I am really struggling with finding a sitter for xmas/new year. I had Christmas dates up, no interest, so I removed them and accept I now have Christmas at home. So I thought I would try for a new year sitter, I can’t book anything till I have a sitter and I can’t kennel the dogs at any time when fireworks are a given as Kali gets very stressed. Has anyone else had problems?
I also find that sitters show the time as available, so you message them and they respond that they are away. I have found on many occasions with previous sitters that calendars are not kept up to date…
I don’t do anything with my THS calendar. I believe that the system puts in dates of confirmed sits, but that does not mean that I am looking for sits on the other dates.
I have a Saved search set up for a sit around Christmas in Berlin or Prague or something like that. But I have not seen anything that I wanted to apply for yet. For me as a sitter, there will be plenty of time.
Hi @ellieh - it’s a tricky time of year with lots of competition. I think you need to sell the sit more as your reviews are excellent and you live in a nice part of the UK. Swap the photos around of your home and dogs - first one of the dogs in the snow, then the other one, then living room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom & garden last. Lose the ones of the hall, the gate and the doors to tidy them up would be better. Change the caption to “Pretty country sit near Shaftesbury with two cute Jack Russell’s” maybe? How long can the dogs be left if they need three walks a day? Maybe it’s also worth adding Christmas dates back in as another option as lots of people like being in one place for the holidays? You could do it as two sits but back to back dates and see? You still have lots of time. Best of luck 
I think the issue could be that your Christmas dates start on 27 December.
Thanks for that, I have tweaked a few bits, will change it to 28th and see if that improves things.
Just a thought, but I think your problem is the dogs wake up at 5.30am, which ordinarily wouldn’t be the hugest of issues, but at Christmas people don’t necessarily want to wake up that early during Christmas week. So, do they actually wake up at 5.30am in the winter months too? Or is that maybe a summer thing, waking up with the sunshine? If so, tweak your profile.
Also your main picture looks like sheep in the middle of your grass, so maybe some think they need that sort of experience.
Hope that helps
Yes they are awake around that time every morning, whether it’s light or dark. I have preferred to let people know this from the start and not spring it on them when they get here!
They are back to sleep straight after, fortunately so am I!
The sheep and chicken on the grass are beaded ones that I brought back from Botswana, so no feeding required? there are also various metal birds and wooden hippos dotted around the place…
Regards Ellen
1 Like
I thought that’s what they were, personally I would swap it for a different photo as a lot of sitters will decide off the back of your first/main photo whether they want to click into your ad, and they won’t be able to make out they aren’t real when they quickly glance, as on your main pic they look so small in comparison to the size of the garden, so they are hard to make out. You main/first photo should be a one that sells your place the most, either a beautiful one of the house, or the cutest pet photo you have (like the one running). Hope that helps.
I tried to put one of the “cute dogs” pics as my cover photo, but it looks like that’s not allowed the only pics that have a cover pic button on them are ones of the house or garden. I assume that’s for security in case you have a highly pedigreed pet that somebody may decide to steal?
Hi @ellieh, you need to put the cute dogs photo into the house section and then you can use it as your cover photo.
No you can definitely have the pups as the main pic @ellieh. Snow one would be a good option as that fits the time of the year for the sit 