This is new for us and our first HO sit posting. Since this sit is for a long period of time, do you allow sitters to have other guests in your home during their stay? What kind of rules have you put around it if you do allow them to invite family or friends to come during their house sit stint?
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Welcome 5247 
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We have family in England and Scotland.
We always ask can they call in for lunch coffee etc.
Several occasions the HO has suggested they can stay over
Without us asking.
Very kind of them.
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Thank you for your reply. Appreciate it.
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Iāve always said to sitters that they can have friends/family come over to visit/lunch/dinner. I said no parties, no large gatherings, no smoking and any guest must be 100% respectful of the pets.
To be honest, I hadnāt thought about overnight stays as I assumed any guests would be local to the house and not need an overnight stay. If anyone was going to stay overnight, then I would deem them to be part of the sitter application and therefore would want to know who they were. I would expect to be told about it prior to accepting the sit. If I was asked after the sit was agreed upon, then unless full information was given to me, I would refuse.
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Totally sounds reasonable. The applicants have only asked for their immediate family members to come out for Christmas (mother or adult kids, etc.). So they are not local to our home. Thank you!
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So far, weāve always met friends at a nearby pub, park, or restaurant and itās not a problem for us. Weāve had a few HOs tell us we are welcome to have family come to stay, even over night. We havenāt taken them up on the offer yet.
Regardless, I think itās totally up to you, and if youāre new to THS, you might be more comfortable asking that no one else come into the house at first.
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Great question! On our very first week long local sit we were told by the homeowners that no one was allowed in the house other than us. We did a number of local sits in the city where our disabled son lives an hour away from our home. Our second sit was during the Thanksgiving weekend and I asked the HO if we could have our son for dinner and she graciously agreed. On the next few sits I asked if our son could join us for dinner and they agreed and some of the homeowners graciously offered for him to spend the night which we so appreciated. It was always something I dreaded asking though and feel itās totally up to how comfortable the homeowner feels.
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As a HO I allowed my sittersā son to stay overnight but it was not a good idea as I came home to find bedding had not been washed and doona was hidden in my linen cupboard and not on the bed.
As a sitter I have asked prior to a sit whether I could have guests visit during the day. HO have agreed to this.
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I often ask if my mum can come and stay for two or three days when we are sitting, the answer has always been yes.
I only ask after we have been accepted as itās really not a deal breaker. If we were to be told no, thatās absolutely fine, and weād still want the sit. I can usually tell whether it will be ok after āmeetingā the HO
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Hi and welcome to TrustedHousesitters and to our community forum @5247 what a great opening contribution and question, we see there have been a number of responses already.
As a new owner member please do ask any questions you may have. We have forum members from around the world some new, also many experienced and we are all about sharing and supporting one another to have the best possible pet and housesitting experiences for our pets and each other.
Our Membership Services Team are also available with help and advice should you need it.
Enjoy the conversations and connecting with other members and welcome once again.
Angela & The Team
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I had one HO, after she learned one of the reasons Iād applied was because my 24-yo daughter worked and lived nearby in Wash DC, tell me that I should feel free to have her visit and even stay over, which was a lovely gesture as while Iād have asked if she could visit, I would never have asked if she could stay over. It turned out well for the sit as the cat completely fell in love with my daughter and clearly preferred her to me! 
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As HO we state in our Welcome Guide that we do not allow guests unless it has been discussed with us prior to the sit. We donāt like a lot of people coming to our house and we vet the sitter, not others. There are plenty of places nearby where they could meet someone, but we prefer to only have the sitter in our home while we are away.
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I thought this was the normal approach when sitting & would never even think of asking an owner if it was ok.
I
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as sitters always included as part of our discussion with HOs is whether we can have guests over.We are fine with whatever the answer is: yes, no, or only during the day. And we are sure to let the HOs know that we are happy with whatever the answer is. Itās simply one more piece of information that is useful to have
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I wouldnāt like other people than the agreed on pet sitters in my home and would expect to be asked beforehand whether any visits of āoutsidersā were planned during the stay.
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As an owner I prefer if there is going to be a visitor the sitter ask first as I have a pet that gets stressed by small children. I also want to make sure they are non smokers. I have only had one occasion where sitter asked if her grandson could say and I agreed it would be fine as he was older. It ended up that he didnāt come. I am cautious regarding who stays so wouldnāt want any additional folks that I havenāt spoken too. Just meā¦
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Great question @5247! Iāve only asked a homeowner if I could have a guest once. I was on a month long sit down the road from my cousin, so asked if it would be all right to have her in for a cup of tea, etc. The homeowner had no problem with it, and it turned out my cousins dog and the dog I was sitting became great friends so we enjoyed loads of walks & cups of tea together. I was so grateful to the HO for this, my cousin and I live about 3500 miles away from each other so it was such a treat to have that time together.
I donāt think I would have asked about any guest that wasnāt a family member, or for an overnight stay. Not sure I would feel comfortable asking and wouldnāt want to put the homeowner in an awkward position if they were uncomfortable with the idea.
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Hello @Thatcookster Welcome to our community forum we are so glad you have joined. Thank you for contributing to this topic of conversation itās so important to have a view from both sides of our community.
Thank you again and enjoy connecting with other members and some great conversations.
Angela & the Team
Like other sitters, I would never ask if someone else can stay. I do, however, ask if friends or family members can visit for a coffee or lunch. I make it clear who will be coming. All HOs have been happy to agree and some have actually said that they could stay the night but I have never wanted that responsibility of others staying.
I have a funny story. I had arranged a sitting and my sister and partner decided to link up for a few days and had booked a room in the local pub. We had been introduced to the neighbours upon our arrival. My sister arrived a few days later but the pub was shut and she couldnāt contact the landlord. We went to the neighbours to ask if they had an alternative number. The neighbours said āOh just let them stay with you, Kā¦(the HO). wonāt mindā Thankfully, the landlord eventually arrived and my sister could check in. We never told the HO what the neighbour had offered in their absence!
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