Hello from Bellingham WA. What do sitters do with own pets

We are new to TH, profile just went live today. We are excited to hopefully find someone to sit our house and dogs. It seems that a lot of the folks on here that would be sitters also have their own pets. Is it normal that sitters bring their own pets along with them when they sit?

2 Likes

I’m a sitter with 4 elderly shihtzu’s. I would never dream of placing my own dogs in a kennel. Superbad experience. Our dogs either stay with our young adult son, whom is firmly rooted in the basement, or husband doesn’t always sit.

1 Like

Hi @ScottS,

On behalf of the forum team, a warm welcome to the TrustedHousesitter’s community. I am a homeowner and a sitter and I can tell you I have no desire to take our dog on any sits we may go on. Every member is different but typically the sitters that do sit with their pets are very clear about it from the get go. In my experience I have only come across one sitter that wanted to sit for us with their own dog.

As you cannot share a link to your listing in this post, do share a link to your listing on your forum profile for a bit of extra exposure. But the main website is where ALL our members will see your opportunity and be able to apply and message with you.

If at any time you need any help don’t hesitate to reach out to our community here which is full of helpful members who have been through the process themselves and will happily give advice and guidance. And don’t forget our membership support team are always on hand to give assistance.

All the very best,

Kelly & the forum team

2 Likes

Hi @ScottS @Kelly has given you a warm forum welcome and to add to her comment, as a sitter and pet Mom to the adorable Zorro.

We have a Combined Membership that gives the member access to both sides of our TrustedHousesitters win win win. There are members who were so inspired by their own sitters and their unique and fulfilling lifestyle that they decide to become sitters too, upgraded to the combined membership and enjoy the very best of both pet and housesitting worlds.

You may just do the very same … welcome again :wink:

1 Like

This has been discussed a lot on the forum and if you search for e.g. ‘sitters taking own pets’ you should find some discussion.
It’s generally not popular with home owners for sitters to take along their pets to sits, for obvious reasons, but it does happen occasionally

1 Like

Hi @ScottS! I see you have had lots of welcomes from not only forum members but also us here as forum moderators. In answer to your question…it is very rare when a pet parent allows a sitter to bring along their own pet as it can be both traumatizing for the parent’s pet as well as the sitter’s. Having their human leave and another person come in is okay but when there is another pet brought in to the mix, it can be very confusing and scary as the apple cart is already a little upset. Same for sitter’s pet…

As @Angela_L stated, many sitters are combined members so they will find someone to stay with their furbabies while they venture out to sit with others. It’s a win-win for both sides…

Hi! Our last Housesitters sat for our two dogs and brought their own dog too. The sit went absolutely fine. They were up front from the start that they’d like to sit with their dog too. We met before we agreed the sit to make sure the dogs were compatible. Sadly, we lost one of our dogs before the sit and as we wanted to get another dog before the sit, we talked to the sitters to check that they’d be ok with this. They were and as I said the sit went well. Like most things, if both sides are open to the option and honest with each other it can work well.

4 Likes

Thank you to all the community members and moderators for your insightful and personal responses. It seems most of the time a sitter will make other arrangements for their own animals but with the appropriate advance planning will sometimes take their own animal on a sit. This makes sense, I am glad there is not a rule and it is left up to the individuals to sort out. Again, thank you all for your replies.

2 Likes

Hi Kelly and all,

I hear from where you are coming but might I ask then what happens when someone has an assistance dog?

I am an active sitter and am about to receive an assistance dog. Does that mean disabled people, who are perfectly capable of looking after any animal, should not be considered. Me for example, I have been thinking that sitting cats is an option and as for dogs, I already have one person in the UK for whom I sat for 10 days tell me I am more than welcome with my dog.

Look forward to the responses.

Cheers

Congratulations on getting a service dog!

I think that an assistance dog would be treated the same as any other dog that a sitter wanted to bring. If the HO’s animals would not tolerate another animal in the house, unfortunately, that would extend to service dogs. Many cats would be very distressed if a dog was introduced to the house.

There may also be cases where the house isn’t suited to dogs, or the owner is allergic and can’t have dogs in the house.

Hopefully having a service animal won’t limit your sitting opportunities too much.

Hi @Chuckles,

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your soon to be assistance dog! I agree with @Lassie that each homeowner will have different opinions on wanting a sitter with a dog even if it is an assistance dog. I too hope it doesn’t limit your opportunities…you may even find more as some homeowners may want to have a service dog (especially if their have a puppy they are in the process of training) so that the well behaved service dogs training might help the younger pup on his journey with getting trained.

When our dog was a puppy he was exposed to one very well trained (but not service dog) golden retriever and it really helped him master his “sitting” and “staying” a lot quicker.

2 Likes

Thank you Kelly and Lassie for your responses.

I have not been on here for a while though did receive them via email.

It possibly will limit my opportunities though am happy to see how it goes. I am stuck in Australia for another almost 12 months before I will be looking at any serious travelling and house sitting.

Cheers