I recently sat for some HO’s who were on the cusp of using paid pet care as it was getting close to their holiday and they hadn’t had any applicants. I also get a fair few messages from HO struggling to find anyone, which I’d do if it was paid, but I’m uninterested in doing unpaid.
I’ve been doing free pet care for years, and I’ve recently seen ads from paid pet care services in my city (London) ….I’m looking for work at the moment, and I’m wondering how much people use or consider these services? I know lots of flexible work sites get you to sign but it ends up being a waste of time and you never hear from them again.
I would love to hear from HO about their thoughts when their dates get close, and they still don’t have care arrange for their pet. Do you consider paid pet care? What do you think about paying sitters or people who come to look after your pets?
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We joined a couple of paid pet care sites at the end of November 2025. From what I can tell from the owners on those sites is that it’s an entirely different audience to those that join THS.
Some owners hadn’t heard of THS, and with others, THS didn’t make sense for the amount of nights they are away from their pets each year.
Given that, I see things with a different perspective to yourself. The owners on THS that end up paying for pet care if their sit isn’t filled isn’t my audience at all, because we’d already be booked up by the time they’d start looking for a paid sitter.
We joined the other sites to help with 3 things:
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To fill the odd single night sit in between THS longer sits, because we would rarely do a THS sit for just 1 night, as it’s too much hassle/fuel costs to do for free.
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For paid work during part of July and August, because if we happen to end up with THS voids at that time, it is incredibly costly to pay for hotels for ourselves. Plus… why not, we’d get a premium rate at that time of year.
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For multiple pets, we’ll happily sit 2 dogs via THS, or 3 cats, but it’s a much greater consideration if it’s more than that. Whereas if it’s a paid sit, we wouldn’t have any problem then.
The one thing I really struggle with is the mentality/opinion of some full time paid sitters on social media sites towards THS etc, instead of just realising it’s a different audience, THS is an audience that knows there’s a different way of doing things, where it’s a win-win for everyone and everypet.
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@RR12345, as housesitters then we are not listed on paid pet care platforms. That said, a few pet parents have kindly voluntarily offered us significant payments at end of housesit that was equal to the value of dog kennel fees. And we were recently approached by a pet parent - personal referral, not THS - in regards paid housesitting in a premium location, where cost is likely immaterial to the pet parent.
That said, during our time on THS Forum then we have been amazed at the diversity within housesitting community - in terms of personal situations; THS usage; and housesit preferences. There is no ‘right’ approach, usage or listing - rather there is best-fit for different niches.
We have met multiple people that perform paid pet care duties. We observe that most people that offer paid pet care services, through other platform(s), tend to have a fixed location and housesit on an opportunistic basis within reasonable proximity to their home. Or we’ve met some people that offer paid housesitting opportunistically on high demand times - eg. Christmas period.
We are fortunate to housesit to seek positive experience. And to travel to interesting and/or purposeful places. And to prefer longer duration sits.
A key component of our housesit journey has been experimenting. We learn over time. Guess you could list on a paid platform for a set duration; offer services; see quantity, quality of sits and your related joy; and then assess future action steps.
I recently joined the FB group Pet Sitting in Europe, and it wasn’t clear if the sitters were paid or unpaid so I started a thread by asking that question. Even though I didn’t say I was looking for a sitter at that time, I received a bunch of messages from sitters and I’m currently finalizing sit dates with a member from that group for next March.
That group is a mix of paid and unpaid sitters, seems like many more unpaid from those replied to my post or solicited me. A few paid sitters were rather pushy and tried to make the case that paid sitters are better. I wasn’t buying it, there are just too many free pet sitters who are more than happy to do an exchange for a waterview property in Greece.
We paid thousands per month on paid sitting before we were made aware of THS and other nonpaid sitter platforms and now that we know, we’ll never do it any other way unless we have no other choice but that seems to be rather unlikely given the desirability of our sit.
I used paid pet care services all the time, but I would not host a THS travelling sitter as a paid sitter. The two are different in my mind. THS is an exchange, travel for reasonable home/pet care.
If I paid a sitter, it would be a local one (plenty to choose from in my area) because 1) I want to keep paid work in my local community and 2) I don’t have to worry about reviews, etc. It’s a paid ‘job’, I already have a local network that know us and our dog and would take this ‘job’ no problem. The going rate is $80 per day and includes total care as specified, so mid day walks/potty breaks etc. The paid sitters are free to head out for 4-6 hours a day as agreed, but we have exterior cameras on as well as one interior cameras near the cat feeder.
So in my opinion, paid sitting is more local (yes there are some sitters that have a network already - but that is usually repeat sits as long as it suits both parties. Most HO dont really travel forever into their very senior years (like 80+, and nor do sitters either) and HO is more specific about pet care.
No way would I ‘hire’ a paid sitter travelling in from somewhere else as I risk their travel going sideways. Also local sitters are easier, no need to ‘host’ dinners with them and they know the area well so no need to entertain them either.
And a big no to asking HO with close dates to pay. I can afford to travel, of course I have a plan B in place if no suitable sitters apply. I would not pay a THS sitter if my dates we ‘close’ and they asked for pay. I would remove the listing and report the sitter who asked for pay at a late date.
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How would that even work exactly. A sitter can’t message a host without applying at which time they can write a message. “Hi, I’m applying for your sit that is due to begin next week and since you’re desperate and don’t have any other options my going rate of $80 per day will apply”.
I don’t think that will go over very well.
Exactly, extortion! Not okay, so if that is what OP is asking they will end up reported for sure.
As I’ve already said, and others as well, paid sitting is a different world altogether.
It isn’t ‘I have a hundred 5* reviews so now I’ll keep traveling but charge homeowners’ and it’s definitely not ‘these HO are close to their travel dates so now I will extort them for money’.
Neither of those things!
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