I did say “not all“, can you see that?
You have made so many assumptions in your reply regarding HOs who offers different things to different people for different reasons. It makes you sound like an extremely entitled sitter. “They this, that, because, blah blah blah”. Homeowners and Sitters who feel they are getting a mutual exchange are a good fit and are happy. If there are lovely gifts and offerings from either party, that’s great But none of it is required. If the sitter is kind and does a good job with the Home & pets then that’s great. If the Home Owner is kind and offers a Home that meets the standards of the sitter, and pets that are well-behaved, then that’s great. You have made some extremely judgemental assumptions in your comment. I’m glad that you are finding owners that fit your needs, I would not be one of them since I haven’t left a bottle of wine or box of chocolates for anyone. And that’s OK. 
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I’m entitled for what? and extremely
So the sitter arriving in a couple of weeks we requested arrive one day before our departure and depart one day after. We mentioned we we flexible a couple of days if helpful for sitters. They ended up booking a sit north of us and had 4 days gap. We said it was fine for them to arrive early and use our guest room. We’ll do a welcome dinner the day they arrive and a casual take out meal the day we depart (including them of course). The other 2 evenings they are free to use our car and explore on their own or join us out (will probably go to our local pub one night and a movie the next - we will be out of food to cook anyway LOL).
Sorry the hosts you’ve encountered are more transactional. I like hostess-ing so I don’t mind but it depends on the host, and some hosts do help out sitters to fit their schedules as well.
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I was talking about minimum effort hosts, not all hosts
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I guess this another reason a pre-acceptance video call is so important. I like to see that we have a nice rapport. No, we might not ever be besties, but it’s pretty easy (for me anyway) to tell if people are warm and friendly, and treat the situation as mutually beneficial.
Of course, these are usually the type of hosts that are kind and considerate and will leave you food, invite you to a home-cooked dinner etc.
I have withdrawn applications after a couple of ‘transactional’ type video calls, where I just wasn’t feeling it.
Of my 150-ish sits, I would say 80% have been generous - leaving some initial-days’ food, sharing a meal etc, and of those, a handful have gone above and beyond even that.
In my experience, it is very rare that HOs leave nothing at all.
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Well they treated me to fish and chips and a glass of wine the night before they left, but then they did ask me to arrive the afternoon before.
@MerryPuppins, it’s a fabulous book & audiobook. Significant science nerd stuff that may be offputting to some readers. But great story, strong characters and entertaining style.
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@Rhe, sounds similar to us. Most (not all) pet parents volunteer something - a meal together, extra nights, wine, gift, something.
A subset of those, for various reasons, have been especially generous.
We neither request nor require such treatment but it often helps to initiate a peer-peer, friendly relationship.
For us, as full-time sitters, any gesture need not be expensive - eg an offer to arrive before sit or stay after sit can often be very helpful in planning flights/travel.
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