I agree!!! I think hosts don’t realize that if you want to secure a sitter you should post your listing well in advance. I’m so shocked at so many listings that are posted withing 6 weeks to a month of a sit starting, sometimes less! Unless there’s a vast pool of sitters that just don’t make plans in advance, that’s not a great way to secure a sitter.
@DarkAloha I’m currently in the other camp! Hoping that a last minute, very attractive, sit with a pool will pop up in the South or SW of France for August! I guess its only going to happen with a last minute sitter cancellation. But I’ve put the request out there anyway so the universe can sort it out! 
I suspect THS has become too popular with pet owners and there hasn’t been a similar rise in sitters, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea afterall. As has already been mentioned, cost of travel is a factor. Personally, I’m very picky about my sits and when I have to start paying £9 per sit (when my current membership renews) added to sky high travel costs, the sit is going to have to seriously appeal (location, accommodation, type and number of dogs, etc). If I were a pet owner I would seriously consider paying someone to look after them in order to have stability (same sitter each time, preferably local) and reduce stress. My brother has used the same sitter for years. He pays around £45 per 24 hours.
Reading these posts and others, THS should be clued in that many sitters are reluctant to travel due to political reasons and/or high costs. If they were smart, they’d pause the fees during this time.
It really doesn’t look good when HOs are struggling to find sitters. Change your strategy to address current conditions.
I would 100% agree if it wasn’t for the fact that every time THS introduces a an “improvement” they somehow manage to make it worse.
There’s also the fact that many owners just don’t care to keep an accurate, consistent listing. There’s already the dog size tagging but in my experience it’s close to useless. I find German Shepherds as small size and such.
The time dogs can be left alone or walking time is not filtered or tagged but I have found more often than not this field is chosen almost randomly. There are dogs that need no walking at all and they show as 60 minutes walk a day or more, when they really mean time left out in the garden and played with. Though I am afraid the opposite is more common. There was recently a linked profile where pets could supposedly be left alone for up to six hours when the reality is that they could hardly be left alone. Walking time also was considered as time for the dogs, not the sitters because they needed to be walked separately.
Given this situation, I agree with @BonnyinBrighton
I would just ask THS to not get in our way to making it to a good sit and stop telling us what we want. I certainly know what I want much better than anyone else.
@Cat-ophile a very good comment
I have 12 cats and I have to say that I’ve never struggled to fill a sit.
@catwoman4369 wow! As much as I enjoy cats I think 12 would be too many for me. I am impressed you never struggle for a sitter, clearly you must be a great host 
.
I wouldn’t mind looking after them as long as they are not all indoor only cats kept in a small space. Litter trays for 12 cats must be something!
If they have different routines, timing or have to be fed separately, that would be too much.
I have a strong intuition that you are going to find something wonderful! 
@PVGemini still waiting but I’m trusting your intuition!!
Hi, Cathie.
I’d love your opinion on my profile, but don’t know how I’d go about sharing it…?
(Member’s listing has been added to their Forum profile by the Forum team.)
@catwoman4369 . I’m a crazy cat woman too. I had one sit where I fed around 50 feral cats twice a day, as well as 3 house cats. My favourite sit ever. 
Please do share it, we might be interested in meeting those cats.