u/Ann_georgia-

When I first started on Rover back in September, I was getting an insane amount of house sitting requests. Like genuinely at least one almost every day or every other day. At the time, I had way fewer reviews and less experience.

Fast forward to now (May), I have way more reviews, repeat clients, and honestly more experience than a lot of sitters in my area. My rates are definitely above average now, though.

My current rates are:
House sitting: base rate in the $80s, additional pets around $40–50
Walks/drop-ins: $27 base rate and $16 additional pet rate

For comparison, in my area I’d say average pricing is roughly:
Walks/drop-ins: $20–28 for the first pet and around $10 extra for additional pets
House sitting: $50–65 base rate and around $35 for additional pets

What’s weird is that for the last couple months my house sitting requests basically went radio silent, but I’ve been getting way more walks and drop-ins instead. The strange part is my pricing really hasn’t changed much recently either. I’ve maybe only increased things by a couple dollars over the past few months, so I don’t feel like this sudden shift is entirely price related. And honestly, financially, walks/drop-ins almost seem better sometimes. I can stack multiple visits in a day and make good money without having to stay overnight somewhere. Plus I get to sleep in my own bed, which I love.

But on the flip side, it’s way more driving, more gas, and more wear and tear on my car going back and forth all day.

So now I’m wondering:
Should I lower my house sitting rates a little to try to get more bookings again?
Raise them instead and lean into walks/drop-ins?
Or is this just a seasonal shift and not price related?

What do you guys personally prefer doing: house sitting or walks/drop-ins?

I never really had an issue with this before, but recently it’s become more common for people to ask to negotiate my rates as a pet sitter. I understand that price discussions come up in business, but I personally struggle with conflict and also have a hard time saying no, which makes these situations uncomfortable for me. Every time I’ve agreed to lower my rate, it hasn’t worked out well. It happened about a month ago when I gave in and I’ve regretted it since. It just happened again yesterday, and now I’m trying to figure out how to respond. I’m relieved it was over message this time, because in-person situations have left me feeling pressured in the past. I do have higher rates for my area, but they are still on the lower end compared to national averages. My pricing reflects my experience and the level of care I provide. I have experience ranging from puppies and kittens to senior pets, I’m CPR certified, carry my own private pet insurance, and have worked with reactive dogs and cats. My review count is on the higher side for my area. I also administer medications and injections, so I handle a wide range of medical and behavioral needs.
I’ve also noticed that the people who question my pricing often have pets with higher medical or behavioral needs, which does require more time, skill, and responsibility. My drop ins start at $26 and my housesitting starts at $85 for dogs. Anyways, I’m just looking for some positive input. How do you deal with situations like this? Do you negotiate your prices or do you stand your ground because you know your prices and your worth? You would think after years of doing this I would be better at it, but no.

I’ve dealt with scared/aggressive cats before, but today was honestly on another level. The owner told me to just do the essentials and leave due to the cat not liking anyone, which ended up being necessary because this cat charged me multiple times screaming/growling. I’m still physically shaking and I’ve been out of the apartment for like 10 minutes.
On a scale of 0–10 for aggression, this was probably a 10. Luckily I brought a large plastic container lid that I used as a barrier because otherwise I would’ve gotten scratched or bitten. Last visit actually went fine, so this caught me off guard. The setup also makes it hard because it’s a tiny one-bedroom apartment with a narrow hallway, and the cat’s perch is right where I have to pass to get to basically everything. The cat doesn’t care about treats, food, toys, or interaction, it just wants space and seems extremely territorial/fearful. I moved slowly, avoided eye contact, kept my body turned sideways, and did everything as fast and calmly as possible. I cleaned the litter box, refreshed food/water, and left after about 10 minutes because every movement seemed to escalate the cat more. I still have about two weeks of drop-ins left and honestly I’m not sure what else I can do differently at this point besides bringing barriers/protective clothing and minimizing time in the apartment. Has anyone dealt with a cat at this level before?

Curious what everyone else averages for profile views in their area. I know it varies a lot depending on location and demand, but I’m trying to get a better comparison point. I’m in a medium cost of living area where prices tend to be very cheap overall due to high amounts of new sitters. I’m on the higher side of prices! On a good month I average around 65 profile views, and on a slower month maybe around 25. This is from the Insights section. Does that seem high, low, or average compared to your market? If you’re comfortable sharing, what general area are you in and about how many views do you usually get per month? Honestly, I’m just genuinely curious that’s all.

I’m doing drop ins twice a day, afternoon and evening for a dog for two weeks and currently it’s my last drop in. A family member is doing the morning visits. anyways I spoke to that family member over the phone a few days ago in regards to being enough packaged food. The owner explained to me that he gets homemade food so a special diet and that she would pre-package his meals. well she did, but she didn’t leave enough. so two days ago I called her family member and the emergency contact she left me because she’s out of the country can’t answer. The emergency contact explained that she will get something else to eat for the dog in the mornings so I have enough containers of food for my last visit. Well I come here today and there’s no containers in the fridge. She must have gave it to him this morning?? I tried calling, but now her phone number isn’t letting me get through! I tried texting it but no answer. What do I do? I don’t want to leave here without giving him food but also he is old and on a homemade diet. I’ve never had this happen. This is why I called a few days ago!! Ugh

I’ve been house sitting and doing drop ins for a while now, and I’ve noticed a frustrating pattern.

During my meet & greets, I always ask directly if anyone will be stopping by the house while I’m there, and I’m consistently told no. But after the booking is confirmed and I’m there, I’ll suddenly get a message saying someone is coming by to grab something, or that someone will be letting themselves in briefly, sometimes right around the time I’m arriving.

This has happened multiple times recently across different sits and drop ins. I’ve also had situations where I walk into a home and there’s a random person inside cleaning, with no prior mention of it at all, which is really unsettling when you’re expecting an empty house.

What’s most frustrating is that these visits aren’t being discussed upfront, they’re being announced after everything is already set, sometimes even last minute like “they’re on their way right now.” Not questioning if it’s ok with me, just announcing that it’s going to happen.

As sitters, we’re responsible for someone else’s home, pets, and security, so unexpected people entering without prior agreement feels like a real issue.

I’m wondering if other sitters deal with this often, and how you handle it while still trying to maintain a good client relationship.

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 started doing drop-ins a day ago on an elderly dog. The only one sort of red flag I got at the meet was I had to keep repeating myself about my availability. In the end we agreed that slight flexibility was OK and then I got another message before the booking started asking again about timing so I responded again. Other than that everything’s been OK. I had a hard time originally getting in because of poor communication during the meet. The original access way into the home didn’t end up working out because I was told the wrong information but luckily I got that figured out pretty quick. The next visit went fine and now I’m starting the visit after that. A couple red flags. First of all I walk in and someone’s in the house. I was never told that anyone would be in the house. It scared the crap out of me. The person didn’t speak much English and so when I asked who they were, they didn’t know how to respond but from the looks of it, it’s just a cleaning lady? Also, I can’t really get in contact with the client since they’re out of the country and unable to respond. The second red flag is someone else (family) is supposed to be stopping by in the morning as I’m not doing morning visits and everything was exactly how I left it so I’m curious if the dog even got breakfast today maybe I’m just assuming but it’s odd that everything was exactly the same including curtains closed, food dishes, where I put the way to access the home, etc. This isn’t a short booking either so I’m hoping the rest will start going smoothly.

So for people who have been doing Rover long-term, what is your protocol when it’s raining pretty heavily? I’ve been doing pet sitting for a good portion of my life, but not in the state I live in now. Where I live now in the spring months there is severe rain showers. I started Rover last year after the summer ended. I’ve had quite a bit of bookings and it’s been pretty successful. I’m now one of the most popular sitters in my area. I don’t get as many walks, but I do get some. One of the dogs that I’m walking today was abused and rescued not that long ago. It’s very skittish and I’m still gaining its trust. Of course today it’s raining pretty hard. The owner isn’t able to respond to my message so I didn’t know what to do. I decided to try to see if it would be OK to walk the dog and see how the dog would react to the rain. So far it’s doing OK. I have an umbrella. Curious if it’s raining pretty hard where you lived do you still continue with your normal walks?