I did not write that some sitters will not be there with the owners if they could arrange that, maybe it is possible if discussed but here is an extract of the Terms & conditions page: Terms & Conditions | TrustedHousesitters.com
5.2.13. ensure your home is vacated for a Sitter throughout the duration of the Sit, and that no third parties will interfere with the Sitter’s enjoyment of your property;
Of course anyone is free to do otherwise but if something wrong happens then it is the owner’s responibity, right? So the examples you gave if applied are simply in disrespect of those rules unless I don’t understand them well
Now we can argue that the duration will start few days after the sitter has arrived but then it is just a way around to arrange the situation and the dates will still need to change according to that situation.
Yes the sit dates are generally listed for sole occupancy and the sitter may arrive as a guest the day before the sit officially begins. I see no issue with this.
Also 3rd parties visiting the home like cleaners/gardeners can be agreed with sitters.
I think maybe English isn’t your 1st language so there’s some nuanced comprehension issues being caused here.
I fully agree with you. I have a similar issue. My solution is to only try accepting local sitters who are willing and available to drop by atleast a week before I leave and then thereafter I have a few telephone conversation and even then it’s not always been a success.
It drive me mad that I put all the effort without AI to complete the welcome guide and send all relevant information well before so that the potential sitter have the time to go through it and ask questions but claim they do and then while I’m away I get ridiculous questions that are very clearly answered in the guide.
I always wish to have my cats interact with the sitter esp if I’m away for long periods of time. Not all sitters are equal.
It does seem like THS may not be the exact model to meet the needs of some pet owners.
There just aren’t many people sitting around hoping to be invited to provide regular free labor (plus an interview & orientation visit) in their own home towns, where most already have perfectly lovely homes & families they could spend their time with instead.
Fortunately, there are a number of paid options out there for the kind of service you seem to be looking for. Have you tried Rover? They offer local sitters who would be available to come on your schedule for a pre-sit greeting/interview, and I’m sure you could also book them for the additional time you need to thoroughly review your requirements, so you wouldn’t have to put so much effort to document your pet & home’s needs.
For reference, THS is really more of an “equal exchange system,” where sitters are offering to provide care for your pet because they are traveling, & they receive the benefit of being a guest in your home in return for that service. They aren’t paid by THS, and in fact they pay a similar annual subscription fee to participate in the program themselves.
Wish both you and the OP @service the best of luck.
Occasionally the WG provides ambiguous information so although the Host believes they’ve made something clear, that’s because they know the history/context for the information.
Example:
The Host: helpfully describes the dog as loving ducks.
The Sitter: may not realise the potential consequences of this statement if on a beach……the dog subsequently chased after ducks on a beach and crossing over a barrier of rock pools too far away for the sitters to easily retrieve the dog.
Missing information: occasionally ducks may be present on the local beaches at low tide.
New sitters: now avoids walking the dog off leash at low tide if they see ducks.
As opposed to people like us who only sit in order to be nearby a relative and not have to stay in their house all of the time. We’re not tourists we’re visitors…and there’s a decent number of us in THS.
You’re still travelling for fun though. It’s just for family fun not sightseeing fun. There aren’t many people on THS who simply sit for the love of pets and nothing else. It would make no sense as it’s not remunerated and costs to be a sitter. #funtravels
Actually that’s not entirely correct, I visit my elderly uncle aged 90 to sort out his admin/medical stuff (I wouldn’t say it was ‘fun’) and so I sit nearby as he only has a one bed retirement place. I also sit cats near to my home to get my cat fix as hubby is allergic.
All sorts of sitters, complex reasons…. no one type of traveller.
I think a person would be a fool who would say, let me sit for free taking good care of your pets which is a lot of work if done right, do a deep cleaning on your house before I leave and maybe leave it cleaner than how I found it, have no interest of getting anything in exchange except staying in a nice house which may not be as nice as the one I live in at home. And on top of that I will pay the $200 plus membership per year. With the attitude of the host you will see even less sitters on THS. And people wonder why there is a shortage.
Sorry to ‘barge in’ but there’s something that slightly bothers me every time I read it: sitters come for free - which is completely true but: they live in the accommodation for free too. Clearly HO in highly desirable locations get lots of applications while just ‘ordinary’ location have it more difficult. But in both cases the sitter doesn’t have to rent which can be horrendous expensive. I live in a so called ‘cottage country’ in Ontario but not the best area. To rent here for a ‘vacation’ would set a person back $300 a day and more. So I think both sides have equal benefits. BTW, I try to make our place as pleasant as possible for sitters even so we have a huge property to take care of so that sitters have the feeling they are on a vacation too!
This point gets litigated regularly on the forums so I’m not going to go back over all of it here. Suffice it to say that while we all agree it’s an exchange, calling it “equal” is a bit simplistic, if not mildly naive. Certainly some sits are more equal than others, and it’s fair to say most sitters wouldn’t do this if they didn’t enjoy some aspect of it. But ultimately, there are costs we incur to get to a sit in order to “work” on our vacations.
Pet owners, on the other hand, would still be required to provide lodging to any in-home sitter they engaged — even if they had to pay that sitter the going daily petsit rate on top.
Personally, I’m enjoying my time as a petsitter quite a lot — but I am pretty selective with the sits I choose. I also find it necessary to take breaks from sitting while traveling, so I can include some non-working time to truly relax & enjoy my trip.
I’m not sure if this was what you really meant to say; taking care of a huge property doesn’t sound like much of a vacation. Although I might be persuaded if it had resort-like amenities, I’d have to weigh how much time & energy I’d have left over to enjoy them!
I have done a number of sits where I stay overnight in the homeowners home with them the night before they leave. 3 of those have been overseas, in a different country than myself. I’ve enjoyed spending time with all of those folks. It puts them at ease as well. If I were traveling outside my country and the homeowner wanted me to come early, but didnt want me to stay in their home with them, I would get a hotel in the area for a night. You just have to work those things out with the person you feel might be a good fit.
I know what you mean. Where I live it costs more to rent a VRBO or Air BNB per day than it costs to pay a sitter per day. I love this website and I’ve had nothing but outstanding sitters. Peace of mind to have someone stay in my home and hang out with my dog.
I keep my responsibilities at an almost bare minimum with my only concern is my dog. I’m very lucky he does NOT have separation anxiety and can be left alone all day so the sitters can enjoy my neck of the woods.
And I agree on all counts. It’s all about a mutual exchange from both sides. Free accommodation for free pet care. I think the point I was trying to make with this particular OP (who wasn’t receiving applications) was “put yourself in the shoes of the sitter” and then position your home & sit for them as a sit they’d want to apply to as you could be in a competitive area and there seem to be more sits than sitters right now. Nothing more. It just needs to be win win. #nicelybalanced
In the context of this post @Canadagoose the OP would like sitters to come and meet the pets in advance of the sit and prior to confirmation. In that case the sitter would be coming for free to the pre meet, not staying in the property, and then might not get the opportunity to sit if the host decides against them.
This is definitely better suited to a paid sitting service, where the host could be charged for the sitter’s time for the pre meet.
