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10 Best
Pet Sitting
of 2024
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Pet Sitting 

Rover.com pet-sitting website in-depth review.


ConsumersAdvocate.org Rating: 4.6 / 5 (Excellent)
99 Customer Comments & Reviews - see all comments
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Rover.com is a website that connects pet parents with loving, local dog sitters. It’s the country’s largest network of dog lovers for hire, with over 25,000 pet sitters nationwide who can easily be accessed online. Services offered by pet sitters include dog hosting (the sitter watches the dog in their home), dog sitting (the sitter watches the dog in the owner’s home), dog walking, and dog daycare. Rover.com also offers premium insurance, 24/7 support, and a reservation guarantee, at no extra cost.

Availability: (Nationwide)

Pet Sitter Rates
$25 per day average

Payment Options

Credit card (Visa, MasterCard)
PayPal

Pet Sitting Location

Pet Hosting (In the Owner's Home)
Pet Hosting (In the Sitter’s Home)

Pet Services

Dog boarding
Day care
Pet sitting
Dog walking
Transportation

Setting an Appointment

Self-Service: Online

Search sitters, send messages, book and pay, all through Rover.

Full-service: Telephone

Call Rover Premier, and a consultant will handle the details, matching pet parents with the best sitter to meet their needs.

Pet Insurance – Included with all services

Universal insurance coverage for stays and services booked on Rover

Medical coverage

$25,000
$250 deductible per claim

General liability (Bodily injury and property damage)

$2,000,000 per occurrence
$3,000,000 general aggregate
No deductible

Professional liability

$1,000,000 per occurrence
$1,000,000 general aggregate
No deductible

Fine Print

Limited one-time refund

Requests for refunds should be sent within 48 hours of the end of your pet’s stay. This excludes any fees payable to Pet Care Service Providers. In cases where Rover.com determines that a Pet Care Service Provider violated policies in connection with a service, Rover.com may provide pet owners a refund of all fees charged by Rover.com.

Identity and Background Verification

Rover.com does not attempt to confirm any user’s purported identity or background. Users are responsible for providing true, accurate, current and complete information about themselves. Users are advised to maintain and update any information so it remains true, accurate and complete at all times. Rover.com offers optional background checks through a partnership with First Advantage that verifies that a sitter has not committed a felony or violent crime, such that there would be reason to believe that animals would be in danger while in their care. Rover.com does not investigate any user’s reputation, conduct, morality, criminal background or verify information submitted though the services.

Cancellations

If you book a reservation with a sitter, then you have to cancel your reservation, which does happen, Rover.com will return the funds to the pet owner in accordance with the sitter's cancellation policy. Policies may vary from sitter-to-sitter. Rover.com, however, isn't obligated to intervene in any dispute between users regarding any cancellations and/or refunds outside of Rover.com cancellation policy (if any), regardless of whether Rover.com collected any money on behalf of a pet care service provider or third party service provider. It's really about you knowing how the sitter you choose operates, then being respectful with your sitter in the event that an unforeseen emergency comes up or your travel plans change last minute.   

Rover.com Summary

Rover.com is an excellent gateway for pet parents searching for pet-sitting services. Its nationwide network of over 25,000 loving pet sitters makes it the most extensive online database of its kind. It’s easy-to-use messaging system and secure payment portal allows pet parents to find, book, and pay for a sitter—and remain in touch throughout the stay. Rover.com offers premium pet insurance which includes medical coverage, general, and professional liability, giving pet parents an extra layer of protection. With Rover.com, loving neighborhood sitters are backed by the support and security of a nationwide company. Overall, Rover.com is a robust yet simple tool for helping pet parents connect seamlessly with pet-sitting services.


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Customer Comments

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J
Jayson
8/14/2018
My sitter did not walk my pets for 26 hours, went missing for 16 hours and left my pets alone without water. Rover still lists her as a trusted sitter.
72 People found this helpful.


Elaine C
9/15/2018
Rover pays for their negative reviews to be removed. First of all, they don't disclose how many dogs die every month in their care. If they did, no one would use their service. You can easily google how many horror stories are out there about Rover sitters. I wish they would have told the truth so that I never would have used them. One of my dogs was brutally killed in the care of a Rover sitter who had had a past history of dogs being injured in her care. Due to Rover's greed and negligence, they continued letting her watch people's dogs -- WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? Thanks to them my dog had to be killed in a terribly violent way by a terribly negligent sitter. The people who... Read More
66 People found this helpful.


R
Rachael
9/8/2018
We booked a dogsitter through Rover because they tout their thorough background check. We had a meet and greet with a local Rover dogsitter and hired her to care for our 15 year old golden retriever. Unfortunately, a week into our vacation, the dogsitter was taken away by ambulance for a psych evaluation after having an alcoholic relapse. The officer on the scene informed me that the name on her Rover profile was actually an alias and different from the name on her license. While we were away, she had consumed every bottle of liquor in our house as well as bringing in several of her own mason jars filled with pot. There was significant damage to my furniture and table from her drug... Read More
53 People found this helpful.


A
Arthur
7/20/2018
Our dog is dead! After carefully searching, checking reviews and references and interviewing candidates, we hired someone ​we thought was an​ experienced dog and house sitter to live in our home​ for our week vacation out of the country. We found Nella Maranon on Nextdoor and she had all the qualifications. When we interviewed her she proudly stated that she gets most of her business dog sitting and her doggy day-care from rover.com where they emphasize safety. On our first day away she locked out one of our three precious little dogs, our beloved, defenseless ​senior 5lb.​pom rescue in the dog run at bedtime. Evidence shows Foxy was mauled and killed by a coyote. We... Read More
48 People found this helpful.


D
Dog l
2/9/2019
I was extremely disappointed in a. 5 Star-rated -dog sitter. Every single review said SHE IS AMAZING!!! I was looking for a dog sitter who could watch my dogs in my place while I was gone for a day. Researched a lot and I thought I found a best match by reading all of her clients reviews. She sends texts many times a day to let owners know how their dogs were doing and sounded like very caring loving person. So I met her briefly w my dogs and she gave me good impression too. Booked her for a half day first for the test. She was amazing . Absolutely Booked her my one day trip. She started texting me immediately after starting her job in the morning. I was very pleased and... Read More
36 People found this helpful.


Cynthia P
8/5/2018
We had a great sitter from Rover last year, but this year we got one who could not have been worse. Rover apparently takes anyone and keeps them regardless of how bad they are. I gave this sitter instructions on taking care of our dog, two cats, and two parakeets months before we left and left a copy in the kitchen with all the supplies needed. She came on a meet and greet and we talked about everything. She agreed and also agreed to water a holly bush while we were gone. I emailed her to remind her we were leaving a couple of days ahead of time and the day before, telling her I had just bought fresh veggies for the birds, which were in the refrigerator. I paid her $450 to come three times... Read More
35 People found this helpful.


F
FoolMeOnce
9/5/2018
No way this is a 5 star service. Something fishy about this. Get a homeless person off the street before getting a sitter through Rover
33 People found this helpful.


L
Lola
5/1/2018
The whole reason to go through a website like Rover is so there is a layer of protection between you and the sitter. You think that in the event of a problem, Rover will step in and rectify the situation. I'm here to let you know, they will not. They could care less who is listed as a sitter on their site. We booked a sitter through rover.com to do once a day 30 min to change food and litter. We came home one night at 1:30 in the morning to find her past out in our bed and empty alcohol bottles of ours littered throughout the apartment. According to Rover they can only offer a third party mediator in case of a sitter issue. They don't care what happened and said they think they can... Read More
29 People found this helpful.


C
Catherine
10/4/2018
Rover yes will cover your pet if anything happens to them during a sitters care, but they provide NO support to the sitters. Parents lie and their dog brings fleas into your house? your problem. Parents dont provide food? thats your problem. For taking 20% of the sitters fee and charging the pet parents a booking fee, its a rip off. I was recently attacked by a dog and they do not cover ANY damages to the sitter. They bared cared how I was doing they would not even follow up with me that the dog was removed from the profile. I had to investigate myself. Even being attacked by a dog that I had mentioned to them before had aggressive tendencies they would not even remove from my house, I... Read More
24 People found this helpful.


N
Never a
8/21/2018
No accountability if something goes wrong with a sitter. They tout that they screen, do background checks and have guarantees to lull the potential customer into a false sense of security. Do yourself a favor and thoroughly read their so called guarantee. SO much wiggle room and outs that it is worthless. I had almost $3000 worth of damage to hardwood floors due to house/pet sitter negligence. Rover's response...so sorry your home was damaged, but it is not covered. The sitter deliberately did not do a task she agreed to and I had a number of plants almost die on me. Some it will take at least a year to fully recover. All due to laziness. Rover's response. So sorry that happened. It is... Read More
21 People found this helpful.



Top Rated
  • Over 25,000 pet sitters nationwide
  • Complimentary premium pet insurance
  • 24/7 support and Rover reservation guarantee
  • Sitter background checks
  • On-call veterinary assistance
  • Daily photo updates of your pet via free mobile app (IOS & Android)