I actually think that it’s perhaps new people thinking that is the method to find a sitter as I’m not sure it’s totally clear, especially as it seems to imply that you ‘invite’.
We do indeed increasingly invite sitters but only approach sitters who have already ‘favourited’ us and we have also ‘favourited’. I also check that their calendar looks free for the dates. This has worked really well for us for a couple of years now. My first call though is always to approach previous sitters who have said they would like to return which is great and has worked really well for us.
As a HO who always had 5 applications the first day, I think a lot of HO’s are reaching out now as the number of sitters applying has really dwindled. I looked for sits in my area and all sits are labeled Low Applications and there are a lot of them. I believe there are many reasons for this.
I confirmed a sitter yesterday, who had just completed their first THS sit last week, for our sit in September. I had 4 sitters apply in a 3 week period and 3 of them were brand new, no THS reviews, and all under 25. Normally, I wouldn’t confirm a sitter with one review, but we really liked her and wanted to give her a chance.
I remember reading your post a couple of days ago.
And it made me wonder if THS is sending suggestions to hosts to send out these invites.
Then I got an invite to a sit myself (though they shouldn’t have issues to find someone - it’s already under reviewing).
So I asked the host, if my profile was recommended by THS, and she confirmed.
It was a sit for a period after my subscription expires.
So maybe it’s delibarate to keep people renewing, as some suggested.
With their business decisions I wouldn’t put it past them.
I’ve not had any invitations since I prefaced my profile info with the statement that we were ONLY sitting in 3 locations in 2026….this is followed by a suggestion to NOT invite us to sit if it’s a smoker’s home/the kitchen and bathroom would make me think yuk etc
And yes I’m becoming more demanding as a sitter as time goes on! The right HOs apparently appreciate my frankness though so it’s ’all good’ as they say.
I don’t mind if people reach out to me AND I’m honest in my response. When a man asked if I wanted to come to Texas to watch his 5 huskies and other farm animals on a rural farm, requiring constant care and dealing with a ton of shedding, I simply said that I sit in places where I want to explore the surroundings and have the option to do it outside of giving great care to their pets. I suggested that a paid sitter might better fit his needs. It was odd to me that he would reach out to a single, 76 year old woman for that.
Same with potential sitters in my home. A young man offered to sit for my little dog and had just signed up. He stressed his fitness by showing body building photos and his experience with dogs was limited—no animal photos and no external reviews. I took him at his word and said that if he really wants to do this, he should re-work his profile to show himself with pets that he has cared for, get some external reviews and ditch the workout photos. I declined his request, but he actually wrote back and thanked me for my suggestions. You never know.
