First time Ive posted on the Community page however I have been a full time House Sitter for 2 years now.
So, here’s a thing.
I am professional dog trainer with 35 years experience. 10 Years Royal Air Force Police, 18 years Guide Dogs for the Blind and several years. I now own and am the CEO of a Technology company providing services for disabled people. House sitting became a thing for me during lockdown and I was enjoying it so much that I bought a motorhome and now split my time between house sit and motorhome.
The question is, and I understand that THS is a non payment service, whether I can put my extensive dog training skills into practice if asked to and whether changing for these services can be part of my house sitting offer.
As a dog trainer I can charge around £120.00 per hour but currently I am being asked to provide these services for free as part of a house sit.
Im open to discussion on this no matter your point of view.
.gavin.
Ps I haven’t actually charged anyone for this service up to now.
If it’s something you are qualified to do and therefore charge as a job, you shouldn’t be expected to do it for free when you sit. Looking after the pets etc is one thing, but being expected to do actual training and behavioural stuff in my opinion, is entirely different.
I think if you’re on Trusted Housesitters, people will be expecting a free exchange e.g. you watch their pets (but don’t train them) and in return you get a place to stay. You might find people a bit reluctant to then buy a service as it won’t be what they’re expecting.
What platform were you using before and what made you change your approach after two years? I.e now not being happy doing the free exchange.
It is very cheeky of a HO to expect you to train the dogs for free when you stay at their house. Would they ask a sitter who was an electrician to do free electrical work at the house?
Maybe downplay your dog training abilities in your profile, so this doesn’t happen. I wouldn’t immediately offer training for a fee when applying for a HS sit. However, if people do ask for training, I think it would be OK to charge a fee.
This is an exchange site where people housesit and care for animals in return for free accomodations. If HOs, based on your profile, are trying to get you in to train their animals, you should refuse those sits. Full stop. This isn’t about any “age old question.” It’s about boundaries. Don’t apply for sits where training sounds like an issue. If it comes up make it clear what your boundaries are. Don’t sit for dogs period if it comes to that. If people are seeing your profile and asking you to sit for them because you are trainer – all you have to do is politely refuse those sits.
Hi, Ive been on Trusted House Sitters for two years. But because of my dog experience I do get approached by folks who have more challenging pets. I have no problem with this. Im purely starting a chat around professional services.
The others have made good comments and I agree with all of them. I just want to add: if you had time up your sleeve and no other commitments, and if you wanted to, you could view it as ‘giving back’ for the betterment of one more dog. I have no doubt that it will come back to you in good karma. Especially if it’s a rescue, but of course not limited to.
If you are arranging this sit through TH, asking for money to be exchanged breaks your agreement to follow the terms and conditions of TH. This is not an arbitrary rule THS has, it’s their business model. TH charges a membership fee only. The way they operate globally is based on this. When anyone introduces charging for any services or accommodations, then the rules for how THS may operate in any particular country can change.
If you list your expertise with training on your profile with TH and it has been discussed with the owners, then they likely expect it for free because they know there’s no money exchanged. If you then say you want to charge a fee, they may report you and you could lose your membership. If it’s part of your profile and they say that’s why they chose you, would they then consider asking to be paid for accommodations because you are asking to be paid? Would it be okay for any sitter to ask to be paid for walking of the dogs? For any cleaning they do? The list is not short. You can see it’s not an age old question, but an age old answer. To me, it’s a no to any money being exchanged when you arrange a sit through TrustedHousesitters.
Please keep charging for dog training separated from THS. Nor do it for free with THS. If you agree to a sit with the terms of THS and a HO ask about dog training, refer them to your business page and negotiate that separately from THS.
You shouldnt be providing these services for free if you dont think they are a part of your regular duties as a house/pet sitter. If you are asked for something that you feels goes beyond pet sitting you might want to be prepared with rates and detailes. You might want to think about having a website or brochure with this information. This makes it clear that structured training is your business.
Beforr THS when we were house sitting we often did work for people whole we were sitting their pets - odd jobs and painting. We got paid for that stuff. It was a win fir everyone. We didn’t have to travel for work and the homeowners weren’t inconvenienced.
I think the most important thing is that you make it clear what you are willing and not willing to do and what is training and what isn’t.
If the owner asks you to walk their dog and use training techniques- i wouldn’t consider that training since they will be asking all their sitters to do this. But if they ask you to spend an hour with their dog everyday specifically training them - that may be out of scope of what most sitters do.
House sitting and dog training are two different things. Minding a dog as a caregiver means following the guidance of the HO and nothing more.
If you choose to also train the dog on a sit (and as a fellow trainer, I get it, it’s hard not to) that’s your decision to do.
This is not a dog training service. The only skill you are being asked to use is to house sit I.e. care for the home and the living and non-living entities in it.
That’s pretty much end of.
I HAVE seen some listings where HOs have expressly mentioned in their listing that if you happen to be a dog trainer, they’d be happy to employ you for those services while you are there to house sit. But again…That is a separate service and transaction that has nothing to do with TH and is made evident through a pull from the HO as opposed to a push from the HS.
Another example, I have a knack for organising spaces and interior design which I have been compensated for in the past…just because I’m on a house sit and COULD arrange a house better than it is doesn’t mean I should be expected to be paid for it while at a house sit…that skill has NOTHING to do with what I’ve been asked to do as part of an exchange. If I were to organise/stage/design anything in that house, it would be because 1. i have permission and I want to do it for fun or 2. The HO has mentioned or requested it and while I’m there, I do it and get paid completely separately for that service which, again, has NOTHING to do with TH even though that would then happen to be the way we found each other.
If you promote your skills on your profile without clarification that your skills are what makes you “good with dogs” vs. “Will train for a fee” then it could get murky/ complicated for expectations.
I understood that dog training is 51% training the humans to be successful, so if the humans are out if town…?
I think its one thing to be a local trainer to be able to follow up with the dog/ family and another to be a traveling trainer that is not easily accessible for follow up.
I also think that having a paid training service as part of your exchange adds a layer of possible complications that I would rather not invite into my house sits, i e., REVIEWS: “I paid for dog training during this sit and don’t think my dog is any better trained than before I left on my trip…”
A paid service is very different than an equal exchange and even the equal exchanges thru THS can get complicated…
I would not recommend you mixing professional services with the dog sitting exchange here on THS. Too murky. And designed to invite conflict and misunderstanding.
If someone wishes to engage you for training services I’d recommended that you only do so outside of your scheduled sit. You could work with the dog and owners before a sit or after it has ended. Could still be convenient and remain within TOS for THS?
Super responses folks. A variety of thoughts and suggestions. Ultimately Im not going to charge for any training services although I wont be removing that I am a dog trainer from my profile as folks with difficult dogs need to be reassured that the person can handle them.
I have however found that while Im housesitting that I can carry out private paid work in the local area.
Most people looking for a petsitter have dogs that are already reasonably well-behaved and not in need of “training.” But I do think it is good to post your experience in your profile.
I have a good friend who has never used THS because her dog is a wacko lunatic, (also sweet and loving) but I might bookmark you to refer to her. $125.00 an hour would still not be possible, but you could still enjoy a great stay in a lovely home in downtown Washington DC if we knew you could simply handle her dog.
Based on the feedback I see in forum from
many HS, there are definitely use cases where a more experienced handler is warranted. Some of these dogs probably don’t belong on the platform, some
of them probably just weren’t properly matched to the correct HS.
But then you also have dogs like mine who are very well-behaved and extremely well-trained…he still needs a confident handler who understands his specific needs. You also have dogs who are just plain strong and also need a firmer handler who can interrupt them before they get into the zone.
Food for thought and just putting it out there because well-behaved or trained isn’t always synonymous with an “easy” dog and vice versa. Additionally, dogs that need a bit more support aren’t inherently “bad” dogs or bad sits…they may just need a bit more help with confidence to work through their feelings and an experienced handler would be able to do that. I’m really glad this platform has such a variety of options when it comes to sit types and sitter types for exactly that reason.
