Hello. We are long term THS pet parents currently with two dogs and a cat. About 30 percent of the time we only need a sitter for the cat (we take the dogs with us in our RV). But then the other times we need a sitter for all three animals.
As you can imagine, the requirements are vastly different. For the 2-90lb dogs we require 2 people or one who is very experienced with multiple large dogs. I’ve gotten good at changing the profile back and forth. And we clarify up front that although there are dogs in some of the photos, the sit would be only for the cat.
However just today our August confirmed sitter for all three pets looked at our profile and thought it was now for only the cat. I can understand their confusion but assured them that the sit they agreed to is for all three pets.
So, my question is, should I (can I) create a second profile? I don’t want to pay for two profiles. Is THS working on a way to solve this dilemma? Suggestions are welcome.
August - all three, confirmed sitter
September - just the cat, confirmed sitter
October - all three, confirmed sitter
November - just the cat, dates on pause, but that is our current profile
You would need a second account in order to have two separate profiles. Why don’t you spell it out clearly with dates and corresponding pets right at the beginning of your listing just like you mentioned above. And ask applicants to please mention the names of the pets they are applying to care for in their application to make sure you’re on the same page.
For each application the responsibilities are clear. And applicants are cleared for the correct sit. The confusion is when a confirmed applicant goes into my profile, and the profile has changed.
I agree that THS needs to provide a way to differentiate information. For example, we have agreed to a sit for two dogs, but found at the time of arrival that there were now three. The profile reflected this and there is no information to show what the profile showed at the time of the sit agreement. I’d like to see THS provide an automatic PDF of the sit profile information to both parties (all info tabs), with the agree to sit function. That way the exact words of the sit at the time of agreement are set. The “View Listing” link on your sit list should link directly to this PDF of historical information rather than current.
I think this is a great topic! We need two separate profiles because we are homeowners with two very different homes! I’m not sure how to accomplish this. It’s really time consuming to recreate the profiles, depending on where we need help from a sitter. Pictures have to be re-uploaded, and captions redone. Obviously the entire description of the sit has to be redone. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the Welcome Guide! Does anyone have any ‘life hacks’ about how to actually handle a situation like this? I am sure somebody out there must have run up against this before.
Yes! And same for homeowners who confirm A sitter, and then a short time before the sit, are approached with questions about bringing a family member, pet, or friend…
I would just clarify what the sitter needs to do for what sit in the welcome section, which is at the top of your profile, and then make sure on your initial messages, that it’s clear they know what you requested for. I’d also put in bold “PLEASE REVIEW NEEDS OF XYZ SIT CLEARLY” in that welcome section or something to that effect.
You can also reiterate elsewhere in your profile that which animals need coverage will vary from sit to sit (I’d put this NOTE or DISCLAIMER in the responsibilities section)
I would just make sure on your main profile, that you clearly say that some sits are for all three pets, and some will just be for the cat - and when someone does express interest in a sit that you have advertised, be very clear in your message response that this is for ALL THREE pets (and further clarify by saying 2 dogs and one cat) or if it is just for ONE PET - your cat. You can further clarify in that initial message that the sit would be best for TWO PEOPLE…etc. While it may come across as abrupt to use the all caps, I’m sure it will in the long run help to alleviate any questions right from the get go for applicants as there is generally an initial message or two that will happen.
My ‘life hack’ for this would be creating a file on your computer with a Word document for both houses with all the information and text THS listing includes, photos etc. Then you could just copy+ paste when ever you need to change the listing info.
Also I would not use the welcome guide on the site, but create my own PDF for both places and use that.
