As most of you will have experienced, lovely friendships are often formed between pet owners and sitters. Some people choose to continue communicating after a house sit is completed, (via personal emails) to keep the friendship going.
During these unusual days of the pandemic, we have felt deep concern for all the lovely folk we have met while housesitting (in the UK). I have longed to make contact with all those folk just to check in on how they are coping or have been affected by the pandemic or the lockdowns. Some folk we have āsatā for would be considered very high risk and I would love to hear they are ok or if thereās anything we could do to help them if they needed it.
Earlier this year, when our state of Victoria (Australia) experienced horrible bush fires, several people weād house sat for previously, made contact with me to check if we were OK and to ask if we were at risk or safe. How kind! We loved this show of care and thought it was a beautiful example of one of the benefits of house sitting. One lovely lady contacted through the THS site because sheād lost my personal email address and she was really worrying about us.
I have been pleased to be able to check in with most of the dear pet owners who gave their personal emails to me. Most replied, which gave me some peace of mind depending on their story. Those who didnāt reply I continue to be concerned about but I have not followed up for fear of being a bother. I have just assumed they are OK and respected their privacy.
My question is, āIs it OK to use the THS site to contact people after a house sit is completed (assuming they are still active members), just to let people know you are thinking of them and concerned for their well being?ā We donāt want to bother people with unwanted correspondence and would just send the one enquiry and leave it if we get no reply.
What have others experienced? What do you think?
Ali
We do stay in touch with a fair number of our home owners after sits, and itās often a way to open an opportunity for a repeat too. Although, if they request this outside the platform, we always ask them to put it up as a registered sit to ensure review and history continuity.
I personally only do only do this with people weāve genuinely connected with and I use a mixture of the THS messenger system, email or whatsapp, depending which they preferred using during the sit.
As a homeowner, I think Iād enjoy hearing from sitters Iād used and built a rapport with, and weāve never had a complaint or bad response. But if I didnāt get a reply, as you say, Iād also leave it at that.
If we continue to keep in touch with hosts we always do it via email or WhatsApp. Only tend to use the THS messaging system to organise the housesit.
The special relationships we make through sharing homes and pets often result in life long friendships but of course that doesnāt happen with every sit but when there is a special connection we find our own preferred ways of staying in touch, through the site, email or WhatsApp ā¦ I much prefer having a real conversation though and take connections off the site and return to the system to arrange and confirm sits.
Because of the rapport we build with owners we have many repeat sit requests but just like @HousesittingMag we request that owners arrange any sits through the site (even with almost 100 reviews I still want to get that next 5* acknowledgment of a ājobā well done)
Our 2019 Trusted Awards brought in 1000 nominations thatās a minimum of 2000 community members connecting around the world with amazing stories of caring and sharing, friendship and connecting, there was not a dry eye in the TrustedHousesitters house ā¦ lots of laughter too.
Always with a āThank You Petsā because itās the animals who bring us together.
We also were very concerned when Covid started and wanted to be sure that the homeowners weāve sat for were well.
It helps that whenever we start a house sit we set up a group message with the homeowners through Signal Private Messenger App (a secure, truly encrypted message app that works over WiFi). We, like many here, keep in touch with most of the homeowners we sit for and keep chatting periodically through Signal. So, when Covid started, we had an easy way to check in with everyone. Thankfully, everyone we chatted with was in good health and managing the pandemic relatively well.
However, like you mentioned @Ali, we sometimes donāt hear back. We try a couple of messages (both on Signal and then finally in the THS messenger), spreading them out over a few months (knowing that life can get busy 
), but if we still donāt hear back we hope for the best and let it go.
Just like @Angela_L and @HousesittingMag, we too ask that repeat sits are managed officially in THS. We appreciate the additional review because it never hurts having one more when weāre applying for our next sit. Plus, since we read sitter reviews on listings, we know our leaving a review helps them too!
So far, Iāve always used WhatsApp to keep in touch during the sit and itās so easy to send quick messages afterwards too.
@Gillian Same here Gillian, we always use WhatsApp as so many owners like regular photos whilst they are away.
@Gillian @Jon-JWalking We are the same as you guys. We use WhatsApp or text during the sit and then afterwards for repeat sits they have my number so usually just message me directly. I donāt bother asking the homeowner to go through THS we just arrange the sit over text. I did initially think weāll miss out on reviews etc but texting is so quick, minimal effort for everyone.
@PetsSit I sometimes ask to go through THS for a return visit so that I have access to the 24hr vet.
@Gillian @PetsSit We always try and book through THS but some owners lapse their membership and contact us direct. Difficult to insist they sign up again in those circumstances.
I would ask for their personal email so you could communicate especially if it is unrelated to housesitting
@Jon-JWalking @Gillian @PetsSit Iāve had lapsed owners ask and always request they to go through the site; I āreally appreciate their valuable reviewā access to the vet line, in the unlikely event of an emergency although they will likely have their own vet, offer a discount via RAF I have never had an owner not rejoin, like all communication itās all in the messaging, your relationship and what you feel comfortable doing.
It depends. Notwithstanding a Phobia of being labeled Creepy Stalker. There are other owners with whom I just āclick.ā Usually theyāre my age, and we have much in common.
Unfortunately there are owners with whom I must contact after the sit to remind them to review the sit. Really doesnāt take much effort, but some need reminding, again, and AGAIN.
All but 1 the rest send Christmas cards etc
Chat on WhatsApp etc