I’m curious whether other homeowners rely exclusively on THS or if you’ve found it beneficial to use additional house-sitting platforms.
THS has been my only platform, & I’ve always appreciated the background checks, reviews & other safeguards that help give homeowners peace of mind. However, over the past year or so, I’ve noticed what seems to be a significant decline in applications for my sits here in the U.S.
I’ve posted several sits that received no applications at all. Granted, the lengths have varied, from just a few days to three weeks, & my upcoming sit is approximately 10 days. It almost seems like shorter sits are becoming less appealing, with more sitters preferring stays of a month or longer.
I’m beginning to wonder whether it makes sense to explore other reputable platforms to give my listings more visibility & improve my chances of finding qualified sitters.
I’d rather avoid the free Facebook groups because I really value the screening process, verified reviews & accountability that platforms like THS provide.
For those of you who use multiple platforms, have you found any that you’d recommend? Or are you finding that THS still works well for shorter sits?
I’d love to hear about your experiences & suggestions!
@Myka, we suspect that this may not be due to THS technology but current international reality.
Suggest use magnifying glass search function at top screen - there’s plenty of THS Forum threads by US Pet Parents that are now struggling to secure housesitters. Sometimes it’s a poor quality listing that can be improved by better photos, text or an enhanced trade. Sometimes it may be due to broader factors. A key theme appears to be encouragement of US Pet Parents to target their listings to US housesitters.
Some US pet parents on THS Forum have discussed a US specific housesitting platform. This presumably targets US housesitters. Perhaps they had success. Good luck.
We have used two other platforms. Both were niche markets, not US, and were tiny compared to THS. We discontinued memberships of each after the initial one year.
Yeah, I’m not sure how to exactly target USA only sitters. I will try & find sitters, but I haven’t had great luck with local sitters in the past. Thank you for the feedback.
In terms of sites/applications, I only use THS. So far (knock wood) I have not had a problem with applications for my longer sits. But I didn’t even look on THS when I had a week-long sit this summer - a friend came and stayed at my place. I would likely look for local options (friends, friends-of-friends) for any short sit now, due to various reasons both with THS and the political climate.
Your sit is appealing with offer to pay their booking fee, use of car and paying for parking to places if pup is with them. I see it’s for December. Many sitters have booked December long before October. A lot of sitters outside the US won’t come here right now so that makes the pool very small. If you put on top of your profile, Car provided and booking fee paid and that’s your caption on top, it may help. Good Luck
I sit in your area and there are just so many great sits to choose from. A couple of tips: The guest bedroom looks a bit unwelcoming. perhaps remake the bed, and open the window so you can get better lighting and the nice view out the window. I know these are silly, but good photos really help.
You can eliminate all the text above “ THS Booking Fee Reimbursement ”. we are already shown the dates and pets elsewhere.
Most people will like the weekly housekeeper, but for remote workers, it can sometimes be difficult to schedule work around them. perhaps make it optional or have them come right after you get back?
There are also a fair amount of sitters who don’t want to come early and stay with the homeowner. Especially remote workers who may need quiet for meetings or whatever. This may limit your applicants. Might you be able to show them the dog’s run spot on a google map or video/photo?
To be honest, we no longer come to sits early and will only do a start-day, in-person meet & greet on weekends. 95% of the information could easily be written down, and It’s just too difficult to schedule working remote and doing extra in-person meetings for sits or moving in and getting settled during a work day (your start time is 1-5 on Tuesday, right in the middle of a work day). We’re shifting to doing video walkthroughs before the sit, but it’s also fine if the HO just has a really detailed welcome guide.
We only used THS for longer sits. Anything shorter than that, we used paid sitters or a fancy boarding kennel near us (that is really more like a luxury spa LOL). I know some use Rover to find paid sitters but we found ours via referrals. Ask at your vet, groomer, trainer, etc - odds are they know someone who can sit for your pets. If you like them, treat them well and always too and they will want to work with you again. It’s nice when your pets are already bonded with the sitter.
Oh, I’ve actually had really good experiences with sitters arriving a day early, even those who work remotely! Most of my sitters have been very friendly & enjoy getting to know each other a bit before I leave, often even sharing a meal. It’s always been a lovely experience!
But you’re right, an early arrival certainly isn’t a hard & fast requirement. I just enjoy showing my sitters around the area, especially some of the great walking & running spots nearby that they might not discover otherwise. It’s more of a friendly welcome than anything formal!
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts & suggestions!
Thanks for the suggestions! For me, I’m not comfortable boarding my dog in an unfamiliar environment simply for my own convenience. One of the main reasons I joined THS was so my doggie could remain in the comfort of her own home, surrounded by everything familiar to her, while I’m away.
I do have local friends who could watch her, but that would still mean disrupting her routine & moving her into a different environment. My goal has always been to minimize the stress of my absence as much as possible, which is exactly why I love the concept behind THS!
one thought…How early do you post your dates? A few weeks out is good for folks who are close but for international travel, I often book months ahead and many of the sitters we get are the kind that are planners and fill up their calendars way ahead of time.
It may be something to consider.
We have travel coming up in November and we shared the dates months as opposed to weeks in advance.
Your sit looks great but if I were to apply for it, I’d have to do so months ahead of time in order to accommodate for travel planning, etc. (It would be an international trip for me)
Our city is very desirable and so we typically don’t have a problem finding sitters. That being said, we still have backups in the forms of local options that we lean on, a vet school Facebook group in our area, and dog-minded friends for support. It’s always best to have a back up to the back up.
Thanks, all good points, I usually do post my travel well ahead of schedule, so I will probably do that for next summer, I also live in a desirable place, my first priority is getting someone booked for my Dec sit. thank you for the feedback.
If you haven’t found or tried GOOD pet hotels, or GOOD professional pet sitters, take another look. Most do a gradual on-boarding to get your pet used to them and / or the place. An initial evaluation (short), if that’s ok, how do they do in an environment with other dogs? Out and about? It’s actually a process but by the end of both sides are confident the dog will not just survive there, but thrive.
The challenge is finding them, as many facilities/sitters are … not quite up to par. But it’s worth it to seek them out, as a local paid sitter is really so helpful!!
When we started out 7 years ago we signed onto a few platforms besides THS. Mindmyhouse, HouseCarers, and Nomador. We never landed any sits outside THS (but tbh we didn’t try hard or for long)
Later we dropped all but THS and then much later we tried out House Sitters America for a few months and landed a great sit that wound up being a repeat sit for a few years but we let the membership expire and never used that platform again as we then sat for the same people off platform.
There is a new platform called Global Pet Sitters - started by two former THS members. They are looking for more pet/home owners to join. We joined as sitters but haven’t been looking all that much.
Your house looks lovely and Aussie Shepherds are the best dogs! I agree about the guestroom needing a little TLC (think Airbnb photos).
Like many US based sitters, we look for warmer weather as winter approaches so that limits the pool of sitters but you have a lot going for you!
That sounds great. Indeed, some sitters will love to come early. Maybe just, “Happy to host sitters a couple days before the sit and show you around, if desired.” That lets sitters know you’re showing good hospitality without formal requirements. Best of luck!
