Over-the-top HO postings

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
1

I hope this doesn’t violate any forum rules, please remove if so and accept my apologies.

I have seen this house/pet a few times in a fairly desirable city location, but am I the only one who is completely put off by the marketing speak and what sound like micromanaging tendencies?

‘’ Taking Care of X: Your Dog-Sitting Adventure!

X, our beloved four-legged family member, will be your cheerful companion during your stay. She’s smart, communicative, and the star of our world. Here’s the lowdown on her daily routine:

Rise and Shine: Our day starts at 8 a.m. X gets to answer nature’s call in the garden, and she’s quick about it!

Morning Feast: (9:00 AM - 9:30 AM), it’s breakfast time, followed by a delightful 40-minute to an hour-long walk in her favorite park (we’ll share the location). X adores this routine!

Stay Hydrated: After her walk, make sure there’s fresh water ready. She’s not a big runner, but she loves the fresh air and sights, and her water bowl is her go-to pit stop.

Midday Siesta: Post the morning activities, X loves her beauty sleep.

Afternoon Feast (1:00 PM - 2:30 PM) is X’s lunchtime extravaganza! She’s all about enjoying her woof-licious lunch.

Playtime: She’s all about fun and games after her meal. Her favorite combo? A walk, food, and playtime with her toys. She’ll bring them to you!

Stroll: At 5-6 p.m., she’s up for another short walk right across the house in the park.

Dinner Time: Her dinnertime is between 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. She’ll enjoy her meal and want to play with her ball once more.

Flexibility: We’re open to adjustments if you need to change her schedule, except for her walks. She’s a breed that needs a minimum of 1.5 hours of activity, including playtime.

Diet Details: X is on a freshly cooked food diet (no kibbles). It takes just 20 minutes to prepare her meal, and we’ll have the ingredients ready in the freezer. We can chat more about this in detail. She gets her vitamins once a day after a meal.

Crucial: X is our timekeeper – she’s never solo for over 4 to 5 hours straight. If you foresee a “pawsitively” lengthy absence, shoot me a message, and I’ll concoct a grand master plan for her amusement!

Green Thumb Alert: We have three pots that need watering once a week.

Thanks for taking care of our star, X. Enjoy your dog-sitting adventure!‘’

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2

Well, at least the Owner is trying to keep our interest for the lengthy, detailed dog’s routine!

All of the hype makes it sound like MORE than it really is, which is a disadvantage of this approach.

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3

I have seen the listing and it doesn’t appeal to me regardless of the location.
At least all the detail is there to enable a sitter to make an informed decision to apply or not.

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4

Just reading that stressed me out. I wonder how people have jobs and lives around their dogs when I read some of the schedules. Each to their own…

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5

I read one listing that was also very long - with separate paragraphs for “ hydrating “ , feeding and exercising the pets according to their usual routine ( but didn’t actually state what that was )

It read to me as if it was AI generated and it didn’t cover the information that you do need to know like how long the dogs can be left alone for , where they sleep or that they are registered with a vet .

It also said that the sitter must provide a back up plan for the owner incase they ( the sitter ) needed to leave for an emergency …

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6

It looks like they’ve tried to word it in a more entertaining way, without realising that simplicity is best when it comes to the responsibilities side of things.

We prefer to be able to see at a glance how long the dog walks are, garden duties etc, without all the additional words cluttering up the important info, so we can see straight away if we are the right fit.

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7

Well that is a bit maddening.
As a sitter, my backup plan is to initiate the HO’s backup plan

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8

Although I see what they are trying to do, it sounds like a full time job that should be a paid sit, in my opinion? Why one would go (drive?) 40 min to go for a walk on a daily basis is beyond me. I don’t do fresh food for dogs. Tried it with one of my own and found it a hazzle. :innocent:

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9

It’s a little tongue in cheek & original but still sounds incredibly demanding & as if the sitter is on call. The HO works in marketing (is my guess) but no way José. #devilsinthedetails

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10

I avoid anything where it sounds like the dog is in charge/their baby. Pet owners should love their pets, they are ‘part of the family’, but they’re still dogs. Anything that hints more than that - I assume the dog is an untrained nightmare.

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11

I appreciate knowing that the host has unreasonable expectations, so I can avoid their sit. :laughing:

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12

TL;DR
(Apparently my post has to be at least 10 characters)

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13

They put through chat gpt that’s why it sounds weird

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14

Anyone can use AI. The key thing is, does the user have common sense and empathy for whomever they’re writing for. If not, AI is like other tools — abused in the wrong hands.

Like if a host put on a sitter hat out of empathy, they’d realize that sitters want key info delivered as easily and quickly understood as possible, not dressed up with a bunch of fluff.

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15

I use chatgpt for my applications now. I have some response templates (cats, dogs, mixed etc) and then get chatgpt to add the relevant pet names and ensure subject-verb agreement.

I’m perfectly capably of doing it myself, but chatgpt does it in one second with no errors.

(I completely agree about the ‘fluff’ obscuring the important details in the dogsit I posted.)

16

I agree there’s a lot of unnecessary fluff that probably is meant to make it sound funny but it’s quite revealing.
There is also important information about sleeping habits missing. But to me, more than enough to know the dog rules the house or at least the sitter because I find it hard to believe that someone with a job would keep that daily schedule.
It mentions the possibility of letting the dog for 4 to 5 hours but there’s nothing that long between activities, plus cooking meals.
But it’s great to know all that so we can avoid the sit.

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17

It’s best to read between the lines and take in the facts. If we feel it isn’t a good fit, we simply don’t apply.

If you are a HO not getting your sits filled, rethink your responsibility expectations, look closely at your images, and try to put yourself in the sitters shoes.

We love pet sitting, however, we read every word, look at all the images (and are cautious if images are excluded). We also read reviews carefully before we apply.

We want to make sure we can meet or exceed the expectations of the home owner.

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18

You nailed it.

Also, exceeding expectations should be something done on a voluntary basis and depending on the situation and the relationship we build with owners and pets, not as a result of “expectations building up” during the process. These “minute by minute” schedules make me think that the owner might come up with something else to do in the half hour left between “lunchtime extravaganza” and playtime.

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19

I think it means the walk should be between 40 minutes to an hour in duration.

The listing is far too woolly and infers a demanding and potentially complicated host. We wouldn’t apply.

20

@Garfield I read that as the walk being 40-60 mins