Pop-in Visits versus Sleeping Overnight

Whenever there are house/pet sits for pop-in visits over a short time period, I guess their audience would be limited to only local folks? There are very few but I always am curious as to who this appeals to.

I donā€™t think they are technically allowed on THS. I suggest you send a link of the sit to one one of the moderators.

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Yes, they appear sometimes. Even just 1 day sits. Some HOs might not have understood the concept of this site and THS staff can take a look if itā€™s against their policy.

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Hi @DMJ thank you for posting your question and as both @Kelownagurl & @Timmy have said these sit requests do appear on the site on occasions, however there is a minimum of one night for sits and no day care or drop in pet care.

If you do come across one that ā€œescapedā€ then as @Kelownagurl says you can DM the link to one of our team.

TrustedHousesitters pet care is all about one to one care and pets having the company of humans as if nothing has changed when their pet parents leave.

Having said that we do have local sits that regularly take place, my first sit was just 10 mins from my home and we advise new sitter members to start locally when possible as it really is the best way to get started.

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This really seems like people who usually book a drop in on a website like Rover.com trying to avoid paying for a service on there. I have had a few HOā€™s I contacted mention this was their alternative, and while they didnā€™t violate the terms or ethos of THS, I didnā€™t accept because it just felt too transactional.

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having agreed that THS does not condone visitors/overnight stays as part of the initial house sit understanding, if both HOs and sitters are amenable to having drop ins or longerterm visitors I am assuming that is ok?

wrong context i think? pop-in = a sitter thatā€™s not spending the night, not a guest of the sitter spending the night.

Sorry Liz, I should have clarified. I had meant short term sits of one day - I came across a listing and there was no overnight involved. :smile:

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It feels like there are so many owners that are requesting drop in visits, or even doggy daycare without allowing the sitter to stay the night. Reporting them does no good at all. Iā€™ve done that for all that I come across, and THS gets back to me saying ā€˜weā€™ve removed the listingā€™ but clearly havenā€™t.
I just saw one owner stating in her headline that she wants doggie daycare from 9am to 4pm while her husband is at work and she is out of town. No stay. Three feedings a day. Three walks, for a total of 3-12 miles a day!!! And over the holidays. I am baffled that someone would think they could get this for free, when Rover sitters charge a premium for daycare/constant care/ drop in services during this time. Yet THS wonā€™t address the issue. The current level of disregard for sitters on their end is disheartening.

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Hello @Harris2 feel free to DM me the listing link and I will send it to the relevant team for you. Thank you!

I saw the same thing now and it goes on for about 3 months!

Iā€™ve had several enquiries of this nature myself in the last year. I did report them all. One personā€™s account was suspended and the others remained.

One person was getting married in my city and wanted me to take care of their dog in my own home for a week and be fully available for them to drop in on me whenever they fancied seeing their dog.

Another was relocating to the UK and wanted me to look after their dog in my own home for almost 5 months.

Another wanted me to travel to the other side of my city each day at my own expense and entertain their dogs but they wanted me to leave each night at 5pm.

Obviously, it was a hard no every time.

Truly beggars belief! Some people have not got to grips with the fact that this is meant to to be a symbiotic, mutually beneficial arrangement. Thankfully, most people do get this but there are a percentage who just want to take the proverbial!

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Drop in visits are not allowed on THS. The whole point is the exchange ā€“ accomodations in ā€œuniqueā€ homes in return for pet/housesitting. Nobody wants to do ā€œfreeā€ dropins and Iā€™d be weary of such an offer from a sitter on the site.

I once had a sitter cancel my sit for ā€œhealth reasonsā€ and then offer to do paid drop-ins as they claimed that maybe short visits wouldnā€™t exacerbate their asthma. Hard no on that! In that case, I was able to find a THS sitter even though it was last minute. If I had to go with dropins, I would have paid a neighbor.

I honestly believe that some owners think their fee is going to pay a sitter or maybe they believe that sitters so love animals and miss having pets that it is an honor to sit for them. Whatever their beliefs, these sits should be reported and technically what is clearly needed is a ā€œreport this listingā€ and ā€œreport this profileā€ for stuff that is sketchy.

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Apart from whether such sits violate THS terms, I figure even if some people make such requests, no one would accept unless they got something they valued. I wonder whether thatā€™s happened.

Wow, chatsetchiens, we really need a shocked face emoji for the types of requests youā€™ve had! I do think it tends to be brand new owners/members that just donā€™t quite understand the concept.

@Maggie8k, maybe someone very new to the site that wants reviews? Iā€™ve seen a few listings that had appicants under those conditions, but I suspect that the applications were just other members letting them know that they were in violation.

Actually, none of these members who approached me were brand new to the site. As my uncle would say, they were ā€œchancersā€ very much looking to take as much as they could with zero reciprocity.

Yup, I was thinking along the same lines.

Wonder how fruitful such ā€œchancersā€ have been. I mean, someone would have to get value or theyā€™d be suckers, right?