Cheers for great sits

What’s your favorite or best sit so far? Thought we might highlight great ones for a change of pace from so many accounts of sits gone wrong.

I haven’t yet had sits gone wrong among the 14 I’ve done, but I don’t usually do repeats, for variety’s sake. I’m making an exception for what I’d consider a perfect sit for me — a couple of weeks at a U.K. home within easy walking distance of loads of history, shops, restaurants. Lovely landscapes. The most lovable dog, who I can take everywhere. Easygoing, friendly hosts. They offered to do a grocery shop for me, which I appreciated, even though I declined.

Their home and garden are lovely and clean. Their vacuum cleaner and cleaning supplies are all readily available and in working order.

They also picked me up and dropped me off last sit and have offered to do likewise again. They volunteered train and National Express info unprompted.

Both times, they were specific about their travel timing. And the first time, they returned as scheduled and msg’d me when they landed and estimated when they’d return home. I expect likewise this second time.

They started a WhatsApp thread a week or two ahead of our sit and we’ve reactivated it for our upcoming sit.

No surprises with my first sit with them, except that when they said that everyone loved their dog, that actually turned out to be true. Like when I take him out to pubs, he’s so sweetly behaved that many folks want to pet and compliment him.

I’m excited to see him again! I adore my own rescue dog, but my sit dog is the most charming, easygoing and lovable I’ve ever met.

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My favourite sit is unfortunately no longer.
We started sitting for Bailey the black labrador when he was 10 months old. He moved from a village where we first met him to live in Harrogate and we looked after him 2 or 3 times a year until he sadly passed away when he was 14.
The owners never took us for granted and prepared the house to their high standards everytime we came.
We still miss him :cry:

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This weekend we will go back to one of our favourite THS sits in the U.K. for the fourth time .

A lovely home with a stunning garden , a sweet cat and very hospitable hosts who stock up the fridge and wine rack for us . Even the cat buys us flowers and writes us a welcome card promising to behave herself :joy_cat:.

Before joining THS we did sits for friends and family regularly each year and this sit now feels like one of them.

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My present sit here in Cambridge has been pretty great. And the cat sit in the Dordogne is one that I would not mind repeating.

But the absolute top sit was the one in Groningen. There everything came together:

  • great location, close to the park (with a summer festival), close to the city center
  • very hospitable HOs, now friends
  • terrific dog

And we arranged a repeat sit this summer!

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We’ve had lots of great sits but like Itchyfeet, we did a local sit when we first joined THS. Gorgeous ocean view apartment in Vancouver with the most lovable Labradoodle. We were the only sitters to look after him as the homeowners never listed again. They would ask us our availability prior to booking their vacations. We became great friends with the homeowners and so bonded with their lovely dog. Sadly, he also passed away this year at the age of 16 but we’re still great friends with the homeowners.

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5 sits and all were great!

May try to get 1 or 2 more in before December.

The pets were great (one repeat cuz the pup is a love) and all hosts and homes were great.

One host allowed a family member to join me.

All local sits in areas that worked out well all the way around.

(great topic!l)

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My favorite was a bunny sit. Location was great where we could float down a river, walking distance to great eateries in a touristy area, and the house was clean upon arrival. We were able to sleep through the night because the rabbit was quiet and was completely adorable. The family we were sitting for were new to THS but super nice and gave us great instructions on how to care for the 3 bunnies.

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Very cool. I wanna sit rabbits at some point.