Hi. I’m new here and this is my first listing looking for a sitter. Is there something wrong with my listing? Is it that my house isn’t ‘nice’ enough? Is it that there isn’t much to do in my area (unless you drive over thirty minutes)? Is it the time that the dogs can be alone? I just put two hours, because it is going to be someone new for them. We leave them for four hours every couple of weeks to do our major grocery shopping, because we have to drive about 45 minutes one way to get to a larger grocery store or any other shopping. I’m just starting to get concerned that we won’t have a sitter for our daughter’s wedding. Thanks for your time and assistance.
There is a sitter for every sit, so don’t give up hope! You’ll want to add your listing to your forum profile so sitters can offer ideas to make your sit as attractive as possible. I’m guessing the two hour limit is a dealbreaker for many, but I’m sure you’ll get some good insights and suggestions here.
Sitters will need to get groceries too so this could present a problem - if you have said that the dogs can only be left for 2 hours .
Please link your listing or ask the forum admin @Jenny or @Maeve to do so
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Thank you for tagging me @Silversitters . @Dogagilityfan 's listing has been added to their forum profile.
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Hey there,
Don’t panic - you’ve come to the right place for help 
I took a look at your listing for you, and I can see why you haven’t had applicants - you haven’t provided any incentive or compelling reasons for a sitter to want to sit for you. Competition is fierce for listings, and you really need to sell your sit and make it be as attractive as possible. Remember you’re offering a mutually beneficial exchange - what would a sitter be getting out of this? Why should they sit for you? What would they be able to see & do in the area?
Have a read of this blog post to understand why you haven’t gained applicants.
Here are some tips specifically for you.
1: change your title to something that excites & attracts applicants - e.g: ‘explore all Withee has to offer with my dogs.’
2: Change your cover photo to a nice image of your dogs or your local area, not your kitchen.
3: Add more photos (most listings have 20 - 25) that shows more of the house, and the garden
4: Your introduction is very autobiographical
and gives no compelling reasons for a sitter to choose your sit. Describe what’s on offer, straight away. Also starting off with the fact that the dogs have separation anxiety puts a negative spin on your listing, straight away.
5: Your home & location section is very minimal. Sitters want to know where they are sleeping, what your home is like, what amenities they have, what’s to see & do in Owen, how far Owen is from you, (do you live in Owen, or not??) and if they can use your car (you don’t actually mention this but have a picture of cars?)
6: Your responsibilities section is also very minimal and quite vague/ambiguous. Have a read of this thread to see what sitters want to know: What I am looking for in the “Responsibilities” section
Sitters cannot see on your listing how long the dogs can be left for - that tick-a-box information is for THS staff only, so you need to actually write this on your listing. Remember that not leaving the dogs for more than 2 hours at a time is a big deal breaker for many, because we are here for a mutually beneficial exchange, not a paid job. However, what you could do is mention if the dogs can travel in a car with a sitter, to allow sitters more time out and about. If they really don’t travel well, and a sitter won’t have much free time at all, then you may need to consider alternatives such as paid local sitters or services - it isn’t a fair expectation for THS sitters to stay with the dogs 24/7 and not gain the mutually beneficial exchange of seeing a new place.
Hope that helps and good luck!
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Hey, Dogagilityfan, and welcome! You could improve your listing to attract more sitters.
Your headline should be something about your sit that would be attractive to sitters. It’s valuable space, as it and your cover photo are the only thing sitters see when they search a particular area. Most sitters don’t care that it’s a wedding trip, and we all know you need a dog sitter because that’s already clear on the search lists. What about your sit would make it a great sit for the right sitter? One-story house is good for some.
Are your dogs agility-trained? That might actually interest people who are interested in such things.
The fact you don’t want the dogs left for more than two hours is something that THS asks you, but it doesn’t show up on your listing. You’ll need to put that into responsibilities on your listing. And If the dogs don’t travel well, and the nearest grocery is 45 minutes, you probably need a couple rather than a single sitter.
Could you consider a family with older children who were good with dogs? That would broaden your pool of candidates.
I see that there are steps up to the bed…does that mean the dogs sleep with the sitter? That can be an issue for some sitters.
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@Dogagilityfan
Please expand on the responsibility section
How long can the dogs be left alone for ?
Can dogs go out on hikes / to restaurants with sitter ?
Where are they exercised ? How often ? At what time ? For how long ?
What time are the dogs fed ?
You say one dog needs a pill but you haven’t mentioned any medical issues these must be disclosed in your listing.
Where do the dogs sleep ? What time do they get up and go to bed ?
Can you offer use of a car since the sit isn’t close to public transport and the shops are a 45 min drive away ?
What is there for the sitter to do / visit in the area?
You state that the dogs have separation anxiety- how is this manifest how would this impact on the sitter?
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Not really. THS does not provide statistics about what proportion of listings do not attract applicants, but I see lots of sits with the “low-applications” label. And then there are periods like the December holidays when demand exceeds the supply.
Hi. Thank you for your incite. I don’t know how to change the picture from my kitchen to the dogs. I just put pictures in where they asked for them. The picture with our two vehicles, was just to show that it is a two car garage. So the sitter could park their vehicle there. Okay, I need better wording for that. Thank you. I will change the two hours to four hours. I did write that they don’t travel well. I’ll be more specific. I was worried about that if I wrote too much, people wouldn’t read it thinking this is really long.
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Another thing to note here is that your sit is only 4 days long - many sitters choose sits with a minimum of at least a week, to give them adequate time to see a new place. For a 4 day sit with dogs with separation anxiety who can’t be left for long, plus it seems to be in a pretty rural area not near amenities, many would see this as too hard/impractical and skip the listing. In all honesty, unless your sit can offer something really exciting or special for sitters, I would really suggest looking into paid local sitters or services as a backup plan here. Short sits like this are often a deal-breaker, because it’s just too much hassle/work to settle in, get acquainted with a pet, learn their routine, then pack up, clean up & leave all within a few days.
Just a thought, but I do wish you the best of luck with THS!
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Thanks, Nagy26, for your honesty. I figured it was a long shot, but was being hopeful. There aren’t any house/pet sitters around here; that’s why I thought I’d try here. I’ll keep looking. Have a great day. 
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One thing you could consider is offering for a sitter to stay a few days before & after the sit so they have time to see the area? Granted, this won’t be for everyone, but some may see it as an opportunity and would love to stay longer if there’s interesting things in the area.
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I would say for new sitters just a few days could also be ideal. If the travel time wasn’t to long, or they could use it to fill a gap.
But I do agree on several of the points here. A sitter would like to know how do I get there, where to sleep, how do I get groceries, what exactly am I supposed to do and what possibilities are there for me. If I lack information I would usually not ask for that information, I would move along.
If you see that there could be obstacles, there could also be possibilities, depending on what the hurdle is. «We have parking for a car», «we have a bike you can borrow», «we have a good busline», or «our local restaurant welcome pets/ you can get take outs», «we’d be happy to fill the fridge for you/ take you to the grocery store», « Benjy cannot be left alone, but will be happy to go with you walking/ bus/car», «we have good wifi and a good office space if you would like to work».
What is appealing in your listing and for what sort of people? Singles, couples, families, digital nomads.
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Dogagilityfan, have you tried Rover?
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You might look for trades with other folks. If there are no pet sitters in your area, presumably other people would have the same needs. You could check via Nextdoor, local Facebook groups or such. Or maybe post via churches or other groups.
Unfortunately, some homes by their nature are in less desirable areas for travelers, even though they might be fine to live in.
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Thanks, everyone. I have more work to do. I also think I need to get on the laptop, because I don’t think I can make some of these changes (like the pictures) on my phone.
Many good suggestions here, I love that you are open to improving your listing.
The photos of your dogs are great, start with one of those. My two cents would be to have only one of the dogs in each photo of the “meet the pets” category. So one for Milo and one for Bella. The one of Milo by the pink flowers is perfect, and Bella looks like a model on the armchair. 
To be specified: What breed is Bella? And what does her “pill” do?
I’m assuming you can play with the photos’ positioning with the ‘Edit’ icon. Also, you don’t really need 2 photos of the living room.
I am very familiar with your area. You have to look at it from a tourist’s perspective. There are tons of attractive things around there. Mention things to do in Wausau or Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls. There are dog parks, zoos, Leinie’s Lodge. You are surrounded by award winning cheese factories (LaGranders even providers cheese curds to Culver’s), wineries, Mennonite stores and greenhouses, The Chippewa Valley Produce auction, the charm of Amish horse and buggies going by on a daily basis……need I say more? The list goes on and on. The beauty and bounty of lush green dairyland is your ace in the hole.
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Looks like a beautiful area. I did two housesits in Wisconsin earlier this year but personally I chose sits that were 10 days or longer. 4 days isn’t quite long enough for me personally but there are different strokes for different folks. Good luck.