Hey guys,
I’m about to welcome my first sitter in one week. She’s staying 4 days for my 4 year old Maltese.
I’m going to make sure the fridge and freezer is full of food and also fresh fruit and veggies, and the supermarket is only 2 kilometers away and she has my car.
I’ve also put her up in a lovely hotel for the first night as we leave early in the morning and I wanted her to come meet us and the dog the day before we go.
We’ve been messaging each other frequently and answering her questions.
I’ll leave a manual of the house and dog personality.
Is there anything else I should be doing?
I want to make sure she’s super happy and has a lovely time. Any advise from pet parents welcome.
(I’m a guesthouse owner with a really high rating on a popular website, lol , yes, I like making sure people are comfortable and happy)
You sound like a great and well prepared HO, well done! The only thing I would note here is that although that’s a nice gesture and you certainly mean well, it is never expected that you provide the sitter with any food. To be honest, many sitters prefer that the fridge is empty for them to fill with their own food, and THS themselves recommend that a HO clears out the fridge & makes space in the food cupboard for a sitter. There are many threads here on the forum that already exist about food for sitters, just use the search bar to find them. Maybe communicate with the sitter and ask what she’d prefer? Some people have food allergies or preferences and would really rather just get their own food. There is also a checklist for HO’s that you can view here:
Blimey Shirls…….filling the fridge and freezer? You’re going to give the rest of us a lot to live up to!
We had our first sitters in April this year and although I’d left fresh salad and stuff, none was touched! I did say to help themselves to anything but nothing really was touched and I came home to unusable fresh goods. You sound amazing though.
You do sound amazing @Shirls what a lucky sitter! We love food being left but not all sitters do, maybe just check with her. Other than that, best of luck to you and your pup. #jammysitter
Very organised and thoughtful @Shirls. Like others, we tend to be self-sufficient and bring most of our food.
Have you set up an account and worked out details with your vet and sitter should there be an emergency visit needed for your Maltese?
I doubt “most”. People will want some empty space, of course.
For a sit of only four days, it is no problem when perishables that one did not like (or did not have the time to eat) are still there at the end of the sit.
For a longer stay, I liked choosing my food from street vendors, takeaways etc, and I felt a bit pushed to cook with the food that the fridge had been stocked with for me. So I put about half of it in the freezer (like the HO had suggested that I was welcome to do).
Leave her plenty of cloths to clean under the sink… we carry around spares in our car because most HO’s don’t leave enough to clean a whole place, as a guesthouse owner you know how much easier your life is when you’ve plenty of cloths to make things easier.
Most, many or some, I am sure her sitters will appreciate the gesture.
In my case, I love arriving and finding some milk, many biscuits and a lot of coffee in the fridge/cupboards. Like you, I prefer to choose my own food for longer stays.
You’ve probably got this covered too, but please make sure there is wardrobe and drawer space for the sitters clothes. We have experienced ‘no space’ a couple of times.
Oh I’ve plenty there and an room full of just cleaning products, but it’s only 4 days and I’ve got my cleaner coming the day before she comes so I hope she doesn’t need to clean anything and just enjoys
Thanks for the advise. She did say in a message she was bringing frozen pizza etc and I told her please don’t, as we have a deep freeze in the barn full of every kind of food and pizza😂
I won’t leave the fridge empty as I’ve a lot of jars and condiments in there. She can leave what she doesn’t eat. It’s only 4 days and we will eat it
Thanks again
, yes, I like making sure people are comfortable and happy)
for home host of 2024 goes to…
