There is no problem when a pair of sitters uses this workaround. And couple-sitters are not a problem for the pet care.
The only problem would be if the same person did this. The incentive for that would not be great. And the identity check means that such a person would need to apply in someone else’s name.
Anyway: often better to have a second account at a competing website.
Agree. I have a short sit that ends on a Sunday and wanted to apply for a long-term one where the HO said in the listing that their dates are flexible but the proposed start date overlaps. I can’t contact them though. Frustrating.
According to THS this should actually be possible, as they’ve said that overlap up to 1 day (e.g. leaving Sunday, starting new sit on Sunday) is allowed… Of course, that is if your current sit also OFFICIALLY ends on Sunday, not on say Tuesday…
Fabulous idea!! Many HO’s can easily change their dates by a day or two to get a wonderful match. I have had many a sit be switched by a day or two prior to all this in order to work out a sit…
Instead, people are going away in some cases without a sitter.
I think letting a host decide if they would like to hear from applicants EVEN if dates are off by a couple of days is perfect solution!
The other HOs won’t like it when “their” confirmed sitter keeps applying to such sits.
I agree @Jomox27 as this is what THS promises sitters in the T&Cs
“3.2. The services we provide for Sitters are:
3.2.5. the ability to communicate with Pet Parents via the Platform’s messaging service”
and it’s discussed on another thread here :
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/contacting-homeowners-via-ths
THS will be making double the membership with two accounts so I imagine they’ll turn a blind eye to how some have solved the issue. I agree all we need is to be able to start a conversation to see if there’s flexibility.
Well said! Feels like they’re overstepping their reach here. It’s insulting and infuriating!
After 8 mostly happy years using THS I’m going to look for some new alternatives now…
Yep, I think couples are or could more easily be an exception to this rule for obvious reasons. Makes no sense.
Maybe aits can also have times, not just dates.
Not only does this not leave sitters waiting until the very, very late hours of the night when HO stated late afternoon as return time, it may also assist in no overlap, but same day booking option. Ie if you complete your sit at 10 am and only want to atart another at say 5pm, thats absolutely feasible
@Annekevn timings should always be discussed and agreed before confirming the sit. Back up plans should be in place incase of delays. Situations like you describe should then not occur.
Same day sit changes are already allowed- we do them frequently. Leave one sit in the morning start another later that day.
We were stuck in Australia for 10 months during covid lockdowns and started using AussieHousesitters.com.au for all our petsits there as that is where the majority of pet sit listings were (versus THS). THS just didn’t have the Aus listings for us to consider. We love THS for all other countries though.
@BillK We too were stuck in Australia for 5 months in the first lockdown- fortunately in Perth where I think we were less affected than elsewhere in Aus. We had booked 3 months of back to back sits in WA- did the first one and then - lockdown- 1 week after arrival in Aus- and all the rest cancelled. For the first 3 months we were restricted to a 100km radius of Perth which felt surreal in such a huge state! A guardian angel loaned us a beach house for those 3 months (forever in their debt 
- that’s a whole other story!) and then when local restrictions lifted in WA people started moving north to the sun as winter approached and we picked up back to back sits (all through THS) for 2 more months till we were able to leave the country. What an adventure! 
Wow! So interesting! We got caught in the Darwin lockdown, but made our way down to Perth when the border between the NT and WA opened up. And we had sits from Boddington up to Jurien, and a few around suburban Perth. And then we started sits in rural Queensland. A few THS sits, but most were AussieHousesitters. Like you, WA was so good to us! Thanks so much for sharing that with us!
Combined member coming in hot here. I cannot look at MY OWN LISTING without being told that I am busy with another sit.
Email to MS to follow, but…why?
I am attempting to apply for a sit starting same day I leave another (29 Aug) and am being blocked as an overlapping sit. Does this mean I can no longer take back to back sits? I have been able to until now.
No @Wildcolonialgirl that shouldn’t happen - what message are you getting ?
Help article says back-to-back sits are permitted
“We know that many sitters confirm back-to-back sits, and so to ensure these members are not negatively impacted, sitters will still be able to apply/confirm sits that end and start on the same day.”
Have you tried live chat 
with member services (a human not the chatbot )
I’ve always been able to until now. The message says my application can’t be sent either because the sit is no longer available or the dates overlap, neither of which is the case. Very annoying.
| Silversitters
19 April |
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No @Wildcolonialgirl that shouldn’t happen - what message are you getting ?
Help article says back-to-back sits are permitted
“We know that many sitters confirm back-to-back sits, and so to ensure these members are not negatively impacted, sitters will still be able to apply/confirm sits that end and start on the same day.”
In short, you can’t book more than one sit on the same dates. If you have a confirmed sit and attempt to apply for a sit with overlapping dates or the same dates, you’ll see the message on the lis…
Have you tried live chat with member services (a human not the chatbot )
I asked Frankie bot for a human but still waiting for one. However … miracle of miracles, on my 4th attempt my application went through. I give up trying to understand the many glitches with thr THS app…
Good point that favourites SHOULD be only visible to the user who marked “favourite”. It sounds like we are both using it similarly: to mark prospective sits, even if current dates aren’t the ones we are interested in.