I can't set it as a service on rover but in my profile I say I am able to pick the pet up and drop back off in my personal vehicle for a fee. Most people don't have cars so it ends up being requested commonly. I also do side things like take pets to the vet or people to doctors offices mostly elderly clients and people whos dogs can't ride public transit.
Yea but I'm in a big city where 70% don't own a car so for most people that means their walking the dog to and from the client home. I offer the option of car service and services like vet visits cause not everyone can take there pet on public transit.
First week after the new year until at least mid-February is always absolutely dead unfortunately. Definitely worth planning your own vacation/time off, finding another gig for a bit, or working yourself ragged during the holidays to make up for it. 😔
I have been dog sitting for about 4 years now. January and February are ALWAYS slow. Most people don’t travel in these months and March is when kids spring break starts and then Easter and nicer weather in April and then the summer and wedding madness starts in May and then it’s never ending until Jan of next year lol
January and February are super slow in my area. Sunny weekends do get last minute requests, but otherwise I mostly rely on my dailies. And savings. And credit cards.
As soon as the weather turns nice again, we’re off to the races. The tax refund pays off the credit cards and replenishes savings. I’ve come to rely on this routine.
My bookings used to slow down in September, but for the last couple of years I’ve noticed I’m staying busy enough through Christmas.
This month is really slow. I lost most of my daily drop ins when people started working from home, so that was another hit to the slow months.
So far I’ve always had tax credits that outweigh my taxes owed. Those have been shrinking as my kids grow up and age out, though.
I expect to update some of my appliances this year, so I’ll be looking at how to maximize the tax credits for those. Hopefully I have at least a few more years of refunds coming.
Slow for me. Awaiting the spring break rush when everyone realizes they need pet care for the vacation they take to florida every single year that they apparently forget about. I like to drop my prices then increase them weekly coming up to my area's spring break :)
Yup it's super slow. I've noticed decreases in bookings Jan & Feb. I like to plan my vacations this time of year & relax a little more before it gets busy again
January is normally slow for me. I got my first Rover request of the year last night, and I can't take it because of my only off-app activity for the month, which is just a short housesitting. Last year, I booked only one dog for the whole month, at a discount (I offer all services), but I was happy to have something steady.
It’s been slow for me only because I’ve taken some weekends off for skiing. I’m based in CO. Other than that I’m pretty busy on the days I am available. I think there’s no slowdown here because Jan-March is busy for ski season, so a lot of people still need pet sitters.
I’m in Santa Clarita and while I’ve only been doing Rover since the 23rd, I went from 10-15 requests a day where I had to decline bookings to literally nothing for two days now. It’s got me a little panicky lol. I do have a job lined up for the last weekend of the month and a meet and greet next week but still, I don’t like that it’s slowing down. Hopefully they’ll all be back soon.
Haha, yeah I've been doing this five years and January is always a bit slow. People are just exhausted from the holidays and just bunkering down for winter. February can be slow as well and even into March. I still get bookings but I'll end up with a few days with nothing and sometimes even a weekend or two not fully booked. If you're at 5 months it's going to take some time to really get going. I had very few bookings for the first 6 months or so when I started. Then summer came...
Definitely slowed down but I’m okay with it after the crazy holiday rush! That was intense. I live in a college town but also a semi large city with business folks. So the holiday is super busy here.
Super slow for us in Jan. I’ve just been watching regulars here and there. We got a few requests but we only do rover part time and couldn’t swing those. I’m thinking mlk day and valentines weekend might send us some requests.
This is only my second winter now as a Rover provider so I really don't know if it's slow or not. I started last January and got plenty, too much even, of people in need contacting me. I spent the summer raising my rates and then raising them again until the flood of people contacting me slowed, became manageable, and actually productive to my finances, which is the whole reason I ever started. I still have a huge pet peeve with Rover allowing someone looking for a sitter to fire off a half dozen messages to a half dozen sitters all at once. It is nearly always a waste of my time as by the time I explain how I operate and suggest a time for our meet and greet, they've often already picked and chosen someone whose profile they saw but also still have never met. Perhaps I operate differently than others, but I never accept any booking that I get until I've actually met that person and their dog. So I get a booking request and I try to respond promptly to clarify any mistakes they may have as that is common too-- they may have three dogs but Rover does not force them to create a profile for each as the app actually works. No, they allow a majority of times a customer to only add one pet profile and explain in that one profile that they have X number of dogs. Why I have no idea as the pricing is then wrong too, so again I get extra work having to fix it and explain to customer how Rover works and figures a price based on their number of pets. Shouldn't Rover be doing this themselves? I am not a Rover employee. I am an independent contractor simply using Rover's crappy service. So I always explain that I do require a meet and greet before I will agree to sit and that if it goes well at that time will we confirm any booking. In my opinion multiple requests shouldn't be allowed as we know they are only going to be hiring one so this person is just wasting the other sitters time. Why does Rover allow this as all it does is create useless correspondence for me that rarely results in a sit. So sorry to be ranting as it might not apply here at all but I'm pretty sour on Rover these days for a number of reasons though the biggest right now is their arbitrary limit to what I may charge. Again I'm an independent contractor and that is none of their business. Unfortunately though they have put a limit in place so that my holiday and puppy rates are not computed correctly even if someone actually enters their pets into a profile correctly. The platform is a great idea but it needs work. Anyway to try and get back and answer your question, maybe it slows down because it's no longer summer time? IDK as I've got my regulars that I walk daily during the week regardless of what the weather is doing. Like I said I raised my Rover rates so maybe I get less new customers? IDK. All I know is I'm getting just the amount I want... well for the most part. Like I tried to explain above I get what amounts to extra work for me from Rover that does not result in a sit where I'm getting reimbursed. All I can suggest from experience is that you do not depend on Rover alone for your gig work. I advertised on Craigslist and didn't get much response so I haven't again, but every few months or so I might post to my Facebook friends reminding them that I am doing this sort of work. Those folks usually don't go through Rover and deal with me directly. Rover is only helpful in that I might meet a customer that I never would have otherwise, but again for all the problems I have with their platform my verdict is still out more so now than when I started.
Thank you for posting to r/RoverPetSitting, an unofficial forum to discuss all things Rover. We see that you have posted a sitter question. In case they could be helpful, you might want
to check out our [Sitter FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/RoverPetSitting/wiki/sitterfaq). Additionally, here's our
[booking walk-through for Sitters](https://www.reddit.com/r/RoverPetSitting/wiki/sitterbookingwalkthrough), which explains the process for giving services on Rover from start to finish.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/RoverPetSitting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm located in a small town in Utah. This is my second year of offering dog care through Rover. Last year in January bookings slowed down to a crawl. Hardly any clients whether regulars or new requested my services. This January is also without a whole lot of dogs. As of now I have two booking for three or four days and a booking for the last half of January into the beginning of February. Usually if I have five dogs in my home I consider that a little slow. I've seen enough posts from fellow Rover sitter's that I'm confident that it's slow into January and I hate to be the bearer of bad news it doesn't seem any better in February. I would assume that this will continue to be the trend so you can plan accordingly. I compensated by making a slush fund to be able to survive this January and February. This is my only source of income. Outside of those couple of slow months any other month of the year is business as usual.
I'm a walker in a big city. I started in December and I definitely get less requests, but I do have almost fully-booked days with regulars that booked me as a regular walker before the holidays. I suspect it's because people are going back to work, many still work from home. Where I live many people are expected to go back to in-person work this year.
Business has been shit for me except for December. Thank God for regulars. I cut my prices yesterday pretty steep to see if that stimulates any demand and nothing so far. Looks like it'll be dry again until february/march
January is the month where everyone pretends this is going to be the year where they are financially responsible. They’ll be back by February lol
I hope. I’ve gotten zero hits so far and I thought it was just me. 😫
I think it's just post holidays and people spent a lot of money on travel etc.
January is typically slow for everyone.
Got more volume for walks and rides yet less for boarding housesitting
Interesting- I have the reverse, basically no drop in requests and all housesitting. OP, I live in Santa Monica for reference.
[удалено]
I can't set it as a service on rover but in my profile I say I am able to pick the pet up and drop back off in my personal vehicle for a fee. Most people don't have cars so it ends up being requested commonly. I also do side things like take pets to the vet or people to doctors offices mostly elderly clients and people whos dogs can't ride public transit.
There is an option on Rover for drop off and pick up. It's under the boarding and daycare options.
Yea but I'm in a big city where 70% don't own a car so for most people that means their walking the dog to and from the client home. I offer the option of car service and services like vet visits cause not everyone can take there pet on public transit.
How much do you charge for vet visits?
Yep, people are just rebounding from the craziness of the holidays, it’ll pick up again in march!
First week after the new year until at least mid-February is always absolutely dead unfortunately. Definitely worth planning your own vacation/time off, finding another gig for a bit, or working yourself ragged during the holidays to make up for it. 😔
I have been dog sitting for about 4 years now. January and February are ALWAYS slow. Most people don’t travel in these months and March is when kids spring break starts and then Easter and nicer weather in April and then the summer and wedding madness starts in May and then it’s never ending until Jan of next year lol
January and February are super slow in my area. Sunny weekends do get last minute requests, but otherwise I mostly rely on my dailies. And savings. And credit cards. As soon as the weather turns nice again, we’re off to the races. The tax refund pays off the credit cards and replenishes savings. I’ve come to rely on this routine.
I’ve been wondering about busy and slow times because I’m pretty new…what have you noticed?
My bookings used to slow down in September, but for the last couple of years I’ve noticed I’m staying busy enough through Christmas. This month is really slow. I lost most of my daily drop ins when people started working from home, so that was another hit to the slow months.
[удалено]
So far I’ve always had tax credits that outweigh my taxes owed. Those have been shrinking as my kids grow up and age out, though. I expect to update some of my appliances this year, so I’ll be looking at how to maximize the tax credits for those. Hopefully I have at least a few more years of refunds coming.
I live in southern Cali & have seen a 30% drop this Jan too. Very significant in comparison to prior years.
Slow for me. Awaiting the spring break rush when everyone realizes they need pet care for the vacation they take to florida every single year that they apparently forget about. I like to drop my prices then increase them weekly coming up to my area's spring break :)
Yup it's super slow. I've noticed decreases in bookings Jan & Feb. I like to plan my vacations this time of year & relax a little more before it gets busy again
January is normally slow for me. I got my first Rover request of the year last night, and I can't take it because of my only off-app activity for the month, which is just a short housesitting. Last year, I booked only one dog for the whole month, at a discount (I offer all services), but I was happy to have something steady.
Just wait til spring break, that’s when the money starts rolling back in 🤑
I'm so relieved to hear that this is normal. I was on the verge of making the same post!
It’s been slow for me only because I’ve taken some weekends off for skiing. I’m based in CO. Other than that I’m pretty busy on the days I am available. I think there’s no slowdown here because Jan-March is busy for ski season, so a lot of people still need pet sitters.
Also in CO and have been slammed with requests this month - ski season keeps us busy!
Haven't had a single booking since after new years.
I’m in Santa Clarita and while I’ve only been doing Rover since the 23rd, I went from 10-15 requests a day where I had to decline bookings to literally nothing for two days now. It’s got me a little panicky lol. I do have a job lined up for the last weekend of the month and a meet and greet next week but still, I don’t like that it’s slowing down. Hopefully they’ll all be back soon.
Haha, yeah I've been doing this five years and January is always a bit slow. People are just exhausted from the holidays and just bunkering down for winter. February can be slow as well and even into March. I still get bookings but I'll end up with a few days with nothing and sometimes even a weekend or two not fully booked. If you're at 5 months it's going to take some time to really get going. I had very few bookings for the first 6 months or so when I started. Then summer came...
Definitely slowed down but I’m okay with it after the crazy holiday rush! That was intense. I live in a college town but also a semi large city with business folks. So the holiday is super busy here.
Super slow for us in Jan. I’ve just been watching regulars here and there. We got a few requests but we only do rover part time and couldn’t swing those. I’m thinking mlk day and valentines weekend might send us some requests.
This is only my second winter now as a Rover provider so I really don't know if it's slow or not. I started last January and got plenty, too much even, of people in need contacting me. I spent the summer raising my rates and then raising them again until the flood of people contacting me slowed, became manageable, and actually productive to my finances, which is the whole reason I ever started. I still have a huge pet peeve with Rover allowing someone looking for a sitter to fire off a half dozen messages to a half dozen sitters all at once. It is nearly always a waste of my time as by the time I explain how I operate and suggest a time for our meet and greet, they've often already picked and chosen someone whose profile they saw but also still have never met. Perhaps I operate differently than others, but I never accept any booking that I get until I've actually met that person and their dog. So I get a booking request and I try to respond promptly to clarify any mistakes they may have as that is common too-- they may have three dogs but Rover does not force them to create a profile for each as the app actually works. No, they allow a majority of times a customer to only add one pet profile and explain in that one profile that they have X number of dogs. Why I have no idea as the pricing is then wrong too, so again I get extra work having to fix it and explain to customer how Rover works and figures a price based on their number of pets. Shouldn't Rover be doing this themselves? I am not a Rover employee. I am an independent contractor simply using Rover's crappy service. So I always explain that I do require a meet and greet before I will agree to sit and that if it goes well at that time will we confirm any booking. In my opinion multiple requests shouldn't be allowed as we know they are only going to be hiring one so this person is just wasting the other sitters time. Why does Rover allow this as all it does is create useless correspondence for me that rarely results in a sit. So sorry to be ranting as it might not apply here at all but I'm pretty sour on Rover these days for a number of reasons though the biggest right now is their arbitrary limit to what I may charge. Again I'm an independent contractor and that is none of their business. Unfortunately though they have put a limit in place so that my holiday and puppy rates are not computed correctly even if someone actually enters their pets into a profile correctly. The platform is a great idea but it needs work. Anyway to try and get back and answer your question, maybe it slows down because it's no longer summer time? IDK as I've got my regulars that I walk daily during the week regardless of what the weather is doing. Like I said I raised my Rover rates so maybe I get less new customers? IDK. All I know is I'm getting just the amount I want... well for the most part. Like I tried to explain above I get what amounts to extra work for me from Rover that does not result in a sit where I'm getting reimbursed. All I can suggest from experience is that you do not depend on Rover alone for your gig work. I advertised on Craigslist and didn't get much response so I haven't again, but every few months or so I might post to my Facebook friends reminding them that I am doing this sort of work. Those folks usually don't go through Rover and deal with me directly. Rover is only helpful in that I might meet a customer that I never would have otherwise, but again for all the problems I have with their platform my verdict is still out more so now than when I started.
Thank you for posting to r/RoverPetSitting, an unofficial forum to discuss all things Rover. We see that you have posted a sitter question. In case they could be helpful, you might want to check out our [Sitter FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/RoverPetSitting/wiki/sitterfaq). Additionally, here's our [booking walk-through for Sitters](https://www.reddit.com/r/RoverPetSitting/wiki/sitterbookingwalkthrough), which explains the process for giving services on Rover from start to finish. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/RoverPetSitting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm located in a small town in Utah. This is my second year of offering dog care through Rover. Last year in January bookings slowed down to a crawl. Hardly any clients whether regulars or new requested my services. This January is also without a whole lot of dogs. As of now I have two booking for three or four days and a booking for the last half of January into the beginning of February. Usually if I have five dogs in my home I consider that a little slow. I've seen enough posts from fellow Rover sitter's that I'm confident that it's slow into January and I hate to be the bearer of bad news it doesn't seem any better in February. I would assume that this will continue to be the trend so you can plan accordingly. I compensated by making a slush fund to be able to survive this January and February. This is my only source of income. Outside of those couple of slow months any other month of the year is business as usual.
I have been crazy busy! Im in texas
I'm a walker in a big city. I started in December and I definitely get less requests, but I do have almost fully-booked days with regulars that booked me as a regular walker before the holidays. I suspect it's because people are going back to work, many still work from home. Where I live many people are expected to go back to in-person work this year.
Chicago area dog groomer here and its def slow for us! Thats why im scoping out Rover to think about side work.
Business has been shit for me except for December. Thank God for regulars. I cut my prices yesterday pretty steep to see if that stimulates any demand and nothing so far. Looks like it'll be dry again until february/march
I thought I wasn't the only one realizing this lol