What do you do if a home owner stops communicating, while you are sitting for them? Does THS help?
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Hello, @andrealovesanimals That is a great question are you currently in that situation?
If they have not mentioned that they may be out of contact and you need to contact them,
Membership Service can help as they can try and contact the owner via the details they have on file.
I will DM you and send your detail to the team.
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I haven’t heard from them for a couple of days. I don’t think that I need any help yet, just wanted to know if help was available in case they stay silent for much longer or if there is an emergency. Thanks , I feel a bit reassured already
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You can reach out to them at support@trustedhousesitters.com
I know that our current owners are in Africa and said they may be hard to reach at times, maybe this is a similar case? If not then keep trying to contact them via the methods you have and feel free to reach out to the Membership Service team if you have any further concerns or need help.
Other than that I hope your sit is going well 
Why would you expect the owner to communicate with you everyday unless you are having problems on the sit?
You have already stated there are no problems …… yet. These people have entrusted you with their most precious possessions - their pets and their property so they must have the confidence that you can deal with them without being micromanaged. Take it us a compliment, I always do, and get out there and enjoy yourself in a new environment with some fantastic pets. And let them enjoy their vacation.
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If they had been communicating regularly and then just stopped out of the blue, I might be worried for their safety.
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I didn’t say that I wanted communication every day, in fact I don’t need that at all, but I want to have someone to call in case of an emergency. In future I’ll talk about this with owners beforehand. It has never happened before however. People were always pretty quick to respond if I had a question and that’s the way I would be if someone was looking after my house and my pets.
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I ask about this when beginning a sit. Some people want me to send a daily “all is well” update and others are more like “I’m on vacation, don’t bother me unless there is a problem.” Most are somewhere in between. 
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It would really depend on the individual owners – and what @mars said: if there was a change in communication pattern it could be cause for concern. Did they say what they wanted before they left?
On my first sit I asked if she wanted updates and she kind of shrugged and said nonchalantly, something like “not really”. After a week or so I sent a photo of me & the cat just to say all was well, because I would want an update if roles were reversed. She was happy with that.
I’ve seen sits advertised where they state they want daily updates. Others don’t mention. Good to have clear directions about what they want before they leave.
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As a pet parent I can hear the concern in your message. And I would never not respond to my sitter. However their Welcome Guide should list Emergency contacts (mine has 3 - next door, 15 minutes away and 30 minutes away). Hope this helps.
@SandBee I didn’t receive a welcome guide, just a Pdf with some info, but it didn’t contain any emergency numbers.
Im future i’ll make sure to have one before I start a sit! This has taught me a lesson. I have heard from the owners now and thankfully they are alive and well. They just didn’t inform me that they’d be offline for about 4 days.
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@andrealovesanimals on the page with your sit there should be an icon to Read or Request a Welcome Guide. THS gives them a template to complete. Most of my sits have one but sometimes I have to request it.
@jcvbva Thanks, I’ve actually pressed that button a few times but don’t think I ever got a welcome guide as a result. To be honest I don’t mind that much if they give me the necessary info in other ways. One previous home owner sent me lots of videos to explain things AND left a long list of people to contact for help. Anyway, I think less than half of my sits so far have included a welcome guide. When they do fill it out, it’s great though!
Glancing at the replies that have come in,. I think this is actually a good topic because it reinforces the need for good communication expectations up front. I had a situation where I had to phone one morning regarding an issue with one of the dogs.They were really good about it and fortunately I was able to reach them.
When I have a sitter at my place, I leave pretty detailed instructions, including a signed, dated letter if they had to take a pet to a veterinarian. I don’t really have a welcome guide as such, but I have a lot of information that I email and leave a hard copy of, as well as pointing out which neighbors they can go to for house assistance. I also make it clear if I will be out of touch for a few days at a time, as that certainly can happen depending on where I’m traveling, otherwise I only expect communication a day or 2 into the sit, to confirm whether there’s any questions or concerns, and other than that maybe every 3 or 4 days.
I also make it clear to a potential sitter, before we agree to the sit, if it is one where I will not be available for a few days at a time because I realized not every sitter would be comfortable with that.
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