Yes definitely - some lovely looking sits but only 2-3 days for long distance travel is not appealing to us either and would only work for very local sitters.
2 Likes
As sitters We are all looking for something different. 7 days would be my perfect sit length. Saying that, most of our sits have been 2 weeks with the longest one 3 weeks and the shortest one 5 days.
We love our own home and the vibrant community we live in so being away too long often means we are missing out on something at home. A week gives us time to explore the local area with our new pet companions but if there are any negative factors , a week is not too long.
3 Likes
Wow!, as a homeowner, I never even thought I was permitted to post a one night sit! I always go away for at least six nights as for some reason, I assumed that was about the shortest that anyone would bother, given travel. I have the opposite problem, trying to get someone to sit for not quite 5 weeks - in Sept./Oct. ( a great time to be here) - in Sedona (where I live).
2 Likes
5 weeks in Sedona sounds like heaven. And yes plenty of 1 and 2 night sits.
1 Like
Sedona is one of our favourite places in the States. If we were more flexible we’d jump at the chance of a 5 week stay. Lots of sitters only look for long sits.
3 Likes
@NAZDad your sit location sounds great! And 5 weeks is a good and popular length especially for sitters who are flying in.
We’ve done a large number of sits of less than a week- in fact around a week is our ideal sit length. We also did a one night sit once, many weekends and several sits of 5/6 weeks long- plus everything inbetween! Don’t worry- the perfect sitter is bound to show up - just give it time. 
2 Likes
I travel 688km return to my 09:00am dentist appointment and back home by 1:00pm. Usually fly 13 - 17 hrs for a sit
Blimey! I walk 10 minutes each way to my dentist. I’d be looking for a closer one!
I always tailor my search for 1 month or more. The only time I search for shorter sits is to fill in.
By defining your search, you don’t have to wade through all the super short sits.
2 Likes
I have applied filters to my search,which is very helpful. Overall I am still surprised at the number of sits under 4 days.
1 Like
We did a few short sits when we first started and now I have concluded it’s too much work to prepare for the sit and then clean. We will do 1 week sits if it’s on our travel route but I prefer two. Gives time to bond with the animals and makes it worth the cleaning day
1 Like
Yes a timewasting exercise!!! THS dictatorial criteria strikes again as a number of other issues within the latter 2 to 3 years, all of which ‘Fall on Deaf Ears at THS’ when I mentioned. Change your sit agent as I did… far more user friendly options out there in this big wonderful world… Good Luck.
1 Like
Your post has just given me an idea - if I were a HO and my home needed a deep clean, I could post a 1 night sit 
7 Likes
guess it’s horses for courses! As this is a kind of mutual benefit thing then shorter sits will appeal to more local sitters if they’re around - and as the length of sit grows the appeal to those further away grows I guess. One nighters though never occurred to me!!
1 Like
I live on the East coast of Canada, so booking a flight is part of house sitting, but not for 4 days.
For us, short sits of 3-6 nights work well if they are somewhat local, no more than a 3-4 hour drive away, in a destination that is appealing. We live in SW FL and if we got some east coast or central Florida sits that sounded appealing, we’d apply. We would likely not accept anything international for less than 10 days unless we were doing a long trip and then we might consider a week stay.
Long sits of more than 2 weeks don’t work well for us because we don’t want to stay in one place that long, especially an international destination that we want to explore.
Different strokes for different folks! I suspect many of the shorter sits are posted with the intention of finding a local sitter willing to do short repeat sits without being paid.
@DianeS that’s funny. Yes, the homes we petsit for really do get deep cleaned now that I’m thinking about it. It’s easier to do because we are a family of 5 and everyone has cleaning duties so if we clean for 1 hour, it equates to 5 hours. We even wipe down refrigerators, microwaves, washers, etc even if it was dirty to begin with because I can’t stand sticky or smudged surfaces. It’s like I have a whole cleaning crew
1 Like
@IHeartAnimals one of my cleaning crew sits down in a corner with his phone every time he finishes whatever job I told him to do. Another likes to issue orders to the junior cleaners from the sofa. Thank goodness I have one good worker - “What can I do next mum?”
3 Likes
@Debbie that’s cute. Mums make the best cleaning crew managers. We traveled to Asia for 6 months and there were no dishwashers. My kids would say “I wish there was a dishwasher” I said, “we have one, it’s you”
8 Likes