Having difficulty finding a sitter

I’m finding it hard to find a house sitter anyone have any suggestions for me

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Hi @Mudge, welcome to the forum!

So that we can take a look at your listing to offer any advice, you will have to link it to your forum profile.

This is how to do that…

How to add a listing or profile link to your FORUM profile

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Hi @Mudge

Great advice from @botvot here - to help you I’ve added a link to your listing in your profile so that our members can take a look and then offer you some advice. :slight_smile:

Jenny

The link doesn’t appear to be a link. Apologies for repeating, first reply didnt show up

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@Hallt64 you just need to copy and paste it, then it will open the listing.

Is it not easier to make it a working link, as the others tend to be?

Hi @Hallt64

I’m not sure why it’s not a working link, but I’m happy to look into that, but for the moment as @botvot mentioned you can copy and paste the link for now :slight_smile:

Jenny

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Others may not know how to copy and paste though, luckily I do

I think it’s the fact that it’s a new user, so they need to build ‘trust’ first. After a few days or posts, it becomes a link. That’s how I understood it before. Everyone’s first ‘link’ looks like a non-link.

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Spot on, @botvot, I just checked Trust Level capabilities and posting links is part of that. Thanks for the advice! :slight_smile:

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An issue i have noticed.

You keep your dog away from others, sometimes its not always easy.

@Mudge Your listing is short and sweet. Perhaps write a little bit more, it feels nice reading a ‘story’ rather than a very short listing. Just be aware, leaving the dog for 2-3 hours is pretty short, but for someone working from home, it might work.

  • It would be nice to introduce yourself and who lives in the house.

  • How many bedrooms does the house have.

  • Will sitters sleep in the spare room? Or in the main bedroom?

  • Is Markus good on a lead? (apart from being reactive).

  • Can you add 1-2 more photos of Marcus as I can’t really assess his size. Sitters need to understand his size to decide if they can manage.

  • If sitters arrive without a car, are you open to picking them up at the closest station?

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2 posts were split to a new topic: Help with my home listing and finding a sitter

Thank you so disappointing can’t get any house sitter’s , I’ll keep trying

I’ve read your profile, we sit as a couple in England and now in Spain too as our son lives there, like yours does. So I’ll be brutally honest, SORRY but you haven’t written one nice thing about Marky :heart:!

I know he’ll be an amazing dog and I know he will bring you a lot of joy, but you haven’t relayed any of that. Yes, you need to mention that he is reactive and anxious, but you will be amazed how quickly an anxious dog settles when someone is living with them, so us sitters need to here the good things about him too. Plus, there’s quite a few of us sitters that enjoy taking care of anxious dogs because they need-need us. But we need to hear some of the good things about Marky too.

Also, do a search for sits in Dereham, and you will see that everyone has very beautiful pictures as their main picture, whereas you have your kitchen. So personally I would either have your main photo as a really gorgeous photo of Marcus, but also I can see trellis through one of the windows so I am guessing you have a garden, so maybe a picture of the outdoor area would be great too, even if it’s small, because we need to know how Marcus goes to the loo. But include more pictures of Marcus too, as the only one you have included only really shows his face, so it’s a little more tricky to judge his body shape/size (we’re slightly older… so that matters!)

Include things like whether there are footpaths close by where you walk him, or a field, and can he let into the garden for quick pee, as that can be a huge selling point too for when it’s late on an evening.

Hope that helps

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Hello @Mudge - you need more photos of the house and of the sweet pup. 4 is not enough. More positives about why someone would want this pet sit as remember it’s an exchange, you’re not paying them to come so why your sit above any others? Also things to do close by. A better cover photo and as @HappyDeb says, tell us some good things about looking after Marcus. You have a lot of competition in the UK so get selling!

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As has been said by others you really need to write a better listing. Have a look at some good ones on the website to give you an idea. Your photos aren’t helping you either. It would be good if you mentioned what there is to do in the area, how long & how often Marks goes out for walks etc. You say he can be “left for a while” but how many hours is that? Hopefully about 4….
Good luck!

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The listing also says “I only like to leave him for 2-3 hours at most” and that in itself means that I would not apply. This is in a small village five miles from Dereham. Sorry, but demand will be low.

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In some ways I feel uneasy about these kinds of posts. I’m on a sit currently where it’s very different to what the listing suggested. Maybe key details were removed to try and secure a sitter. @Mudge I see you’ve removed leaving your dog alone for no more than 2-3 hours, just make sure that you’re being accurate in your listing and not trying to confirm people and then add the constraints back in. Sitters could cancel in that case but many will just grit their teeth (especially if the constraints come to light with very short notice) which doesn’t seem fair.

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@Junipers That’s not good the reality of your current sit differs from the listing. At least now with Accuracy of Listing as one of the categories that is star rated by sitters, you can highlight this.

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