How Much Does Rover Pay (Your Guide To Making Money With Rover)

Pet sitting for Rover can help you turn your passion for puppies into a profit. It’s a great way to make extra money, and it’s not hard to figure out how much Rover pays.

Pet sitters love it because they get paid to play with dogs, set their own schedule, and can start making money fast while walking with no lengthy training or upfront investment.

You’ll need to decide which services to offer and how much to charge, but we’ve taken the guesswork out of it for you in the details below. Read on for the nitty-gritty of how much it pays to work for Rover. 

What Is Rover?

The Rover app connects people who love to take care of dogs and cats with pet owners who need help. It’s a simple business model: as a pet sitter you create a profile on the app, establish your rates, and set your availability.  

Ideal sitters love taking care of animals with kindness and compassion. They’re also responsible, trustworthy, and reliable. 

How Rover Works

Pet owners who travel or don’t have time to walk their dogs come to Rover to find pet sitters, house sitters, dog walkers, and sitters who can provide boarding or daycare in their own home.

Pet sitters get started by creating a profile on the Rover app. You’ll pay a one-time fee of $35 to cover the cost of a background check. The company makes money by taking 20 percent of what you earn on each booking. 

Clients look through profiles of local sitters. If they like the services and rates you offer and see inviting photos and excellent reviews on your profile, they can click “contact” to indicate they’re interested in hiring you.

You’ll see the owner’s contact in your “Pending Requests” section, and you can correspond with the potential client to make sure you’re a good match. This is your chance to make sure you’re comfortable with the breed, size, and the care that’s needed, and to make sure the booking fits your schedule.

The faster you respond, the more likely you are to get booked. And for new clients, it’s a good business practice to arrange a time to meet with the owner and pet face-to-face before committing to the job. 

You can offer several different services including dog walking, checking on animals who are staying in their own home (aka drop-ins), overnight boarding, or daycare in your home.

How Much Does Rover Pay?

Rover advertises you can make around $1,000 a month walking dogs or doing drop-ins, especially if you have ample availability.

If you can offer boarding, doggie day care, or overnight pet/house sitting, you can earn more. It just depends on what services you offer and how much time it takes you to perform each service. 

As a dog walker you can earn about $15/hour on average. You can typically charge higher rates in larger cities. 

Let’s break that down. Say you set your rates at $20 per walk. You decide to take a dog-walking gig that will take 10 minutes of drive time to the appointment, 40 minutes of walking, and 10 minutes of drive time home. Since Rover takes 20 percent of the payout for that gig, the owner pays $20 and you earn $16 an hour.  

But let’s say you are able to walk two dogs at once without additional drive time. That could allow you to make $32 an hour. You would just need to make sure both pet owners are comfortable with their dogs being on walks with other dogs.

When you stay with a dog or cat overnight, you can usually charge between $35 and $70 per day. By looking through profiles on Rover for pet sitters in your area, you can get a feel for the going rates.

How Quickly You Get Paid on Rover

Two days after pet owners pay you through the app, you can transfer the funds from your Rover account into your bank account. Rover uses Stripe to process this electronic transaction.

Pet owners have the option to tip you either through the app or in cash.

How To Maximize Your Pay With Rover

With Rover, you have flexibility and control over how often you work, when you work, and the services you offer. If you want to make as much money as you can, these tips can help:

• Specialize your services: By caring for senior dogs, puppies, or dogs or cats who need special medical care, you can charge higher rates.
• Aim for good reviews: You can set yourself apart with customers by responding to requests quickly, arriving on time, being friendly, always having treats and toys, and building a rapport with owners. Don’t be shy about asking for reviews, because you can advertise those reviews on your profile and build your credibility.
• Repeat customers: If you earn the trust of a particular client, they may hire you on a regular basis and that can really help you predict your income more accurately.
• Offer kenneling: Most Rover sitters say they make more by boarding pets than through dog walking or drop-ins. 
• Share pictures: People love to see their dog happily playing, running, chasing balls, and sleeping peacefully. Share those pics through the app to build your clients’ trust and attract new customers.
• Charge more for holidays: High-travel times like Spring Break, Christmas, and July 4th are a chance to increase your rates.
• Customize your rates: You can usually charge more for larger dogs or dogs with more specialized needs. You can also charge a higher rate if you’ll be caring for more than one pet at a time for the same owner.
• Optional services: If you can provide grooming, pick-up and drop-off, or bathing, or if you have training in doggie first aid and CPR, all these allow you to charge a bit more. 

Why Work for Rover

Pet sitters love the flexibility that comes from setting their own schedule and working as much or little as they want, making this a great way to make fast money. They also like that they don’t have to create their own website or spend hours and big bucks on advertising — they just use the Rover app to find clients and help clients find them.

Of course the biggest draw to Rover is getting paid to play with dogs. They advertise this right on the homepage of their website. If hanging out with furry friends sounds more like fun than work, Rover is a great way to get your fix while making bank.

Expenses Working for Rover 

• One-time fee: Rover charges a one-time fee of $35 to manually review your profile. It’s required and non-refundable so have your credit card handy when you sign up. 
• Fees for services: Rover keeps 20 percent of your earnings for each booking.
• Equipment: For walking, you may want to invest in leashes, toys, treats, and poop-scoop bags. For boarding, you will typically need a fenced enclosure outside and possible crates or dog beds indoors.
• Fuel costs/vehicle maintenance: If you’re driving to bookings or providing pick-up and drop-off, you’ll want to factor in how much you’ll be spending on fuel and maintaining your car. 
• Taxes: Rover pays you as an independent contractor, which means they don’t withhold taxes for you. It’s a good practice to set aside a portion of your income throughout the year to prepare for taxes. 

Requirements To Work for Rover

You must be at least 18 to become a sitter, and you must submit a background check through the Rover website or app.

You don’t need specialized training, but you do need to maintain a safe, pet-friendly environment if you plan to offer boarding. At a minimum, Rover looks for sitters with good communication skills and responsiveness to contacts from clients. A strong profile with clear, friendly photos goes a long way toward demonstrating trustworthiness to potential clients.

How To Get Started With Rover

Signing up as a Rover sitter isn’t complicated. On their website, you can click “Become a Sitter” and follow the prompts to create an account and profile. To build your profile, you’ll need to indicate which services you will offer and upload pictures of you, your own pets, and the inside of your house if you’re going to offer boarding. 

You’ll also be required to pay the background check fee. Once Rover reviews your profile, they’ll notify you of approval via email. At that point, you’re ready to start accepting bookings!

For a step-by-step guide to getting started, check our Rover app review article. 

Final Words

How much Rover pays depends on the services you offer, how available you are, and the market you live in. You have several options to help you earn as much as you can by specializing your services, getting great reviews, and providing boarding.  

Pet care is a great way to make money because you can work it around your schedule, get paid quickly, and enjoy the pleasure that comes from hanging out with dogs. You can also use it as a way to be outdoors more and get out from behind your desk.