New here & looking for a sitter!

Welcome & Getting Started
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Happy New Year all!

We are Jim, Sarah, Casper, and Uni!
This is our first time on the platform and we’re recommended to start here! We were a bit hesitant to try this out at first but we heard so many good things.

We haven’t had much luck finding anyone directly and definitely realized we started too late! Winter time seems to be a rough time to find sitters. We tend to travel between end of January to early March to visit family in Taiwan. Any tips and guidance on what else we shall be doing?!

A little bit about us:
We love traveling to see the world. We love animals and plants. We’re so excited to become part of the group!

Travel plans: < removed dates of travel >
We have a wonderful home in Pittsburgh, PA (right by the park called Schenley with trails nearby). The city has buses, subways, and bikes that’ll be awesome to get around. Pittsburgh has great people, food, and beautiful scenes.
Our two senior dogs and minimal plants need full time care by experienced pet and plant lovers who clean up after themselves and stay communicative :slight_smile:

We want our sitter to feel like home. We will make sure to provide clear directions, delicious snacks, drinks, and food in the fridge and freezer! We love food haha.

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Moderation note: removed travel dates/details of listing

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Hi @sarahytchu

Welcome to the Community!!!

I’m sure our members will have lots of tips to help you find the perfect sitter for you Casper and Uni, as well as giving the sitters a chance to explore what Pittsburgh (and surrounding areas) have to offer.

Whilst we ask members not to use the forum to promote their listing (see our community rules for more info), you can ask for advice on how it could appeal to potential sitters. :+1:

EDIT: I’ve added a link to the community rules for reference.

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Welcome. Love Pittsburgh, but I’d avoid sitting there in winter, because of the combo of snow and hills. Waiting for public transit in the cold and/or snow wouldn’t be fun, and driving on hills if snowy might be challenging for visitors.

Your best bet probably is to find sitters who don’t mind such (maybe are visiting their hometown or family) and to include in your listing how much walking your dogs need and whether the usual paths are hilly, flat or such.

Maybe also include whether shoveling would be done by the sitter or someone else in case of snow.

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Welcome @sarahytchu !

You will find your fellow members here on forum, both sitters and hosts, a great resource in finding your way, make a good listing and find the right sitter I’m sure.

If you’d like to get tips on what tweaks you can use to get a better listing, you can add the link in your forum profile:

How to add a listing or profile link to your FORUM profile

Welcome and good luck!

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LOVE THIS TIP. Just included woo! Woah people on this platform is incredible! Thanks

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Hi there and happy new year! :confetti_ball:

I took a look at your sit for you. Overall, it appears friendly and welcoming, however, it does seem like a rather challenging sit that comes with many responsibilities that will be and automatic ‘no’ for many THS sitters. This includes:

  • Having to wipe dog’s rear ends
  • Carrying the dog up & down the stairs multiple times a day
  • Staying home most of the time with the dogs
  • Dealing with highly likely indoor accidents
  • Having a dog sleep in the bed
  • Providing separate walks
  • Walking a dog that seems somewhat challenging to walk
  • And additionally, come to Pittsburgh in the toughest weather of the year

This sounds rather challenging to handle, and seems like it leaves little free time for a sitter to leave the house and gain a ‘unique travel experience’ which is what THS offers. Consider that these responsibilities may be best suited to a local paid sitter or service, as THS sitters are here for a mutual exchange, not to provide round the clock full time care.

For success with with THS, you’ll need to find ways to make this less challenging and more appealing for an unpaid sitter who is here for a mutually beneficial exchange.

Does a sitter really need to sleep with the dog in the bed? Do butts really need to be wiped (most won’t be willing to do that!) Can you get a hired dog walker to relieve the sitter & allow free time during the day? Can you minimise the risk of indoor accidents or tell sitters how this can be managed? What are some proactive ways you can make walks less challenging for sitters? At the moment, it’s likely that the only sitters who may consider your sit are those that work from home and aren’t interested in seeing much of Pittsburgh (which rapidly decreases your pool of sitters). However, with all these challenges, even a sitter who works from home is more likely to choose something much easier and with dogs who won’t disturb them with possible barking (as you say the dogs love to bark and will set eachother off, though it’s unclear if this is on walks only or in the house too).

I have some suggestions for your listing that I will put in a separate post. This blog may be helpful:

Hope that helps!

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Here are some suggestions to consider:

1: Title. Your title is rather long, wordy and doesn’t do much to attract attention - titles in a listing’s preview cut off after about 6 words. Try something attention grabbing such as ‘Explore Pittsburgh with 2 senior dogs!’

2: Pictures.
Your cover photo is currently your kitchen, which does little to attract attention and make sitters click on your listing. Try a captivating image such as your local area or a nice image of your pets.
Your captions on each photo are very detailed, and is quite a lot of information which you can simply save for your welcome guide. Captions can only be viewed on the app, not on the webpage, so anyone not using the app won’t see them anyway. Keep captions to just 1 simple sentence! You also have a lot of images - choose just 20 - 25 of your best pictures and save the rest for your welcome guide, we don’t need so many of the dogs, and laundry detergent etc.

3: Your intro is okay, but try telling sitters straight away what’s in it for them and why they should sit for you (why should they come to Pittsburgh?) Tell sitters how many people you can host (1, 2 or more?) and what you expect for a handover (should sitters arrive the day before, or on the 30th?)

4: Home and location section - you have some nice descriptions here which is great, but it can be cut down a little, with less information about the house and more information about the local area. This section is where you tell sitters what they are gaining from this exchange and why they should visit Pittsburgh, so give some strong reasons! Tell sitters what they can see and do in the area and how they can get around with public transport - how close is your home to public transport? Can you offer to collect sitters from the nearest airport or station if needed? This is also a winter sit - how is the heating in your home?

5: Your responsibilities section is far too long and heavily detailed for a listing - half of the information you have should go in your welcome guide, not your listing. Try to cut it down by at least half and just give a general overview - you don’t need to list every single detail about your pets here; that is what a video call and welcome guide is for. Remember, this is just an advert. Many sitters with be automatically turned off as soon as they click on this section due to the sheer amount of text present! It is also quite hard to follow with a lot of instructions there. You have also used caps lock a lot which can come across as shouting - always avoid caps lock unless it’s for a heading or title.

A comprehensive responsibilities section should tell sitters the following:

1: 2 - 3 sentences about the pet’s personalities & sociability.

2: A brief description of any health or behavioural issues the pets have (Should be just a few sentences, but ensure it is as transparent & direct as possible. For any listed issue, give a proactive solution that sitters can use to manage the problem in a way that is reasonable and fair for a free exchange. (E.g: Casper is prone to indoor accidents, but this can be managed by… Do you have hardwood floors? A good mop? Strategies to decrease the likelihood of this happening?)

3: Use simple bullet points to list tasks/responsibilities. E.g:

  • Feed dogs morning & evening
  • how many walks per day, and for how long?
  • How many potty breaks per day & how this is managed
  • wiping paws etc
  • having to carry dog down the stairs
  • please be food wary
  • where the dogs sleep
  • How long dogs can be left for (please be specific, not just ‘long periods of company’).
  • water the plants

Hope that all helps and best of luck! :blush:

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Agree with @Nagy26 that these elements will filter out many sitters:

And if your dog needs carrying up and down, you might want to mention how much weight you’re referring to, because various sitters might wonder how manageable that is. Personally, I’ve sat senior dogs who need carrying, but I stick with smaller dogs when it comes to that.

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You might have made alterations already, as I can’t find all that @Nagy26 mentioned in the very worked through feedback.

It seems that the dachs should be carried, which is understandable for those knowing the breed. Maybe add the weight of dog as suggested, so sitters can se whether they can take on the task.

For me it would be important to find info on how long pets can be left.

I tend to avoid sits where I must sleep with the pets in bed. Would just like to mention that sometimes pets can well sleep elsewhere although owner usually does it (without barking, scratching on doors or similar) and then one can mention that it is not a requirement. Sometimes it could also be fixed by pets sleeping in owners bed and petsitter in another room, which can be offered as a possibility to widen pool of sitters.

As a dog owner through decades - it might be specific reasons for why their butts are wiped, but in my experience it is something I have never heard about before on a regular basis? I only wipe if a «problem» and with longhaired dogs also have trimmed my dogs behind to avoid… sticking? To accommodate (unless there is a specific problem here) could be to delete the requirement and give the dogs a bath/ grooming appointment returning.

Of course each and every owner do what they consider best. Just a suggestion to possibly attract more sitters.

I found the tone and hospitality in your listing appealing, and it is something I could consider applying for.

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Welcome to @sarahytchu. Like you we are also very new so we cannot offer you much help with tips and hints etc but it looks like everyone is doing that for you already - What a great forum. A credit to everyone - Happy New Year!

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@Nagy26, fabulous advice :clap:. It’s important that Pet Parents consider their situation from perspective of a potential unpaid housesitter. THS housesitting is dependent on a fair two-way trade - reasonable pet/property contribution for reasonable accommodation/lifestyle. In the event that situational requirements, for whatever reason, are sufficiently demanding then unpaid housesitters (experienced ones at least) are unlikely to apply then a paid contractor may be appropriate (in substitute for, or to selectively assist, housesitter).

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Hi Sarah,

I’m a combined member and fan of Pittsburgh. I think the main issue with your listing is that it is a fairly long sit – almost a month with just a month’s notice. There are all kinds of people sitting, but generally a long listing like that will appeal to someone who is probably fully nomadic and wants to be in your area. Those kinds of sitters often try to book their schedule well in advance. You could probably find sitters for a shorter sit in Pittsburgh with less notice as that would attract sitters who sit for fun and to enjoy new places as well as nomadic sitters who have some space in their schedule.

Having visited Pittsburgh, I think you’re downplaying the bus system. Many sitters won’t be driving to you, so let them know that the bus system is pretty great. We relied on it when we were there and the sit wouldn’t have been practical for us otherwise as added car rental would’ve been too costly.

We did rent a car one day, however, to visit the Falling Water house. Because it was a cat sit, this wasn’t a problem. I love that you are offering a dog walk accomodation if needed as this would allow sitters to explore the area, go on a day trip, etc.

You also need to include how many hours the dogs can be left, how often they need to be walked etc. It sounds like they can potty in the yard which is awesome, but is there a doggie door for access, or does the sitter need to let them in and out and if so, how often?

My guess is that you’ll find a sitter, someone who wants to test out the waters in Pittsburg which is an awesome place, but if you don’t, don’t despair. Give your listing more time next time.

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This is very much appreciated @Nagy26! I think writing such a detailed description was problematic and certain wordings could’ve been done better. I’ve updated everything base on everyone’s wonderful feedback. Without knowing exactly what to expect, we definitely didn’t know what we’re doing. Happy New Year!

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I think my description wasn’t clear enough so I decided to rewrite and not specify the dog sleeping in bed because they’re fine sleeping in bed by themselves.

We try to trim the dogs before our every trip so I think that should help with maintenance. I liked the bullet point ideas so definitely rewrote the responsibilities section.

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Loving here already! Happy New Year! You all are wonderful.

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Thanks for the tip! I’ve included your feedback :slight_smile: glad you enjoyed Pittsburgh!
Happy New Year!

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It’s great that you’ve taken suggestions on board. Your listing is certainly looking much better & responsibilities section is much more refined. However, you have deleted critical information that was there before, including disclosure of the dog’s barking, separate walks and indoor accidents. You really must disclose this in your listing - you don’t want a sitter to end up leaving because they never agreed to these responsibilities. Try instead for your responsibilities something like:

"Casper and uni are 2 (cuddly? Playful? etc) dogs who love to snuggle and get their daily walk. They are senior dogs who require some extra support; Casper tends to have indoor accidents if he doesn’t go potty when you let him out in the morning, so we recommend you take him on the leash outside to encourage him if he doesn’t end up going potty.

Casper (20ib) also had a back injury but is now fully functional; however, he requires being carried up & down the stairs - mostly inside because it’s slippery. (Question: where are the stairs and how frequently does he use them? Are they just stairs going upstairs to bedrooms for example, and do you block them off with something to avoid him using them when not necessary? Nobody is going to sit around and monitor the stairs 24/7.)

Our dogs may set eachother off with barking when walked together, so to avoid this we recommend providing separate walks. They are walked once daily in the morning - Uni 1hr & Casper 30 mins. We can organise a dog walker if you prefer & this can be discussed.

They also require:

  • Some company throughout the day, though they can be left for up to 6 hours
  • Feeding morning & evening
  • Frequent potty breaks in the garden (at least 3 - 5 opportunities for potty breaks)
  • They sleep (where?)
  • Water plants weekly
  • Please leave our home as you found it (not ‘maintain normal house chores’ as this is rather ambiguous and could mean anything)

Your home & location section is looking great - though I notice you wrote that the weather “can intimidate people to visit during this season.” This sentence doesn’t go anywhere and doesn’t help anyone.

Try instead:

“Pittsburgh’s weather can be tough at this time of year with heavy snow and low temperatures, so our sit requires someone who can handle & embrace the weather.”

Hope that helps!

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@Nagy26 You are amazing at this thank you! Updating as you suggested. Already got one applicant right after :rofl:

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You’re very welcome, and congratulations that’s fantastic! Best of luck :blush:

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I loved it, but you are right about the curvy roads. I’d be terrified to drive. My spouse did the driving in and out of the city on our excursion.