I am a new member to THS and have a question regarding the “sitter may not bring own pet” setting.
It seems every homeowner automatically clicks this box. I also see we (sitters) have no way of filtering for homeowners who DO allow sitter to bring a pet - huge oversight, btw, from THS. I feel like this should have been disclosed before I joined.
I’ve spent a significant amount of time searching with zero viable results, as I do bring my senior dachshund with me.
Are petsitters with pets simply excluded from all sits; or…. do you go ahead and apply for sits and hope the homeowner is open to discussing bringing a pet?
Is a recently added feature so there are now more explicit exclusions of pets. HOs often complain that applicants waste their time because they ignore the requirements clearly listed so I really don’t think it’s worth applying to those sits.
I can’t speak to the experience of sitting with a pet, but one thing I will say is that I have seen some listings where hosts have stated people are allowed to bring them, so those sits are out there.
I also know there have been sitters here on the forum that successfully do sitting while traveling with their own dogs.
But I do think that the number of hosts who are okay introducing an unknown animal into their home, especially in their absence, is definitely in the minority. I know having the filter for it would be very helpful for sitters such as yourself and hopefully at some point they may add it in.
It certainly can’t hurt to reach out and apply anyway as some hosts may be open to it depending on the type of dog, age,etc…but like you said, that approach will probably will result in some wasted time as the ‘no pets’ tag– in most cases–is probably accurate and deliberately marked by the owner, rather than something they overlooked and forgot to change if that is the automatic default.
As pet owners we do not accept sitters with pets. The reason is we use THS specifically because we want our cats to be minimally impacted when we travel. The only things changing are their humans. We do not want to introduce something that would be very stressful and completely change their daily routine. With more than one cat there is a balance of power that could be completely messed up in the presence of other pets. And our apartment lease specifically prohibits dogs or more than two cats anyway.
We don’t want sitters bringing their pets. Our box is checked accordingly, and we even state it in the listing.
At best I would say check the listing clearly to see if they say anything about no pets there.
Please don’t apply to sits where it’s been expressly stated ‘no’ to bringing your pets. It’s very irritating filtering through inappropriate applications even after it’s been stated what we don’t want. And no, we aren’t changing our minds even if you have a billion 5 star reviews, and your dog is Lassie. It’s irrelevant to our reasons for not wanting sitters with their own pets.
Also if you do apply to sits where it’s been indicated by a box check that they don’t want let’s, don’t be offended if it’s a strait decline. That means they actually meant it.
Thanks for the insights. Yes, I can understand this perspective. I do think there is a difference between cats and dogs, whereas cats can be more stressed when introduced to new animals. As a dog owner, who has hired pet sitters who bring their own dog, it has always been a good experience. Again, I think dogs as pack animals are different than cats.
No it’s not all of them, it doesn’t affect us, but I’ve noticed some that are more open to sitters bringing pets depending on the pet, I only notice because it’s a newer section that been added recently, so it catches my eye each time. There are a much lower number open to it, however…
Statistics wise, I know it’s not much to go on but in the last 2 weeks, I’ve probably noticed about 6 sits which were open to it, and that’s in a rural location which has a low population number (so less sits in general), so I wouldn’t have said those odds were bad-bad at all, because it’s mainly countryside with tiny villages. There’s just way less, for obvious reasons.
But also bear in mind it would have been a higher number than 6, because I only click into a small number of sits that appear to suit us in the big list, so I have no idea how many extra there would have been. Plus I’ve probably had a date filter on it, so that would make the 6 number slightly higher too.
We’ve also sat for about 4-5 owners who I know have let sitters bring their own dog in the past, and 1 let previous their sitter bringing their cat.
But yes, it is a huge oversight for THS to add it for owners, but not add it the facility for sitters to filter at the same time.
When you’ve a dog, you’ll probably find it easiest to find somewhere if you’re flexible date wise and have a car. Focus on areas that are typically dog friendly regions, like areas where dogs are welcome in most cafes and pubs (which is definitely the case where I was looking). Also, I’d imagine it will be much easier in slightly more rural location, rather than a city.
If a sitter ignores that I don’t want any other pets in the house, I hit the decline button instantly without nicely written decline. This also happens when sitters obviously haven’t read a single sentence of my listing.
How am I supposed to know if these people would follow my “instructions” in my welcome guide if they can’t even honor my request for not applying when they want to bring pets or children, which I stated I don’t want?
Even little things like letting the cats sleep in my bedroom have huge consequences later. I clearly say that they aren’t allowed in the bedroom, because I have allergic asthma, reacting to one of my cats. So if they didn’t follow my rules to not let them sleep there, I would have big problems later, because the cats wouldn’t understand why they are not allowed there anymore.
I’m a HO and I do have the box marked no pets and I do state this on my profile. If someone still applies, I decline them and state I don’t accept sitters pets.
This should be a filter also so it doesn’t waste everyone’s time.
Totally understand. The unfortunate situation is THS has not added an equivalent filter for sitters to search for sits where homewoners DO allow pets.
The only option is to open every possible sit and scroll to the bottom of the listing to find if the option is ticked or not. It’s incredibly time consuming. I hope THS is on this situation.
That’s why I say in my first sentences of my listing, that I don’t accept other pets and families with children. Guests are allowed for visits but not overnight if I know when and who it is before the sit starts.
@ColleenK we have completed over 70 sits with THS accompanied with our senior Bichon/Maltese and have had a fantastic time but looks like it could be the end of the road for us as a result of this new change. When previously we could apply for sits and ask if we could bring our dog (unless specifically mentioned in the listing sitter pets were not welcome) now we can’t. Over 90% of listings we have seen for our dates do not allow sitters pets! Of the ones that do, for various reasons we are not interested in those sits, so we are currently drawing a blank. Even some of our previous sits are ticking the no sitter pets box.
We have had a great run and had hoped to keep doing this until around April 2028 (after the Rugby World Cup and a trip round SEA) and by then maybe worked out where to settle down, but I have just dropped our membership down to basic when it comes up for renewal as I don’t think we can find enough sits to carry on full time so its not worth keeping the premium level. We are almost fully booked up to early November with THS and friends and family but I think after that we may be house hunting!
Don’t hold your breath on THS including this as a filter for sitters @ColleenK. THS has always favoured the needs of hosts and rarely those of sitters. Of course, with the new booking fees to go towards a smooth and seamless experience, we can only hope much-requested improvements by sitters are introduced and those that have been recently added, are removed or adjusted e.g arrival/departure times from 12 - 2am!
I’ve done 35+ sits with my dog, and I’m sure some of those homeowners may have never considered having a sitter with a dog - all of those sts have been great.
But now it seems that the options have really reduced for us, which is so disappointing on every level
Interestingly, I was just invited to a sit this morning (I’m new to THS and I didn’t know homeowners could reach out directly to sitters. I guess they see I am local. Very cool, btw, option.).
They had checked the ‘sitters cannot bring a pet’. I responded I am interested in the sit, but I bring my dog - so unfortunately it’s not a fit.
They immediately responded that they had ticked that box so they could discuss it on an individual basis. They’re fine with me bringing my small dog.
So, of course, it would be helpful for sitters to filter by homeowners who don’t allow sitters’ pets; and, it would be helpful for sitters to be able to tick a box indicating they come with a small pet ( - feature request for THS). I do have this in my bio, but not everyone is reading the whole thing.
I think if the sit has “low applications “ tag and you think you and your dog would be suitable then it’s still worth applying for sits that have checked no to bringing your own pets .
The worse that can happen is a decline .
Also for all new sitters getting that first sit is the most difficult because you have no reviews . Not all hosts are willing to take a “chance “ on a sitter with no reviews.
Once you start getting reviews of the sits that you’ve done with your dog the chances to being accepted for sits improve greatly .
Hi Colleank,
I believe it’s rare for a homeowners to want a sitter to bring a pet with them. This is because a homeowner is likely to think that you will spend more time with your own pet than theirs. Also your pet may not get on with the owners pets etc. Some sitters will have a Pet sitter to sit for their own pets, whilst they explore another location, to sit for somebody elses pets. This may be a better option for you. Good luck.
