We lost our beloved house cat a few months back, and despite loving animals & having owned many dogs and cat over the years decided no more pets. I’ve felt the loss of Tommy Moon Cat very keenly as he was indoor cat & had lots of additional needs, so we were constant companions. We joined the Borrow My Doggy Scheme & have become adopted dog grandparents to an 18 month year old Tibetian Terrier. I only found THS a few months ago by chance and honestly it sounded too good to be true. But it really is as good as it sounds! We were very fortunate to be chosen immediately for a number of sits we applied for (all involving cats - as well as dogs & sheep). We’ve just finished our first sit & it was brilliant. Just want I had hoped for. Fortunately we got very experienced hosts, who really understood the spirit of THS and the mutual benefit element. We adored their animals. They asked us to come back over the summer & as we had bonded with the animals jumped at the chance. Our second sit is with newbie hosts - its interesting but even with just one sit under our belt I felt I had to support them through. There was a lot of things they hadn’t thought about and I had to push for a welcome pack but we’ve got there now & I’m glad because the actual locations wasn’t quite as had been described until we’d got the full address - also no parking so that’s an extra cost - they hadn’t really thought about that for a sitter travelling by car. They had thought because we were meeting them on the morning they were leaving the pack wouldn’t be that useful in advance. I’m a major planner - and having the welcome pack on the first sit in advance helped me prepare some clarification questions for when we were doing the physical handover.
I’m also finding the forum extremely helpful - particularly on what some of the pitfalls can be and how to avoid them.
Any way the long and short of this post - is so far, so good. Here’s to many happy years house and pet sitting.
We sat once, just over a year ago… and loved it so much that we decided to alter our lives to do it full time. We were hooked straight away, and yes we too found ourselves guiding newbies, when we were still quite new ourselves. We’ve met some amazing pets, but we’ve also met some lovely owners too.
I wish I’d discovered THS years ago when we had pets of our own, it would have made such a difference. But as sitters, it’s changed how we now live our lives, and we LOVE IT!
Great to hear you’re enjoying sitting, although sorry to hear about the wonderfully named Tommy Moon Cat.
I really love dogs, and people often ask why I don’t have a dog of my own, but I also love my freedom and travelling to different places, so THS ticks all the boxes and I get to enjoy other peoples’ pets, and then hand them back at the end of the stay. Warning: you still get very attached to them even though they’re not your own!
I’ve done quite a few sits, but have only once received a proper Welcome Guide, actually for an upcoming sit, and it has been so helpful. I’m sure it will prove to be helpful whilst I’m on the sit as well, having all the info in one place. I will definitely be pushing HOs to provide a proper guide in advance from now on. It’s usually a few scribbles, or me frantically asking questions as the owners are backing out of the driveway!
Always good to get the full address in advance - I like to find the location on an OS map so that I get an idea of what walks I can do from the door, or how far away the nearest footpath is.
Great to hear that you’ve had a positive experience on your first sit, and are now able to guide newbie hosts through the process too. I don’t think anyone knows quite what to expect, but it’s great for both sitter and host if the end result is a good one.
Thank you for sharing your positive experience. I joined THS last year and have loved every sit (have just completed my 10th).
It is sometimes disheartening to read conversations on the forum and interesting that your positive story has only a few replies whereas negative and complaining topics have multiple comments.
This is the first time I have contributed but I felt it was important to comment on a post, highlighting the amazing experiences that are available through THS.
Thanks for starting the conversation.
Thank you for replying. We only spent 7 days with our first sit pets but bonded incredibly quickly. Fortunately we are doing a return sit in a few months. You’re right about how quickly you get attached. Our decision to not have pets again is two fold. Like you we feel we want a bit more flexibility & not having to worry about leaving pets and secondly, I just don’t feel able to go through the grief again of losing a beloved pet. It was so much harder this time & I can’t do it again.
I used to have two dogs. They have been gone now for a bit - maybe 20 years. I love dogs. And at one time i wanted more than two. But i also found that i liked my freedom. I always thought i wasnt a good enough pet parent. So i never got another. But also, they just seemed irreplaceable. I still dream about them occasionally.
With THS, i so love getting to know a dog (and cats, too) and developing a relationship with them.
So glad you have had positive experinces! And that THS helps you get your pet fix!
I absolutely love walking dogs on BorrowMyDoggy I’ve been doing this now for 6 years…. and I’m particularly attached to my ‘heart dog’ Zorro who I walked today - we really love each other.
ChristineB,
So happy you are having such great experiences. My few sits have been amazing…I am worried I’m gettig spoiled! I am also new and appreciate the forum. There are so many pointers to be a better sitter and how to recognize and deal with red flags:-)
@ChristineB That’s great you had such a positive first sit experience!
Regarding your second sit- we’ve had a couple of sits with paid onstreet parking and in both cases the hosts bought visitor parking permits for us. That is something to mention/request in future if necessary. I don’t think that’s a cost the sitter should bear.
Also I’d suggest always request the full address immediately before, or directly after, confirming so you can check out the locality properly.
We had to withdraw from a very nice sit when we found out the private offstreet parking was actually in the basement of the building and was not high enough for us to drive in with our roof box.
And also request the WG asap and explain its importance. We have on occasion had to clarify things in the WG that were not mentioned in the call.
Its a steep learning curve for sure!
I’m glad I stuck to my guns re the welcome pack. The parking is something they need to put up front on their future sits. Ive a few things to follow up on the welcome pack - little things missing but hoping will help both them and the next sitter.
We had house sat for friends and family for several years prior to joining THS.
I am a risk adverse person so it was a leap of faith to join THS and to sit for “strangers”.
With our first application we were accepted straight away - without any communication- the HO was also new to the platform ( so no reviews ).
I was not ready to commit to the sit without some communication and so I suggested a phone or video call . We had the call and got on well . The homeowner produced a very well written welcome guide. The sit went ahead and was brilliant and even better than we had imagined . We were so amazed that a “stranger” had entrusted us with their most amazing home, adorable pets , welcomed us and let us get on and enjoy our stay.
This has been repeated now with 15 THS sits including several with new members . We keep in touch with most of the owners . We started out as strangers and have now become friends.
Like you, we are in a very similar situation. We had dogs (usually two, and generally big) for nearly 40 years but sadly lost our latest beautiful girl in April. We have decided not to have any more pets and have some ‘us’ time - but still have so much doggie love to give. We set up our account at the end of April and within 30 minutes, we had a sit request! We weren’t able to do the two weeks requested but were able to do the first week - and the HO was so keen to have us that they have organised another sitter for the second week. We now have five sits organised between now and October. Our first two sits are up in Northumberland and the Scottish Boarders. We were recently on holiday up there and took the opportunity to meet both families and pets. As newbies, this was so reassuring be able to see in advance where we would be staying and to meet the animals. I have been a little hesitant to press the ‘request a welcome guide’ button as I read on the forum that not many HOs supply them. Instead, we have compiled our own questionnaire of everything that we could think of. We have in fact received the HO’s welcome guide for our first sit (in two weeks time) so I’m able to cross reference and use it to fill in the details on our own questionnaire. We’re going to stay over the night before so will fill in any blanks during our evening with the HO. We can’t wait to get a few sits under our belt - and may even take our house sits abroad next year (we lived in France for ten years so it would be lovely to go back). Sorry, I’ve just realised that I’ve droned on for quite a bit . We’re just finding all of this so exciting!
I have never had a problem with HO providing a Welcome Guide so don’t worry about requesting one. Especially if they have had sitters before, they will usually have completed it.
What a wonderful experience you’ve had. Congratulations. You definitely learn as you go about how to make the best use of TH both as a homeowner and as a petsitter.
I totally agree about the Welcome Guide. Mine is very thorough. I create it the way I would like to receive it when I petsit. I print it out as well as sending it online. I know what I look for when I petsit and make sure that information is included.
I’ve referred a lot of people to TH and always offer to help them get through the process as it’s confusing for many. I impress on homeowners that the more thorough their Welcome Guide is, the less likely sitters will open doors and drawers looking for things like brooms, cleaning products, etc. It seems to help.
. We’re just finding all of this so exciting!