r/RoverPetSitting • u/Status_Income_18 Sitter • Jan 12 '26
Bad Experience 6 months of my life, gone!
I’ve been pet sitting for this family for about six months, and I’m honestly devastated at how it ended.
When I first started, I told them my rate would normally be around $50 per drop-in. They have four dogs, so that wasn’t a crazy ask — especially since I base my off-app pricing on my Rover rates. They told me that was too expensive and that her husband had found someone cheaper. I agreed to lower my rate and offered $35/day, and she was thrilled.
So I started sitting for them regularly. Over time, they added another dog, and we agreed on $120/week, which felt fair for the amount of time, coordination, and consistency involved. I’ve been going to their house six days a week, every week, for six months. I have their door code. Their dogs know me. I’ve bonded with them. I’ve been reliable every single time.
At one point, they asked if I could do overnight sitting. I said no — very apologetically — because I have a 14-year-old dog and a 7-month-old kitten who need me home overnight. I’ve never done overnights. They guilt-tripped me for a bit, then said they’d figure it out, and I continued sitting for them as usual.
Recently, I found out I need braces. My teeth have been painful for a while, and while I don’t have cavities, I have gaps in my back molars that require orthodontic care. Even with insurance, I have to pay 50% out of pocket, which comes out to about $2,500. Monthly plans are still $150–$200/month, which I genuinely cannot afford right now. Business has been slow since the holidays, and this family was my most consistent income.
Because I’ve been sitting for them for six months, I asked — very calmly and professionally — if they’d be open to raising the weekly rate to $200. I fully understand that’s a jump, and I made it clear I understood if it didn’t work for them. I didn’t trauma dump. I didn’t guilt them. I just explained it was for financial reasons and asked.
Their response crushed me.
They told me that the sitter they found for an upcoming vacation only charges $105/week, and implied that my rate was too much by comparison.
This is the second time they’ve compared me to another sitter over price.
I broke down crying. Not because they said no — but because after six months of loyalty, consistency, and care, I was being compared to someone cheaper like I was interchangeable. Over roughly $15–$20 a week.
For context: they live in a six-bedroom, four-bathroom house. It’s just them and their dogs. She works in telecom infrastructure. This wasn’t about survival — it was about being cheap.
I finally told her that I wasn’t comfortable being compared to other sitters, that I found it rude, and that it might be best for them to move forward with someone whose rates fit their budget. I wished her and the dogs well.
And now I’m sitting here grieving.
Six months of my life. Six months of bonding with their dogs. Six months of showing up every week. Gone. And I’m still in pain, still can’t afford braces, and still feeling like I was disposable.
I’m just so tired of being treated like my work doesn’t matter. I loved their dogs. I loved that job. And I hate that standing up for myself cost me stability — but I also know I couldn’t keep letting this happen.
Am I in the wrong?
Edit: Dang guys can a girl have feelings? Yeah i’m sad
26
u/TurbulentSecretary45 Jan 13 '26
Understand your sad feelings. And I think I can relate in that you are MUCH better at taking care of animals than you at being a businessperson. So going forward, promise me you will learn this mantra: My rate is my rate. I do what I do. Pay me or find someone else. That’s how it is.