What are the rules about having a guest at a house where you’re sitting? You can’t have any guests without first asking the owner, and then they can say yes or no, some may understandably say no if they have a more timid or anxious pet etc, or perhaps they may simply not want anyone they don’t know in their property whereas they will know you from your profile, and that’s totally understandable too. Personally we rarely ask because we’d rather meet up with family/friends in a cafe/restaurant, but on the odd occasion where we have asked, the owners have said yes, but that is probably because we’re in our 50’s/60’s so owners can presume our partying days are over, plus owners will read our profile and will know we’re a very responsible couple.
Is there a different listing for house vs. pet sitting, or is there always a pet? Once you are a member there is a filter button to search for sits without pets, but there isn’t many sits like that in comparison to those with pets, but you can also filter by pet type, for example rabbits/hamsters, reptiles may suit you if you are after pets that require less time at home, or likewise, you can search for dogs, cats etc.
What is the expectation about being in the house, with a pet? I assume you can come and go, as long as the pet is cared for. Yes, but this varies on EVERY sit, each owner will have their specific care requirements, with some cats you could be out of the property during the day if that’s what you are after, and back for whatever the feeding times are, whereas most of dogs that we’ve sat have needed a loo break every 4 hours, sometimes less, but there’s quite a number on the forum that have sat dogs that only needed a loo break every 6 - 8 hours, that just hasn’t been our experience, it varies on each and every sit. But with us, we have taken dogs to cafes/restaurants/beer gardens if the owners have said they are good in those locations etc, it’s loads of fun.
*Also, don’t worry too much about the price, because if you decide to join, and you love it, then simply tell others about it and if they sign up you get two months free membership, and they get a discount off their membership. We started in Spring 2023, and we’ve got our membership free until Jan 2029, we love our pet sitting life, it’s changed our lives so it’s really easy for us to recommend it, the owners we’ve sat for have have praised THS too, so it’s easy recommend. Check the link out below.
Hope that helps, you’ll love it*