Hi everyone,
We have been members of TH for about 5 years now and have met many wonderful people who have sat for us. Some have returned more than once and have become more like friends which is lovely.
We live in a Grade II listed cottage from 1790 in the little village of Laughton in East Sussex
The village pub(Roebuck) is stumbling distance from our house and so is the well stocked village shop
We are 10 mins from the historic town of Lewes which is bustling with cafes and antique shops
We are about 20 mins from the coast - Brighton, Seaford, Eastbourne
Our garden backs onto fields and we have a gate there through which we walk our 2 dogs Monty and Bear
Monty is a 12 year old chocolate lab with the sweetest temperament.
He’s getting old so only needs a short walk a day, food and a tummy rub
Bear is nearly 5 and is an Australian Labradoodle. He is extremely loving and will follow you everywhere!!!
Unfortunately we have just been let down by a sitter who we had confirmed for a 2 week sit at the end of July. We have booked a holiday to Greece based on the sitter being confirmed and are now really worried as there are more sites than sitters!!!
We have really noticed a difference as we normally get lots of applications and never struggled to get sitters previously.
If anyone is interested you can read our reviews. It’s a lovely sit! We would really appreciate you getting in touch if you think you can help us out.
Thanks for thanking the time to read this
Oh no!! Sheryl here (last housesitter). I’m so sorry you’ve been let down and even sorrier that I can’t help you as am booked up!
For any potential sitters I can honestly tell you this is the loveliest family (even though I didn’t get to meet them in the flesh but was shown the ropes by Ellie’s lovely mum Gwen), the most beautiful house, most gorgeous dogs and fantastic walks around fields and woods (which became filled with bluebells while I was there).
I managed to meet up with another housesitter in Brighton, meet up for walks with Bear and Gwen on the South Downs and Seaford, really get to know Lewes (a wonderful town), visit Alfriston where the Alfriston Clergy House was the first National Trust Property and have a tour of Raystede Animal Centre which is a partner of THS.
The home owners are most generous and you will have a stay to remember. This really is a beautiful part of England and will be a sit to remember for years to come! I only wish I could help out in July but definitely plan to return one day.
Please help!
Eleanor
I can vouch for the area as I just sat in Laughton with a pair of mini-Schnauzers and a bunch of hens (shouldn’t reveal any names…). The area is a delight with many walks and you are close to Lewes and the coast. I had a great 3 weeks. But I’m already sitting your dates in Kent and then near Birmingham.
tom
Thanks Tom!
I’m glad you had a lovely time here in Laughton. We love living here.
Enjoy your sit
Ah thank you Sheryl! That’s so kind of you.
Hope you’re having a great time
Hi Eleanor, and I’m sorry to hear about your cancellation. You still have six weeks before the start date, but of course I realize it’s good to get things set up and organized as it’s so important.
If you have a standard membership, you can boost your listing, which will move it to the front of the listings again. I notice you also show that sitters need a vehicle, and yet you mention a few places nearby (as in stumbling home from the pub 
). Perhaps take a look at this post from earlier today:
Thank you.
Yes we do feel that sitters need a car. We want people to enjoy the area as much as possible and the bus links to our village are sparse. We do think of the dogs as our priority and if sitters needed to get a bus to visit some sights or even go food shopping, the dogs would be left for longer than we would ideally like hence the car requirement. We do realise this may limit the applicants but we do feel a car is probably necessary for a longer sit.
Thank you so much for the advice. I had no idea we could boost a sit so will definitely look at how we can do that.
Thank you for taking the time to respond to us
I, too, can vouch for this sit having looked after Monty back in 2017. Beautiful cottage and location and Eleanor and family, including her mum, are warm, friendly and generous people. In fact, my sister and I are meeting up with them in June when we’ll be sitting in the area and looking forward to this and meeting Bear, their Aussie Labradoodle for the first time and seeing Monty again. We’d love to do this sit but only available for one of the two weeks.
Thank you! We are looking forward to seeing you in June!
We are Australian sitters. Your pups look adorable. We can’t do your July sit but if you want great sitters in December 2022 to March 2023 we will be there sitting full time and would love to connect with you. Regards, Jenny
Hi Jenny,
Ah thank you! We have had several
Australian sitters!
We will have a week in February if you would be interested in that?
Will be posting the dates soon!
Best wishes,
Ellie
I will keep an eye out for your sit.
I had 2 cancellations for the same trip! The first was by the sitter I had confirmed 2 months before, and I was really worried because I had a 3 week tour planned. One month to go, and I got way fewer responses. But picked someone, and then she cancelled 2 weeks before with covid. Now I really had fewer responses. I was in a panic, but ended up with a wonderful couple. I did a few things. I called TH and got confirmation that my listing would go to the top. I added premium service. I looked into boarding situations, just in case. And I took a chance with new sitters who had no or few reviews. It worked out fine. Good luck.
Ok thank you!
We did have someone else confirmed. We offered use of our car but she said she couldn’t get insurance on it and we couldn’t add her as it’s our daughters car and on a learner driver point.
Despite saying originally she would hire a car if needs be she has now cancelled the sit so we are back to square one!!!
Argh!!!
Oh, that is so disappointing for you @Eastsussex, especially as cancellations are only to be done in extraordinary circumstances with both owner and sitter agreeing to it. You have a lovely listing so good luck once again with it. You still have time with your late July-August dates.
Thank you 
fingers crossed!!!
We just want someone reliable and trustworthy! So unusual as haven’t really had sitters cancel before once confirmed but seems to be happening a lot at the moment!
Oh well… onwards and upwards!
Ok so we had another application! Sounded good… messaged them straight away to ask if they had transport. No reply so messaged again today to ask if they were actually interested in the sit. They replied to say that they hadn’t read the info on our profile properly and as they both work from home and we don’t have super fast speed broadband ( all detailed in our listing!) that they wanted to withdraw. I did reply today that our internet is actually fine but we have to state no super fast broadband but no reply
Am losing the will to live!!!
It’s worrying that sitters will apply without even bothering to read the listing!!
We really do live in a beautiful part of Sussex. Our dogs are sooo lovable. Our home is clean, stylish and comfortable as well as bursting with character.
Can anybody help?!
@Eastsussex I’m sorry you are having these issues and I’m not sure why sitters don’t read listings in depth. It’s not hard but not all sitters are as invested in being sitters as some others. We communicate professionally with HO and in the way we expect to be treated in return. When we see a sit that sounds interesting, we research the area, see what public transport is available & how far it is to walk to the shops & cafes, if we won’t have a car, and whether the sit resposibilities are things we are comfortable doing. Then if/when we apply we include in our application any concerns/questions that may impact the sit. The HO is then well placed to decide if they want to progress to having a video call with us to discuss the sit. If not, we move on to the next one with no hard feelings. But like you as a HO, we as sitters are just as perlexed when we don’t get a timely reply or communication stops. That’s a red flag for us and we withdraw our application as we have likely dodged a bullet. Maybe the universe is telling you something…
I had no problems at all with your Broadband while in your beautiful home with Monty and Bear (who I would love to see again). I know there’s someone out there.