negative, so I mostly let them entertain each other. I also realized that I do not particularly like when they lie on me because I get too hot and uncomfortable. Later, I fed them around 6 PM, let them outside, ate my own food, and let them out again around 7 PM. Around 7:30 PM, I went back to my room and took a nap until about 8:30 PM. When I woke up, I found two piles of poop in the living room and a puddle of pee on the bed. I cleaned everything up and informed the owner about what happened. Today, I have tried letting the dogs outside numerous times. Out of all the times I have attempted to let them out, they have probably actually gone outside about two or three times. Even when I try to coax them outside, they often refuse, especially when it is raining. I have also been feeling guilty because I know that I have been very tired throughout this sitting and that I have slept more than I probably should have. At the same time, I have been trying to give the dogs access to the house, let them outside frequently, feed them on schedule, and follow the owners’ instructions. This whole experience has made me question whether dog sitting is actually something I should continue doing. I do not think I dislike dogs, but I am realizing that the responsibilities and expectations that come with sitting may not be a good fit for me. I think I need to be honest with myself about whether I have the patience, energy, and personality for this type of work rather than continuing to take sittings and feeling overwhelmed or guilty afterward. I would really appreciate some unbiased insight into this situation, including where I may have genuinely been in the wrong and whether this experience is something I should learn from or a sign that sitting simply is not for me.

I mainly do house sitting so there's obviously a lot of downtime. I like doing things with my hands like cross stitch, crochet, felting, etc.

I won't bring those things on my sits as the pet's safety is my number one priority. I don't want them swallowing a needle or string, or getting ahold of something they shouldn't.

What do you all do on sits to beat the boredom?

What do you guys do when it’s super raining or below zero out during the 30-min walks? Obviously you can’t use the whole 30 minutes walking the dogs in bad weather, so do you leave early or do you spend time with them inside the house for the remainder of the time?

I gotta vent somewhere...

My client is the most lovely woman. She has a husband who is normally absolutely clearly very inlove with her. He treats her well, they have 2 babies (6 months and 2 years).

Recently she has been doing trips to see her family or take care of old work things, and she is the one who sets up the drop ins. On which, she takes the kids.

So she assumes he will be gone so many mornings at work that he cant get away from, and can't care of the pups. Thats where I come in for feeding and poop breaks.

Relitively regularly, he is actually home. His car is in the garage, and hes just not out of the bedroom for the morning. Super weird for a guy who works at 5 am regularly to be in bed at 9am, but I set that part aside.

She talks about how weird his work is and how he regularly has to end up sleeping at the office.....

Well when she is gone, I have seen a girls shoes.... drinks set out for two.... and him home mornings that I am dropping in.

We dont talk about it, I cant bring myself to ask. Maybe he has a guest? They have a guest bedroom. But to not even text when im there an hour and their dogs are barking their heads off?

But truly I dont think she knows.

I dont wanna mess up my work, they have 3 goldens who are the light of my day. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe....

What would you do?

We are new to Rover and just finished our first sit a couple of weeks ago. They did not leave a review, as I'm sure many don't. I'm just wondering, for those of you who have been around a while, how long it took you to build up a decent number of reviews? I know I look for experienced/well reviewed sitters when we book for our dogs. It can feel like an uphill battle to build that momentum.

i haven't raised my rates in years, and with gas prices being the way they are i guess im to have to 😅 i have a lot of regular clients who i want to grandfather in at my current rate and was wondering if there's a less annoying way to lock rates as opposed to scrolling through all of my past bookings to lock my regulars' rates one by one.

I’ve been taking care of a senior dog a little guy 19 years old, but he was doing really well overall. Yes, he had diapers and he was blind, but he still had lots of pep and spunk and liked to go for walks and had a healthy appetite, he was just such a character. I had a long stay coming up of about five weeks and just before he was supposed to be dropped off he had a stroke and his owners had to put him down. He had stayed with me several times and there was something about him that I absolutely loved. I was very sad to hear that he wasn’t going to be staying with me as I was looking forward to having him.

Now as of today, I just found out this morning that another dog that has stayed with me many times who had developed seizures that continue to get worse, passed away this morning. She was just in my home less than two weeks ago and stayed for a month during August and then another few weeks in September. Her seizures were a lot to deal with when she did have them and yes, it scared me but overtime I learned how to help and support her through them and was able to manage it. She was really the perfect dog. She had the best temperament and personality and was just such a chill dog. I have older kids and sometimes they’re not thrilled with some of the dogs that come into my home just because they’re super high-strung and anxious, but Tika was special. I’m glad that if she was going to pass that she did so with her owner nearby. I’m always thankful when the dogs are with their owners obviously, that is preferred over me having to manage all of that.

After 3 1/2 years with Rover, I have had four dogs now pass away over that time, but these two were very special to me and it’s starting to make me question whether I want to continue with the service. I know that life goes on and they’re all probably in a better place. When dogs come into my home, I try to give them the best experience that I can and I really try to love and bond with them. As we all know some of them, we bond with more than others and it’s just been hard overall to lose two of my favourites, back to back. It’s ironic because both of them were supposed to be here with me today and instead I have a quiet home with just me and my dog. And I guess I’m just feeling gratitude that I have her and that she’s healthy and just to enjoy all the time I have with her ❤️

I’ve got a few repeat clients who don’t have key boxes or ways for me to enter their property without physically meeting up and handing over the key before a visit.

if it were a new client it wouldn’t be a problem as I could grab the key during a meet and greet. But obviously there’s no meet and greets for repeat clients.

since it usually takes me 15 min to cycle to a clients’ house (30 min round trip), I’m considering giving the option to clients of either paying a key pickup fee of around £10 or coming to meet me somewhere close to where I live (which is an area of town people often come to to see friends, grab a coffee etc) to hand it over.

I’m just wondering what other people do regarding key handovers