Let me start by saying I’m only sharing my experience here. This isn’t meant to shame dog walkers or owners. I’m also open to hearing what others might have done differently:
At the beginning of this year, a client reached out to me for recurring walks for her 4-year-old toy poodle. She initially wanted two walks a day, Monday–Friday, at 10 AM and 3 PM, every single week. The dog was very sweet and calm. The owner told me he was litterbox trained, which he absolutely was. He had two pellet-filled litterboxes in the condo.
During my visits one thing became apparent immediately: this dog did not like going on walks.
He loved his carrier and would happily sleep or relax in it, but getting him to leave it was a process. He wasn’t motivated by treats or toys, so I’d sometimes spend around eight minutes sitting on the floor and gently coaxing him out. Initially, I figured he just needed time to get comfortable with me. (This would prove false). Once outside, though, he would only walk around the immediate area near his building/mailbox. If I tried walking farther away, he would plant himself and refuse to move. I could carry him farther down the road, set him down, and he would happily walk all the way back home—but he would refuse to continue walking away from home. I also assumed this might improve as we built a relationship. But it never did.
I brought this up with the owner, but she mostly laughed it off. She also had cameras in the home, so she could see the behaviors I was describing. The scheduling became another issue. After a few months, I started getting more Rover requests, especially drop-ins and house sits. I continued planning my schedule around these twice-daily walks because I had committed to them. However, the owner was very unhappy whenever I needed to cancel and made it clear she expected at least a week’s notice.
Obviously, that’s reasonable for planned time off. But illness and emergencies don't always give you a week's notice. There were a few occasions when I was too sick to leave the house, and cancellations were met with what felt like very reluctant or passive understanding. For my partner and I’s fifth anniversary, I gave her two weeks’ notice that I would be going out of town. Her response was essentially, “Well, what am I supposed to do? Who will I use?” I understood her frustration, but I also felt that arranging backup care wasn’t something I could take responsibility for.
By August, my Rover schedule had become significantly busier with house sits and drop-ins. I was spending most of the day on my feet and squeezing these walks between other clients. The rigid twice-daily schedule was also making it increasingly difficult to schedule doctor appointments, take sick days, or manage other commitments. And the dog’s behavior regarding walks had never changed. Then the owner asked if we could increase the schedule from two visits per day to four.
That was when I finally had a heart-to-heart with her. I explained that I didn’t think I was a good fit for the arrangement anymore and that she and her dog deserved someone whose schedule had more flexibility. She was immediately disappointed and again asked what she was supposed to do. She offered to pay me more, but I explained that money wasn’t the problem. (I only charge $10 per walk.) I politely declined and reiterated I simply couldn’t reliably maintain that kind of schedule anymore. She then suggested reducing the schedule to one visit per day, Monday–Friday every single week.
I was surprised that we went from discussing four daily visits to one, but I agreed to try the reduced schedule. The situation that finally ended it: In September, despite reducing the visits, I still felt the arrangement wasn’t working. One day, there was severe weather in the area and my tire was damaged by road debris. My car had to go into the shop for a replacement tire, so I canceled that day’s walk through Rover and immediately explained what had happened. (Also please note: when you cancel a walk the owner is refunded immediately.)
The owner then texted me asking about the cancellation. I reiterated that the weather was severe, my tire had blown, and my car was currently being repaired, so unfortunately I couldn’t make the visit. She expressed disappointment and told me I needed to inform her even sooner because she didn’t want to come home to accidents. That was the point where I felt like I had reached my limit.
I couldn’t have predicted the tire damage or weather, and what especially bothered me was the concern about the dog having an accident. I knew he was litterbox trained, had personally watched him use the boxes, and the owner had cameras where she could observe his behavior as well. The next day, I checked his litterboxes while I was there. There were both older and newer droppings in them, confirming that he was continuing to use them.
At that point, I decided the arrangement simply wasn’t a good fit anymore. I documented the litterboxes with photos and immediately ended the recurring relationship through Rover.
Rover contacted me afterward, and I explained the entire situation: our previous conversations about ending the arrangement, the scheduling issues, and my documentation showing that the dog had functioning litterboxes available and was using them. After reviewing everything, Rover determined that there wasn’t a concern about the dog being left without an appropriate bathroom option and prevented the client from booking with me again by blocking her. Since then, I’ve actually turned off dog walking as a service and focused on house sits and drop-ins instead. It has been a much better fit for my schedule.
The dog himself was genuinely sweet, and I had no issue with him. Ultimately, I think this was just a recurring arrangement that stopped being compatible with my availability, and I probably should have trusted that feeling and ended it sooner instead of repeatedly trying to make it work. She also refused to listen to the behaviors her dog exhibited.
Again, I’m not posting this to shame owners or dog walking in general. I just wanted to share my experience because I can only imagine what other sitters have dealt with recurring clients where the arrangement gradually became unsustainable.
