How to Find a Pet Sitter Using Rover

Rover is the largest pet care marketplace in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of background-checked sitters and dog walkers in cities and suburbs across the country. The service lets you search for a person near you who will care for your pet at their home, at your home, or during a daytime walk. Every booking is paid through the app, every sitter is reviewed by past customers, and every stay comes with the Rover Guarantee, which can pay for emergency vet care up to $25,000 if something goes wrong on a Rover booking.

For senior pet owners, Rover solves a real problem. Maybe you have a doctor's appointment that runs longer than expected. Maybe you are flying out to visit grandchildren and the kennel feels too cold and crowded for your aging cat. Maybe you want a friendly face to come walk your arthritic dog twice a day when your back is acting up. Asking a neighbor is a fine first option, but neighbors travel too. And they may not feel comfortable giving medicines or handling an emergency. A Rover sitter is in the business of caring for pets, and most have done it for many other families before yours.

Rover is not the only option. Other apps like Wag, Trusted Housesitters, and Care.com offer similar services. Local pet sitters listed on Nextdoor or recommended by your vet may also do a good job, sometimes at a lower price. The benefit of using a national app like Rover is the layered review system, the background checks, and the guarantee fund. The downside is that you pay a small service fee on every booking, which can add 15 to 25 percent to the sitter's rate.

This guide walks you through downloading the Rover app, creating an account, finding sitters near you, reading reviews, sending a first message, doing a meet and greet, and handling the booking. Plan to spend about an hour on the first search and a 30-minute in-person meet and greet before you commit. Once you have a sitter you trust, future bookings take only a few minutes.