Hello, we have been using the site for quite a long time and we have a lot of positive feedback about our seats, but we are thinking about getting our dog, and I am interested to hear the experience of nannies who sit in homes through the site, taking their pets with them around the USA. How often do you receive confirmation of a meeting in the house where you want it? Thank
Are you asking whether sitters can bring their own pets to house sits? This has been discussed many times on this forum, and you can do a search using the magnifying glass in the top right.
1 Like
No, I’m interested in how often or how rarely do nannies get an application approved while having their pet with them (I think people often get rejected because of their pet), but these are my guesses for now, I want to confirm or refute them. Obviously, you can take your pet with you only with permission and prior agreement with the owner of the house.
I assume by nannies you are referring to house sitters ?
There are people on the forum who have mentioned they sit with their pet so maybe some will chime in with their experience, but the forum only draws a fraction of the total membership so you probably can’t get any real hard numbers on this. But traveling with a pet will considerably lower your chances as many people are understandably reluctant to introduce a new animal into the home for an extended period, especially when the pet is already experiencing a change by the homeowner going away.
I imagine that people traveling with their own animals isn’t super common. And for this reason, most listings will not mention anything about this, as it is probably not something that even crosses the homeowner’s mind when putting theirs together.
This means you will probably end up applying to a lot of sits only to be told this isn’t okay. There are people who do travel with their pets though so it is definitely possible, but you need to be prepared for the likelihood you will get a lot of rejections in the process.
@Max92 Full-time US sitter travelling with a husky here, based out of Denver. Instead of just directing you to other forum posts as others will, I have two notes based on personal observations and stats.
-
Your success with taking your own pet on house sits will likely be dependent on your location, the breed/size, as well as the ability to have a meet & greet with potential homeowners. THS is quite popular in several pet-friendly cities which increases your likelihood to find more folks who are willing to accept another pet in their home. If a listing mentions a dog having a playgroup, nearby dog parks, or neighbors with dogs who can periodically relieve a sitter of their duties then your chances increase greatly, at least in my observations.
-
I haven’t tracked my applications and success rate quite like I wanted. However, I have completed or have confirmed ~30 sits over the course of a year. I probably applied to ~200 listings so about a 15% success rate. There were 3 repeats within these 30 sits as I have found a few individuals who travel frequently or for 2 months of the summer. There were 5 sits that I have confirmed without having a meet & greet due to reviews from past sits. Once you have a few high-quality reviews then it becomes easier for folks to consider the viability of another pet in their home. Of my ~200 applications, there were numerous cat-only sits which I knew these would likely be denied. However, my husky lived with indoor + outdoor cats for 7 years so I will ask if I find a listing for a cat that previously lived with a dog. Fortunately for me, a few homeowners approved us coming and the pets got along great! Lola was even featured on THS socials recently for one of our sits
Anyway, I highly encourage you to be open/honest with homeowners and be descriptive of your dog’s behaviors when you initially apply to a listing. I would also recommend trying a few local sits so that you can gather good reviews of your pup. Add photos to your profile then apply and take the pup on a THS road trip with you.
4 Likes
thank you for sharing your experience, this is very useful information
2 Likes
I just confirmed our 5th sitter, who brings her small dog with her. Of all the quickly recv’d applications, I easily chose her because she explained how her dog acts and behaves, generally, and, specifically around cats. I never thought I would go with someone who brought their dog along to sit our 2 cats, but, she put my mind at ease by explaining in detail how the dog would act in our home, that she brings along his kennel, that our cats always would come first if there was any kind of tussle (she would put the dog in the kennel, for instance). And, we are looking forward to her visit!
6 Likes
@KC1102 this is kind of weird to me. I mean it’s surprising in some ways, and not in others. I guess we wouldn’t want anyone with other animals in our home. On the other hand, I would find it hard to believe that any pet sitter was a huge animal lover if they didn’t have any. And you would think the biggest animal lovers wouldn’t routinely leave their animals alone, like sitters who do many sits almost full-time. Hmmm…
1 Like
This is great, I’m sure you made the right choice. Firstly, this person definitely loves animals and knows how to take care of them, and secondly, I am sure that a person who travels with a dog has no problems with the behavior of this dog and, of course, gives a full account of the situation and is confident that he can provide everyone with equal love and comfort. Thank you for sharing your experience, it was valuable to me