A few days I listed a sit for 3.5 weeks in April 2026. I made sure the listing was detailed and spoke to some nice springtime things to do nearby. Knowing it is increasingly difficult to find good sitters, we posted early and also sweetened the pot a bit by offering 2 days of a mid day dog walker at our expense to allow sitters to spend a full day out ( normally our dog can be left for 6 hours).
I (think) I linked my listing in my profile.
We had one terrific application right off the bat, a sitter with 50+ 5 star reviews. I set up a video chat a couple of days later and paused applications because I thought they were perfect candidates. Video chat went great. I had sent the welcome guide prior to the call and the one question they had was about coyotes in the area ( we back up to open space and I mention no off leash hikes due to wildlife in the area). Anyway seemed minor at the time and I pressed confirm after the call. A few hours later they declined because the wife is terrified of coyotes. OK, no problem. I wished them well and I un-paused the listing.
By then my listing lost its ânewâ label and went to the bottom of a huge pile of sits for the holidays. There are only a couple/few for April 2026 in my area.
I have gotten two more applicants but declined them immediately as they were not the right fit (a recent college grad with no experience on the forum or pet sitting, and a sitter with a few mediocre reviews and a child (we state no families).
I am wondering if I should 1) delete the dates and repost after Thanksgiving (or even after Christmas) has past so it is new and not buried under holiday sits and / or 2) edit the listing to simplify it a bit, it is detailed and therefore a bit long?
Itâs not too early. Iâm talking to sitters now about my April sit. I would delete your sit and repost sooner rather than later so it shows new again.
I donât think you posted too early â April sits often benefit from early planners â but I do think the timing of visibility is working against you at the moment. The forum and app are flooded with holiday listings, so even strong, well-written sits can get pushed down quickly.
A couple of options that wonât hurt your chances:
Repost the dates after the holidays.
Removing and re-adding the sit in late December or early January will give you that ânewâ label again, which really does help.
Keep the detail, but tighten the intro.
Most sitters skim. A short opening paragraph with the key points, followed by the fuller detail below, can improve engagement without losing substance.
Youâve already done the hardest part â a clear listing, fair expectations, and the added dog-walker perk. With a fresh ânewâ tag at a quieter time of year, you should see stronger applicants.
Unfortunately I canât apply at this time but just wanted to say that, for the most part, I love your listing, which is clearly written with thought and care towards the sitter at the forefront. I also like the clear outline of expectations about arrival/departure etc. Plus the fact that you took the time to take Sierra to excellent training classes, which can make a huge difference I find to dogs Iâve care for.
Having had experience of coyotes in sits in both Arizona and Eagle Rock itâs good to be aware and take care but I found the situation easy manage and certainly wouldnât put me off at all.
However, I do think the âFor well qualified sitters (over 20 reviews)â is an unnecessarily big ask and might be deterring someone who would be ideal from applying. I have 30+ reviews as a sitter but, as a HO, Iâd be happy to consider someone with a lot less than this, especially if the reviews were really positive and particularly if they seemed suited to my specific requirements.
The US border control situation is deterring many non-US sitter from applying to US sits these days so you may want to consider being more flexible as you may have a smaller pool of potential applicants than in the past.
Yes thank you! I think I will give it a couple of more days but if itâs crickets I will delete the dates and take some time to tighten things up a bit. I also think the responsibilities section visually looks long so I may try and make that more concise as well.
Yes I think the main problem right now is the glut of holiday sits. I may try to repost it mid-December.
Thank you and yes Iâll think about the requirement. Because we will be on the other side of the world we do want someone that is experienced and well vetted with reviews. If we were more local I wouldnât include that at all but this time around itâs important to us.
Regarding the coyotes, yes it is certainly manageable. This Sitter has a traumatizing dog attack from a large stray dog while in Turkey, hence she was especially anxious over it. I understood and wouldnât want her to be too terrified to walk my dog, so it was great she was honest about it.
@Felinelover when I view your listing on the app only the first seven words show. Use those first few words wisely to promote your best feature - what makes you stand out from the competition. Currently they do not.
Your request for a daily text or email with one or two photos each time can get a bit wearing. Although I try to accommodate owners, on a 22-day sit itâs sometimes difficult to come up with variety on a daily basis. Of course you can ask but that may be off putting for some.
Sadly, although I have the reviews you require and the free time, as a Canadian Iâm not currently taking US sits for the reasons many others have mentioned in other posts. Use the spy glass to search if you want more details. This may be another reason limiting your applicants.
Yeah I published last week (Thursday) so I hear you (patienceâŚ) but I am also seeing the applicants I am getting are really just throwing hail marys out to get a sit (eg the sitter with a child when the it is not listed as family friendly and we do state we donât want families). I will give it until Friday, probably.
Not understanding why you paused the listing after 3 applicants. Nothing to gain and you potentially lost 5 or more applicants before the system auto-pause kicks in.
In our first two sits we worked our way through several applicants before confirming one.
I donât believe the dates are your main issue although some may not be able to commit at such an early date. I think itâs possible that you have raised the bar quite high. Asking for someone with at least 20 reviews will exclude many great applicants. You are entitled to ask for whatever you are comfortable with, but you are limiting your applicant pool by putting in that requirement. Maybe go for 5 great reviews?
As both a sitter and a pet owner, I know how it feels to have to sift through applications that are less than stellar. That said, my partner and I have been using this site for about 3 years, but we still donât have 20 reviews. We only have 9, even though we have spent over four months house sitting during that time. It takes a long time to build up reviews. Can you imagine a sitter requiring that many of your home in order to sit there? Additionally, you are requiring the sitter to stay with you in your home and that is against the THS âno third partyâ rule. It can be a bit uncomfortable for someone who has potentially travelled all day to then have to be social when they arrive at your destination. You can certainly offer your space to the sitter a day earlier and many will happily take you up on it, but it should never be mandatory. As introverts, we generally get a hotel in town the night we arrive and meet the pet parents either that day if we arrive early enough, or in the morning before they depart. We always find it a bit awkward when people weâve just met want to have a sleepover
You have provided a ton of wonderful information about your home, pets, and location in your listing. You sound like lovely people with beautiful pets and a very welcoming home. I am sure there is a long line of great sitters out there who would be thrilled to be chosen by you. I hope my post helps you find them.
Reposting is a good idea for those that stuggle, but you havenât given it much time.
Sitters donât just search by new, they search by a period in time, so you arenât at the bottom of the list. A lot of sitters will be fully booked for Thanksgiving so will naturally search by dates beyond that.
For longer stays, we always look way in advance, so youâre not posting too early.
I think it is interesting that you request 20 reviews when you only have three or four. A sitter may say she only has three reviews so I will pass. How are you being fair? I should look at your pictures again but I think you said you have a yard. Is the dog allowed outside when sitter is away? It bothers me that with that breed you only require an hour walk a day. That breed requires much more exercise. Sorry but for some reason your listing turned me off and I would not apply. You are trying to oversell your home which for me is a red flag. I like owners that require more care for their pets. Saying the cats require only 5 minutes of your attention a day is a big turn off for me. I question how much thought you put into your pets needs with dog walking and pet care. But others here like your listing which just proves there is a sit for everyone. Coyotes are scared of people and only go after small pets. Really no reason to be scared of them. I had a house in Agoura Hills which backed up to open land. Saw them all the time. Had a stand off with one after my cat followed me into my garage. You posted during the start of the holidays. I bet after the first of the year you will get more applicants if you donât fill it now.
I just noticed that you only have 4 reviews and one gave you an overall rating of 4 stars. Maybe rethink requiring 20, 5 star reviews only from a sitter.
The reply to the 4 star review is rather opinionated and judgemental. Obviously, you want future sitters to view you in a more favorable light and âtake your sideâ. Keep it short and to the point. Provide facts rather than coming across as overly critical and defensive.
These statements donât help you:
Hopefully this clarifies my position that the rating she gave us was not appropriate.
I disagree that the single issue justified a 4-star rating, and hope the additional context below will be helpful to future Sitters or HO reading these reviews.
We also approved a friend of hers to stay overnight so she would have some company during her Sit. To receive a one star deduction after all of this because she had to spend a few minutes cleaning fur off the sofa strikes us as very petty.
Irrelevant information needs to be left out such as these entire paragraphs:
Firstly, we had originally confirmed the Sit in February for a week in early May but received bad news in March about my father. He had a recurrence of cancer and was now terminal with a couple/few months left. My husband and I changed plans and decided to drive (4 days) across the country to spend time (a few weeks) with him, and bring our dog with us. This left 2 (easy) cats and 2 fish tanks to care for while we were away.
Normally, we use a local trusted (paid) drop in sitter to care for our cats and fish if we travel with our dog. But, we had already confirmed this Sit and understand how distressing it can be for Sitters to have HO cancel (even 2 months out). We reached out to Kayla and explained the circumstances. We gave her the choice to cancel the Sit (freeing her to look for another) or continue the Sit but with only the cats and fish tanks. She opted to continue with the Sit so that is what we did, and we engaged our normal drop in sitter for the period before and after our confirmed dates.
I do think the requirement for 20 + 5 star reviews is setting a very high bar and limiting yourself to a very small pool of sitters - that
1 .have that many reviews and
2 .want to sit in your location and
3. want a sit with both cats and dogs and
4. Want a long sit ( 3 weeks +) and
5. are available for your dates .
For the majority of sitters (those who only do house sits during vacation time once or twice a year) they will have to had to been THS members since it started 15 years ago to have obtained that many reviews.
Itâs certainly not impossible , I see that you previously have had sitters with such experience but it likely will take more than 24 hours to find sitters that meet that criteria so be prepared to wait a bit to find a sitter that matches your criteria.
Your listing contains an overwhelming number of details about your dog. I would reduce to the ones that are most important to sitters: feeding times, how long can be left, where sleeps, length of walks, presence of coyotes. When you choose a sitter to have a video chat with, send them a document with other details first and ask if there are any deal-breakers for them.
