i haven't had a request since before Jan 1.......anyone else? starting to think something is broken, last January things were much busier.....?

I've found a reoccurring theme, every time I've tested this out - no matter what city, state.

Without selecting any filter criteria, I entered Clifton, NJ, USA dog boarding search ...and kept scrolling through the pages at the bottom. After seeing over 200 pages (with 20 sitters per page) appear, with sitters that I think we'd agree are not in or close to your city (and not even in your state), I got disgusted and quit clicking. A pet parent seeking care would have done so long before that point.
I saw your boarding rate is 50. Applause for choosing a rate that shows you value the care you give! Then I edited the search to only show boarding between $50-150...(drum roll) ... 90 pages appeared. ...
If I repeatedly use to + sign to zoom into the map down to the street level, that's the only way to see only 1 page of 20 sitters!

I do not see how this search functionality could possibly be what the dog people want or need. Please understand I'm not shouting at you, it just must be so frustrating for pet parents to have to sift through so many profiles to find the right match.

Samantha, what Deb wrote is so correct but I also did a search on Clifton and I also searched Little Falls as it looks like you are close to that ciy. Unfortunately you did not show up at all on any of the searches I did, so something may be wrong, so give the support folks a call and have them look you up @ [Edit: Rover’s contact options have changed. Visit the Rover Help Center at https://support.rover.com/ to find the phone number, help articles, or chat with the team]

You come up #7 on the first page of all boarding sitters for Clifton, NJ. However, you are listed as just Samantha, no initial P.

I thought it strange that I couldn't find you and that there was another Samantha with the same rate as your Samantha P profile page. But then I see that pics are the same and that the replies on Samantha's profile are tagged as Samantha P. You need to call Rover Customer Support to get get them aligned.

As for your real question about not getting any business, who knows. It could be your rate which is on the higher side or just this time of year. A slight period of doldrums before the next vacation period. You could try to lower it a bit but then you risk getting bookings further out during vacation times and will have to honor that lower rate.

You came up on page 1. Could be a combination of a slow period and your rate, which is the highest for sitters on page 1. You could do a 'test' lowering of your rate to be more competitive with others. If you start receiving customers, that could be an indicator that your rate is the issue.