Hello friends! I love both travel and animals, so discovering the TrustedHousesitters community was a dream come true. But I wonder: How do fellow sitters balance caring for pets with exploring the area? With a couple of dogs, you would not have much time left to explore the area. Any community wisdom to share?
Itās easier if like us youāre a couple as you can take turns to have a long day outā¦ example my hubby plays golfā¦
As a solo traveller cats might be your pet sitting option as theyāre more independent although some (read the responsibilities carefully) need more attention especially if indoor cats.
Regarding dogs the majority canāt be left more than 4 hours (some 5/6) so no a whole day out say 8-12 hours isnāt ok. Options are to take the dog/dogs with you (check with the owner if they like trains/buses) or hire a car whilst youāre on the sit to get further afield (donāt leave the dogs in the car though). A few HOs mention a neighbour is willing to dog sit for a one off day, a few have dog walkersā¦. the main thing is to mention your plans/hopes in your application and ask the question honestly āWhat do you suggest if I wanted to have a day out and about, what does the HO do?ā Notice I mention āa fewā not āsomeā as the whole point of pet sitting is to primarily be āpresentāā¦
Best wishes
3 Likes
Welcome to the forum @igorsf
We take the dogs with us . Here are a couple of photos from recents sits in the U.K.
7 Likes
You may find these previous posts interesting to read
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/clarify-purpose-of-ths
2 Likes
Well, not all pets are dogs so balance āsits with dogsā and āsits with other pets that can be leftā.
Some dogs can be left for a few hours (always ask this on any sit: how long can your pet(s) be left for?) and or can be taken out (useful to ask: does your dog like to go on outings? what are the dog-friendly places nearby by?).
Always look at sits that suit you and what you are prepared to offer. There are many sits, not all of them will suit you. Thatās OK, there are others.
4 Likes
Welcome @igorsf .
I find time to work remotely and explore during sits but I tend to choose easy cat sits. Itās about learning what sits work for you.
Good luck.
3 Likes
My partner and I do full time pet sitting as a way to travel, see top locations we want to see, and have the wonderful opportunity to look after lovely pets. We donāt apply for any sits that will severely limit our time out and about, such as dogs that cannot be left for less than 5 - 6 hours at a time, or dogs that require being walked and fed multiple times throughout the day.
We also do not sit any more than 2 dogs at one time - more than 2 is a lot of work, even though thereās 2 of us. Cats and other pets (birds, rabbits, chickens) are always going to be easier and less time constricting, and sometimes we do cats only, especially if thereās a location that we really want to explore 
4 Likes
It depends what you want to do! If you want to go out all day and do things where you couldnāt take a dog look at cat sits, although I wonder if owners would pick up on your being more interested in sightseeing than their pet and not love it. Some of the dogs weāve sat had a day or two at doggy daycare which gave us free days to explore.
But then having dogs can be great because theyāll get you out on walks and exploring in different ways. When Iāve liked the dog (i.e no undisclosed behavioural issues and lets me sleep at night) I havenāt at all minded bringing them out with me or getting home for them because Iām happy to spend time with them - so Iād also advise choosing your dog sits wisely if you go for those.
2 Likes
On most days out wehave, we include the dogs as company. Thereās not many things we want to do without the dog that will take 5 hours.
In fact, having a dog to care for motivates us to get out more than when we donāt have a dog!
Millions of dog owners manage to lead full lives. We dont find caring for dogs restricts our lives much at all, cats even less, birds/fish/ no pets not at all.
8 Likes
Between being kind of homebodies, lazy travelers, and full-time sitters who tend to take longer-term sits that give us a lot of time to explore a particular area, we donāt find the responsibilities of pet sitting any sort of hindrance . It is rare we would spend a whole day out doing touristy things and even rarer we would want to do that multiple days.
For example, we did a sit in a very central area of London last year for two weeks and our main activity was just taking long walks and exploring the different neighborhoods. That never took more than a few hours so watching a dog that couldnāt be left alone for more than 4 hours wasnāt a problem for us.
But with that being said, we generally donāt take sits where the animals canāt be left alone for at least 4 or 5 hours because even though we usually wouldnāt be out for that long any way most days, we want to have the option. Also, when I see sits where the animals can only be left alone for short periods, it makes me wonder if they have any behavioral issues that would be challenging to deal with.
I think most HOās understand that people are housesitting as a way to travel at a reduced cost and arenāt doing it out of some deep altruistic desire to provide free pet care while they go on vacation.
So it is reasonable to ask questions about how long the animals can be left alone for, if they can be brought to certain places,etcā¦ if it is not stated in the listing. But depending on how you broach the topic, if your communications come across like the only thing you are interested in is sightseeing and getting a free place to stay in a desirable location, they may be concerned you wonāt care for their pets properly.
As someone who isnāt overly concerned about having a lot of time to ātourā the area, I never ask many questions along those lines, so I canāt share any personal experience on how these conversations tend to go.
7 Likes
@Silversitters oh my goodness these are gorgeous photos. Those dogs are having their best lives too
1 Like
This is such a great question and not always an easy balance to strike. Iām definitely still learning when it comes to this.
Yesterday, I completed a brilliant dog sit taking care of two very energetic Labradors which can be a lot of work but it honestly ticked every box in terms of enjoyment. I was able to balance my responsibilities to the animals whilst feeling like my life was still my own.
I contrast this with a brand new sit which started yesterday on a different website looking after 1 dog and 1 cat and itās a whole different story.
Prior to agreeing, the HO came across as fairly easygoing, affable and relaxed. I asked about walking routines on our pre- sit call and all seemed great and very manageable. Fast forward to right before the sit starts when itās too late to back out and Iām presented with a very staff-like rigid scheduled timetable of the 5 walks a day for the dog at regular intervals and exactly which times I need to brush them and feed them etc. Both 4 times per day. Whilst my first priority has always been to the pets on any sitting assignment, with this sit, more than any others Iāve ever done, it, feels like Iām expected to put doing anything of my own completely aside. There seems to be a new instruction to be carried out virtually every hour of the day according to the timetable.
Unlike the last HO who really understood the mutual exchange philosophy of what we all do, it seems to be completely lost on this particular one. Iām just glad I didnāt take this HO up an a second āopportunityā to sit for them and am grateful itās a fairly short stay.
Even though Iām getting far better at being a good judge of character, I still do get it wrong from time to time. THS has taught and continues to teach me a lot about people as well as animals.
6 Likes
I donāt think I could explain myself and my situation/how and why I do things any better than how @KC1102 has said 
2 Likes
Thank you @ziggy !
1 Like
Big thank you everybody for the kind and thoughtful answers.
3 Likes
Sounds like they need servants rather than pet sitters! Those duties are ridiculous
1 Like
If the dogs are happy in the environments you want to visit then take them with you, but otherwise cats, rabbits, or hamsters give you a little more time to yourself and are probably a better fit for you if thatās what you want to do.
1 Like
Thank you for saying that. Iāve been feeling quite duped to be honest. I think this person thinks this whole system is unpaid staff as that is their whole approach. They did not present this way though during the initial phone call though otherwise Iād never have gone ahead with the booking.
The scheduled timetable Iāve been given is regularly punctuated with some sort of duty to be carried out.
This particular dog also has some quite serious behavioural issues that were not disclosed in the listing. This dog barks very aggressively at any other human or dog we pass by, gets right up on his hind legs, yanks at the lead and starts snarling and growling. He gave two young joggers the absolute fright of their lives yesterday.
He also has a habit of getting right up on his back legs barking furiously at any planes flying overhead. Weāre on a flight path so thatās quite often. 
These five walks a day with this dog are really not something I look forward to. On top of this, he is a very restless sleeper and regularly throws himself onto the floor with a great big thud. The ear plugs Iāve bought donāt filter out the noise he makes all throughout the night.
Iām going to be putting all of this in my review as other people must be warned what theyāre getting themselves into if they take this on. Iām counting my blessings itās only 5 more nights but I suspect Iāll be like an absolute zombie at the end of this sit if I have a weekās worth of sleep deficit!
9 Likes
The vast majority of sitters would bypass any sits where 5 walks a day are required . Its absurd, on our petsits, we may only exercise once but that could be 6 -9 miles. Most dogs would beg not to go out again after that!
The HO have been devious at best at not disclosing this information in good time.
Just hang in there, you will enjoy being back at home thatās for sure.
1 Like