This isn’t something I’d thought about previously, although I am a 65+ sitter. I do think actual age should be shown If not, then why not 25 - 35, under 65, etc? Incidentally, I have done a sit for a couple who lied about their age in their profile. It was something that came out in the conversation when we met, but I never did really understand why they did that.
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@gardengirl I agree about standardizing to either age range, or actual age for everyone. There could be an opt-out option for showing your age (for homeowners and sitters), but that would likely make someone wonder why they opted out. The age of the homeowners is of less concern to me, but I do think homeowners are likely to have preferences (and biases) towards age, both young and old, as Angela has mentioned.
@Provence That’s a funny story, about the homeowner not recognizing the sitter. 
I can’t think of a time when I’ve taken a sit where we haven’t first been in touch by video, or in person if relatively close by. I think it just helps make the best decision for everyone, both homeowner and sitter.
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Thanks for this background information, which I find interesting. I would not vote to remove age, as it’s a factor that is often relevant to the person deciding. I think having to ask might make some people feel uncomfortable. Also, the homeowner’s age has never been important to me, but I realize we’re all different. That’s what makes it interesting, right? 
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I am in the 65+ group. During the pandemic we hit 70, and soon 71. I put my age in the first sentence of my profile description so HOs know what it is 
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Hi @liz - yes, I’ve now added mine in both the title and the intro of my profile. Hopefully that clarifies things for homeowners. Now if I could only travel … 
For now, where I live in Canada, we’re quite restricted. Hopefully that will change as we get into summertime. 
I think we should leave it as it is.
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I disagree with original poster. Age is irrelevant whether a person is 65 or 85. I personally am age 73 but I am fine with THS using 65+. After all some people have different perspectives on age. I just as soon let them focus on my 5 star references around the world.
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@Petsitter1 - Congratulations on your successful housesits and 5* reviews. I’m grateful to have had similar success and variety of travel. I’ve enjoyed doing this post as it’s created some healthy and constructive discussion, as is the case with most posts here.
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From the perspective of a home owner, I’d like to know the age of older sitters and this does not mean we’d discriminate against them, but would try to choose the best people for the job.
We had a couple in the 65+ category who sat for us and who were significantly older than 65. They had obviously not changed their profile photos for at least a decade and we felt misled.
Had we been going away in the UK and therefore just leaving our cat for their attention I would not have worried at all, but we were going abroad and leaving a young, very strong and lively dog who was used to being walked 5 miles most days. The wife could not walk because of a leg injury (that we were only told about at a late date) and her husband was only up to short walks on flat paths: difficult as we live in a hilly area! Had we known their actual age, we would not have invited them to sit for our dog. Our holiday was much less relaxed than it should have been as we were concerned about our dog possibly escaping or chewing things due to an excess of unused energy!
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Please see my post lower down.My husband and I are 70 and 65 so not ageist unless it effects the ability to do the sit properly. In general we’d prefer to go for an older couple than young but there are occasions when physical fitness is an issue.
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Thank you for this excellent example @Pommiegran. I realize we all use different ways to check for the best fit, but I think that any feature, as in 65+, that makes it easier for people to mask their suitability level, should be avoided. I do find that video chats beforehand makes it easier to have some heart-to-heart discussions, but that’s just my preference. As a sitter, it’s important to me that I do have a fitness level that matches the homeowner’s needs, otherwise it’s not an enjoyable experience for me, and I would also be upset that I couldn’t meet the needs of the pets. I do appreciate homeowners who clearly set out any features of their pets’ needs or their property, as in steep hills or lots of stairs, that may be a negative for the sitter. Regardless of age, most sitters have their limitations and/or preferences. I’m sorry to hear that you had that bad sit experience.
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I am a little concerned that you have said “Had you known their age you would not have invited them” . A leg injury can affect anyone any age and people of all ages unfortunately only do short walks on flat paths.
We are a few years over 65, we live in a hilly area, regularly go for hilly walks of 9 miles. We have looked after many strong and lively dogs and would think nothing of a daily walk of 5 miles. This is the type of pet sitting that we do. So if our ages were listed then we would have no chance of securing your type of sitting.
I am sorry that you had to endure the stress and worry but please do not let this experience put you off inviting over 65s, most of us are fitter than younger people.
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Oh my that’s so bad to use 10 YEAR OLD PICTURES! Shocking. I thought that only happens on Dating online websites LOL. I am a very active and fit 73 year old. Discussions before sitting between homeowner and sitter are essential!
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I can understand that, but again, I think it’s not so much about age, as it is about health and fitness at any age. We try to make our profile clear that although we are “getting up in years”, we are fit, healthy, willing and able to walk long distances and handle physically challenging pets.
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I didn’t mean that I wouldn’t have invited someone of that age: my husband is 70 and walks our dog in a hilly area every day! My point was that had I known their correct ages I would have questioned them a little more on the type of exercise they were used to: I totally agree that younger people can be unfit but in this case I feel that they covered up their ages/fitness level in order to secure the sit. We have had sitters in their 70’s since that occasion and we have discussed carefully what was required, with no problems. (The leg injury turned out to be a long term problem but again we did not know about it in advance).
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I totally understand that, my point wasn’t that we wouldn’t have older sitters (we prefer to have someone similar to ourselves,60’s/70’s) but that we would like to know the age rather than have the shock of thinking someone is much younger than they are. I hadn’t realised until reading this thread, that over 65 the age of sitters isn’t given, hence why I thought our sitters were trying to hoodwink me!!!
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I totally agree that discussions are essential and have normally video called prospective sitters for a long chat. On this particular occasion the sitters were already sitting somewhere remote with bad internet so discussion was very limited - I’ve learnt my lesson!
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Thanks for your feedback @Kelownagurl. I think this supports the comment from @Provence that 'truth is essential - for the sake of both the homeowner and the sitter. Thankfully, from my experiences, my homeowners have almost always been truthful.
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We were unlucky on that occasion and as you say, it won’t have made the sitters stay particularly enjoyable: it was the only time we’ve not managed to organise a video call before deciding on the sitters. However, I’m happy to say we have been members of THS for 8 years and have had some fantastic sitters, many of whom I wouldn’t describe as ‘spring chickens’, and another couple coming in June who are well past retirement age but keen hill walkers!
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