So I currently have A sitter who has asked if I have someone who can walk the dogs on one of the days because she wants to collect a painting and it’s a 4 hour round journey and she doesn’t want to take the dogs….!!! I explained I have no walkers…… I have sitters and cannot help…… I’ve heard nothing from her since……. Should I be worried she is just going to leave my dogs for the 5-6 hours it will realistically take for her to collect her painting? Any advice?
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It’s a tough one, but honestly, I don’t think there’s much you can do about it. Unless you can ask a neighbour to step in? I assume you yourself might sometimes go away for 5-6 hours, do you always take the dogs with you in those cases? Remember, it will only be once, so if she does decide to do it, what’s the worst that can happen?
Or maybe she decided to do the pickup after the housesit ends, who knows.
In future, if things like this really bother you, you might want to advertise for a couple instead of a single sitter, to ensure one party is always available.
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Depending on the length of the sit we’ve sometimes had owners offer to have neighbours look in on the dogs if we want to spend a day out. We had another sit where the owner usually sent the dog to daycare several days a week but didn’t when she had sitters - that was a really tough one as the pup was expecting a full day running and socialising so was a bit nuts when she didn’t get it.
I agree - think about what you’d do in that situation and try to offer a solution. She’s probably gone quiet because she’s feeling awkward about having had her request turned down.
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We ask for solo sitters because we have a dog who is nervous of men……
And we never leave our elderly dogs for more than 2-3 hours ?
Thank you
Sadly we have no network that’s why we use THS
That’s tricky. Unless you’re in a killer location you might struggle to attract high quality sitters as most people will want, in exchange for looking after your pet, to be able to explore the local area for a few hours. THS sitters aren’t paid so it has to be “worth it” on both sides. Ideally you should both feel like you’re getting a great deal.
Edit to add: having looked at your listing, you don’t make it clear that your dog can only be left for 2-3 hours (but do mention possible trips to the nearby city) so potential sitters might feel a bit wrongfooted, especially if they aren’t experienced enough to know that you really need to ask how long the dogs can be left for
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FYI, if your dogs can’t be left except for short periods and you don’t specify, you might end up misleading a sitter. They might back out or rate you poorly, because the accuracy of a listing is now among ratings criteria. And if that happened, it would make it even harder for you to get sitters later.
Two to three hours or so is shorter than typical and many sitters avoid such sits.
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We always have the conversation in video call after the applicant has applied about duration and needs of the pets…….
This is at the end of the day about the pets……… we are very transparent about our and their needs so I am a bit surprised that a sitter who has sat before and knows the needs of the pets would ask if I have a dog walker so she can go off and shop?! Not just a local shop but a four hour return journey to collect an item……… I offered a solution to go on the day she leaves or as she suggested a courier ……:
I am unsure why her shopping dilemma now becomes my problem because she wants me to find alternative pet care ….!!!
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It’s all very clear in our listing and clarified by a video call
3-4 hours unattended is hardly extreme?
We are transparent
This ? Is more about how to deal with a sitter who asks if I have a dog walker who can take over her house sitting duties while she goes off to collect her shopping ?
If this is a confirmed sitter, the walker and shopping excursion should have been discussed during the application process. But maybe this is something that just came up and had no previous knowledge and is just asking you if that is a possibility. Just let them know that both sides need to honor whatever was originally agreed. By the way, a couple doesn’t necessarily mean one person will be male. It could be a married female couple or maybe a mother daughter combo. We’ve had odd situations during petsits where I was grateful I had my husband and kids with me
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It’s not in your listing; I would consider it a waste of my time if I applied to a sit and only found out on a call that the dog couldn’t be left alone for so short a time. For future I’d add that to your listing so all expectations are clear.
For now, are there any friends or neighbours you can call on to drop by for a few hours? As sitters we have our own lives and it needs to be a mutually beneficial exchange. It sounds like the sitter has tried to communicate a (reasonable!) need to you, and you’re more interested in coming here to complain rather than working together on a solution.
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Hello everyone,
The OP has requested the post be closed as they feel the discussion has run its course and would like to thank everyone who contributed helpful feedback and advice.
Thank you