Hi! I just heard of THS today and joined up with the hope of traveling to specific locations! I am an animal-loving retired woman who is looking for French-speaking urban locations and for specific travel windows (jan-march) . How realistic is this? Is it super-competitive? I am not really interested in doing local sits just to build a profile, so maybe this is not a great match for my needs? I love Paris and i love dogs so i thought this might be a brilliant way to combine these loves, but maybe it’s too hard to get sits?
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It appears you have signed up as a sitter already.
The more specific you are in your preferences the slimmer the opportunities will become.
Paris is a very desirable location for sits so you will be up against some stiff opposition from sitters with reviews.
I suggest you make your profile as good as possible, show pictures of yourself interacting with a range of pets, emphasise the experience you have and ask friends/relatives for references.
Good Luck
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@mswnola
Welcome to THS.
Obviously you will have less chances of sits are you are looking for sits in a 3 month period, in very popular areas.
You may wish to reconsider not doing a couple of local sits to gain reviews, its a valuable asset to use.
Good luck and hope you get sitting soon 
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Both sitters and hosts are chosen on basis of their application, their profile, reviews and often a video-call (or meet-up). The competition on attractive sits can be hard - so hard that the opportunity is gone in 1-2 minutes (yes, you read right).
If you choose not to be active on getting a few reviews and at the same time want attractive sits, then of course it will be harder to reach your goals.
I would very much recommend to get at least a couple of reviews. Homeowners (HO) will of course think it is important choosing a stranger to stay in their home. Go for the local and short sits and you can get what you need. I would say that the sit-experience is also important for YOU. You will through this experience learn a lot on what to do and what to look for and ask to ensure that the host you choose to apply to is able to provide a petsit that fits your criteria and will be a good experience for you.
I hope you will get many enjoyable sits! Use the forum here. Lots of stories shared, and everyone is really helpful. It is a great community.
Welcome!
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THS is a British site, and there are very few sits in France. Most sits in Europe on THS are in the UK only, and any sits outside the UK in Europe usually get snapped up very quickly because they are rare. Nomador, however, is a French pet-sitting site and there are hundreds of sit opportunities in France on that site. If you’re looking for French sits, you’d have much better luck there, although you can always try with THS too - having a saved search set up for sits in France will help.
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I don’t know where you live at present, if you live in France then fine, but if not, you are being totally unrealistic, sorry! With zero reviews why would anyone in France choose you? You are asking them to trust you to turn up to a different country, perhaps with flights or ferry crossings. By doing at least 3 local sits for the reviews just helps to give the owners in different countries the assurance they need to know you will turn up when you say.
Would you trust your beloved loved ones with a complete stranger or trust the keys to your home to a stranger? Whereas once you have a few reviews everything changes.
Paris without a lot of great reviews will be harder. However, there are sits in rural France, especially in the south and west of France that you stand a chance of getting once you’ve got some reviews. It’s usually the ones that are off the beaten track that less people apply for so you’ll increase your chances with those types, so if you drive then you stand a reasonable chance, once you’ve got a few reviews under your belt.
Good luck, you’ll love it, we’re in our 50’s and 60’s, we started sitting with THS early last year and loved it so much we went full time straight away, it’s brilliant, and so much fun.
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It’s also helpful to note that most THS sits abroad in Europe are by hosts who are expats from the UK, U.S, Canada or Australia, and as @HappyDeb mentioned, most sits in France here on THS are not in big cities but often quite remote. A car is usually needed and the sits are usually farm type stays with horses. Just so you know! There are heaps of sits in Paris listed on Nomador though. One of the first sits I ever did, with no reviews at the time, was in Paris through Nomador.
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I agree with the others that cities in France will be very competitve. I also joined in the hope of landing sits in the Paris area but you need to be constantly scanning the site to even get the chance to apply to the best sits. You can set up searches and favourites but by the time the notifications come through they are often already up to 5 applicants and in reviewing status. Hosts in Paris know they will easily get a sitter so sits are often posted last minute making it more challenging for those applying from overseas as airfares are likely to be prohibitive. The one thing that might go in your favour is that you are looking to sit dogs as these sits tend to be slightly less competitive than cat sits.
As @Nagy26 says there are many more Paris sits on Nomador so you would have more luck there. I did my first sit in Paris last summer through Nomador with no reviews on the site and have just done two more this summer.
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Is French your mother tongue, do you speak it fluently, or are you wanting to learn? If you are fluent, it may help you to get sits where French is the primary language.
I’m with the others. I’m not sure what country you are in, but you should try to get a couple of sits to gain reviews so you can increase your chances. They don’t have to be local, you can look at last minute sits where you are willing to travel and see if you can get a few closer to each other.
If you are interested in French speaking urban areas, you may want to consider the French speaking part of Switzerland. Public transport is easy so you don’t need a car, it’s a great country to spend time in, and a short TGV train ride to Paris. By sitting in any country outside of your own, it shows that you are familiar with international travel, which can help a bit when a host reads your profile.
I just checked some sits near Geneva. I quickly looked at reviews of others who previously sat for a current listing. There’s at least one sitter who received a five star review, who only had a couple of other reviews before they were accepted.
It’s important to create a good profile, get references from people who know you, try to get as many positive reviews as you can, all which increase your chances of getting sits in desirable areas.
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Welcome @mswnola
Only wanting to sit in specific locations especially popular places like Paris, which can fill within minutes of being listed and where HO’s have their pick of experienced sitters could mean you never get invited for a sit unfortunately. HO’s often want sitters with a good review history. It;s human nature to select the ‘tried and tested’ sitters.
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Thank you so much to everybody who has responded! I think this is such a brilliant model and I wish it had existed back when my own dog was alive! I paid $100 per day for a dog sitter in my home when I traveled without him even though i lived in New Orleans which probably would have been a desirable location.
And the couple i heard about who do sits with THS also love it, so it obviously can be such a Win/Win/Win for hosts, sitters and pets!
I just think it’s probably not a match for my specific purposes.
Thank you again to everybody who weighed in!
Maggy
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Perhaps not the best analogy but I’ll throw it out there (re: not wanting to do local sits in order to build a profile) : You’re applying for a coveted job as are many others. The others have varing degrees of experience, references and history - some have a lot, some just a bit. You have none of these yet
In addition, the more narrow your desires/availability (dates, locations, etc.) the more limited your opportunities.
Edited in line with posting guidelines
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Yes, this makes perfect sense. This was a new concept for me and i had no idea there were so many sitters available! It sounded like fun to me to combine a visit to Paris with a furry ami(e), and I thought with my French and previous pet-experience, that I would be a great candidate, but it seems there are loads of great candidates, so I might not get any nibbles.
Thank you all for the very helpful information!
Maggy
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Bonjour Maggy, would you consider sitting in Quebec city and province? We were there a few years ago and they speak French. It was fun dusting off my college French!
I just thought perhaps Quebec would be a tad less competitive than Paris, especially in the time frame you noted. Ce n’est pas possible?
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I’ll just tag Maggy, @KenandMary1998 don’t think you did? Great idea!
@mswnola
@mswnola You may consider using one of the home exchange platforms, if you still have a home in New Orleans. Some folks from Paris might be very interested in doing an exchange in New Orleans and pets are usually not involved. BTW, I am from New Orleans and pet sit there periodically to visit family and friends while maintaining some personal space. Best of luck whatever you decide to do!
I didn’t do local sits to get started so you won’t necessarily have to do that. Being able to apply to Paris sits can be difficult because you have to be able to see it as soon as it becomes available. Apply to all the urban France areas . Pet owners do take first time sitters so it could happen. Your French could be an advantage. A lot depends on your experience with animals/pets and connecting with homeowners.