This is my first time using the service and I’d appreciate any advice on how I can improve my listing and ensure I’m telling potential sitters what they want to know.
Thank you!
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Hello @Mish2B and welcome. So there’s a great tip doc/blog from @Nagy26 that you should read to help you work on your listing. Use the spyglass up in the corner to find it. Think some of the photos need some work, a lot are too slim for the profile, bed definitely needs making so looks inviting, bathroom shot doesn’t show much, think Airbnb listing or estate agency sell when you take them. Sitters want to know where they will sleep, bathe, chill, cook, work. Where do the dogs sleep? How many hours can they be left for? Wouldn’t mention your teens in the listing at all as it started to sound like they may be there too and that’s a total no no. The walk description sounds as if walking all four together would be hard work, does that mean they need separate walks as that’s more time for sitters? Can you offer extra bedrooms as a family might take the sit for exploring the local area. It looks like a nice friendly sit but 4 dogs is a lot of work and this is an exchange site so you need to present the sit as well as you can. Best of luck - you’ll get lots of help on here too. #firsttimerisoffandrunning
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Hi and welcome to Trusted Housesitters. Take what I say with a pinch of salt as everyone will be different! Think of this site as an exhange/bartering platform and both sides of the equation.
To me your sit sounds really challenging though! Four dogs is a lot and they sound quite energetic but also difficult to walk - presumably they need walking in batches? Raw food can be quite offputting too - I’d only take a sit with raw food if everything else looked incredible.
I’d remove references to your teens - they won’t be there and mentioning them like that doesn’t add to the sell it just makes me a bit worried!
I’d also tidy up and retake your pictures. A cluttered looking house is a bit of a turn off for most sitters - try to give sitters a sense of the space they’ll be staying in so wide angles. If you intend to leave the place cluttered leave as is but if youll leave a nice tidy house show sitters that!
I’d also add where the dogs sleep and whether they’re good sleepers (plus what you mean by early for waking up - in my experience it could be 5am or could be 7am!)
Finally - how long can the dogs be left? Taking four reactive dogs on the bus to Newcastle seems unlikely so will sitters be able to go and explore?
Hope that’s not too negative! It’s a gorgeous part of the world so has a lot going for it as a sit! Good luck 
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Here you go @Mish2B
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Haha thanks for that - you beat me to it! 
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Definitely change your listing’s profile picture, tidy up and re-take your house photos! The photos of the pets are nice though 
I see that you have made some changes to the listing already, and your intro & home and location section looks good!
However, I would strongly suggest working on your responsibilities section, as it needs a bit of re-wording and can be simplified to better suit an advert. It’s not your welcome guide, so try sticking to simplified dot points to outline key tasks:
For example:
Feed dogs twice daily in the morning and evening, around 6pm and (what time in the morning?) (raw mince from the freezer).
Walk dogs once daily (when and for how long? Saying “not long” isn’t helpful). Queen and Milo walk well with a split lead, and Twiggs and Basil on separate leads. Twiggs & Basil (terriers) tend to be reactive on walks, so avoiding interaction with other dogs is ideal. This sit suits somebody who can handle reactive pulling for two terriers and know when to cross roads to avoid dog interaction. Alternatively, you can offer some indoor play & scavenger hunts instead of walking.
let out for occasional toilet breaks, as we don’t have a dog flap. Dogs wake early (when? Please be transparent!) and need feeding and letting out but will happily go back to sleep afterwards.
The dogs happily snooze inside, and can be left for (how long, and can they go on car rides with a sitter?)
Info about the green house door can be saved for the welcome guide.
Hope that helps!
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@Nagy26 do you not think this is misleading though? They sound very reactive if you have to turn around on seeing another dog. Thats important info and i really appreciate the homeowner putting it in to avoid nasty surprises for sitters. I wouldnt want to go into a sit expecting a “slightly reactive pup” and end up having to manage the reactivity the homeowner describes currently - I dont think any sitter would and the homeowner is risking a poor review if they omit this info.
We had a sit where problems were concealed and we were very unhappy about it and did mention those issues in our review.
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Yeah, good point. Best to elaborate a bit more about the reactivity, but maybe not whole entire paragraphs about each dog, as it becomes quite lengthy in a listing! I changed my suggestion a little to include more about the pulling. Good point, thanks
I agree with the other comments. Tidy up (especially the kitchen), make the bed, and take new photos. Is there a shower in the bathroom or only a bath?
@Mish2B - Welcome to Trustedhousesitters
Four dogs are always going to be a hard sell, and two-night sits are not that appealing to travelling sitters so you have to present your listing in an honest, but positive way - delete all negative terminology.
Can you welcome families? If so, say so
Can you offer the use of your car? If so, say so
Your introduction reads well. 
For Home & Location, I would go for…
Our home is in a fantastic location…we are a 5-minute walk from a little market town and back onto the open countryside!
The sitters will have a comfortable bed, WiFi, a rise-and-fall desk, a kitchen with all the essentials and a clean bathroom.
There are loads of walks around here, and we’re on a fabulous bus route between Newcastle and Carlisle.
Brampton is a small town, There is a co-op and a spar for food shopping, some pubs, lots of great cafés and a weekly Wednesday market.
The area is very popular for visitors interested in Roman history as we’re really close to Hadrians wall and there’s a fabulous walk to Lanercost Priory from the back of the house!
For responsibilities go for…
The dogs wake early but once fed and have been for a wee go back to sleep.
I work from home so they’re used to just being let out occasionally and (unless someone comes to the door) they’ll happily just snooze.
A scavenger hunt for treats in the house helps to tire them out
Queen…walks beautifully for miles, she is not reactive and doesn’t pull unless she sees “prey” (cats or birds) but carries on walking when you tell her to.
Milo… frustrated greeter so best to avoid dogs and distract him with his squeaky ball. Otherwise a beautiful walker with no pulling.
Queen and Milo usually walk together on a split lead.
Twiggs & Basil… both pull and are super reactive, but are easily manageable as they’re small dogs. With these guys, be sure to avoid other dogs when out walking. They’re also usually walked together on a splitter.
We raw feed packets of mince that will need defrosting. They’re fed in the morning when you get up and again in the evening anytime 6 pm -9 pm.
I have a greenhouse and would be grateful if you open the door in the morning and shut it again in the evening on warm days.
Then add extra information.
Where do the dogs sleep?
How long can they be left alone?
you say they wake early - how early?
Finally, there is no polite way to say this - your photos are terrible! An unmade bed and clutter are the biggest turn-offs for sitters, and you have both! Remember, a picture says a thousand words.
Tidy up, remove all clutter, make the bed, turn on all lights, and be sure all curtains and blinds are open. Not easy, but try to catch a sunny day and then take two photos each of your living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, outside view and each pet.
Your main picture has to be an eye-catcher, I would go for either one of all your dogs together if you have one, or failing that, the view of the countryside over your fence
Sitters do not expect luxury but do expect clean and tidy so be sure to have a good spring clean before their arrival
Good Luck!
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@Nagy26 I still think the homeowner would be doing a disservice to their future sitter (and their dogs) if they toned it down to just saying you need to cross roads when you see another dog as the reality is you have to turn around and go the other direction which makes walking a lot harder! I frequently look after reactive dogs where crossing the road and distracting them is needed - but having to abort the walk and go in a different direction is quite unusual and I think really important to disclose!
Good point, and to be honest I think this would be quite challenging, especially if it’s a single sitter. I think this sit would best suit a couple or family, or for the owner to say that if it’s a single sitter, walks aren’t necessary, just playtime & scavenger hunts instead. Otherwise I can see this being a rather challenging sit, no?
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Yeah it looks like a very difficult one. We had a sit where we were told the dogs were a little reactive but that it was just that they were super friendly and it was so far from the truth! Despite being two small dogs it became clear you needed two people to walk them as they’d become reactive and then take that frustration out on each other and fight horribly! Very stressful and we felt quite misled as in the run up we’d engaged a tonne with the homeowners (including a visit prior to the sit) and this wasn’t even hinted at until we arrived the day before the sit started. I wouldn’t make that mistake again!
This sit, if the house was tidy and the dogs sleep through the night (and not in the bedroom!) could be good for a family or a couple on holiday who fully know what they’re getting themselves into!
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Oh dear, sorry to hear of your tough experience! Yeah, definitely agree!
Hmm I can see the homeowner has now removed all reference to reactivity from the ad. @Mish2B please be honest about this with any applicants! I know you really want a sitter and I agree it’s good to cut the unnecessary negativity but the reactivity is an important point and you don’t want someone who is unprepared for it and can’t handle it. You’re risking a bad time for the sitter, a bad review and a stressful time worrying about whether the dogs are being properly looked after. It might be harder to find someone with the additional info but when you do you can be sure they’ll be a good fit.
Maybe they’re just working on editing it? (I hope so!)
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Hey all,
Thank you so much for your feedback, I was in the process of tweaking…
Photos I will sort when I finish work…we’re a busy house so it’s never going to be pristine and I’m hoping there’s some sitters out there like me (happy with clean and comfortable 
) the bed was laid but Milo is on it as usual 
I think I have been honest without being scary…I definitely don’t want to mislead anyone…and I really appreciate your help…
Wish us luck 
Mish
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Your new advert looks great! Honestly I know it feels like too much but some nicer pictures will pay off in getting you applications. Make the bed and shove the clutter in a cupboard; take pans off the draining board and things out of the sink/off the counters if they aren’t neatly placed and meant to be there. I’d move the towel off the radiator too in the bathroom and tidy the things up around the bath.
I know this probably comes across as too picky but if you’d do this before a sitter arrived you should show them that. I’d be very reluctant to apply for this sit with the current photos. Have a look at other homeowner profiles for inspiration maybe.
Also do you have a shower? That’s quite important for a lot of people so if you do have one maybe add a photo of that!
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We don’t have a shower, it’s in the welcome pack
I’ll have a tidy up tonight and redo the pictures… but it’s never going to look like a show home because it’s a 3 bed house shared by 2 adults, 4 dogs and two children 
You might want to mention the lack of a shower in the listing. Sitters don’t get the welcome guide until after the sit is confirmed. Many sitters won’t care if there is just a bath and no shower, but some prefer a shower and it’s good for them to know before they apply.
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