I am both a homeowner and a pet sitter. I think it is only fair to discuss concerns directly with the homeowner/sitter before posting anything in a review that would surprise them. If it didn’t matter enough to you to discuss it directly first, then don’t post it.
I think it is also important to prioritize what is really important to me. If my pet was well-cared for, the house tidy, and the sitter reliable with commitments and our agreed upon communications, I will overlook that they may not live exactly like I do.
The same is true when I am a sitter. If the house is clean, represented accurately, and the pets are as advised, then I don’t view it as a negative if they ask me to do things that I don’t do in my own home. I do like communication in case the pet is acting differently as there might be something wrong with the pet.
The people would need to do something of great concern in order for me to rate anything less than 5 stars.
Hi Ken. Sometimes it’s important to let future sitters that there are some fairly serious issues. For example, Ruckusfan’s ‘creative’ comments indicate that the dogs are relieving themselves in the house - an issue that we have run into as well. And I’m not talking about once or twice due to separation anxiety, I’m talking about bad pet habits that have obviously not been dealt with.
So, we disagree! I’m sorry but I stand by what I said and incidentally Ruckusan’s comments were hypothetical! What you perceive as unpleasant, bad training, bad housekeeping whatever, is extremely subjective and you may be unfairly stigmatising someone simply because whatever standards you have you rather grandly think should apply to everyone! You may have experienced dogs relieving themselves in a house and I’m not suggesting that is acceptable but there may well be unusual reasons for it. I simply don’t think people should quite blatantly state that someone is ‘dirty’ or in some way doesn’t meet their standards. Its is for you, and indeed, for every sitter to discuss with Home owners the vagaries and potential pitfalls of a sit. If you don’t that is not only the fault of the house owner but yours also.
Perhaps I am imposing my standards on someone else’s home. I certainly don’t find it acceptable to allow animals to defecate in the kitchen! It’s not only disgusting; it’s a health hazard. How would YOU suggest warning potential sitters who have similar standards (and I do think that we who do not want animals relieving themselves in the food preparation area are in the majority) that there might be a problem? And why do you assume that I did not discuss this with the owner? You are making your own presumptions here.
@Ken I find it really hard to believe that as a sitter, you would not want to get a heads up from previous sitters on whether a dog sometimes ‘escape’ or a cat might not show up for a few days in a row (things owners might omit, or might not happen to them), or whether a pet relieves themselves on the carpet frequently, or a dog being aggressive towards other dogs etc.etc… Many of us are traveling and housesitting on a schedule and don’t do repeat sits. Why should future sitters be blindsided by these unfortunate traits? Why would you not put it in your public feedback, in a polite way?
I think most of us are referring to extreme behaviours, not your average ‘cat vomited twice during our stay’ stuff. For example, one day we were driving somewhere, and saw this smallish dog jump a 6 foot fence, no kidding! It tried and tried to make the jump, then made it to the top, hung there for a few seconds, dropped down like a stone, and off he trotted. We stared in disbelief. If we were housesitting that dog and realised he was gone, we would be beside ourselves, thinking it was our fault that he escaped. If this happened during a housesit, we would like to know that, and owners might not share this info or might not be aware of it.
I agree you would want a ‘heads up’ regarding any animals behaviour and indeed details of the house and owners etc. But how you acquire that information is by ‘communicating’ with the house owner, not through some public site that cannot be trusted because the people posting their views are too subjective! Only by talking with a perspective owner or sitter should details such as ‘bed wetting’ or anything else be discussed. Be realistic, please! If someone posted here that the house was dirty or that the dog peed everywhere, just what is the purpose of that post? It is to put people off isn’t it?, Not as some friendly guidance! And it may not be correct! This is a public site, private conversations between owners and sitter should remain private unless both agree to ‘spill the beans’! I have three sits arranged for the coming months. I have One from Australia, one from Austria and a lady arriving from the USA this coming week. With all of them I have got on exceedingly well, I have encouraged them to ask the most intimate details (regarding the house and cats!!!) I have also ascertained by their actions, how I believe their characters are. I’m sorry but posting subjective bad references, simply because it’s what you believe, isn’t good enough.
I hear you, @Ken, it is a fair comment and a few others have indicated they agree with you as well.
From my point, I guess I don’t necessarily view a ‘heads-up’ as ‘putting others off’. I view it as giving people the information they need to make an informed decision. Information they might not have thought to ask about. Some sitters might not even look at my heads-up. Others might decide it’s not a bother to them, they are happy to go ahead with their application. But there might be others still that are grateful for the tip, as they would be unhappy / unwilling to deal with that specific issue.
And we must remember that there are thousands of new sitters and pet parents now and they are just learning the ropes. Asking for a review/feedback is a great way to nudge them if nothing has been done yet. I would give everyone at least a weeks as pet parents are settling back into their home routines and sitters may be in transit to a new location and then getting set up with that new sit.
Well said! I would just add that honest reviews help all of us to make wise sitting choices. Frankly I don’t believe 90% of the reviews of the housesits that I read.
It’s important to warn others because there is no turning back once you commit to a sit. You cant just walk out, quit like it was a job. These people depend on you. I would say, in practice and the more houses you sit in, you will learn to ask very specific questions before you accept a sit. But of course you have to trust the HO. Through my experience, I have learned not to arrive at a house to sit without the owners being there when you are watching a dog. A friendly dog still does not know you. Maybe don’t take a sit unless the owner is going to be there when you arrive for the night.
I would be as gentle and as constructive as possible as should the Home Owners who have any issues with a sitter. For instance, instead of saying Rover was growling at you when you entered the home, maybe say something like, “Rover was great once he got used to me but he was a bit skittish at first”. Of course never candy coat a dangerous situation and call the home owner immediately. The home owner’s idea of things being good may be totally different than yours. Say, if the home owner left food for you but it was mostly meat and youre a vegetarian. So don’t immediately take offense. Try to be as clear as possible before the sit, in writing. Like ask Where do the dogs sleep and how do they get there? (Some dogs will go in the crate or a room for their owners but no one else). I guess just be constructive as possible.
@Jake you have taken that out of context. My reply was directly to @Ken, quoting his own words as he needs to take some of his own advice as his comments on this forum have not been nice.
BTW I’m in favour of making constructive & factual comments in feedback, in a sensitive & polite way. IT would not come as a shock to the home owner as I would have already mentioned it to them.
Some things might be subjective, but some things would simply be offensive to most people. I had such a situation as a new sitter. I’m guessing the host knew their house and inside space was grossly outdated, very shabbily furnished, and unkept because they didn’t show any inside photos and only featured the great location and outside gardens.
I simply HAD to warn other sitters so they would know what they were walking into … to say nothing of the odd behavior of the owners returning unannounced, no communication, and barging in without knocking or announcing their return.
GardenCat, I so appreciate your post and ideas. We need a way to provide feedback to the sitter that is not in a public place, and we also need the ability to give someone less than 5 star review without having them have their feelings hurt.
I wish we had the double blind system like we do with airbnb, and we also need a place to add a comment to the sitter that is specific.
Private feedback is pretty easy - you can just send a message via THS’s messaging system.
I agree that we should all be able to give 4 stars - 4 stars should denote a pretty good stay, as it is, anything less than 5 stars is often considered pretty bad.
I love this idea and completely agree with GC. As a homeowner and a sitter of 10+yrs and an ex veterinarian (behaviour a specialty), we changed a LOT of lives and a lot of homes for the better and also tons of repeat sits, where the homeowner never signed up again unless we were booked! After a break of about 11-ish years from housesitting we are doing it again and I can’t say I am not a bit nervous, I take the reviews left by sitter of homeowners with a grain of salt, considering the review system is a bit quid pro quo… I love the air bnb way, very effective!!
I noticed a lot of HO with many past sitters with little feedback usually means troublesome sit. Sure it is subjective what troublesome to one might be a daily routine for another, but this should give a hint. I would love to write some honest feedback too but it’s hard when all you read is everything is great!
THS need a different feedback format that also allow sitter a better option to leave honest review instead of risking being rejected for future sit.