I’ve been a pet sitter since 2017, with about 30 pet sittings completed in Europe.
I usually set up several alerts and used to receive multiple notifications a day, until a few weeks ago, or even the beginning of the year, and now I haven’t received anything for weeks!
This is the first time this has happened to me… Have you noticed that there are fewer pet sitting in Europe in 2026?
May be THS is increasing in USA and no more in Europa ?
Umm there’s 100s of sits in the UK which is part of Europe…. we’re not in the EU (economy union) but we are in Europe or maybe you mean continental Europe perhaps?
Definitely! Most of the Europe sits are in the UK, rather than on the continent.
We still manage to petsit full-time though, mostly on the continent, but there are definitely less sits than a few years ago.
@Marian31, welcome to THS Forum. Kudos on extended housesitting and European visits . For first time in few years we’re not actively searching for Schengen housesits so curious to read your observations.
We find that Schengen area pet parents, relative to Canada and UK peers, tend to post listings much closer to housesit start dates. So we’d guess that summer Schengen listings are probably still limited.
How THS Marketing team works, priorities and writes content seems a mystery. For what it’s worth, a year ago then we tried to encourage THS to increase marketing spend on Schengen area (weblink below). We have not observed any incremental listings or marketing.
Given world developments then it would seem smart for a UK-based company not to overly obsess about US marketing. Given extensive THS Forum threads, we suspect that many non-US housesitters (including us) have zero interest in confirming US listings and would dearly relish more listings beyond US/UK.
Wayne Gretzsky: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been”.
I get notifications daily, but often the sits are already reviewing when I receive the notification. But occasionally I can get an application in. I do have 3 sits confirmed in Switzerland this summer and one in Amsterdam.
I recommend favoriting many sits in locations you want to go so you will get notifications (I have lots and lots of Schengen listings favorited). It doesn’t always help since the most popular locations go to reviewing so quickly, but sometimes you get lucky.
Also, I agree with others that Schengen sits tend to be posted closer to the sit dates, so there will likely be more coming up for summer.
I’ll suggest you purge your alerts and then reenter them. The THS application is “eccentric” and has seized up even down to the individual level. Worth a try and if you do, let us know if it made any difference.
We are HOs in rural France and were thinking of traveling in June but with gas prices rising as well as airfares we’re staying put and waiting until September. We’ve also signed up with Nomador because there are more French sitters on there and we’d like to get ones that don’t have to fly to reach us since we can’t lend our car, which is essential here. Ironically, our first sitter from Nomador used to be on THS but switched because there were more sits in France.
Given the state of geopolitics and the impacts on travelling costs, combined with THS new additional fees, I would not be surprised if this website becomes a shadow of what it once was tbh.
Done, Alerts reset, app installed, and still no alerts… All this has happened since I cancelled my automatic subscription… or am I just being paranoid?
Very interesting! Normally there are tons offers in England… I was looking for a sitting in London this summer and found NOTHING, and as you say, it’s strange for an English site not to have local listings.
Yes. And it is really frustrating. I love England but I miss the opportunities to sit in other parts of Europe. Another reason I may let go of my membership this year. Very few Schengen zone sits and unless I stay up and online 24 hours a day, they disappear after 5 applications.
I have actually never seen so many listings for London and the greater London area before. I have commented on this to THS friends regularly. Past week there has also been a huge increase in sits in other European countries.
@Shella_in_the_Forum unfortunately it is the same for us Downunder. Very difficult to get those great sits because of the time zone issue. But lately there have been numerous good sits within the London zones and Schengen countries that have remained open for a few days or more, I followed them to be sure. Times they are a changin’ on the site for sure!
Yes have the same feeling - perhaps there are more sitters nowadays, so sits go faster - but indeed dramatic difference with last year. Maybe people travel less also..
. For first time in few years we’re not actively searching for Schengen housesits so curious to read your observations.