Hi @Lassie. I think this is because of how the TH search engine works. If you search for Ireland sits and horses, it will show only sits with only horses. If there’s horses and 1 cat, it won’t show.
There was a topic about this in my recent memory, but I couldn’t find it (after a very brief effort).
To find this particular listing via search for specific pets, you would actually have to search for horses + dogs + cats + birds + poultry + small pets.
- Ok, I just did that search and it does turn up. But so do listings with just 1 dog, or 1 dog and 2 cats. It feels like dogs and cats are treated differently then the other categories. Grr…
After like an hour of searching, I’m back. I kept the above because it’s a reminder of how … inefficient it can be to find what one wants, and how sometimes TH is still a little unintuitive.
Here’s the post I was looking for:
There’s a further reply by @Carla explaining the reasoning a bit.
I think I grasp TH search a bit better now, so here’s my understanding.
First, let’s think about “normal” search, a la google.
- If I search the web for “dogs,” it mentions anything with dogs. If the article also mentions cats or horses, that’s fine.
I think this is how the TH search currently works:
- Whatever animals you search for, the listing can include any combination. But the listing cannot include any other animal.
- The google equivalent would be if I search for “dogs,” then only articles about only dogs show up. Or actually, it would be that only web pages with only the word “dogs” show up. If the article has any other word (even “the” or “earth”, for example), then it won’t show up.
- The take-home lesson for sitters is: on TH, search for all the animals you’re okay with.
- But then you ask, “What if I want a sit with horses, and I don’t mind other animals but it has to have horses? How do I do that?”
- I want to say you don’t, not on TH currently. If your scope is global, the search won’t work. Even limiting to Ireland, we can see (below) that the search is really not helpful.
- In google, if you have a word that must be in there, you enclose it in quotes. Then it’s a must-have.
As a practical TH example, let’s start with Ireland and try some animals:
- “dogs” returns only dogs (no other pets) (21)
- “cats” returns only cats (1)
- “dogs” + “cats” returns sits with both, and sits with either (31)
- so that’s the 21 + 1 above, + 9 more
- “horses” returns (0)
- “horses” + “dogs” + “cats” + “small animals” + “birds” returns 32, but no actual sits with horses
- “horses” + “dogs” + “cats” + “small animals” + “birds” + “poultry” returns (35), including the sit of this topic.
- And thank goodness there’s a photo of horses on the cover! Because the thumbnail has icons for just dogs + cats + etc.
@Matilde: I’m sorry that, in my opinion, TH search isn’t doing you any service. As a techie, I can understand TH focusing on the 90% of other sits.
Your sit sounds wonderful for a “working vacation,” which isn’t a diss. I have fond memories of the film “City Slickers” with Billy Crystal. And the book “My Family and Other Animals.” The reasons I wouldn’t do your sit are that it’s just me, I’m surprised about the lack of a car, and I’m not in Europe so it’s too far for my tastes at this time. I don’t know how much the car issue will decrease your applicant pool, but I hope you can find a couple/family/super-sitter with a growth mindset and wheels!
For future sits, I think you want committed, experienced sitters, and those may be booked far ahead (six months or even over a year). So you want to plan your vacations early and post your future listings early.
Best of luck!