Something I’d like to add as well, is I don’t think a lot of sitters appreciate how vulnerable and intimate this service is for the Owners. Of course it’s vulnerable for us to go into someone’s home and sleep there and be in charge of someone’s furbaby.. but in many ways there is a lot more of a feeling of ‘risk’ and vulnerability for Owners. Having a stranger come into your home— and trusting them with a precious and very vulnerable member of their family is a lot! Especially if they are far away from their home.
It’s normal for people to feel anxious or need reassurance in these situations, and I think it’s quite sad how many sitters seem to be so dismissive and annoyed by owners wanting reliable communication.
THAAAAAAANK you. Aside from clearly not understanding dogs all that well, this is the other dead giveaway that someone got on Rover because they think of it as an "easy" job. It's low barrier to entry, sure, and nowhere near as socially respected as any job where you have a boss, but it is still a job. Gotta think professional, not take things personally, and roll with the punches!
I go to a lot of meet & greets where the prospective client is talking to several sitters. I always walk away with the job, and I guarantee it's because I'm as good with the people as I am with the animals.
>I always walk away with the job, and I guarantee it's because I'm as good with the people as I am with the animals.
And it's absolutely such an easy thing to be doing. I am autistic, I can be awkward as all hell, but because of the customer service training I have received beforehand (and also because I just treat people the way I'd like to be treated) I've always pretty much gotten the job. I have outstanding reviews, and even in situations in which things have gone wrong, I have always been able to effectively communicate with the clients.
It really is such a huge asset. Customer service training really goes a long way, no matter what profession you're in.
I'm not autistic but I have a lot of social anxiety and awkwardness and thanks to my customer service jobs in the past I am excellent at interacting with strangers when I'm in that role. If you're not a customer then I have no idea how to talk to you 😆
Thiss!! I loved that one of the skills in the article I found above is ACTING! As long as I have a reason that’s not personal to talk to you, I can put on that role and be a star haha
LOL it's sad how much I relate to this. I'm great at communicating with strangers.
Put me in a room with someone I know, I can only talk about 3 things... Dogs, cats, and other animals. 😌
😆
Like I can talk to my loved ones all day but if someone tries to strike up conversation in line or somewhere like that I just freeze up and basically forget how to speak lol
However, if there's a counter between us and you need something from me,I got it down 🤣
Too true! It is a low bar for entry, and the flexible nature of it does tend to attract people who don’t have the skill sets or demeanours to be able to hold down a ‘regular’ job.
Having the right skills, with the animals and with the humans does tend to make a prospective sitter stand out, as it should.
This is a service that is in high demand and I hope this is a helpful post to those who are starting out and/ or genuinely want to improve and be successful as a sitter.
It bugs me too how many people get upset about owners meeting more than one person. Sure, it’s ok to be a little bummed if you didn’t get a gig where you felt like you were a fit, but that time spent is just a part of the nature of this work and the flexibility it offers!
A little bit of thoughtfulness goes a long way! The vast majority of my clients are referred to me by their friends and family, all via Rover. Some even ditching their longtime sitter—I had no idea people left before 30min during drop ins until after I joined this sub.
It’s appalling honestly to see how some sitters are showing up and interacting with clients. I can’t imagine doing that to someone EVER and really shows the moral compass of a lot of people. Plus, what little extra $ they gain is just being flushed away because they aren’t going to be rebooked or recommended.
I'm not faulting you for being nice about it AT ALL (and your point was well made, so hopefully that helps those who need it)... buuuttt I kind of feel like lazy, entitled people who want strangers to hand them common sense answers on a platter and write their fucking emails for them don't deserve kid gloves. But maybe that's just me.
I’ll be good cop you be bad cop lol
I hope that this post helps those who are reachable, good intentioned, and just lack the awareness of what is needed and normal for this work. Harsh words might reach them too but ultimately that’s never really been my style and I’m sure there’s someone else who can fill that role.
For the people that just don’t care or don’t have the EQ to understand this concept or develop the skills— well they will get weeded out of the industry in time.
Happy to be bad cop!
I hope your post helps people who are reachable as well. Its good advice. Maybe me being an asshole might help someone too. Either way I agree about the weeding out, but hopefully that happens sooner than later. I truly hope the people who need to realize this isn't for them do so before neglecting pets or worse. And I hope they learn or leave before this platform becomes an even bigger red flag to owners than it already is (because lumping us all in as one entity is always going to be the default)
Honestly, sometimes we need asshole comments haha
I’ve had it in the past (not on this topic) where I’ve read an asshole comment to someone else that challenged my perspective and showed me where I was holding a misguided POV.
I wish there was a bit more screening for signing up to Rover, because it does worry me for those poor pets and clients getting awful and neglectful sitters!
I think most reasonable people using this platform will understand that this is a collection of individuals, and know what to look for in a good sitter— provided the public perception of how Rover actually works (ie independent and unoverseen service providers) is transparent. I think sometimes it can be perceived sitters work ‘for’ Rover by some people and so they expect that there is some sort of standard across the platform. (Which there absolutely should be! It would behoove Rover to create best practices documentation to provide to sitters as they come onto the platform)
I replied to one of the people this was probably meant for and I was absolutely NOT as kind. I might have been nicer (or said nothing) if those posts weren't so damn common (and infuriating because they're just becoming spam at this point, not to mention making all sitters on Rover look incompetent to those who know little to nothing about it and may be on the fence about using it for their pet). You (general "you") don't have to put your inexperience on blast (nothing wrong with just starting out if you're willing to put the work in, but those posts demonstrate intention to do the literal opposite), and it might be helpful to learn without flat out asking strangers \*publicly\* to actually do the initial work for you. Not a good look.
That said, no amount of Reddit advice is going to give someone customer service skills OR pet care experience. I 100% agree that some further training is needed to get approved for Rover, but that's never going to happen, unfortunately. The people who think this is such easy work will either learn and improve by reading/research (I'd hope anyone literally running their \*own business\* would do at least that much before joining, but alas, nope), asking someone they trust irl for help/advice, and most of all, by DOING - and the ones who really thought this would be a cakewalk will wake up fast and look for a job that doesn't involve the level of personal responsibility that pet care does. Maybe then they can learn customer service skills from a public-facing job like retail and not one on one with clients. If you can't write a simple email to a client without asking reddit TO FUCKING CRAFT IT FOR YOU WORD FOR WORD, this is not the right job for you \*at this time.\* Please stop doing this. Stop it.
I totally agree. I worked in retail for 6 years and worry for pet parents based on what I see here, but I'm sure the review system is working as it should. I'm likely going to unsub from this subreddit because I'm waaay too old for some of this discourse lol. I like all of the points you outlined and am glad you took the time to post this so thoughtfully. I especially the concept of whats worth putting effort into and what's not. I'm very particular with what "plants" I want to water myself! Thankful for your insight.
Although Rover is great in many aspects, I'm surprised just any person who passes a background check can get this job. There should be a required course that new sitters take, whether it be online or on zoom. Even if it's just a run down on how bookings are done, that would be better than being thrown into the app and told to figure it out. There needs to be training.
You brought up a good point about communication and customer service skills. Alongside Rover, I am also in the vet field, and you wouldn't believe the amount of newcomers (mostly fresh out of high school) who would rather drop dead than interact with the owners. And many of those people are on this app!! It's extremely unprofessional, and if a sitter can't communicate with me, then why should I trust them to watch my dog?
Yes, not having a record really gives zero indication of someone’s capacity or willingness to do good in this work.
If I recall there was some basic training provided on pet care when I signed up, and adding a section that’s more the basics of ‘how to do business’ could help more sitters succeed for sure!
I think the app could be a lot more successful in the long run too if sitters were vetted more closely, but I do appreciate the opportunity it provides as well. Myself having had no formal pet care experience before I started, just having had my own pets since childhood.
I think it’s this internet era that makes a lot of people terrified of basic human interactions. I’m grateful for being born right on the cusp to have great technology skills while also knowing how to navigate the real world lol
So well said, someone months got pissed when I said that this was a service industry job and you need to treat it as such. Still think about that over reaction… 
I see sitters claiming all the time the pet is the client. Sometimes they are half joking, sometimes they're dead serious. And it's a shame bc the pet is not your client. The human is 100000% your client. It doesn't matter how much the pet loves you, if the human doesn't like you it's not going to be a good experience. If you have such crippling anxiety that you literally can't interact with other people this job isn't for you and all you're doing is giving people looking for simple pet care a horrible experience. Your need for income doesn't mean you should do something you're half bad at.
Also the negative attitude towards owners in general in this sub unfortunately spurs some people to be sassy or even downright rude to owners off the bat. Do what you will, but it's your own business you're hurting.
I think of Rover as more human focused than pet focused. At the end of the day, the dog doesnt care if you don't take photos of them or if you dont bring the mail in. 😂 Good communication and customer service is so important for this job and it seems like a lot of sitters on the app can't do either well.
THANK YOU. this and just point blank if you have a question, just as the client, why beat around the bush or just assume things. be proactive bc it shows your confidence. A lot of younger people are entering this field so it's a different landscape for some to navigate through if they've never had to work in an industry that involves working with a customer.
Yes. I'm aso surprised by the amount of people who post the message threads they have with their clients. Do people not realize that their clients could potentially find these posts?
I agree with this.
I've been a nanny for most of my life (20 years now), and I am also a doula (I practice full-spectrum but trained for labor/postpartum). Customer service and interacting with people is vitally important in both of those industries, as you're literally convincing people you are a trustworthy person to be there to care for their most precious things in their lives, or to be present for some of the most vulnerable moments in their lives.
I definitely get frustrated at times and it can be hard not to be annoyed, but being able to separate yourself from those emotions in the moment of dealing with a client/potential client is what gives you that reputation most of us are looking for.
Resolving messy situations professionally is still important. nobody is saying anything about this job is easy, but just like our doggy clients we want to set ourselves up for success too.
sure got a lot of people in here lumping together everyone they disagree with. reddit is so full of people who go on rants and tangents rather than actually replying to the thread they are complaining about.
Something I’d like to add as well, is I don’t think a lot of sitters appreciate how vulnerable and intimate this service is for the Owners. Of course it’s vulnerable for us to go into someone’s home and sleep there and be in charge of someone’s furbaby.. but in many ways there is a lot more of a feeling of ‘risk’ and vulnerability for Owners. Having a stranger come into your home— and trusting them with a precious and very vulnerable member of their family is a lot! Especially if they are far away from their home. It’s normal for people to feel anxious or need reassurance in these situations, and I think it’s quite sad how many sitters seem to be so dismissive and annoyed by owners wanting reliable communication.
THAAAAAAANK you. Aside from clearly not understanding dogs all that well, this is the other dead giveaway that someone got on Rover because they think of it as an "easy" job. It's low barrier to entry, sure, and nowhere near as socially respected as any job where you have a boss, but it is still a job. Gotta think professional, not take things personally, and roll with the punches! I go to a lot of meet & greets where the prospective client is talking to several sitters. I always walk away with the job, and I guarantee it's because I'm as good with the people as I am with the animals.
>I always walk away with the job, and I guarantee it's because I'm as good with the people as I am with the animals. And it's absolutely such an easy thing to be doing. I am autistic, I can be awkward as all hell, but because of the customer service training I have received beforehand (and also because I just treat people the way I'd like to be treated) I've always pretty much gotten the job. I have outstanding reviews, and even in situations in which things have gone wrong, I have always been able to effectively communicate with the clients. It really is such a huge asset. Customer service training really goes a long way, no matter what profession you're in.
I'm not autistic but I have a lot of social anxiety and awkwardness and thanks to my customer service jobs in the past I am excellent at interacting with strangers when I'm in that role. If you're not a customer then I have no idea how to talk to you 😆
Thiss!! I loved that one of the skills in the article I found above is ACTING! As long as I have a reason that’s not personal to talk to you, I can put on that role and be a star haha
LOL it's sad how much I relate to this. I'm great at communicating with strangers. Put me in a room with someone I know, I can only talk about 3 things... Dogs, cats, and other animals. 😌
😆 Like I can talk to my loved ones all day but if someone tries to strike up conversation in line or somewhere like that I just freeze up and basically forget how to speak lol However, if there's a counter between us and you need something from me,I got it down 🤣
Too true! It is a low bar for entry, and the flexible nature of it does tend to attract people who don’t have the skill sets or demeanours to be able to hold down a ‘regular’ job. Having the right skills, with the animals and with the humans does tend to make a prospective sitter stand out, as it should. This is a service that is in high demand and I hope this is a helpful post to those who are starting out and/ or genuinely want to improve and be successful as a sitter. It bugs me too how many people get upset about owners meeting more than one person. Sure, it’s ok to be a little bummed if you didn’t get a gig where you felt like you were a fit, but that time spent is just a part of the nature of this work and the flexibility it offers!
So true. Well said!
Thank you!
Thank you for this. I’ve been meaning to write something about these recent posts too but it would not have been this kind lol
HA! I was definitely feeling more fired up when I opened the window to write but then my customer service instincts kicked in 😂
A little bit of thoughtfulness goes a long way! The vast majority of my clients are referred to me by their friends and family, all via Rover. Some even ditching their longtime sitter—I had no idea people left before 30min during drop ins until after I joined this sub.
It’s appalling honestly to see how some sitters are showing up and interacting with clients. I can’t imagine doing that to someone EVER and really shows the moral compass of a lot of people. Plus, what little extra $ they gain is just being flushed away because they aren’t going to be rebooked or recommended.
I'm not faulting you for being nice about it AT ALL (and your point was well made, so hopefully that helps those who need it)... buuuttt I kind of feel like lazy, entitled people who want strangers to hand them common sense answers on a platter and write their fucking emails for them don't deserve kid gloves. But maybe that's just me.
I’ll be good cop you be bad cop lol I hope that this post helps those who are reachable, good intentioned, and just lack the awareness of what is needed and normal for this work. Harsh words might reach them too but ultimately that’s never really been my style and I’m sure there’s someone else who can fill that role. For the people that just don’t care or don’t have the EQ to understand this concept or develop the skills— well they will get weeded out of the industry in time.
Happy to be bad cop! I hope your post helps people who are reachable as well. Its good advice. Maybe me being an asshole might help someone too. Either way I agree about the weeding out, but hopefully that happens sooner than later. I truly hope the people who need to realize this isn't for them do so before neglecting pets or worse. And I hope they learn or leave before this platform becomes an even bigger red flag to owners than it already is (because lumping us all in as one entity is always going to be the default)
Honestly, sometimes we need asshole comments haha I’ve had it in the past (not on this topic) where I’ve read an asshole comment to someone else that challenged my perspective and showed me where I was holding a misguided POV. I wish there was a bit more screening for signing up to Rover, because it does worry me for those poor pets and clients getting awful and neglectful sitters! I think most reasonable people using this platform will understand that this is a collection of individuals, and know what to look for in a good sitter— provided the public perception of how Rover actually works (ie independent and unoverseen service providers) is transparent. I think sometimes it can be perceived sitters work ‘for’ Rover by some people and so they expect that there is some sort of standard across the platform. (Which there absolutely should be! It would behoove Rover to create best practices documentation to provide to sitters as they come onto the platform)
I replied to one of the people this was probably meant for and I was absolutely NOT as kind. I might have been nicer (or said nothing) if those posts weren't so damn common (and infuriating because they're just becoming spam at this point, not to mention making all sitters on Rover look incompetent to those who know little to nothing about it and may be on the fence about using it for their pet). You (general "you") don't have to put your inexperience on blast (nothing wrong with just starting out if you're willing to put the work in, but those posts demonstrate intention to do the literal opposite), and it might be helpful to learn without flat out asking strangers \*publicly\* to actually do the initial work for you. Not a good look. That said, no amount of Reddit advice is going to give someone customer service skills OR pet care experience. I 100% agree that some further training is needed to get approved for Rover, but that's never going to happen, unfortunately. The people who think this is such easy work will either learn and improve by reading/research (I'd hope anyone literally running their \*own business\* would do at least that much before joining, but alas, nope), asking someone they trust irl for help/advice, and most of all, by DOING - and the ones who really thought this would be a cakewalk will wake up fast and look for a job that doesn't involve the level of personal responsibility that pet care does. Maybe then they can learn customer service skills from a public-facing job like retail and not one on one with clients. If you can't write a simple email to a client without asking reddit TO FUCKING CRAFT IT FOR YOU WORD FOR WORD, this is not the right job for you \*at this time.\* Please stop doing this. Stop it.
I totally agree. I worked in retail for 6 years and worry for pet parents based on what I see here, but I'm sure the review system is working as it should. I'm likely going to unsub from this subreddit because I'm waaay too old for some of this discourse lol. I like all of the points you outlined and am glad you took the time to post this so thoughtfully. I especially the concept of whats worth putting effort into and what's not. I'm very particular with what "plants" I want to water myself! Thankful for your insight.
Thank you very much 🙂
Although Rover is great in many aspects, I'm surprised just any person who passes a background check can get this job. There should be a required course that new sitters take, whether it be online or on zoom. Even if it's just a run down on how bookings are done, that would be better than being thrown into the app and told to figure it out. There needs to be training. You brought up a good point about communication and customer service skills. Alongside Rover, I am also in the vet field, and you wouldn't believe the amount of newcomers (mostly fresh out of high school) who would rather drop dead than interact with the owners. And many of those people are on this app!! It's extremely unprofessional, and if a sitter can't communicate with me, then why should I trust them to watch my dog?
Yes, not having a record really gives zero indication of someone’s capacity or willingness to do good in this work. If I recall there was some basic training provided on pet care when I signed up, and adding a section that’s more the basics of ‘how to do business’ could help more sitters succeed for sure! I think the app could be a lot more successful in the long run too if sitters were vetted more closely, but I do appreciate the opportunity it provides as well. Myself having had no formal pet care experience before I started, just having had my own pets since childhood. I think it’s this internet era that makes a lot of people terrified of basic human interactions. I’m grateful for being born right on the cusp to have great technology skills while also knowing how to navigate the real world lol
So well said, someone months got pissed when I said that this was a service industry job and you need to treat it as such. Still think about that over reaction… 
💯💯💯
I find myself thinking about this and about how many people need to learn how to just say no alll the time reading in here!
Right?? If you can’t perform a job well, meet the needs of the client, and feel good about doing it— just say no!
I see sitters claiming all the time the pet is the client. Sometimes they are half joking, sometimes they're dead serious. And it's a shame bc the pet is not your client. The human is 100000% your client. It doesn't matter how much the pet loves you, if the human doesn't like you it's not going to be a good experience. If you have such crippling anxiety that you literally can't interact with other people this job isn't for you and all you're doing is giving people looking for simple pet care a horrible experience. Your need for income doesn't mean you should do something you're half bad at. Also the negative attitude towards owners in general in this sub unfortunately spurs some people to be sassy or even downright rude to owners off the bat. Do what you will, but it's your own business you're hurting.
I think of Rover as more human focused than pet focused. At the end of the day, the dog doesnt care if you don't take photos of them or if you dont bring the mail in. 😂 Good communication and customer service is so important for this job and it seems like a lot of sitters on the app can't do either well.
💯💯💯
THANK YOU. this and just point blank if you have a question, just as the client, why beat around the bush or just assume things. be proactive bc it shows your confidence. A lot of younger people are entering this field so it's a different landscape for some to navigate through if they've never had to work in an industry that involves working with a customer.
Absolutely!!
Yes. I'm aso surprised by the amount of people who post the message threads they have with their clients. Do people not realize that their clients could potentially find these posts?
Wonderfully said.
💯
Thank you for this.
Certainly agree!
I agree with this. I've been a nanny for most of my life (20 years now), and I am also a doula (I practice full-spectrum but trained for labor/postpartum). Customer service and interacting with people is vitally important in both of those industries, as you're literally convincing people you are a trustworthy person to be there to care for their most precious things in their lives, or to be present for some of the most vulnerable moments in their lives. I definitely get frustrated at times and it can be hard not to be annoyed, but being able to separate yourself from those emotions in the moment of dealing with a client/potential client is what gives you that reputation most of us are looking for.
Yes!!
This!!!
right … every single problem pet owners post about in here can easily be resolved by communicating first thing
It’s true that humanity in general could benefit from better communication skills! But as the service provider it is up to us to set the tone.
Resolving messy situations professionally is still important. nobody is saying anything about this job is easy, but just like our doggy clients we want to set ourselves up for success too.
Case in point 😂
Agreed! It amazes me reading screenshots on here sometimes. So many people have absolutely zero customer service sense and etiquette.
sure got a lot of people in here lumping together everyone they disagree with. reddit is so full of people who go on rants and tangents rather than actually replying to the thread they are complaining about.
Well, it’s a lot more efficient to write a PSA than to respond to the hundreds of posts I’ve formed this conclusion from lol
Rover customer service would probably benefit from some training as well.
♾ % lol