Hello everyone. We are new to THS and live in Charleston, SC, USA

Hi, we are Bill & Barbara. We live in Charleston, SC, an extremely popular travel destination. Our comfortable home is in a great neighborhood about 7 miles from downtown & the area’s beaches. We are looking for in-home petsitters who may want to visit here, or who live here & are willing to stay in our home to pet sit. Our usual trips vary from 2 to 7 nights. Our Shih Tzu mix dog is shy, so we hope to find a sitter willing to have some pre-departure time with us & our dog before we leave. Are our expectations in line with what most sitters are willing to do?
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That certainly sounds reasonable to me. It’s quite common for us to spend a few hours with the homeowners prior to their departure (or even spend the night when requested).

Whatever your preference, I would make sure to make that clear in your listing and in your pre-sit conversations with your prospective sitter. :slight_smile:

Welcome to THS! I wish you well in your search.

Welcome! Your request is reasonable, just make sure to include the information in your listing.

My husband and I have met a few shy, skittish pups in our travels and we are always willing to do whatever it takes to make everyone comfortable.

We are returning to Wilmington, North Carolina this winter for a month long repeat sit and have a saved search for South Carolina as well. If you are planning travel during that time, we might just apply!

Thanks so much for your prompt reply. We are anxious to find a good “fit” with a sitter for an upcoming trip in Nov. & appreciate your feedback. We would probably want an overnight visit before we leave, so our dog has time to get used to the sitter(s), which we hope will help reduce separation anxiety. Will be sure to put that in listing, as you advised. Thanks again.

Definitely realistic expectations, as sitters we always want time with the HO and pet before they leave, we generally arrive the evening before to familiarise with everything the pet/house needs.

Welcome!
As others have written, arriving the afternoon/evening before is certainly possible. Although I have done some sits where I’ve walked in and the HO has walked out and a few where I’ve not met the HO. They left a key, when I walked in the dog(s) looked up and went back to sleep. But you know your dog best.
I’m based in Chapel Hill and a Charleston sit would be great. I’ll watch for your posting.

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toml. Appreciate your welcome & comments. Wanted to reply to you to let you know our dog is more skittish with unknown males than he is with females. But it does help if a male is accompanied by a female. He initially shies away from strangers in general, but warms up to females much faster than males - we’re not sure why. We adopted him a year ago at age 5, from a woman who loved him dearly, but she was a “homebody” & probably seldom had males around, so perhaps the reason. This is my long way around to hopefully make you understand why I am asking the following question. Do you have a female that always accompanies you on sits?

No, I travel solo. And I understand worrying about the dog’s preferences. I’m sure you will find a female sitter!