“Most (not all) hosts don’t view sitters as an equal peer. Most (not all) feel they are doing you a favor. Or at the very least they feel you’re getting the better end of the arrangement. If you pander to them and stroke their ego you’re more likely to get a better response and ultimately a more favorable review.”
It is true that some hosts don’t view sitters as equal peers. It is important to filter these out by paying attention to how they write their posting and how they talk during the initial phone/video call. More importantly, forgive yourself if you didn’t see it coming because we don’t have to “learn” from every bad experience.
It is also true that some do not disclose all of pet’s problems. If the problems are not severe then I roll with it. If the problem is severe then I take extra care of the pet with compassion and love. We are taking care of sentient beings who cannot take care of themselves. I point it out to the host and forgive them. I look at it as an opportunity to be generous.
I have met a couple of sitters who seemed to have made an emotional decision about taking on a sit because they really wanted to visit that location. Their strong desire blinded them to the red flags. I could say that if house-sitting is a life-necessity for a sitter then that would also blind them to the red flags. The idea of “pandering to a host” can be understood in this light. I would say take a long time and rethink what you really want to do.
Seems like a weird (and sad) way to approach life, viewing everyone with suspicion and as a potential foe. I’ve made many friends through my 100+ sits, many repeat sits, and lots of interaction (photos, messages, lunches) with HOs outside of the actual HS time.
I have also turned down what looked like pretty nice sits after an initial video call, because I detected a rather uneven attitude toward the process from the HO (thankfully very few times).
Oh dear. My heart sank when I read that list. I do think you are approaching house sitting with a negative mindset and would encourage you to flip to a positive mindset because you will find experiences improve.
I can’t agree with any of the suggestions as a ‘rule’ to apply. We approach each sit expecting the best and have not been disappointed, and that exchange has been mutual as our 20+ five star reviews illustrate.
We prefer to use WhatsApp and adapt to the needs of the home owner regarding frequency of communication- we try to meet their expectations rather than impose ours.
Many repeat sit owners now regard us as friends, and say so on their feedback. They arrange their holidays around our availability.
House sitting starts with trust. That’s why it’s in the name!
We find WhatsApp Groups to be effective, with both Pet Parents and both Housesitters included in same communication thread. Avoids duplicated communication. People tend to prefer WhatsApp comms to THS platform. Easy is good. That said, given two cancellations, we have determined to only use THS Platform until commencement of housesit and for any important communications.
We do not do this, by choice. Rather we ask Pet Parents what frequency of updates they seek, and any specific content. We have found that some Pet Parents want daily updates and significant insight. Others want a break, so take a more casual approach of every few days and issues-focused communication. Others want to hear about our exploring their local area (they kindly want us to have a good experience) rather than wholly focus on pet(s).
Ha, absolutely. Been there, done that, learned sesson. Photos should include housesitter sleeping area and all key rooms in house. May be accidental oversight, so consider asking Pet Parent to show you around key areas in video call.
Nope. We perceive most housesits as ‘feature’ (attractive features, longer duration, relationship intent). And gap housesitters as ‘fillers’ (convenient date/location, shorter duration, likely transactional intent … though never know). For feature housesits then we have met some fabulous people and have invested time, provided mutual intent, to establish a friendly relationship. We’d be delighted to return to them in the future, and have received multiple such invitations. Such people see housesitting as a win-win for Pet Parent and Housesitter - peer-peer rather than parent-child psychology.
@Silversitters, totally nailed it 
. gold star insight 
I don’t think anyone immediately jumps in if necessary, chats are not monitored. Normally issues need to be brought to the attention of the support team.
I like the idea of taking photos at the beginning of a sit so we can put everything back in place. We are minimalists and find that many homes are more cluttered than we prefer with lots of stuff, especially on top of bathroom counters, dressers and nightstands in our bedroom, and kitchen counters. We often put things we aren’t going to use away during our sits.
We try to approach every housesit with empathy. The HO is trusting their home and their pets to our care, so we do things to give them confidence that we are taking good care of their home and their pets. That may be sending photos and returning the home almost exactly the way they left it. We want the HOs to come home and feel at ease when they walk in the door. So far (we are novice sitters too) the HOs have returned in kind.
But I also try super hard to look for any signs in the listing or the video that show it’s a good or not good sit for us. I’m sure along the line we’ll run into a problem, but hopefully manageable. All the insights on this forum make me feel prepared, but we’ll see fingers crossed
I agree. That kind of surfaces should be mostly bare. Many hosts have far too much stuff there, with dust and grease.
Happy Deb have you sat for us?
Kidding, but you sound like all the wonderful sitters we’ve had! We’ve made some amazing friendships with our sitters. THS has been a blessing.
Silversitters: agree with your perspective.
ONE caution: we also use WhatsApp as a fast, easy way to communicate.
However, we realized one HO had WhatsApp set to delete conversations after 24 hours!
SHOULD have seen it as a red flag: they were not honest in several ways.
After we asked them to change the setting “Oh, we didn’t realize that!” (uh-huh) we took to doing screen shots of the exchanges.
Good thing: when a big issue arose? The deleted the entire thread.
ONE caution: we also use WhatsApp as a fast, easy way to communicate.
However, one HO had WhatsApp set to delete conversations after 24 hours!
SHOULD have seen it as a red flag: they were not honest in several ways.
After we asked them to change the setting “Oh, we didn’t realize that!” (uh-huh) we took to doing screen shots of the exchanges.
Good thing: when a big issue arose? The deleted the entire thread.
Marion - Our rule is that when we leave, the HO shouldn’t “feel” our presence.
Things should be how they like them, and all trave of us cleared.
We started as HO and time came back to Sitters who made us feel we’d intruded on their space!!!
Not unless you’re in the NE of England 
! There are so many cute and adorable pets on THS, so it stopped being about that within a few months of joining, it’s all about the connection we feel with the owners, and we have had some absolutely lovely owners, that are now amazing friends.
Thank you for imparting your wisdom! I’m a THS newby and hear confirmation of my most recent decision in your post.
I did a meet n’ greet at a place that had an ideal time frame. But, the distance from points of interest and the couple’s energy ( I know it sounds hippy dippy but it’s the best I can explain ) was off-putting. I left feeling worse about myself! My gut has never done me wrong. So I trust a better fitting one will come about. Thanks again!
You provided some good guidance, thank you. So far, my gut (God) has served me!
We’re currently on our 43rd sit (via THS and another UK platform) and, frankly, feel your ‘tips’ don’t reflect our experience at all.
We take photographs if there’s something we wish to move (i.e. for safekeeping or for cleaning), just so we know how and where to put things back. We’ll also take pics (making sure they’re date-stamped) if we encounter anything of damage (for example, we once arrived to find a cracked ceramic hob, another time we quickly noticed the edge of the marble worktop had a chip in it near to the sink). We once took before and after photos to illustrate the filthy state of the kitchen and fridge on arrival versus the clean condition after we’d cleaned, and these were provided to the pet parent when she angrily challenged our stars deduction in her review. She couldn’t argue with the photos and subsequently promised to up her game for the next sit.
We always use WhatsApp for communication and actually request it. That said, @ASASG makes a good point about time-limited messages, but screenshots can solve that potential dilemma.
We always ask the pet parents how often they’d like updates and find there’s no one-size-fits-all response.
Checking out listing photos and info is par for the course for any sitter, but I think of it as being discerning, rather than suspicious.
Re. point 3: To imply that sitting holds no relationship value at all is just a cold-hearted appraisal, which will do nobody any favours. Treat HOs with respect, honesty and warmth and that’s generally how you’ll be treated in return, we’ve found. And what the heck is an ‘over friendly’ host? Does this relate to your point 9, about the hosts supposedly feeling they’re doing you a favour? We’ve only encountered one such host - there were no red flags during the video chat but it quickly became apparent upon meeting them that they considered us staff. It was a short sit for a lovely dog in an interesting location, so we sucked it up (our decision). One host out of 43 hardly constitutes ‘most hosts’. Indeed most have been friendly, appreciative, interesting people whom it’s been a pleasure to meet. Approach people as equals - which we all are - and they’ll respond accordingly.
‘Ego stroking’ isn’t necessary to achieve a favourable review, doing a good job, communicating well, leaving happy pets and a clean and tidy home (i.e. as you found it) is what promotes good reviews (we have 42 five star reviews, and haven’t stroked a single ego).
It sounds as if you’ve had a number of negative experiences ‘along the way’ and that these have influenced your thoughts and feelings about house sitting. If you’d like to share those experiences, maybe we can help by suggesting ways you can minimise the potential for them to happen again? Nobody is infallible, and we may all encounter negative issues from time to time - we definitely have - but it’s often a case of adapting as you go forwards, and remaining optimistic and open to good things next time. If you go anticipate things going wrong, they surely will!
Edited to comply with the Community Rules
I agree 100%.
Of course people in all kinds of situations are different.
We’ve had similar experiences: many warm, welcoming hosts who became friends, and repeat sits, but also a couple who were just uncomfortable to be around.
One of our first sits was for a couple who kept changing the arrangement, and left without cleaning anything, (dirty dishes, dirty fridge & stove, unmade beds…) came back to a very clean home and complained about an “off limits” room not being dusted?!?
Should have taken before/after pix.
But like you, trust that most people are nice & reasonable and most are!