I’m new to the site, but most of my previous 8 sits have completed and sent me the Welcome Guide via the site. I have two sits coming up where the hosts have informed me that they don’t use the Welcome Guide and will email me a personalized Welcome Guide (most likely on a word document). Both hosts have great feedback.
I understand and like when hosts leave a printed out Welcome Guide plus a personalized summary or cheat sheet, but not having a Welcome Guide through the site, just makes me question accepting the invite.
@Themavericksitter Many HO find the THS welcome guide difficult to populate so it’s great if they have prepared their own and have good feedback from other sitters .
We would not have an issue with that and have actually done a sit where they prepared their own document .
I know of some sitters on this forum that give their host a template document/form to fill in rather than the Welcome Guide .
My only caveat is that you ask them to send it sooner rather later so that you have plenty of time to read it and see if there is anything that needs clarification/ or additional responsibilities not included in the original listing or subsequent discussions.
Of all the sits I’ve done, less than half had a Welcome Guide on THS. Has never bothered me. Each HO has their own way of passing on the necessary information
The Welcome Guide is difficult to actual write without being super repetitive and long because of the way it is sectioned off. If they have a document it’s probably fine, but should you ask if they could send you a copy sooner rather than later so you could study it. Make it clear it’s fine if they want to leave off any privacy stuff – neighbor’s information, door codes, internet passwords, etc. You just want to know the responsibilities and pet care instructions, etc. It’s reasonable and most HOs will accomodate.
I have never received a WG but always, always have a detailed and well written folder with all instructions, everything I could possibly need.
I am a very visual “paper person” and prefer to have it written/typed on paper to refer to at a quick glance when needed, which can be often. I don’t like having to go into my phone or laptop each and every time to read what I need. We are all very different in our preferences and this is mine.
As HO we do not use the THS Welcome Guide as we don’t find it easy to fill. We do supply an electronic copy and a printed copy of our own Welcome Guide (Word document). It has all the information necessary and more and we find it easier to maintain.
I, too, prefer having a printed out WG; however, the two HO in question just provided their own personalized WG and the information is not well organized and has no address is provided, so it seems less thorough.
One HO has even offered to pick me up, so unless I ask for this information, I guess I’ll figure out upon my arrival.
It seems like the best solution is for THS to improve the WG on the HO side. As, I feel uneasy not being provided the WG through the THS site.
If I hadn’t worked for an agency and had several prior sits with THS, where some sort of standard guide was provided, I wouldn’t have given it another thought. My unease when discovering that my WG request through THS wasn’t going to be fulfilled, but I’d receive a word document, lead me to this blog post.
Now, that I’ve discovered that the WG with THS is challenging for the HO to fill out, I completely understand. Since, both sits have already been confirmed and are days and a week away, I won’t make an issue of the personalized WG.
We have had a variety of welcome packs. THS online style, Word documents emailed and hard copies when we arrived.
All absolutely fine and they all contained the necessary information.
The emphasis should be on content, rather than how it’s presented.
Don’t let it put you off the sit.
Our guides are in google suite and I prefer to keep them there so that I can easily update them when necessary based on lessons learned after each stay. Additionally, the nature of some of our guides wouldn’t make sense to have in the TH system (one of the documents is a sheet that breaks down every behaviour/cue our dog understands, our training goals, and structure/foundations around his handling…way too involved for the TH guide).
If you are keen to see the guides before you accept the sit, I personally would be totally fine (and actually would appreciate your thoroughness in ensuring we’re a good fit) with sharing mine so you have a chance to look through them, at least the dog-specific ones…I wouldn’t share our house information unless I knew for a fact that you had confirmed intent to take the sit because of safety/security reasons.
The only thing I would say is that if you’re planning to review the documentation before confirming, to set expectations with how long you’d need to review to get back to the HO in a timely manner, i.e. ASAP in case you choose to reject the sit.
That being said, If I were you, I would ask to get a copy of the HO-generated guide(s) sooner rather than later so that if you do have questions that may affect your decision to sit, you can call them out sooner rather than later and move accordingly.
The Owner has not provided their physical address? And the Owner is picking you up and taking you to their home?
Hmmm….
I would tell the Owner that your loved ones need to know where you are going to be, just in case anything happens. If the Owner will not give you a physical address, you should cancel. Period.
@PVGemini That is exactly what I was thinking by the HO refusing to send the THS WG and emailing me a 15 pg. Word document. It seemed very fishy and made me feel very uneasy, however I did ask for their home address via the THS message system and they replied.
The HO did pick me up from the airport, I wasn’t harmed (lol), and the sit was amazing!
I feel the issue is with THS WG being difficult for some HO and them preferring to create their own guide, and omitting critical information. I have to lookout for this in the future.
Hello @anonym and a very warm welcome to the Community Forum
I am sorry to hear that you have had issues obtaining a Welcome Guide. I have attached another thread you should find helpful regarding this issue.
For reference, as a member, you can also add your TrustedHousesitters profile on to your Forum profile by following the attached link, should you wish. This will then enable others to offer you helpful advice and feedback.
Yes, one can wonder what is wrong with such HOs. Some of them are paranoid about providing their address. Some are not handy with dealing with the THS interface for this guide. Etc.
I use the welcome guide, but I find it clunky on both ends. I also don’t update it as often as I do my own Google doc, which I will often share with sitters before they accept a sit, so they have an idea of what they’re getting into. Being on multiple platforms and using paid sitters as well as THS means I’d rather manage my own documents rather than update in multiple places.
The interface for the guide is a pain, and it’s hard to print and download. I wouldn’t think there was anything “wrong” with these folks, provided that they can provide you some form of documentation prior to accepting or arriving.
It’s in the Code of Conduct for owners that they provide the Welcome Guide
Before a sit takes place, I will complete my TrustedHousesitters Welcome Guide
Unfortunately as you can see it just says before a sit takes place so that could be a minute before you arrive.
I’ve had a few sits where there was no Welcome Guide but the owner had a printed equivalent and generally these sits went well. For the ones that had nothing at all this is where there were often problems or potential problems.
You could contact Member Services to get them to prompt the owner (although the owner will know this happened and that may be awkward) or you could ask if they have the information in another form. Maybe they have a document that they print out for sitters - the Welcome Guide can be cumbersome to complete. At least make sure you have information you consider important up front (Full name and address, contact details etc.)
I suppose since it’s in the Code of Conduct if they won’t provide the guide you are within your rights to cancel if you feel uncomfortable with the sit.
… but just incase!