Absolute legend, @Nagy26 
Watch this space, Iâll try to get an update in the coming weeks about this idea for a feedback space for owners and sitters.
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Iâd look for recurring themes weâve been seeing. One Iâve seen frequently is the disconnect between when HOs put the sit start date vs when they want the sitter to arrive. So maybe a section like this:
Sitter Arrival/Departure:
Please have your sit date start and end on the dates you want your sitter to arrive and depart and mention in your listing what time would be ideal for them to arrive/depart. If you expect the sitter to stay in your home overnight before you depart, you should specify that in your listing and be prepared to offer them a private and comfortable place to sleep and food and beverages for the duration of your overlap. They are your guests during this time and should be treated as such. Please note that many sitters are not interested in having an overlap so requiring this might limit your applicant pool."
Another:
Advanced Meetings:
Please be aware that it is uncommon and generally difficult for sitters to come visit your home before the sit starts. If you require an advance meeting before the sit is confirmed or before it starts, you should mention it in your listing and know that itâs going to drastically limit your applicant pool
Minimum Information
The following is a non-comprehensive list of the minimum information your listing should provide directly in the location text.
- Things to do/Activities/Places of interest in your area, including how to access them and time to do so via car, public transport, walking. How would you sell your location to someone who was considering a visit?
- General instructions on how the sitter can reach your home if they donât have a car. Ex: nearest airport/bus/train station and whether youâd be willing to arrange a pick-up with them.
- Your pets daily schedule including feeding times, walk times and duration, how long they can be left alone, if they need to use a crate while theyâre alone, how often and at what times do they generally need a potty break, and anything else regarding the daily routine of your pet.
- A summary of your pets behavior. How are they on a lead, can they be let off lead, do they have good recall, are they at all reactive to other animals or humans, do they expect to sleep in the bed with the sitter, do they have separation anxiety.
- Are there any medical requirements including special diet, medications, toileting issues, etc.
Household Maintenance
- Please indicate any household Maintenance the sitter will need to perform. This could include: watering plants, mowing the yard, shoveling snow, pool maintenance, etc.
- Please indicate what type of heating/air-conditioning your home has and whether there will be any limitations on how/when/to what extent the sitter will be able to use it.
Amenities
Please make sure your amenities list is up to date so sitters get the full idea of what your home provides. If you indicate your home is good for remote working, consider running a speed test and including that information in your listing for those who work remotely.
Iâd also make a list of the minimum required photos and other minimum required info. As I go through threads Iâll try to remember to tag you in on FAQ type things.
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Thatâs great, thanks for that!
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Iâll keep editing that post as new things surface in my brain. Iâll do my best to get the idea out and leave it to you to polish it up so it reads well. lol
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Sounds great! 
So true. Admitting to being wrong can be seen as a blow to a personâs ego and confidence. And there can be fear of being judged or criticized by others, particularly in a public setting, such as the forum.
Also there can be a perceived stigma of the older people get, the wiser they must beâso they may have an attitude of: âYou canât tell me what to do.â But everyone has different life paths and learn different things at different times and at different ages.
When HOs are asking for help / advice / feedback on their listings, one would hope that they all would be open to change and not be resistant to it.
When doing something over and over is not workingâwhy not try something different?
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In my opinion, if we say âcriticismâ, that carries a negative connotation that points out a personâs flaws and shortcomings. On the other hand, if we say âconstructive feedbackâ, then we are offering supportive statements / comments that can lead towards improvement.
I would hope that HOs seeking help / advice / feedback are offered constructive feedback rather than criticism.
Just as @Cuttlefish pointed out that âno one likes to be told that they are wrongâ, no one likes to be criticized. If people are criticized. it may feel like they are being attacked, and no one wants to feel that way.
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@Jenny if this idea moves forward, it would likely be a good idea to update the last minute sits section to recommend people post in feedback first/concurrently when posting in last minute to make sure their listing is optimized.
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We would and could hope but people never do what you expect, or not all of them anyway. As my grandma would have said ânowt so queer as folkâ @sharondc 
Like this idea of a section just for profile and listing feedback @Jenny 
#teamworkmakesthedreamwork
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One (I) can hope for wanting things to be betterâto improve. One can choose how to use his / her words. One can choose to be optimistic or pessimistic. One can choose to be positive or negative. I have found that usually people that criticize others is because they themselves feel insecure and attack others to feel better about themselves. They spew rude and hateful comments.
What does this mean?
And like my grandma said, âIf you donât have anything good to say, donât say anythingâ.
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To me it basically means people are weird but iâm sure it has different meanings to different people.
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Or as we say up North @Cuttlefish
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Godâs Own County @Twitcher 
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It means thereâs nothing as strange as the way some people can be sometimes. Itâs an old fashioned expression that you donât hear much anymore but sums people up perfectly. #lifeislikeaboxofchocolates 
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Some folks lack common sense or problem-solving abilities or are lazy. Like apart from THS, youâll hear some job hunters say that theyâve applied for hundreds or thousands of jobs without success. But if you do hiring, youâll see that most applicants just do spam-applying â they donât actually make the effort to make their applications relevant to the openings. They donât prep for interviews and such. And thatâs when theyâre looking to earn, presumably so they can stay alive and keep their families fed, housed, etc.
Meanwhile, thereâs endless info online for free, available to anyone who searches, on how to better your odds when job hunting. If you get job applications, itâs obvious whoâs made the effort vs. spam applications that get deleted immediately.
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I know âcriticismâ is linked to negative connotations, maybe I am projecting some connotations from my mother tongue but I meant it in a general sense of âanalysisâ that includes both positive and negative aspects. Of course, constructive feedback is desirable and thatâs what this forum is about, mostly.
What I mean is, when we start a thread, we canât expect everyone is going to agree with our opinions and support our views. If we ask for advice, thereâs an implicit implication of introducing some kind of change and we have to be open to those suggestions of changes. That doesnât mean we have to follow peopleâs advice but we shouldnât be mad at them for giving their opinion when asked. Although this is an exceptionally nice and caring forum, I think on Internet forums thereâs always a risk of someone being a bit too harsh or judgmental.
On the other hand, there are both HOs and sitters on this forum and sometimes there are really one sided posts which are bound to get some criticism. As @Cuttlefish mentioned thatâs part of human nature, too.
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I agree. Too often judgment and criticism is passed on to someone and then more people want to jump on the bandwagon and criticize some more.
And as a result, the person asking for help feels bad and is never heard from again because someone was being âtoo harsh and judgmentalâ.
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Part of it is people being lazy and part of it is people just simply not trying.
I remember taking a swim class in college. I was a novice and because I nearly drowned when I was 13, I had a fear of the water. So, when the swim coach was teaching us how to tread water, I said, âI canât do it.â The swim coach told me, âNever say I canât, but Iâll try.â Those words stuck with me through the semester, I learned to tread water, and I made a B in that class. Those words still stick with me today.
Sometimes life is about treading water.
Just try! People may shock themselvesâif only they try.
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Absolutely. My belief is, keep leaning into discomfort so that you keep growing as much as possible. And that serves us in life, because it actually helps make you braver over time as well.
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Thatâs pretty much true in life â no one avoids getting their feelings hurt sometimes. But if someone gets their feelings hurt a lot, they would benefit from toughening up. Otherwise, their path in life will be an unnecessarily hard one.
My family is from a culture that would be collectively described as harsher than most. What thatâs helped me with: You see things in perspective and realize that ultimately you should never let others push your buttons or such. And itâs much better to focus on what you control than to lean heavily on othersâ opinions, especially those of strangers, online or otherwise.
Donât let others spoil things for you. We canât control what others say or do. We control how we frame things and react (or not).
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