Hi all, I am due to attend a house sitting in less than two weeks.
I’ve just requested a Welcome guide where I’ve come across a few details I wasn’t aware of. Neither they were mentioned on the profile at the time I applied for it, neither it was discussed when we met online (two months ago).
In the welcome guide I read that the dog is not so well home trained with a few accidents in the morning. The dog is not a pup, is 3-4 years old.
I also read that the heating cannot be touched, it would start automatically when the temperature goes below 17 degrees. The Country where I should do the sitting is Ireland which is notoriously cold and damp also during the Summer. I know this for sure as I lived in the island for more than 20 years.
Last, there are some commands to give the dog in case he jumps on us and/or bite our hands.
All of the above as said was not mentioned and also there is no word on the reviews (six 5 star reviews, with the exception of a non review).
Now I feel stuck. I am currently in Ireland where I have a few sittings already booked. I am doing one at the moment, this sitting I’m talking about will be the next one. Then I’m due to go back to them after two other sittings.
The first sitting is for 10 days while the second one will be for 3 weeks.
Not sure what you mean by stuck. If the dog bites, the pet parents should not be using THS and you should in fact cancel the sit. If you have premium you should contact THS first and let them know what is happening and ask what you need to do to make sure you can get your insurance payout. If you don’t have the insurance, and you want to cancel then you should contact the homeowner ASAP since it is simpler if they unconfirm you, but you should also “dispute” the sit afterward and let THS know about this condition. Send them a screen shot of the part in the guide about biting. If the homeowner won’t unconfirm you – allowing you to find other sits – then go directly to THS tellling them that the homeowner won’t unconfirm you and according to their welcome guide the dog bites hands.
The other stuff is about the dog being housebroken is a lesson learned. I don’t do a lot of dogsits, but I would always ask a homeowner, not if the dog is housebroken but “How many accidents has the dog had in the last few months?” If they didn’t disclose that this is regular thing, it could also be an acceptable reason to cancel.
Also I didn’t know Ireland got THAT cold in the summer, but I’m not sure that that would be an extraordinary reason to cancel. However, if it was just this, you could probably chat with them about actual home conditions and options.
If you do cancel before the sits starts, there is no review, but if you don’t have premium you’ll be on your own to find another sit and/or pay for accomodations.
It’s too bad that reviews don’t always reflect actual conditions.
Yes, I have a full membership. However, I am aware that I should pay for the accommodation first and Ireland is a very expensive Country in terms of Airbnbs and similars. Besides it is Summer now, with quite a difficulty in finding a place to stay.
I always ask if the dog is house trained and I was answered yes.
This is very unacceptable @Mokina and @Marion gives good advice. I’m glad to see you have taken this up with THS and hope you have used the urgent line or, if not, put ‘Member Dispute’ in your message to them. If I was you I would cancel.
I have been sitting in Ireland since 23 April and have been lucky enough to have had great weather ever since, just a couple of days of rain. I haven’t needed the heating on at all. I believe this has been unusual. I’ve got another 5 weeks to go and two more sits after the one I’m on.
I hope you can manage to find a sit to take the place of this one. You might also look at Facebook for sits in Ireland and/or offer your services.
Keep us informed how you get on
It sounds as if you’re unhappy with the prospect of these sits now that these issues have been disclosed, after confirming.
I suspect that THS will urge you to continue with the 2 agreed sits for this HO but, as you’re aware, this is a voluntary exchange and not enforced labour. Are you in contact with the HO via WhatsApp? I’d suggest you should send a message, stating something like: ‘Due to issues of … as highlighted in the Welcome Guide but not mentioned in the listing, i will not be doing either of your sits. When you reject my applications, you will immediately be able to relist and, going forwards, I would strongly suggest that you include any and all behavioural issues in your listings.’
As soon as the HO reads your message and responds - even if that response is negative - take a screenshot, go onto THS live chat (write ‘speak to agent’, twice, to bypass the bot), inform them you will not be doing the sits due to issues not being disclosed in the listing, and ask them to cancel for you. Send screenshots to confirm you’ve informed the HO, who has acknowledged.
Take a screenshot of the original listing first of all, just in case the HO decides to amend it to argue it was always properly detailed.
As already has been said, dogs who bite are not allowed on the platform. Who knows if this dog has been brought up to think hand-biting is play, but you don’t have to accept - or deal with - that, or with undisclosed toileting accidents in the house.
The earlier you’re released, the sooner you’ll be able to apply for other sits, @Mokina .
Not knowing exactly where in Ireland you’re going, but a quick look at the weather forecast temperatures will go to 11°C and 8°C in the next week or so. The WHO recommend 18°C or over as an indoor temperature (I know many prefer 20 or even higher) so I would say an indoor temp. below what international health organisations recommend and that is not disclosed ahead of sit should be reason to cancel.
If a dog has «a few» accidents that would surely impact responsibilities - again - not disclosed.
Biting already mentioned by others. Not sure why it should be somehow «better» to bite certain body parts than others if that is what they imply?
Be sure to document by screenshots etc so information is altered/ deleted. Could be useful no matter if you decide to cancel or not. You could also decide to adress the matters so the host could clarify and rectify, depending on your needs and how you regard the prospects of a solution, should it be so that you are not able to withdraw.
In theory that is so. Different circumstances will make it different how hard it is. While some could say, f it, I’m going to a hotel, others might have no (funds) to go.
A few days ago I asked the HOs if they could send the Welcome guide. I was told that they were going to have a look and see if all the information in there was up to date prior to sending. When I then received it, I assumed that it contained all recent data.
While I enquired with THS support yesterday evening, I also dropped a line to the HOs regarding those points.
They came back to me saying that those details were related to the dog when was a pup. I really don’t understand why they said that they were going to have a look that the information was correct before sending, anyway… it seems like those behaviours don’t take place anymore and they’ll show me how the heating can be manually changed.
@Smiley Yes, the weather is not too bad at the moment, although it depends on the area and not all weather forecast apps are reliable. Temperatures between 17 and 20 degrees in the next ten days which is ok. It is mostly the humidity due to frequent rains that makes it more uncomfortable.
However, weather can be very unpredictable and usually from August it starts getting colder. August 1st is first Autumn day in Ireland
The HOs have just come back to me now with this comment “I looked at the list again and realized that I had not updated the section dedicated to (name of pet) the website had recently changed and that section was “hidden” in a sub menu”.
In case somebody might experience something similar…
If my own thermostat were to switch the heating on when the temperature dipped below 17C, I’d consider it wasteful! And no, I’m not some Svalbardian hardnut; I’m a Brit, based in SW England. I know most people are used to living in year-round shirt-sleeve temperatures, but to my mind a constant 17C+ is actually very generous (mine comes on when the indoor temp dips to 14 and raises it to 16.5C). I mention all this just to point out we all have different expectations..
However… A dog which may bite you? No, no… In fact, let’s make that NO.
My experience of Ireland is that their attitude to dog-training is, shall we say, laissez-faire. Almost every house in the countryside has a badly-trained dog running free around it, to the point where I actually abandoned my normal jogging habit when sitting there, because I was fed up with being aggressively barked at, over and over. I’ve only been bitten once, but that was once too often. It’s cats only for me in Ireland now - a pity, because I’ve found everything else about the country just great.
But the point is, what you’re being asked to confront is NOT OK. Cancel, please!
You’re within your rights to cancel the sit as the additional information in the welcome guide should have been disclosed in either the listing or a conversation beforehand. You can message the owner and advise them that you are not able to look after a dog that is not housetrained and may bite, and that that they should cancel the sit and relist it to find an appropriate sitter. If they are not willing to do so you can contact support(at)trustedhousesitters(dot)com and ask them to cancel the sit, or use the chat and ask to speak to a human until the chatbot relents. You may want to do this anyway after notifying the owner to speed it up. Once the dates are released you will be able to apply for another sit.
If you don’t get another sit you will need to make a plan for accommodation to fill the gap before your next sit.
Sorry, just ranted about another issue and realized your issue related specifcally to the Welcome Guide. There are other longterm system glitches related to pet behaviors that are also “hidden.” It would be nice if the product team dealt with them but there have been many mentions of them and moderators taking it to the product team and nothing gets done. It’s a good warning! And probably the reason that the first call when seeing something odd and not disclosed in a Welcome Guide should be to the homeowner.
Hi, I treally cannot see a problem with the heating. They have it set to come on if it drops to 17c which is great. Yiou won’tg be cold. I have sat where there has been no heating in Spring and summer and has been colder than that. And some homes even in winter only have it set to come on for an hour in the morning and couple in the evenings. And it sounds like the dog may be alright if you know the commands.
As to accidents, it is sometimes just as easy to pick poos up from a tiled floor, as it is to walk around the garden picking them up. It really doesn’t sound as if anything is too problamatic. Good luck.
