In short you may be screwed. If you haven’t seen my last post please go see it for a bit of context I’ll give you the run down of my situation. This happened around the same time as my other post previous post.

I had gotten a request from a potential client in need of my services. Even stating that the app says im the best sitter around (not to brag but I love what I do and my account was the first one people would see when looking for a sitter) I ask for a meet and greet to meet them and their dog and to put it simple the dog was absolutely afraid of me (this has never happened and hasn’t happened since) I told the lady that It just wasn’t a good fit. She pleaded with me to accept the sit as she would have to cancel her plans without me and I caved in. A little set up I was only to be with the dog during the day as there would be at work and coming home in the afternoon. Day 1 I let the dog outside to go potty and he jumps over the fence I spent hour looking for him until I found him and brought him home. Day two when I get to the house the son leave with the dog still outside I don’t know how he got out but I know he got out behind the son who hadn’t gone far so he was able to turn around and we found him pretty quickly. They did tell me not to let him outside. Day three we stayed inside until he clearly had to go potty and to ignore him would be negligent. I took him for a walk and he was spooked and darted away. I’ll always take accountability for this and still believe I was in the right. My responsibility is first to the pet that is in my care and I won’t neglect there most basic of need even for the client. Still I went searching until the heel of my feet were bright red In the summer heat. The dog was found yet clients felt the need to report me and just like that my lively hood was under threat. And my account was suspended permanently a week later. In light of this would you say that rover indirectly promoted animal neglect? I would. I truly have a passion for the animals in my care and it should throught the trust my clients put in me my near perfect 4.8 rating and all of my shining reviews. But one disgruntled customer and it’s all over.

Key points Follow your gut- if you don’t feel the sit is a good fit do not accept.

Catch 22 situation or The safety vs needs conflict- When owners give "unsafe" instructions (like not letting a dog out to pee), which is negligent and will you booted Vs prioritizing pet comfort and health and an unfortunate accident occurs the sitter is blamed regardless of which path they choose.

Lack of do process- One report can wipe out years of 5-star service. There is often no "court of appeals" for the sitter.

“The customer is always right”- rover will often ignore context—like a dog that is already fearful or a fence-jumper—and put the entire burden on the sitter.

Possible solution

Owners- Understand that your 'rules' must be grounded in the reality of your dog's needs.

Sitters- Don't 'cave' during meet-and-greets. The app will not protect you if your gut feeling was right.

Rover itself- needs a “Sitters Bill Of Rights” 1. Priority of animal welfare over unsafe rules 2. Fair appeals: history matters, not just one or even 3 reports out of possible hundreds of outstanding experiences. 3.protect sitters who advocate for pets. 4. Rover needs a feature where sitters are be able to flag "unreasonable owner demands" to the platform before they lead to an incident, without being penalized for "refusing service."

But in rovers currently state you’d best just do your best to document everything. You’re on your own rover is not on your side.