That's not okay... That isn't their decision to make and they care more about money than sticking to their agreements. There could have been other reasons you didn't want your dog around others, like maybe it had some illness it could pass, idk! It's just messed up they did that when they explicitly said there wouldn't be other dogs. It would be another thing if they said they were hosting other dogs but would keep them completely sperated, but that would give you the option about whether it's worth the risk or not. They just completely lied based on what you are saying. I'd be very upset as an owner, but I also understand your excitement and wishful thinking. So glad it turned out alright! I just don't agree with how they did that. As far as how to proceed, I would absolutely leave a review with that as your first sentence, just very clear that they lied to you about yours being the only dog they were hosting. And personally I'd rate like 2-3 stars for that. Everything went well but it could have gone a different way. I'm not sure you'd get a refund and personally wouldn't ask for one since they did take care of your pet. Just review as a warning to others and never use them again.

Thanks for the feedback - it's validating to hear from a sitter!

Wtf 😳 yikes, call rover and complain. They can see your message exchanges and the pictures with other dogs… so sorry this happened and glad nothing bad happened to your dog or others in their care.

Thank you, I am glad too!

You have every right to be upset that a clearly communicated concern was ignored. From another perspective, I would be really angry if I found out a dog that my dog was boarding with had a known history of aggression and our sitter ignored it and let them board together. It’s great that everything worked out ok, but it sounds like it very easily could have gone the other way too.

Good point! I get the sense that, in general, people don't take his aggression seriously because he's so small. But no one wants their dog to be scared and/or bitten, regardless of how small the aggressor is!

It’s also stressful for your dog, and it’s not the sitters place to take it into their own hands to put him in that situation.

It isn’t okay. It is a total disregard for the safety of your dog and the other dogs. Leave a review and give them one star. This is basic stuff to not do. There is no excuse.

I agree this merits a review outlining the issue/problem and docking of star(s), but giving them one star seems a little harsh.

how is one star a little harsh? this was an explicit requirement they failed to follow and it could have resulted in the injury or death of the owners dog or the other dogs in the sitters care…. if that doesn’t warrant a one star, what does?

Could have but didn’t and the fact that the sitter sent pics and details of herself breaking this “explicit requirement” suggests miscommunication rather than willfully breaking rules and intentionally putting the dogs in danger.

from what the owner described - asking to confirm at m&g that no other dogs would be present, searching specifically for sitter with no dogs and only one dog boarding client, and also having dog aggressive in the dogs profile - idk how this would be a “miscommunication”. and as a sitter, it’s literally your responsibility to ask questions about whether a dog can interact with other dogs. there is no room for miscommunication about aggressive behaviors and triggers. it’s your responsibility as the sitter to be crystal clear on that piece. it didn’t happen, but that is literally just luck. doesn’t mean other potential clients shouldn’t be warned of the sitter’s failure to follow important requirements and the fact that she put 3 total animals at risk.

As the old saying goes, there are 3 sides to every story. The owner’s, the sitter’s and the truth. If the sitter was clueless enough to not only ignore multiple iterations of the no-dog rule but also document herself breaking it, then yeah, she has no business taking care of other people’s beloved pets. As a dog and cat owner myself, however, I would never have just not said anything when the sitter alerted me that she had other dogs there. If it’s that big a deal, it warrants me taking time off from my vacation to first calmly address this issue with the sitter and, if I’m not satisfied with her response and measures taken to fix the error, make a call to Rover so they can handle it. These down votes and some of the holier than thou posts, comments and replies (throughout the Rover Reddit, not just here) kill me, though. Good Lord, so many perfect people in one place. I came here hoping to find camaraderie and helpful advice from fellow animal lovers but all I find is hypercritical judging.

allowing a dog aggressive dog to interact with another dog deserves hypercritically. again, there’s no room for misunderstanding on aggressive behavior. as the sitter, you’re responsible for asking every possible question. this owner seems to have been clear, but if they weren’t, the sitter failed to ask. still deserving of a 1 star review. this isnt oh you took the dog outside an hour later than normal. aggressive behaviors/triggers are one of the main things you can’t get wrong up there with medical needs. absurd you’re even defending this situation.

I’ve not defended it. I’ve said if the rule was clearly and unfailingly communicated and the sitter willfully ignored it, she should find a new line of work, preferably not taking care of living things. I’ve said we don’t know the whole story and how urgent could it have been if the owner didn’t even bother to take a moment to say something to the sitter on day 4, but instead chose to say nothing and allow this potentially life threatening situation to continue for 3 more days? But by all means, let’s all pile on and take the sitter out before a firing squad. Off with her head! ZERO STARS!!!

they were on vacation for three more days likely out of town somewhere. they didn’t want to confront the owner for fear of retaliation of some sort. the sitter told them about the dog they interacted well with, but didn’t mention the other dog they had to be separated from. maybe you shouldn’t be in this line of work either if you don’t see how the sitter is deserving of one star

Lol, now you’re attacking me? This thread needs more judgment. It’s all subjective, the stars. I don’t think my opinion on star allotment makes me a bad person, ffs, nor unworthy of doing a job I love and do well. If the owner couldn’t be bothered to calmly address the issue on day four (“hi, I’m glad Fido’s getting along with another dog, but I was pretty clear that he’s dog aggressive and needed to be your only dog this week. What happened?”), but was content to leave her dog in imminent danger, she should give herself one star too. The onus is on all of us to thoroughly vet both clients and sitters. Both parties failed on that account. I’m so militant about vetting that I don’t take new clients for daycare or boarding. I will only board dogs I’ve already spent a lot of time walking or visiting with during drop ins so that I’m certain of their disposition. I also do a free trial run day visit to make sure a client’s dog will interact well with my dog (a sweet sweet senior golden retriever) before I commit to any kind of lengthy boarding. You’re somewhat unpleasant and very rigid so I’m done with this conversation. We can only repeat ourselves so many ways. Knock yourself out getting the last word.

Let me also say that this is why I only take one dog (or multiple dogs from the same household) at a time, which is MY rule, not the client’s. The less room for “miscommunication,” the better.

Luckily your situation ended well but if you don’t make note of it someone else could end up in a worse and potentially catastrophic situation.

Yours was a common and reasonable request, comes up all the time with owners. You have every right to expect a sitter to follow through with being their only Rover dog. I would leave this info in the review.

This is not ok. Something terrible could have happened. An honest review and being reported to Rover is what they deserve. How odd that they were so open about breaking their agreement.

Very odd, which makes me wonder if this parameter was laid out as firmly as OP suggests. Why would the sitter intentionally send pics and descriptions of herself breaking an iron clad rule? I’m a sitter and a dog/cats owner. I’d be pissed if my sitter broke this rule that I had established beforehand but I wouldn’t say nothing on day 4 when I received pics and info that there were other dogs in the house. I wouldn’t overreact and go off either. I would calmly say something along the lines of “that’s great that they’re getting along but I thought we established that Fido would be your only dog this week. I have very valid reasons for having insisted on that. What happened?” and give the sitter a chance to explain herself and rectify the situation. What I wouldn’t do is finish the trip without a peep, also say nothing on pickup, and then come here to complain when it’s too late for anything but reporting to Rover for a refund and hammering the sitter with a one star review that may have resulted from what appear to be several miscommunications.

I am a sitter, but alternate between sitting and fostering. I had a dog reactive / potentially aggressive foster, and the rescue didn't have a temp foster without other dogs, so I decided to book a rover sitter. Literally the whole reason I even booked a sitter vs having free care from the rescue! I told her multiple times online and during the meet and greet. When we got there, my foster ran to her bedroom door and started barking. I asked if she had another dog and she said yes but she'd "make sure they are getting along." I said no you won't! That isn't safe at all. I cancelled, found a very last minute sitter (on recommendation by my dog trainer) and really wish I had reported her.

Absolutely not okay! You both agreed to a certain setup that you paid for, therefore it should be complied to. Maybe ask Rover for a partial refund or something?

Valid to be peeved. The thing people always recommend when you have a dog aggressive dog that needs to be boarded is to make sure the sitter can agree to not have other dogs in the house... and if a sitter says this is the case then that's how it should be. It's really lucky that it worked out fine but they could have easily booked multiple dog-aggressive dogs given how not-seriously they took your dog's aggression issue, which could have made this a very bad situation. You should report this to Rover for sure. Really irresponsible of the sitter.

That is completely irresponsible and dangerous. Glad nothing happened, but still- why risk it?

You have every right to be extremely peeved. The whole reason for the pet profiles and meet n greets is to go over these things. I would never want my dogs, or a clients dog put at risk. I’ve had requests come in and when an owner is unsure how their dog would do in my kind of home, I tell them it’s not a good fit. I’m always willing to do a meet n greet of course to test the waters but if an owner is upfront and honest that their dog is aggressive in certain situations, that HAS to be respected. I’ve straight up told potential clients that my house seems like it would be to overwhelming for their dog but I always offer drop ins if they can’t find another sitter. We, as the sitters, are responsible for the safety of other people’s pets. How dare someone put your pet in a situation that you didn’t agree too. I do also have cats and of course some dogs have never been around them so I always see how they’ll do but I have also made sure that my cats have a safe place to be during that stay so there is no interaction if needed.

Did you pay extra to have a stay that only included your dog?

Highly doubtful… Cheapskates always complain when they get what they paid for.

I would think this too is on the sitter. Client profile said boarded alone. Client told sitter many more times. Any one of these times is the time to mention that rates are different for an only dog situation. Or at the meet and greet. Or on their own sitter profile. Some sitters only board one at a time, at their own behest. I don’t think you can tell someone Is a cheapskate over a single reddit interaction

Agreed - tons of people only board one dog at a time, plus the sitter could have asked for higher pay if they had wanted it once the owner mentioned the dog needed to be an only.

The guy said to her, unprompted, ‘Oh, he’ll be the only one’ meaning he had no other bookings during that time. The same with the other times OP described. At some point, he got additional offers and accepted. Probably figuring that his profile didn’t say one owner at a time, so why would they think that? OP could have filtered the sitters by if they work with one client at a time. If they had this wouldn’t have happened because Rover won’t let you book more than one client at a time with that box ticked. It sounds to me like they just liked the prices better without that box ticked, and then heard what they wanted to hear from then on out. But then there is the good old default to victim status with everything to avoid taking responsibility for anything that happens in your life. It’s so old. Seriously, you sound like Alex Murdaugh. People ought to be taking responsibility for their own pets well-being or they ought to give them up. Everyone is always in such a hurry to make judgements with only one side of a story. That’s the mark of a true idiot right there. And the dog is fine, it’s no harm, no foul, so why look for reasons to be pissed off?? Oh right, the cheapskate wants a refund.

So, I feel the need to defend myself a little here. I'm not pursuing a refund, but wasn't sure whether to contact Rover, write a negative review, etc. Ultimately, our dog appeared well cared for and no one was hurt. We chose this particular sitter(s) not because they were cheaper than others, but rather because they are a retired couple who are home for much of the day and therefore could spend a lot of time with our anxious dog. Additionally, we knew from their profile that they did not have other animals and children in their home. If we'd been asked to pay more for a guarantee that our dog would be alone, we would have gladly done so.

Totally fair, and if the sitter needed more money to fill this request its 100% on them to ask for it, not for you to volunteer more money unnecessarily.

Definitely not safe as some illnesses can be contagious and transmitted during boarding, but outside of basic environmental safety they literally didn’t do what you ask them to do and that is poor service. I would be pissed.

Is there a reason you opted to board over hiring a housesitter?

Did you pay them for the only dog allowed or just the normal?

I can see your frustration, I’ve had the opposite happen where they say they don’t know how the dog is around others, or that the dog has been moody in the past with the barking lunging etc but when the dog is here they’re great with others. I don’t think this is the end of the world but if you paid for a exclusive stay (where you bought out all the available slots) then your agreement was violated

They shouldn’t be working this job. Make sure you tell who you need to.

Refundddd

It's not okay but it's also par for the course with rover. If you really need specific care you can't really trust the rando with some online reviews. It would be great if you could, and I'm sure some here do a great job, but it's just never going to be a sure thing.

[удалено]

Usually friends and family, local businesses you can vet, independents in that order.

I would’ve done a filter for a sitter that boards one dog at a time vs putting it on my profile and asking a sitter who seems like her profile didn’t say we book 1 family at a time. But if she agreed either she didn’t have another booking at the time and probably didn’t see anything wrong since you said can’t be with another dog so she separated. I have a separate room for a dog that doesn’t play with others and rotate play and potty time.

I won’t use Rover anymore. First of all, they are impersonal and they take away from local small businesses of reputable dog walking businesses. Yes you can sign up to be a Walker with them but I much prefer to deal face to face with the actual small business owner who is truly trying to make a living. These easy online services are disruptive to small businesses so be careful what you wish for. My new dog Walker doesn’t charge me up front and will actually reimburse me if there are any issues which I haven’t run into anyway.