I’m not sure if this would work but as a solo sitter (plenty of 5 star reviews in Europe and US) I sometimes miss out on jobs where a couple is wanted or where you need a car in Europe. If ever another solo sitter with good reviews who also sits in US and abroad wants to team up for a shorter specific sit that seems really amazing, maybe we could chat and see if there would be a way to make this work. Obviously we would have to be really good at communication and establish division of labor. Thanks!
@theloveofpets You might want to read this relevant post, including the response from a former community manager.
It’s a nice idea, but a HO can’t confirm 2 sitters at once. I think the only way it could possibly work is for one of you to change your account to a couples account and explain how you have teamed up together. You cannot merge accounts though, and I don’t know if it’s possible for an existing member to be added to a couple’s account while also keeping a separate account. If it is possible, then the companion’s original separate account can’t be used for sits that you do together, so reviews for sits that you share will only be on the account that was changed to a couple’s account.
I think also from a HO’s point of view, they would want to see that you have a secure relationship with your companion, with a history of living or sitting/travelling together, otherwise it’s quite risky & could lead to relationship breakdown and sit cancellation.
Even if you aren’t listed as a duel sitter team, you can ask if someone can accompany you, so as long as you were both okay with one person getting the credit it could work. The thing about the dual accounts is that the primary could always drop the other person, so one of you could add another person who already has their own account, but the second person wouldn’t get the reviews, and if the “primary” could drop the second person at will.
So to me the first step would be finding someone you’d trust to travel with and spit responsibilities with. As a host, when I’ve had couples sit, they’ve been couples. Often married, but if not together for a while and stable, not two individuals who just teamed up. Other duos not officially on as couples have included an experienced sitter traveling with her mom for a bit – a long term relationship.
Because the second person isn’t vetted by THS, the “trust” is gained through the primary, so it seems to me that the two sitters would really need to be in sync. I’d also assume you’d each need your own room, so that eliminates a lot of sits especially in cities where space is at a premium.
What a novel and intriguing idea!
I can envision on your profile, if you were to find a “Sitting Partner,” that you could explain this in your profile and include some photos of the partner, and include that the partner also has a separate THS profile that can be reviewed by the prospective host.
If you receive a Review at the end of the Sit, the Owner/Host could also copy and paste the same Review as a Reference for the Sitting Partner.
The biggest challenge is finding someone with whom you are compatible in many ways!
@theloveofpets
I’m assuming you have no partner so would it not be simpler to find a partner and sit as a couple.
I realise these things don’t happen overnight but in the long run, it would seem the best solution.
Good luck
I would assume a solution where you bring someone you already know and that is your friend would make a better pair and a better sit than sharing a sit with someone that really is a stranger. I would think that would be more reassuring for the host, with less probability for something to happen, cancelling etc.
Totally agreed; I mean, I’m sure it’s possible to make a nice friend with a fellow THS sitter, but making a nice friend vs diving straight into living together under the same roof plus sharing responsibility for somebody else’s pets and home are two very different things! You don’t really know someone until you’ve lived with them or have a lot of history with them. We all have our own quirks, ways of doing things, different cleaning standards and different ways of interacting with and caring for pets, and having 2 people who are basically strangers take on such responsibility together and live in eachother’s pockets is really quite risky and I don’t think many HO’s would accept such an agreement. To avoid sticky situations, it’s probably best if you sit with somebody you already know very well.
We rented a cottage with friends, and at the end cleaning this happened. As we were old friends etc we just put in the elbow grease and didn’t make a fuss about it, but I can imagine it would’ve been much more stressful if being on the en cleaning of a sit, where one felt a review was at stake.