We have our first sit in 6 days. When should we expect to receive the Welcome Guide?
You usually have to ask the HO for it and only about half use it. Thereâs a button you can press that says ârequest welcome guideâ. If youâve done that already then ask them again as lots of people forget 
Itâs usually exchanged a week before the sit begins. Please insist on it as it has so much good information in it.
@Ihtrustedhousesitters1 - how exciting to have your first sit .
Are the hosts also new to THS ? They may not realise about how to do the welcome guide. Some hosts find it easier to make their own welcome guide and e-mail it to the sitter as they find the THS one difficult to use . Itâs good to get it as soon as possible in case there are some unexpected responsibilities that you need to discuss with the hosts before the sit .
The welcome guide has so much useful information in it ( whether itâs a THS one or one the hosts have compiled themselves ) .
One thing I suggest that you check now -is do you have the address of the sit ? You donât get this information from THS (unless you have the Welcome Guide ) Hopefully you have already have it and have exchanged phone numbers. If not - itâs recommended that you do asap as an alternative way of communicating outside of the THS platform.
Enjoy your first sit !
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Hi @Ihtrustedhousesitters1 - I usually request it via the dashboard immediately after confirmation. I didnât realise until speaking to a fellow sitter that it can be requested prior to confirmation.
In future I will request the Guide (or the homeownerâs equivalent) before confirmation. It will enable me to check if it contains any âsurprisesâ that I was unaware of during the telephone/video chat.
Definitely get contact details such as email, phone numbers etc asap.
I have been sitting for over ten years and I am still learning. Every day is a school day on THS 
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Who knew this??? This is big news to me!
Hi @Crookie, I hope I understood the sitter correctly and it didnât just apply to the homeowners own Welcome Guide document.
I will definitely try the next time I am about to confirm a sit.
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Only a very small percentage of hosts appear to have well-written and informative guides.
The vast majority of my hosts did not provide any, and among those who did, the content was quite limited.
Conversely, a notable percentage of my hosts had a printed PDF document containing detailed information.
To be honest, I wouldnât send a Welcome Guide before confirming. Way too much and too specific info to be shared with potential sitters.
As I see it, the information you need beforehand, should be all discussed through messages and video call.
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News to me too ⌠I donât think there is a way for that the THS welcome guide can be shared until the sit is confirmed ; but if hosts have made their own one then they can of course share that .
Also worth knowing that the THS Welcome
Guide disappears ( sitter can no longer see it ) when the sit is finished - so if you are asked to go back and do a repeat sit -you have to request the WG again . I know this from experience.
I agree that the Welcome Guide should be requested immediately after confirmation to avoid any surprises.
I met @Twitcher yesterday which was lovely. I think I may have misled her. I said that when I sent an application I asked when I could expect to receive the Welcome Guide. It cannot be requested beforehand.
Sometimes, especially when the HO is new, I send them a Word document Template to complete if they donât like the Welcome Guide. I have, on a couple of occasions, asked for this by email before I confirm.
Sorry to confuse anyone
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My current HOs made a video welcome guide, which was great. Easier to show where things were, rather than to describe them. Sent via WhatsApp.
And weeks before, over Zoom, when we chatted ahead of confirming our sit, Iâd taken notes. I shared them over WhatsApp for their review, to make sure I got the key points right. Doing that also tends to prompt HOs to correct you or offer key info in case they forgot.
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Great idea, thanks for sharing @Maggie8K ! Canât understand how I didnât think of that. I do have a written version wich I share, but things like where everything is, would be much easier to show on video.
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Thank you @Itchyfeet and it was great to meet up with you and and Mr Itchy Feet in person yesterday. We did all have a good laugh discussing our âadventuresâ.
Thank you for clearing up the Welcome Guide comment. I think we all agreed yesterday that we need as much information as we can get before agreeing to a sit.
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