hi there from Sue & Andrew - we’ve just returned from our 1st sit and learnt a lot about the “in’s and out’s” of dog sitting…
I guess the excitement of having our 1st sit accepted, meant we didn’t ask some important questions from the start - lessons have been learned and notes taken! It hasn’t put us off at all but made us realise that having some important details clarified before you start is pretty darn important - our fault for being too enthusiastic in accepting a sit i guess!
Onwards and upwards though - and hi to all the newbies out there
Sue
We’ve all had that first sit and with every subsequent sit you get more experience and build up confidence. Glad you enjoyed that first sit and hope there will be many more!
Hi @Rustiesoo, and welcome to the Community Forum! Congratulations on getting your first sit. I know it is definitely a learning curve when you start sitting, as we experienced the same. Things will get easier and you will learn more about what to ask in your interview that will make the sit go even smoother. One thing I would suggest is to link your member profile to this forum profile so other members can go right in and take a look if you are wanting more sits.
Once again, congratulations on getting your first sit…we look forward to seeing posts of future sits, so make sure you post about your new journeys an adventures!
Hi @Rustiesoo I had somewhat of an opposite experience to you. My first sit had the wow factor in so many ways that it seemed the ones after would pale by comparison. However, that wasn’t the case, and wasn’t the way things have gone for me. After years of now being a sitter, I look over the photo albums on my phone and have fond memories of each one, but for different reasons. The wow factor comes in a variety of ways, but so far all have been good. Welcome to your new world of house sitting.
You do learn as you go along, so dont worry.
Our first sit we never thought to ask what time of day the HO would be back & they were pretty much non contactable. They rung on the say to say theyd landed & were an hour away.
Now we always organise end details before we arrive. Even so theres still little things that we think oh will do that next time.
Hi @Rustiesoo it would be really helpful to other new or even experienced sitters if you would share some of your learnings here. Just general comments so you are not identifying the sit or the HO
What a good idea! I’m sure others have had similar experiences, it comes down to communication every time! So here goes…
Where do the dogs / cats sleep? (the 2 we had, had the run of the downstairs and slept on the sofas - or on us as we sat trying to relax!)
Are the dogs trained to walk properly on the lead? (both dogs pulled like trains and had no ‘street smarts’ at all)
the listing said there was TV etc but no TV available apart from Netflix etc.
oven + trays etc was dirty from previous use
fridge and freezer were dirty with little space for our stuff
bedroom was a small double with just a bed - nothing else!
info provided said beach to walk dogs was 5 minute drive and it would have been but they neglected to tell us there were roadworks (which had been there since March!) which meant a 20 minute detour each way - another annoyance which we weren’t prepared for - we couldn’t even walk the dogs to the beach because of the roadworks!
Other niggles but on the whole we enjoyed our stay as we were lucky with the weather and in a beautiful part of the country! I certainly don’t mean to sound picky at all but a few creature comforts would have been nice! But it hasn’t put us off and we’re on the lookout for our next sit.
We just finished our 3rd sit, but it was a first sit for the HO’s. We knew that they would be home late and were out of cell phone range for the whole trip. We had arranged that we would leave around 5 pm as I had a work commitment that I had to be home for. Unfortunately, we neglected to take the emergency phone contact information home with us and when we didn’t hear from them by 11pm, we started to worry a bit. The sit was a cat, but a very needy one that liked his outside time. We were a 5 hr. drive away. Our mistake was not having the emergency contact and we never asked for the welcome guide online which would have had the number in it. Turns out that they got back late and just went to bed. But, a good idea to have the end of the sit details clearly worked out and if you are a distance away, have the contact number of someone who could check on the animals and house if the HO’s don’t return as scheduled.
