What triggered it
A loose or aggressive dog is blocking safe access to all or part of a property. It's handled like any blocked-access issue, through the property-issue report. That report decides your pay and any reschedule, but does not tell your customer what happened. Message them in the app if you want them to know before the next visit.
- Whole property unsafe or unreachable — the visit is skipped and re-created automatically on your customer's next regular service date, or about a week out for a one-time job with no other schedule. No service pay, but you may still qualify for the trip fee below.
- Only part blocked — complete the reachable part. The job closes as completed, your customer is refunded for what wasn't done, and you're paid, though that pay isn't automatically guaranteed (see Why it matters).
What to do right away
Don't enter the yard, approach the dog, or handle it yourself. No job is worth an injury. If you can safely reach the door, knock and ask for the dog to be brought inside. Otherwise message your customer in the app to secure it. If they do, complete the job as normal. If they can't or don't reply, do only what's safely reachable and report the rest.
A $12 trip fee is issued automatically (no need to contact Pro Support) when the obstruction was effectively full — the whole property, or all of a front-only or back-only job — and all of these hold:
- the service is mowing or pool cleaning
- your phone recorded your location at the property
- the job came through the platform
- you're under your tier's quarterly limit for that property: Platinum unlimited · Gold 3 · Silver and Blue 1 · Bronze, Intro, Red and Disengaged not eligible
The reason you pick doesn't affect any of it. When a fee is added, the app shows a message about it right after you submit. If you think it should have paid, contact Pro Support in the app with the address and date ready.
To cut down on repeats:
- service the property on its originally scheduled day where you can — customers plan around that date to put pets away
- tap On My Way only when you're actually heading there; that's what prompts your customer to bring pets inside
- message ahead if you know a property has pets
- if it keeps happening, you can drop the property: on the job, tap View Job Details, then the three dots next to the service. Under Service scheduling issue, tap Remove property from schedule, pick Customer issue, then Customer leaves pet out. Don't see Remove property from schedule on that job? Contact Pro Support in the app.
What to document
Report before you leave, while the job still shows scheduled, overdue, or in progress. Any other status removes the option, including once you've marked the job complete.
On the job, tap View Job Details, then the three dots next to the service. Don't tap the address, which opens directions, and don't tap the View details link beside the three dots, which only expands the service detail in place. Under Property issue, tap Pet in yard, then Next.
The app then walks you through confirming it's safe before you complete any reachable area.
Under Where on the property? (from the street), check the parts you couldn't reach. If you couldn't do any of it, check Full yard. If you mowed part of it, confirm, then take after photos of what you finished. Don't get close to the dog for a photo.
The report you filed and your after photos protect your pay together if the customer disputes the visit. An after photo alone doesn't, and neither does the report alone. If the dispute says you never showed up, your phone also needs to have recorded your arrival, so keep location on while you're there. The photo also has to clearly show the mowed lawn.
Marking a job complete instead of reporting is a false completion report and can affect your account standing on top of the pay you'd lose.
Who to contact
- App errors when you submit the report: call Pro Support. They can note it on the ticket but can't file the obstruction for you. You'll still need to submit once the app works, as long as the job is still scheduled, overdue, or in progress.
- Already marked the job complete: the report option is gone. Contact Pro Support rather than leaving the record inaccurate.
Why it matters
A partial completion isn't automatically a clean payout. If the customer disputes a job you partly finished and it's missing your report or after photos, your payout on the job can be adjusted.
If a fix for a dispute lapses, what happens depends on your account. Under the newer rule, your payout on the job goes on hold the moment it lapses, before any decision about a credit or another Pro. Under the older rule, a lapse on a dispute with a credit costs part of your payout, and a lapse on a no-credit (3-star) dispute just sends the fix to another Pro. Not sure which applies to you? Contact Pro Support. Check the dispute in the app for the exact deadline.
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