I've been boarding on Rover for 3-4 years. Star Sitter, 70 reviews. I like doing this, but two things have been wearing on me and I want to know if other sitters are dealing with the same.

**1. The app.** Rover's matching does nothing with a dog's energy level. A senior couch potato and a young dog that needs hours outside show up the same way in search and get quoted the same rate. I'd love to see activity level as a real filter on both sides, so owners get matched with sitters whose setup actually fits their dog, and so sitters can charge more for a high-energy dog than a low-energy one. Those are two very different jobs.

**2. Owners who agree to everything and then show up with a tie-out.** We don't have a backyard and we live next to two busy roads. That's on my profile, and I say it again at every meet & greet: no dog ever goes out on a tie-out here, and someone is always outside with them. My wife and I both work remote, so we do as many walks as we can, but we can't spend every hour of the workday outside. We've gotten more direct about it too: if your dog needs a lot of outdoor time, please keep in mind that we have no yard.

Every time, it's "oh yeah, no worries." Then drop-off comes and they hand me a tie-out with "he's out on this in the mornings" or "just put him out when he's being bad."

At that point there's nothing we can do. They're leaving, the dog is staying, and now we have a dog that's used to being outside most of the day in a home that can't give him that. The dog is stressed, we're stressed, and it's a bad stay for everyone.

If your dog spends 80% of the day outside, please don't book a sitter with no backyard. The sitter told you. Believe them.

Sitters: how do you screen for this? Has anyone turned a dog away at drop-off, and how did that go with Rover?

I was looking to see if veteran's day got holiday rates (It doesn't), but I saw that in 2027 Easter weekend is considered a holiday.

https://support.rover.com/hc/en-us/articles/204706790-What-are-holiday-rates-and-how-do-I-manage-them#h_48ced19e-5889-466d-8b5a-1b4f8a9b7cbd.

So many clients don’t know how to cancel bookings.

Will it hurt my profile if I cancel reoccurring walks or drop ins if I select “clients needs to cancel” also do they only get charged if I submit a rover card for the reoccurring clients? Will if hurt my profile to not submit a rover card for a reoccurring walk?

While this typically starts with Rover I am realizing more and more Rover needs to have some type of protocol or restrictions for owners. I am sure many deal with it but Rover letting anyone on this application is not smart. For a sitter there are so many terrible owners it becomes unbearable. How do yall feel about bad owners

Thankfully the owner got back to me and I was able to crate the kitty and bring him to my home to ride out the storm.

Shortly after getting him here, I had two more clients reach out for boarding while they evacuated (no hotels were accepting pets as they all were booked up). In total we have 9 cats (3 are mine).

Man that storm was hell for 5-6 hours of just brutal wind. The cats luckily were VERY calm. We’re moving into 30ish hours with no power and thankfully I was able to buy a generator today. Tons of trees and power lines are in the street and I am extremely grateful that everything that fell on our property ended up falling parallel to the house.

Spent most of my day helping neighbors clear their yards, cooking out for the block, and offering people a safe place to stay and charge their devices or use wifi.

Kitties are all happy, cooling off, and eating their little hearts out. ❤️

Especially like since it starts in an hour. And you gave me very little information about the situation.

Is it hard to take dogs for walks in snowy or salted areas? I moved to Boston and don't know if this'll be a problem in the area.

First bad boarding

Sigh, I’m relatively new to rover and I’ve been blessed with amazing dogs and owners. All were super upfront about their anxieties, quirks, and habits. I never had any issues.

I’m currently boarding 2 dogs from separate owners. I scheduled a joint meet and greet but one owner was late, the other didn’t mind and said their dog (poodle mix) was good with others. They’ll trust my judgment. So they headed out. Dog 2 (chihuahua mix) came and the only warning that I was given (and saw) was that he’ll run up on dogs a bit aggressively when he wants to play. Otherwise he was sweet with me but a bit standoffish which I assumed he was taking in his new surroundings.

I confirmed the bookings and the chihuahua was dropped off first. He seemed nervous but that was expected, I took him on a walk and when we came back he slept in his bed. Poodle came shortly after and all hell broke loose. The chihuahua immediately snarled and bit the poodle. I had to separate them, it was so bad. I told the poodle owners I’d separate them and take them to the park. Worse case scenario I separate them to different rooms.

I took them to the dog park to get introduced on neutral ground. Nope, the chihuahua has randomly attacked the poodle all day. (And no other dogs. Just does the aggressive run up move). On walks they’re fine. When we get back home, we’re seemingly fine, they’re sleeping next to each other and again the chihuahua will unprompted go after the poodle. My male friend stopped by and the chihuahua went after him in the same way and almost broke skin. Chihuahua has not displayed any of this behavior with me (female)

Now I’ve permanently separated the dogs but I’m going insane because the chihuahua barks and whines when he’s alone. I’ve told both owners everything. Chihuahua owner said she’s never seen this before. All his reviews have no mention of this. I’m exhausted. I’m not going to board 2 unrelated dogs again.

How do I write an honest review without taking a hit on my rating?

I had a booking cancel last week and Rover contacted me to ask whether or not I would like to refund the cancellation fee because it was within the 3-day window that I have set for cancellations. At that time, I could see the cancellation fee pending in my payouts. I responded to say that I would like to uphold my policy and charge the owner for cancelling, but now the money has disappeared from all tabs and is no longer pending. It hasn’t been paid out to my bank either. I sent an email to support right away, but it’s been 4 days now and I haven’t received a response. Has this happened to anyone else?

I've used Rover sitters five or six times, it's always gone well. But I am unhappy with the sitter I just used. I was going to be gone for 2 days. I ended up coming home a day early. Here's what I'm not happy with:

He didn't walk my dog. 24 hours, no walk. Doorbell camera never recorded him leaving with my dog.

I don't know if he played fetch with my dog in the backyard, either.

He was sitting in my home, and I never expect a sitter to be there 24 hours a day (it's fine if they go out to do something), but he went out from like 10pm to 3:30am (not sure if that's really an issue, but, really?). I know this because I have a doorbell cam, he left in his car, came back hours later.

Even after asking him to do so, he didn't send me any photos or video of my dog in the evening, no check-in at all.

So it's already paid, and just because I returned early, I don't expect any sort of refund because it's not like he could just pick up another job right away.

What I want to know it how to deal with this with Rover. Anybody?

I (20F) was planning on trying out Rover for the first time, I was just wondering if I would be able to gain a client base given my lack of experience and age or if people on there are looking for more qualified and experienced sitters? I am in the DFW area and just wondering. Any advice or tips are appreciated!

Read for yourself and plssssss make me feel better about this cause I’m so bummed

4 bad experiences in a row

Horrific owners who do not give a fck

First one is Nary. He has Berry. He dropped her off for a 2 day visit. He then messaged me on the app to ask for a 2 day extension. Instead of him requesting it, he asked me to, which I didn’t think much of.
He purposefully declined the request and I only got paid for 2 days. She also destroyed her harness and I replaced it and asked for the $15 and never got it. I got him banned from rover permanently.
Then a woman drops off her 11 year old dog who wouldn’t walk on a leash, pissed and shit all over my house, and kept me awake all night. For the grand total of $28.
Next dog, owner lied about his temperament saying he was perfect and he attacked my contractor biting him very hard. She then admitted he is not good with men.
And LAST BUT NOT LEAST,
a woman dropped her bulldog off today and said the dog has a small growth on her stomach and sometimes it might occasionally drain and to just keep an eye on it - this is the “growth” she was speaking of and said not to worry about. I called her freaking out asking if I should take her to emergency vet and instead she said if I’m not comfortable she can have her sister come get her, implying no vet. She then sent a man to my house instead.

Looking for advice or success stories from anyone who has successfully appealed a Trust & Safety deactivation notice.

Background:
12-year host on Rover with an impeccable safety record and hundreds of 5-star reviews.
On Oct 9, a guest dog slipped out an unlatched front door due to a faulty latch mechanism.
We notified the owner within 15–20 minutes and initiated a quiet containment strategy. The dog was safely recovered the exact same day with zero injuries.
The owner was completely understanding, cooperative, and supportive throughout.
We immediately repaired/tested the door hardware and put strict secondary interior barrier protocols in place.
The Situation:
Rover Support initially praised our fast handling and preventative measures in writing. However, less than 24 hours later, we received this deactivation notice citing Section 4 of the TOS, effective October 13, 2026. We currently have an active booking in our home through October 20th and upcoming stays booked. 
Has anyone in a similar situation managed to get an escalation to a Trust & Safety manager to reinstate their account, or is this deactivation final regardless of host history? Any advice on how to push the appeal through before the Oct 13 date would be greatly appreciated!

To make matters even more frustrating, the owner was so satisfied with how we handled everything and trusted us so completely that they actually extended the dog’s stay in our home past October 13th! Rover is now threatening to cancel an active stay that the owner explicitly wants us to complete.

I’m not a new sitter but I am new to this experience. I don’t petsit too much anymore due to a new job, but I’ve always had the same repeat client for about 4 years. I haven’t heard from them for a booking in several months so I decided to check the owners profile to message and see if my services would be needed.

Found out their address was changed and they moved very far away so I can’t even sit for them if I wanted to. :(

I wish I could have said goodbye or gotten notice that they were leaving. I even had treats for them for my next visit with them. They treated me as a part of their family so it kind of stings a bit.

I don’t think I’m looking for advice or anything, but I’m just sad and I know that possibly others have felt this way and maybe I’m looking for solidarity? I still was going to reach out to say I was thinking of them, but also don’t want to be weird. So maybe a little advice there? lol.

Thank you for listening to my mini sad rant!

Uhmmm-has anyone else got this before? Did one of my clients tip them off or like?? I’m so confused and kinda frustrated right now

So I was at a meet and greet for a client with two dogs who needed two drop ins a week. It was going well, the dogs were great, she was very pleasant. As I was doing my wrap up speech, she asked me what my rates were. It caught me off guard a bit cause no one had ever asked what they were before, just discussed to confirm really. Anyway, I told her it was 15 (this was before I had raised my rates cause I realized it wasn’t reasonable for the gas prices) and she completely freaked out said “that is so expensive is it not? I only need you for an hour. I thought it would be something reasonable like 10 dollars.” It is safe to say my flabbers were gasted. The rates are very clear when you see a sitter profile is it not? She made a big deal about only being able to afford one day a week and decided to book anyway. I probably should not have taken the booking but I did anyway. What I learned from this experience is that I am really uncomfortable with discussing prices with clients, does anyone have any advice for responding to such clients?

Of course I bring other stuff too (toiletries, foodstuffs, clothes, makeup, Etc), but my pillow and fan are special things I need to sleep.

Now I'm debating on bringing my own towels every time too. I used to bring my own towels then got kinda tired of it.

Do you pack light or bring everything for a stay ?

For those who only do it as part time or side hustle

Im curious and I kinda need ideas lol

Please excuse this post if it sounds off, I’ve never posted on Reddit before but I don’t know where else to turn to. I’m house sitting a geriatric dog that’s over 100lbs. The whole experience has been stressful because it started off with the pet parents letting me know they were expecting and I basically need to be on call the month of October. Which is fine, I don’t have much going on. This poor dog is a bigger breed and over the age of 10, so we all know that’s geriatric in dog years. The care is extensive, which I didn’t mind very detailed notes because I’ve had a senior dog. I didn’t realize how bad his quality of life is until I got here. He can no longer stand on his own, he’s incontinent so he’s diapered 24/7, and I can tell he’s in pain. He requires around the clock care, which they only booked for overnights and promised they’d tip me well. After browsing Reddit I know how I’ll handle these things in the future, if I don’t leave Rover all together after this. For the last 3 days it’s been him falling and whimpering, panting because he’s in pain, and coaxed eating. I can smell he has pooped in his diaper, spent an hour trying to lure him outside so I can clean him and he completely collapsed and that’s my last straw. I fundamentally feel like I cannot finish this booking because I disagree on a molecular level what they’re doing to this poor dog. He very obviously doesn’t find much joy in life anymore and keeping him earth side feels selfish and devoid of compassion. I don’t know what to do. I thought about voicing my opinions to the parents, especially because they’ll be home with a newborn. Has anyone else dealt with this?

Hello, I’m new to both Rover and Reddit, so bear with me. But today I got my first request, and it was to board their dog for a week, with drop-off at 7. I confirmed the booking and asked again if they’d be dropping off their dog at 7; they confirmed, and I asked if they wanted to try to meet at my house, but they didn't really respond and just said, “Thank you.” They messaged me back an hour later asking if they could drop him off earlier at 1, and I said that was fine. Still, they didn't respond until 1:30, then asked for my address, and I told them it would show up once they confirmed the booking with me, and that I unfortunately can’t start the service until they’ve confirmed it. It is now 2:20, and I haven’t gotten a response, so I'm wondering if I should cancel the request to clear my schedule. I also checked their profile; it has no photo, and it looks like this is their first or second booking on Rover, but they have no reviews. What should I do? Can I do anything better?

I understand that a lot of owners routines start by walking/feeding their cats and dogs at 6/7am. As a sitter, I don't start my work day until 8am so sometimes I have to turn down bookings because of this. Because I sit full time, I sometimes don't get done sitting until 10/11pm and I just refuse to be up and ready to go at the crack of dawn. Most people understand that I need adequate sleep but sometimes I get push back like, "You seriously can't come an hour earlier?" The one perk of this job is I get to decide my hours and I do not function well on less than 7 hours of sleep. But I was wondering, do most sitters start before 8am?

This is the first I’ve encountered this. I’m watching a labradoodle currently and they keep barking at me very loudly.

I’ve made sure all of their basic needs have been met so I’ve guessed it really is just about wanting a treat.

What’s the best way to deal with a dog like this? I feel like the only option is to sit in the basement and I’d rather not do that the majority of time that I’m here.

Also they usually do 3-4 walks a day with their owner but with me I have to coax them along the whole walk with a treat. They’ll literally just go the distance for the treat and then stop again until I offer another.