r/RoverPetSitting

I am a sitter myself and I just hired a sitter through Rover to walk my dog. I booked with them only a few days ago and I was going to book with them again, but they had raised their prices by five dollars. I know that may not seem like a lot but when I get a new client, I usually lock prices for them and would inform them if I was going to raise prices. I was just curious what everybody’s normal is? Do you usually lock prices for clients?
This sitter is fairly new to Rover and only has 16 reviews and told me they just started in March.

Three nights, four days in a highrise downtown Chicago.

10pm to 10am continued care (8am walk, 9am breakfast)

10am-3pm sitter break

3-5pm (walk, dinner)

5-10 pm sitter break

10pm chill, potty, bed

I know it’s probably more hours than normal so definitely want to pay fair or is this unrealistic? I will also tip accordingly. What else should I provide for the sitter comfort, should I provide all meals? I will leave the fridge stocked for sure.

It‘s one large poodle 15 months old, high energy at the park(likes to run, play fetch) but super chill/independent indoors and walks decently on leash. This will be the first time hiring someone for an extended time, thanks!!

So this booking was made about 6 weeks ago, and it was supposed to be just drop in visits. Then the day before it starts, all the sudden she wants me to walk the dog. Would you suggest that she change the booking to a walk instead of a drop in?

I have a client who booked me for 8 am and 5pm for two small dogs. I didn’t think anything of it, she mentioned they might use the pee pad between visits and left me a full bag of them. I’m fine with this, I like cleaning so it’s not an issue for me to ever clean up pads, or clean surfaces or accidents. The issue is when there’s an accident on their furniture.
This client has a white linen-y couch and when I got to last nights visit I noticed two large pee stains on it, and the puppy pad was mostly unused. I was confused and concerned about the mess but I took pictures and sent them asking if she has any supplies or cleaning methods she typically uses to clean this couch. I don’t own a white couch and I don’t want to mess up the fabric by cleaning the stain the way I would clean my non white couch. She hasn’t responded, fair, she’s on a trip. The stain very well may be set in but I communicated it as soon as possible so I’m not too concerned.
The issue is, I got in for my morning visit today and I shit you not, there is what I can only assume is a pee stain on her wooden table. I have no idea how to clean it, the most wood cleaning experience I have is with monkey pod plates and bowls. I tried to clean it with the supplies I have easy access to, the cleaner dried out and this stain is still there. I don’t know how to send her another message to explain “oh yeah and I think one of them peed on your table, because there’s this huge stain I didn’t notice before” when she hasn’t responded to the first one.
I know it’s not my fault, I stay longer than scheduled (usually 45-50 minutes) and make sure they’ve peed before I leave. I didn’t schedule the visits so what happens between them isn’t my responsibility, but I hate the thought that she’ll eventually respond and be upset that all of these stains have occurred within the first 50% of my visits with her dogs.

How are y’all dealing with accidents and messes? My partner got oddly frustrated for me and insisted that for some reason cleaning accidents wasn’t part of my job and that there should be a fee. They have only ever cared for their parent’s very well trained dog, and my mother’s monster dog, both of which never have accidents & they do actually get “hazard pay” for watching my mom’s dog because he resource guards. I have no idea if I’m too soft to agree, or if it’s just that I don’t mind the cleaning, but it has stuck in my head. Obviously cleaning litter boxes and litter, puppy pads and bowls and an occasional sweep up are our responsibility, but are there seriously sitters out there who charge for cleaning accidents? I always assumed accidents just come with the job and haven’t ever been bothered by it.

I'm just needing to share my struggles...and maybe find others who can understand and provide any of their own experiences.

I lost my beloved 8 year old rescue mutt Thursday evening. Around noon, I took him with me with a drop in with one of his doggy friends, they played, I loaded him back in for the few minute drive home, when I went to get him out of the car, something was wrong. He went almost immediately to Urgent Care where my husband took turns sitting him with for 6 hours as they tried to stabilize him, but after all the tests were done, there wasn't much to be done and we had to say good bye to him that evening.

My three dog drop ins the next day were able to give me the day off. That was yesterday. And today I am trying to do my drop ins. It's not just that I'm sad, but the loss has destroyed my appetite. I'm trying to eat a little and stay hydrated and take all my medicated, but I'm definitely lethargic.

I feel so bad. Like I'm not doing my job well. And I'm depressing the dogs.

Maybe the worse decision I made was thinking it would be a good idea for that doggy friend to still stay with us today. She knows something is wrong, she doesn't know where he is, and I can tell she's confused about his absence and my crying.

I just worry I can't do this job anymore. I can barely do anything at home, I'm trying not to completely shut down because my husband and I are in this grief together. This is the first dog that was mine, not my family's dog. So it's hurting me so much harder. But I'm trying to also remind myself having something unexpectedly happen like this is traumatic.

I just don't know how to still do this job well while dealing with my trauma. I hope it gets easier. This is my first day "back".

I’m a sitter on Rover and I’m curious from the owner side. When you’re searching for a house sitter, do you filter by price?

For example, do you:
Set a max price right away (like under $80, under $100, etc.)
Or do you browse profiles first and then factor price in later?

I’m trying to understand how much pricing actually affects visibility vs decision-making. In my area there’s a really wide range, from around $20/night up to $90+, so I’m curious how owners navigate that.

Do you tend to automatically skip higher-priced sitters, assume higher price = better care, or just look at reviews/profile first and ignore price unless it’s way outside your budget?

Would love to hear how you personally search and decide.

I have my first meet and greet with my first client today. I only offer drop-ins and walking. This client wants repeat walks weekly. It is my first client, so I don't have forms printed out and was just going to type information into my phone in Google Sheets or something. I'm so nervous!!! For future clients, is it too much to ask them to fill out a form if I'm just walking their dog for 30 minutes a week?

I keep having owners who don't want to pay for two drop ins to feed their pets. Instead, they have me come once and give them 2 meals worth of food (which the pets eat all in one sitting). I feel awful, that can't be good for them

I’ve been thinking about stepping away from house sitting for good.

I used to take back-to-back stays all the time and was constantly onboarding new clients. At first, the steady income felt great, but over time I realized I was barely seeing my boyfriend, family, or friends. That started making me really frustrated and kind of stuck in this cycle where I always had money coming in but no real time to enjoy life.

A few months ago, in therapy, I decided to scale back and only keep my regular clients so I could feel less overwhelmed and have more freedom. But even that is starting to feel like too much.

I babysit and pet sit as my only jobs while being a full-time online college student, so my schedule is flexible—but I still feel like I’m always working. It’s getting harder to focus on school, I’m constantly tired, and by the end of the day I just want to sleep. On top of that, I’ve started feeling a lot of anxiety about clients, messages, and how I’m being perceived on/off Rover, plus always needing to be somewhere.

At this point, I think I might be done with house sitting completely. I’m worried drop-ins alone might not be enough financially, but I also feel like I deserve to feel calm, have a life again, and actually spend time with the people I care about without constantly stressing about where I need to be next.

I’ve been doing this for about 3 years now and I’m honestly really burnt out. Has anyone else dealt with this? How do you find a balance without it taking over everything? Even when I only house sit a few nights a week, it still feels like it completely runs my life. I miss my bed :/

I am currently house sitting for a dog who is recently post operation. She has had diarrhoea, but since she is fluffy it gets all stuck in her back floof. I have wiped her as clean as possible but cannot shower her yet as she still has her surgery dressing on. The dog likes to sleep in bed with me at night and her owner wants her to sleep there too, however I do not like the idea of her in bed with me as she still is not particularly clean. Is it reasonable for me to refuse to let her in bed, even if she is less happy sleeping in the living room?

I'm currently boarding a dog at my house and was just wondering how often do I send pictures to the owners? I dont want to send too little / too much

I am supposed to start a visit this evening, but the family has failed to send me the door code. I’ve done a few visits for them before and the code changes every time.

They are flying to japan, and my texts aren’t delivering so i’m assuming they’re on the plane. How do i handle this?

I always tape myself getting into the house, a quick sweep what it looks like, greeting the pet, another sweep if I go into another part of the house and when I leave

Its a lot of effort on my part though and I was thinking of just getting like a cheap wearable camera so that I can just go about doing the drop in or walk without having the physically record with my phone

If you do, any recommendations?

I got a housesitting request for a cat that's disabled, she can't walk and also can't use a litter box. The setup involves keeping the cat in a pen and cleaning it multiple times throughout the day. Would you charge extra for something like this? If so, how would you price it? Thanks in advance!

For those of you who have your own clients…
- Did you create a contract for your clients? What did you include in that contract?
- Did you buy separate insurance, and what type of insurance did you get?
- How do you accept payment (cash, Venmo, etc)? When do you require payments by?
- Did you apply for a business license from your city? Is this necessary?

I just want to make sure I cover my bases and protect myself!

Hello! New sitter here glad to be part of this community!

So, I have done a few sits so far. Right now I am doing a weekend stay for someone and I was just wondering is it okay for the updates to be repetitive? Ive been sending a handful of pictures twice a day but all I can think of to say is something along the lines of "Good Morning (or afternoon)! (Dogs name) is doing great. They ate (breakfast or dinner) we went on a few walks throughout the day and now we are back at the house having a chill day!" Is that okay or what do you guys normally say?

Is it better to just send pictures if nothing new happens or what? Also is it okay for the pics to be similar since we hang out in the same rooms most days? I'm only here a few days but i try to keep pretty close to the pups schedule that they are used to but most of the pups I sit are chill and prefer to basically just lay around all day and dont really play or anything so we dont really do anything too crazy!

Most we do is sometimes I'll work on some training with them to see if i can teach them something new so that update is easy if i do teach them something but other than that I dont really know what to say throughout the sit other than cute pictures of their pup haha! Any advice welcome 🙂

First time house sitting (I’m the dog owner)

Hi everyone!

Me and my husband will be travelling for 2 weeks in the summer and after chatting with a few sitters, as well as asking friends and family for reccommandations, we met a wonderful sitter yesterday and decided to move forward with her services for this stay (as well as other random drop-ins we might need).
She is great and I want to make her stay at our house as comfortable so I started a word document with first our dog’s schedule, feeding and information and any quircks (things like he LOVES for you to watch him eat his food or he will stare into your soul until you give him a belly rub kind of stuff).
Then, just instructions on our house: things like where to find pans/pots, or how to use our old air fryer/mini oven and any other little thing that our 1960s house has.
Well, now that I’m done this word document it’s 4 pages long! I don’t want to be overbearing but I am going to be out of the country with a 6 hour time zone difference and I want her to have a good time and not worry about texting me every 5 minutes ‘hey where is this or that?’ I also told her to send me a list of her favourite snacks / treats and I will stock up, as well as stocking up the pantry and fridge with some general items.

I want to know if I’m doing too much ? Would she think I’m a crazy lady ?

Plz give me a reality check 🙃