I shared this story a while back and thought I’d share again for those who have joined since.
It’s is for me a perfect example of what we are discussing.
Another example of the power and impact of what we do.
Headed back there tomorrow
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One of my early sits started on NYE in Atlanta. I was invited to a neighbor’s NYE gathering which was fun - no one visited but we saw and talked on walks.
I did a week-long sit on Naples Island in Long Beach and Wrigley, the dog was known to everyone and every dog on the island since she spent most of her days in the front yard greeting everyone - neighbor and tourist who walked by. Met a lot of folks, but only next door neighbor stopped by occasionally because her cat and the cat I was sitting would visit each other mainly to try out each others’ food!
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I trust my sitters but when I have asked once to send me daily photos and I did not receive any, I finally asked a friend living the opposite house to have a look over the fence tgo see if my pets were alive… I had not received news during 4 days… no answer to my calls on my own land phone the sitters knew they could use, or on their cells !
None of my sitters (a couple) answered my calls (I was becoming anxious) one had problems with her new phone(…) the other one explained me when I came back he was too busy writing his book to answer the phone!
My friend never came inside our home, she just called me to tell me the pets looked fine in the garden.
That’s definitely a reason to check up on someone! We’re both working and always update at least twice a day (usually 4-5 times!), I can’t think of any reasonable excuses not to contact the HO if you also have a landline in the house.
Yeah, this is terrible. I wouldn’t answer your land line, but I’m always in touch with the HO as frequently as they want to be. I always ask what they prefer. Generally for the first couple days I send 2-3 pics a day to show we are adjusting well. After that, depending on the length of the sit, I drop down to every other day. Not responding at all is unacceptable. At the least, have your phone out and send a message when the pet does a poo. You’re certainly not writing your book then!
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Too busy to answer the phone? Who was walking, feeding, playing with the pets then?
As an aside. I never answer the land line. I always ask them to put it on answer phone. We always communicate using mobiles and what’s app. In fact I have just bought a US sim so it’s easier for our pet owners to communicate with us.
Now, that was an experience …. buying a sim only for phone calls, no data. The very young guy asked us how we expected it to work if we had no data. Oh dear. My techie hubbie went into a very long winded explanation. I interrupted and said “ just accept, it will and leave it at that”
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We have a lot of friends close to our house. We leave their names, addresses and contact information for our sitters and they are told that they can call them if they have a pressing need. Our friends all agreed to this of course. We have taken sitters to dinner, both on our own and with friends so they could meet them in person and feel more comfortable about contacting them if they need anything. None of our friends stops by or checks on them. We do have a camera at our front gate for security purposes, but no where else. We chat via WhatsApp and receive photos and reports of how things are going. Some of our friends are very sociable, so they have gone out with our sitters or had them over for dinner. We do have a land line and allow our sitters to use it. No one calls our land line so answering the phone has never been an issue. I prefer to use my cell/DM/WhatsApp so that an immediate answer is not expected, but if a house sitter was seemingly not communicating with me, I would call the house.
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I understand it can be a bit nerve-wracking for people who are new to THS.
For that reason I make sure to send lots of photos and videos at the beginning of the sit. The HO can tell from the videos that the pets are safe and happy and enjoying my company.
As much as I adore animals, I can sometimes feel quite introverted around humans. So if a HO asked if a friend could stop by I would probably say ‘Yes’ because I’m empathetic and polite and eager to please, but I would probably be sweating and vaguely uncomfortable the whole time. 
Plus, if they were wanting to come inside, I’d then feel the need to put a face mask on, because I have no idea their vaccination or illness status.
While I’m house sitting, the house is my temporary home. And the feeling of being watched is uncomfortable. I choose not to do sits where I don’t think I’ll have a reasonable sense of privacy.
I understand the nervousness, and I am willing to do plenty to help calm the HO’s nerves. But I also have to be comfortable in the home, or it’s not sustainable. 
All that said, I do love waving over a fence at the neighbors and having a spontaneous chat in the yard!
I like to know ahead of time which are the “good” and trusted neighbors though, because sometimes a neighbor will pump me for information, and I’m very uncomfortable telling them any details about animals, HOs, scheduling, etc. unless they’re already vetted as trustworthy by the HO!
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Me too 
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Yes, I think it’s important to keep in mind that if the owner hasn’t told people things, it’s because they don’t want them to know. We, as sitters, don’t know the whole story. So just because someone presents as a friend, doesn’t mean they are. I never give anyone information about the HO without their permission. People can do some shady stuff and I don’t want any info I might let slip, no matter how innocent seeming, to add to that.
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It has nothing to do with being new to THS, because each time there is a new sitter and people tend to be different.
As I already said, I would never send a friend or family member by to ring the doorbell without notifying the sitters beforehand, except when communication was really lacking.
I think that the majority of HO ask neighbors and friends to have an eye on the sitters, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that someone actively comes to the house to “check”, but they will note if everything looks fine or fishy. After all, the HOs usually don’t need several sitters all year round.
We have done housesits over Christmas and had friends of the owner call round with a Christmas card for the owners. Obviously they are confused by our presence in their friend’s home. I’m always careful not to say too much. I usually just say that we are looking after the pets. When they said “I didn’t know they were going away”, I could at least honestly say that I thought it was a fairly last minute booking.
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Hi Tasmin, I know there have been many replies but thought I’d add mine! I certainly feel a certain sense of anxiety everytime I leave my home and cat with essentially someone unknown, I cannot help it, I’m a bit of a worrier. I think it’s particularly normal if it’s your first time. Go with your instincts - if having someone drop in (maybe one friend, not two?) will help you enjoy your holiday more, then be upfront in your sit notice so that people know what to expect, and won’t apply if it’s not their thing. I think if you meet people in advance as well (if feasible, or the evening before), and ask for daily photos (I like what’s app, not emails), that might make you feel better. Maybe go with someone who has more experience for the first sit, but don’t be in awe of their experience (our first sitter was a bit bossy, to be frank, and wouldn’t come to see the house beforehand, but sent loads of emails afterwards asking questions, which wasn’t relaxing as we were about to go on a long trip!). Leave good instructions for the house, cat, friends/emergency contact details (I prefer to provide a printed, not online document). I started with THS after a recommendation, and never looked back. Most sitters have been great, none have been bad. I had an awful experience with leaving our cat at a cattery, never again. And frankly, I’ve found it quite funny that we get pictures of our cat purring with the newcomer about five minutes after they arrive, it seems! Enjoy, it’ll give you so much freedom and your cat will probably enjoy having some new friends 
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What an endorsement for THS.
It is so good to hear from the “dark”side. We always try to put our pet owners at ease and comply with most requests. The forum has give us a much needed insight on the application process owners go through and now more examples of what is needed during a sit.
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I had my son drop in to check on things, but I let the sitters know by telling them he was coming to pick something up. It was my first time with sitters from TH staying in my house with my beloved cats and I was nervous like the O.P. I would just let the sitters know you are planning to have someone drop by, but tell them when–not a surprise visit which would be invasive of their privacy.
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You have to agree with the sitter before the sitting is confirmed that someone will be dropping in.
I wouldn’t appreciate being told.
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One of the lovely things about sitting for new HO is meeting their friends and neighbours. We have been invited to meet for a coffee nearby with HO friends, both of us with the dogs. Often the reason is to find out more about TH. I don’t mind anyone knocking the door to say hello. However I wouldn’t want anyone to turn up and expect to be invited into the home without prior notice from the HO .
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Because I am an introvert, work from home and am often on video calls, etc, I always ask the homeowner if it is likely that anyone (neighbors, maintenance people, etc) might stop by. Then, if nothing else, I can be prepared. At home I don’t really answer the door when not expecting someone, and might hang around in various states of undress, etc, but when housesitting, I am always at least a little prepared for unexpected visitor in the sense of at least “decent” appearance. It does make it slightly harder to relax, but I understand completely that home owner can be nervous. I have had a neighbor stop by unexpectedly once (fortunately it was at a good time, and they were absolutely lovely), and I have had a friend of the home owners come by to help with some yard work (expected, but I didn’t know exactly when to expect them, so I just kept it in mind). In both cases the people were lovely and kind and it was great to meet them, I am not sure if the homeowners were arranging this to “check up on me”, but either way, it was not a problem and I’ve come to sort of expect that this type of thing might happen, particularly in more rural areas where neighbors know each other. I realize that I am on the introverted side of the human spectrum, and that many homeowners just have different and more casual attitudes towards people “stopping by”, so I just ask questions to sort of suss out the likelihood of this happening, and then be sure to wear a bra accordingly. 
Now, if I got the vibe it was going to be constant, intrusive, or annoying, I’d probably decline the sit. And if it was busy or it truly wasn’t a good time, I guess I wouldn’t answer the door just like at home (if I was say, on an important zoom call)>
Communication with home owner is key, plus a bit of flexibility on our part I think and understanding that everyone is different in this regard.
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I think thats an awesome idea for everyone, especially a first timer! Win-win for sure
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Hey friends,
I have been house/pet sitting for quite some time now though not through THS, and I have run into my first real issue.
I am currently doing a sit where the home owners do not have any pets, which is fine, it is a 3 month sit. I am a local and thus am working throughout and work as a producer/art director/wardrobe/painter/set decorator for film/tv/theatre. I let the HO know that I would be extremely busy with this and the specific dates from the get go of accepting the sit and let them know I would have an influx of things at the house during this time as I would be organizing them for my production. About 90% of these items are my own from collection over the years (I own my own business).
Since I have been here their cleaning lady came and couldn’t believe how clean the place was and I apologized for all the stuff and she said it was nothing and was so well contained and organized (she came early in the week before my production but I had about the same amount of things).
The home owners daughter has also been collecting donations (HERE at THIS house) since I have been here, and despite working long days I happily agreed to lug often heavy bags of items into their garage for collection (it ended up being essentially half a garage full of items left on the steps most days). I gladly agreed for the daughter to be in communication with me and to set up a pick up time, which happened a few days ago.
The daughter reported me to the home owners for having “large shipments of props” and filling up the home with foreign items. It was largely exaggerated as I kept everything contained to the furnace room and the one living room when I was sorting it out to package it up to take it back to my office.
I got a rather offensive message from the home owners saying “you are breaching our contract to take care of our home, this is our home, not a storage facility” and further implying I was using their vehicle to transport these goods, which I would never do, I have my own vehicle and I have again only been doing them a favour by running their car once a week during the winter so it is in good working order.
I am rather upset about the way this way approached by the HO, especially since it’s something I discussed with them 5 times, and one of the reasons I brought extra stuff was because now that the production is finished I figured I could donate a bunch of items! I said I was happy to speak with them and also have a video chat so they could see themselves, but they said a video wasn’t necessary, that they would just send their son in law back (he’s coming tomorrow). I expressed that I was not happy with the way this was handled and how I was spoken to, and I have half a heart to tomorrow say that if they are not happy with how I am taking care of their home I can leave. Should I do this??
I am a very responsible person and try to be very kind. But I feel I am not being appreciated and is there a limit to items you are allowed to bring into a house you are sitting?? Especially if it is for your work? Looking for any advice. Thank you!