Feeling Discouraged and Deflated

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
1

I’m new to THS, and I think I may have entered this venture with overly optimistic expectations. I assumed that securing a sit in the right location and on the right dates, especially around a race, would be easier than it has turned out to be.

I’m an avid runner and, now that my kids are older, I’m hoping to start traveling and running marathons in different parts of the country. For February, I was hoping to run the Publix Marathon in Brevard County, Florida, on February 8th.

I applied for my first sit and was invited to interview. The homeowners canceled the first interview and then rescheduled another one at the last minute, which I unfortunately couldn’t accommodate. I let them know I was available the following day, but they ultimately chose someone else, though they did send a kind message, which I appreciated.

The second sit I applied for was close, but the dates didn’t fully align. The sit ended on February 7th, and I needed at least through the 8th for the race. I explained this in my application and asked whether they might consider extending the stay by one day, making it clear that I completely understood if that wasn’t possible and thanking them for their consideration either way. They did not select me and did not leave a message.

At this point, I’m starting to feel discouraged, and a bit foolish, for thinking this would all come together more easily. I’m now facing a difficult decision this week: either cancel my race in Melbourne altogether or pay for extremely overpriced accommodations in the area, on top of the cost of airfare.

My intention here is partly to vent, but also to offer a realistic perspective to others who may be considering joining THS, especially those with time-sensitive plans like races, not to approach it too optimistically, but rather with realistic expectations. I’d also genuinely appreciate hearing from the THS community about whether it’s considered rude or inappropriate to ask homeowners if they would consider extending their sit dates.

1 Like
2

Hi @Jess07
Welcome.
Unfortunately working towards specific dates in a specific location especially as a new sitter is a very long shot.
It took me 23 applications to get my first local sit when I joined. Starting with local and last minute sits as a new sitter to hopefully build up your reviews is the way to go. I have since done 26 sits all over Europe. Even still I think trying to work to specific dates would be challenging. THS works best by building up your feedback and then being ready to apply for sits in locations you desire when they are listed. Flexibility is key here and being quick to apply for more popular locations as they can fill the 5 applicants in minutes post listing.
Good luck.

13 Likes
3

It’s really hard to apply for sits for exact dates as a new sitter, and then also ask the hosts to accommodate your competitive running schedule. As much as it’s a good theory, home owners want sitters who put their pets first and foremost, so when you mention that the sits need to fit around your race schedule that probably isn’t helping. Sorry! Is it an option to flex the dates? Or stay a bit further out or on less competitive sits? Or go for cat only sits so less time is needed at home? Hope you can find something, keep trying and go for low maintenance sit options. #allaboutbalance

18 Likes
4

Don’t take this personally, but you need to be realistic. You have zero THS reviews and yet you are already asking someone to be flexible around you. It’s less likely you’ll be accepted that way. Once you have just 3 reviews under your belt, we found things totally changed, but you need to get to that point first.

Also, if you are mentioning the race as to the reason for asking them to be flexible, then you’ll be making yourself less appealing, because your whole focus may end up sounding like it is all about your race, when it really needs to be about the owners pets until you have a few reviews.

Also, if I were you, I wouldn’t apply for dog sits when racing, because your race could interfere in dog walking schedules, because you’ll be physically tired, and also just because a dog may be able to be left 4 hours, doesn’t mean an owner wants that from someone who has no reviews, when their whole commitment and priorities lay elsewhere.

Personally, I would do some sits before your race to help build up a few reviews.

If you plan to attend the same races each year, then you’ll find repeat sits are great, and you can let the owners know that you’ll be back in their area at the same time next year, or whenever, in case they need a sitter.

14 Likes
5

If you just needed one more day why couldn’t you stay at a hotel your last night? My concerns if a PP would be, how many hours are you away from the sit each day, what if you get injured on the run. Make sure the hours away from the house is not longer than they have specified and let them know pet care will not be disturbed by this.

7 Likes
6

Thanks! I appreciate the feedback. I do my best to convey my love for pets, and that love both for my own pets and for caring for others’ is not mutually exclusive with my passion for running and travel. The pets in my care will always come first, and I make that a priority. Any running would only take me away for roughly half a day, and my adult daughter is co-sitting with me, so she could stay behind if there were ever a concern about timing or my ability to return as specified.

I’ll continue looking for opportunities in the future, but it seems this particular run is not going to work out for me. In terms of date flexibility, I do have some, but I need a place to stay on the actual race day. I have also explored traveling farther out to less competitive sits; however, the dates don’t align, as those sits require availability in an entirely different month.

6 Likes
7

Thank you for your feedback. I currently have one review and am waiting on a second, so it will be interesting to see how things change once I reach three reviews. I do mention my love for racing, traveling, and pets, and my hope to combine those passions when possible. That said, I make it very clear that just as with my own pets the animals in my care are always the top priority.

Racing would only take me away for about half a day, and my adult daughter is co-sitting with me, so if returning to the pets within a specified timeframe ever became an issue, she would stay behind. I would have no difficulty walking or running with dogs daily except on race day; however, you raise a valid point that some owners may not fully realize that.

I also appreciate your suggestion about focusing on building relationships with owners and pursuing repeat sits.

5 Likes
8

So you’re almost there on the review front, so that’s amazing. We do a lot of repeat sits, it sounds like those would work perfectly for you.

By being open to returning, picking you is an enormous benefit for a lot of owners, because if you’ve sat for them once and their pets loved you, then it’s very easy for the owner to say yes to you again if you want to return, because they know it went swimmingly, so you’ll potentially get to know about dates before they even post them publicly, because they can privately invite you to apply via THS.

You have a huge advantage over other sitters that perhaps have many more reviews than yourself, that don’t naturally want to return because they enjoy travelling to new places.

The amazing benefit of returning is that you can be more proactive, so instead of waiting for dates to appear, you can reach out to those you’ve already sat for when you know your future race dates. Obviously you’ll have an established connection by then, so it’s easy to reach out and say you’ll be back in the area on/around the date, and you’d love to take care of their pets again if they happen to be thinking of a trip.

A lot of sitters are doing the tourist thing, whereas you have a real compelling reason to keep returning to their area time and time again, which should go in your favour before long.

5 Likes
9

Thanks for your feedback. You raised a valid concern about the pets’ care in the event that I were to get injured while running. I think I should more clearly communicate that my daughter would stay behind on the day I run. While I may run a few miles on other days besides the race day itself, it would never take me away from their pets for long. My daily runs would always be under an hour, and if pets can accompany me, I’m happy to include them.

I also appreciate your suggestion to provide a clear timeframe for how long I would be away, as that can offer owners reassurance that their pet(s) will not be neglected. As for staying at a hotel, I have considered that option; however, it seems to defeat the purpose. Ultimately, it needs to be a mutually beneficial arrangement for both parties.

3 Likes
10

@Jess07

Does your daughter come on sits with you already ?

Is she on your profile and do your reviews mention her ?

5 Likes
11

Hi Jess

Sorry to hear things haven’t turned out as planned. Depending on the area, landing a sit for a specific time in a specific location can be highly feasible, but we can never 100 percent bank on it.

For example, last summer my cousin was getting married near a town in North Carolina that always has tons of sits– a popular area but not some super in-demand destination where application spots fill up in minutes– so I knew that it would not be a problem to find one that covered the day of her wedding. We actually didn’t end up booking anything until a little less than a month before and there were numerous options available to us, especially because it was the summer.

Though generally speaking, the more criteria a sit must meet, the more our options will probably be narrowed. That you are looking to come to the area for a specific event really isn’t an issue in and of itself–some hosts might actually like this as they would see you as less likely to cancel–though it probably can’t hurt to give a sense of what your schedule would be like and reassure them that you would have plenty of time to care for their pets.

The average person is doing plenty outside the home on a day to day basis and isn’t home 24 hours a day with their animals, and I don’t think they would expect the sitters to be either.

If the dates listed don’t perfectly align with your availability, it is unlikely they would end up changing their trip, so while there is no harm in mentioning this is a possibility they may be interested in, it probably wouldn’t happen all that often. In my experience, the dates listed are almost always firm dates, and if there is flexibility, they often mention it in the listing. Though not always.

Sometimes you may have hosts offer for you to come a day early or stay a day later based on your schedule. We have had that happen a number of times and there have been times when we have taken them up on the offer.

With the amounts of sits listed on THS it was certainly understandable to think the way you did. Don’t get too discouraged and good luck!

5 Likes
12

@Jess07 Given the details you show in your first entry in this post, I’m wondering whether you’re confusing reviews with references. Reviews are from sits you’ve done on TrustedHousesitters. References are from outside sources.. Although references are helpful, reviews carry far more weight with most owners.

Given you know the dates of races you would like to enter, you might want to do saved searches based on the criteria of those races, showing a location and date range. This may give you some advanced warning so that you can confirm a sit and then register for the race. You can also search sits that currently don’t have active listings and favourite those that fit your criteria. Then set your phone for notifications and you’d then be notified when those listings go live.

7 Likes
13

It’s too late now for the first sit you mentioned, but in the future you might try to combine a THS with Host-a-Sister or Host a Sister-over 50 (don’t know how old you are). Those are FB groups.

2 Likes
14

@Jess07

Some things to consider:

Hosts will be considering the following when looking at your application

  1. A new sitter with no reviews

  2. Uncertainty about how much time you will be away from the home on the race day

    There are some things that you can do to improve your chances of being chosen as a sitter

    • Do some local short last minute sits to get reviews ( preferably with your daughter so that she is included in the reviews ) our friends started with 2x 1 night sits and got two 5 star reviews in one weeekend !!
    • When applying for a sit for the purpose of participating in a race explain in your application exactly how long you would be away from the home on the race day .
    • Include your daughter on your profile as a duo sitter - you can add this on to your membership / include photos of her interacting with pets

If you are looking at short stays when one of those is a race day it will likely be more difficult to persuade a host that you are the best choice as sitter . It may Improve your chances of being selected if you can do longer sits 2 weeks + so the race day is just one small part of the stay and (maybe the hosts can arrange some alternative care for the pets for that one day only) .

If you connect with a host who shares your passion you may get the perfect match .

Having your daughter could be a plus if you take a dog sit - with a dog with the right temperament they can maybe come along as spectators to the race ?

Please , please , please keep in mind that even if you confirm a perfect sit , you need to be able to afford a back up plan because sits do occasionally get cancelled due to exceptional circumstances ( we just had a sit cancelled that we confirmed 8 months ago - a couple of days before it was due to start )

So please don’t be solely dependent on the sit going ahead for your race plans . Have a back up plan and the necessary funds in place.

9 Likes
15

Thank you! Great advice!

2 Likes
16

I think you are correct. I think I am confusing reviews with references. :face_exhaling:

3 Likes
17

Yes, she does. This is something we need to work on communicating better, thank you.

2 Likes
18

Thank you! I greatly appreciate you sharing from your own experiences.

2 Likes
19

Ah right, there’s an enormous difference, references don’t mean much at all to a owners that are familiar with THS, only newbie owners wouldn’t know the difference. Whereas THS reviews are like gold.

Try doing a few local sits near where you live, to get a few reviews in. Even just short ones for a couple of nights, they fast build up.

7 Likes
20

Don’t be discouraged as a newbie if you’ve only applied for two sits. It takes a while to get a first sit, as HOs naturally will want to choose sitters with more reviews. Eventually someone will take a chance on you, and then another will, and you’ll start having more luck. Took me 8 applications to get the first one.
Agree with previous advice about not emphasizing the race. You could say you’re interested in it, but maybe don’t make it the priority in your application.
Maybe widen your search area to a reasonable driving distance?
You might still get something somewhere nearby last-minute. Getting a specific area for specific dates especially for an “event” is a challenge. But it’s possible. I got a sit for the 2024 solar eclipse, where accommodations in the path were all price-gouging despicably, by sheer dogged persistence of several-times-daily combing through listings. And another international sit for the 2023 annular eclipse, with 4 days’ notice! I kept reminding myself, “You don’t actually NEED a sit till the day you have to travel…”
So don’t give up; you may get something at the last minute; just be ready to scramble if you do.

8 Likes