The Rover

My dawg is family, no question about that. He is a fully functioning member of our family unit, never to be referred to as a pet. A pet to me is a turtle or a fish or a bird. A dawg is family-period. Unfortunately, there are times and instances and circumstances where said family members just can’t be accommodated. One such instance may be a vacation trip or mandatory work travel. Great, now what do you do?  I would never leave a human family member with just any old person and my Canis lupus familiaris is no exception. You must be vetted to the highest level and you must swear allegiance to protection over all else if you are to be a care giver.

My dawg is looked at not differently than a child would be in regards to this matter.  If I trust you to watch my child or my dawg, you can rest assured that this is an honor bestowed on few.  My human child is all grown up now but there are times when my best friend will need someone to assist him in my absence. Being relatively new to my current city, my list of reliable guardians is very short, in fact, non-existent.  

Enter Rover, the online service that offers up dozens of worthy candidates in your select city who will except payment in return for the safety of your friend in your absence.  Like an online dating service, Rover offers profiles, pics, and reviews of people offering to treat your pup like their own; a nanny service for your beloved pooch.  Sign up on Rover, search candidates, review their calendars to see if they are available on your needed dates and then schedule your transaction all through the comfort of your home. Rover even offers convenient payment options such as PayPal. Wow, what could be easier?

Well, being the crazy dawg dad that I am I prefer to schedule meet and greets prior to booking a sitter. You can’t rely on pictures and reviews alone and you can’t be too careful, you don’t want to invite a serial killer in to your home, let alone entrust your best friend with them. Travel is often filled with anxiety for me so just imagine leaving home and having to worry about the safety and wellbeing of my buddy. Don’t laugh, the struggle is very real. Vacations can be ruined by the anxiety and fear that all is not well, that Sherman is being neglected, not having fun and being left alone to fend for himself. Who is making sure he feels loved in my absence? Who throws his ball?

Rover has not been the blessing I had hoped for and I have yet to find a worthy alternative. In my experience, Rover sitters tend to be young kids looking for a fast buck for little effort. Sitters do not post accurate calendar schedules, they do not respond to inquiries in a timely manner if at all and they are extremely unreliable. I have set up numerous meet and greets with various sitters to only have them ultimately not show up at all or cancel last minute. One sitter I did book actually arrived late, left early and never informed me of either. She gave one excuse after anther that did not add up and were clearly not well thought through.  All lies, cover ups and deceptions.  I don’t even want to think what transpired while she was present. 

My most recent experience involves numerous meet and greets, including a few actual meet ups as well as cancelations and more no show. One candidate passed muster and a mutual and friendly agreement was arranged to have said sitter care for Sherman like their own first born on dates that they had verified as available. This was arranged weeks prior to my preplanned and soon to be anxiety riddled vacation. One and a half weeks before departure I receive a text that says, ‘Hey Steve! Sorry but something came up at work and I can’t watch Sherman.’  I responded with my shock and disappointment and am still waiting on a response. WTF. 

If you are out there advertising yourself and your services for something as important as a dog sitting service, you should damn well be mature, responsible, and reliable. Your name is your brand.  Your word is your guarantee to deliver as promised. Rover in my experience falls way short in delivering its promise of providing trust worthy care givers.  And the people who sign up to work under Rover have a lot to learn about being successful in the working world. The prospect of making a quick and easy buck by simply saying you will take care of a dog like it was your own may be alluring but there are consequences.  Would you leave your own dog home alone while you went off on a vacation?  There are ‘crazy dog moms’ and ‘crazy dog dads’ out there that will hold you accountable and expect you to measure up to your advertised claims. Hell has no fury like a dawg parent who has been wronged. You think my dawg is scary, sister, you ain’t seen nothing yet. 

In three years and after dozens of inquiries and meet and greets I did find one amazing sitter on Rover. Simply amazing, from numerous pictures and updates sent daily to the framed picture of Sherman and personal note that she left for me upon return. Unfortunately, this sitter moved to another state shortly after watching Sherman. I am sure there are great Rover success stories out there but I have yet to hit the lottery more than once. I am hopeful that there are more caring and reliable individuals that I can entrust with Sherman, but I’m having a hard time finding them. Rover needs to up it’s game and potential Rover sitters need to grow up.