Becoming a pet sitter on Rover starts with an application: you choose the services you want to offer, set your own rates and availability, build a profile with photos, request testimonials from past clients, and pass a safety quiz, a background check and identity verification.
You must be at least 18.
Rover says to expect a response within 10 to 20 business days.
Requirements to become a Rover sitter
Rover's gate is its sign-up process, not a credential.
The platform requires sitters and dog walkers to be at least 18 years old.
Everyone who passes is treated as an independent contractor running their own small business — not a Rover employee.
You set your own schedule and your own prices, and the business side of the work is yours to run.
That contractor label is Rover's own description of its sitters, not a legal ruling on any one working arrangement.
The background check sets the paperwork.
US applicants supply their full legal name and Social Security number, and the check — run by third-party provider First Advantage — covers identity details such as citizenship and Social Security number, plus your driving record and criminal history.
Your credit history and score are not included.
Licensing is a local question.
Rover does not itself require sitters to be licensed or bonded, and its help center tells sitters to follow local laws on licensing — rules that vary by location.
Check with your city or county before you take paid bookings.
If you are still weighing Rover against a pet sitting company or your own sitting business, the wider picture lives in our pet sitter career guide.
Confirm the rules before you take bookings
Rover sign-up and approval, step by step
Rover's application runs through a set of steps, and each one feeds the decision on your profile.
Rover says to expect a response within 10 to 20 business days, and it notifies you by email if your profile is approved.
Behind the wait, First Advantage confirms details such as your citizenship and Social Security number, your driving record and your criminal history.
Your credit history and score are not part of the review.
Choose your services
Decide which of Rover's service types you plan to offer — the lineup is in the next section.Set rates, availability and pet preferences
You set your own prices, your calendar and which pets you will and will not sit for.Build your profile with photos
Rover asks for photos on your profile as part of the application.Request testimonials
Reach out to past clients who can talk about their positive experiences with you as a pet care provider.Pass the safety quiz
Rover requires all pet sitters and dog walkers to complete its safety quiz.Complete the background check and identity verification
US applicants supply their full legal name and Social Security number for the First Advantage check.
Gather your inputs before you open the application: photos, a calendar you can keep, and the contact details of past clients who can vouch for your pet care work.
Rover's own advice is that testimonials are a great way to build trust with future clients.
Approval is the last gate between you and your first booking, so a complete application beats a fast one — the six steps above are the whole checklist.
Services you can offer on Rover
Rover's sitting side covers five service types: boarding, dog walking, doggy day care, house sitting and drop-in visits.
You set your own schedule and prices across whichever of them you offer.
The services you choose are the ones clients can book you for, so turn on the lineup you can genuinely deliver.
Rover's site describes what each service type involves, so read those descriptions before you decide.
A sitter who wants a tighter schedule can lean on day care, walks and drop-in visits, while a sitter open to boarding builds around it.
Dog training is the one exception.
Rover limits its training service to credentialed trainers, who list their certifying organization, their methodology and their years of experience — and new training providers pass a background check too.
Setting your rates: what you charge and what Rover keeps
Rover does not set your prices.
Sitters set their own rates, and the platform takes its share per booking: the standard US fee is a 20% service fee, which means you take home 80% of your earnings.
That is Rover's help-center figure as of October 2026.
Two US exceptions matter.
In California, the base rate you enter is what you take home — pet owners instead pay a 25% Rover marketplace fee on top of your rate, plus an 11% booking fee.
In the Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue, Chicago/Naperville/Elgin and Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington areas, Rover is piloting tiered fees built on your booking history with each client: 30% on history up to $599, 15% from $600 to $1,199, and 10% at $1,200 or more.
Training and grooming bookings are excluded from the pilot tiers.
It is a pilot — participation is automatic in the listed areas, and the structure can change.
What you charge is yours to work out.
There is no single rate our research can cite — pricing varies with the service, the city and your experience — so compare what sitters around you charge for the same work and price from there.
Payments move through Stripe once work is done.
Funds appear in your Rover account 2 days after you complete a service, then transfer by direct deposit — up to 5 business days to land.
You will need your Social Security number and bank account on file.
Keep the work on the platform.
Rover's terms require payment and communication through Rover, and accepting off-platform payment removes the Rover Guarantee and support coverage — it can also lead to account suspension for both the sitter and the owner.
Rover's fees differ by market — confirm yours
Getting your first Rover bookings
Everything above gets you approved — bookings start after that.
Rover's 10-to-20-business-day estimate is the clock on your first booking window, so plan your calendar around it rather than promising owners dates before your profile clears.
Your profile does the selling.
Complete every step — photos, services, rates, availability and pet preferences — and ask your past clients for the testimonials Rover requests.
Its own guidance is that testimonials build trust with future clients.
Two habits carry the rest.
First, respond to requests and messages quickly and keep your availability current — a calendar that says yes when you mean no is how early reviews turn bad.
Second, meet the pet and the owner before the first booking.
A short introduction — where the food is, what the dog's routine looks like, how the cat hides — sets expectations and gives the owner a reason to rebook.
Keep the relationship on Rover once it starts.
Messages and payments stay on the platform under its terms, which is also what keeps your account in good standing.
Treat the first bookings as your testimonial pipeline.
Follow the feeding notes, send updates, hand the pet back healthy — each client becomes the reference the next one reads.
And keep the sitter's oldest habit from day one: notice and report.
If a pet goes off its food, limps or seems distressed, tell the owner right away and follow the owner's and the veterinarian's directions.
Career information, not legal, tax or insurance advice: Rover's requirements are the platform's own, and licensing for sitters runs through your city and county. Confirm current requirements with Rover's help center and your local government — and tax questions with the IRS or a tax professional.