We joined up recently and placed our first date in late October.
So far it’s been silent. We are in UK, is this more geared up for U.S. sits? How long in advance do people look for a sit? If we don’t hear back soon we’ll need to seek alternative options for our doggies!!
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Hi @Malnik 
and welcome. THS is Brighton based so tonnes of UK sits (often 500 on offer at one time) not just the USA.
It could be lots of things so best thing to do is add your listing to you forum profile then experienced members can give you handy feedback to make it stronger
Where are you based? What animals do you have? How long is the sit? What are the dates, maybe half term so lots of competition? All that stuff has an influence on how many applications you will get.
Tell us more please. #communitylove
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There are many sits in the UK, probably more than available sitters, particularly this time of year. If you want some input on your listing you can add the link in your forum profile and you will surely get a lot of help.
Beat me to it @Cuttlefish 
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#fastestfingerfirst @Garfield
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We’re sitters in the North East of England. While there’s a huge number in the USA (given their population size), there are plenty of sitters on here in the UK too.
Don’t judge it too much by how many sitters there are, because that will mislead you. Take us for example, we sit as a couple… FULL TIME, but YOU may only take 4 weeks holiday per year where you need a sitter. But because WE sit full time, we are pet sitting around 50 weeks of the year, minus random odd days in between sits, so probably more like 48 weeks let say.
So, in around 15 months since we joined THS, we’ve petsat on 30+ occasions, but some of those are return visits to the same pets. Whereas you may only need probably 4 weeks worth of sitting per year (obviously I have no idea, I’m just using 4 weeks as an example).
So, one sitter could potentially cover a lot more than just 1 home owners holiday period.
I am saying this, because there’s too many pet owners that seem to compare the number of pet owners to the number of sitters in their area, which gives a totally false view, because the period of time in which a sitter can potentially cover, is much greater, especially now that people can work remotely, but also there’s a lot of sitters that have passive income like us.
If you add your link to your profile, the people on this forum are brilliant at making suggestions of how it could be improved.
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Welcome, @Malnik .
There’s no single answer to this, since every sitter is different and will determine their schedule according to those differences.
The best thing you can do - as has already been mentioned - is to add your listing to your forum profile and invite feedback from experienced sitters on how it might be improved for maximum impact. It’s not just a matter of listing dates and detailing pets, but of recognising and highlighting why sitters should choose to apply for your sit.
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It might help to consider that the further ahead you list, the more likely you are to have time to improve your listing and draw a bigger pool of candidates.
Like you — if you travel by air or other transport that’s cheaper the further ahead you book, or you want to make other plans — so do many sitters. On top of that, sitters who sit full time don’t tend to bounce all over randomly — they tend to sit in certain regions at a time and try to schedule sits so they can go from one to the next.
Many of us sitters sit internationally. For me, that’s meant 5 U.K. sits out of 18 so far, as an American. I usually book sits months ahead, unless they’re local-ish. So do many sitters. But we’re a varied lot.
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Welcome to THS. I do recommend you link your listing here as @Cuttlefish suggests asap today so we can offer suggestions if necessary
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Could be a consequence of Brexit. THS is mostly for travel. In the US it is easy to go to a different state for petsitting. But after Brexit, it has become more difficult for Europeans to travel to the UK (and for petsitting that is not quite allowed anymore).
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Although if you come from mainland Europe, there’s no questions asked when entering the UK (it’s all automated border gates), so as a European it’s just as easy as before to enter the UK for petsitting
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depends on how you enter. I usually enter via ferry and there are definitely questions. and the gates don’t always work.
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And silence so far from @Malnik
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@Malnik
From our sitter perspective the UK is sitter heaven! As in- so much choice- we could move around the country doing back to back sits eternally! We often do several months stints at a time like this.
There are currently over 2300 sit opportunities in the UK- I just checked. (@Cuttlefish my friend- you are out of date with your estimate of 500!
) Unfortunately for you as a homeowner this means its very competitive and your listing needs to stand out to attract attention.
There are 1000s of sitters in the UK, plus ofcourse 1000s more travelling sitters. They are all around but its all about location/dates/pets/attractiveness of the sit etc Some sitters book far ahead and others, like us, are more last minuters! So don’t give up yet.
As others have suggested- do link your listing here so you can receive helpful comments on it as to how to maximise your chances of success.
Good luck!
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@Lokstar I bow to your years of wiseness old pal (& would really like to see @Malnik’s sit too) #everydayisaschoolday
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+1
We come either by ferry or Eurotunnel and they always asks us what were up to in the UK. Visiting friends. Well, doggy friends, but usually we aren’t explicit about that. 
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Can you develop a bit?. Has anyone been denied entry? I know about US and some other countries but never heard of problems in the UK. I always fly and have never been asked any questions. In case I was questioned, I would probably say tourism but I would like to know what the legal situation is.
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Before Brexit, with my EU passport there was free movement. I have had a job in the UK. Now that is not allowed anymore. That is also the case for pet sitting, don’t mention that at the border.
I have heard of one case where a pet sitter was denied entry to the UK. I cannot find it now, but I think it was a woman flying in from Mexico or thereabouts for a long sit (several months).
Thanks for the info.
I think they have a stricter control of people coming from outside the EU. Even though they are no longer part of it, I think the control is more loose. Like I don’t have to fill in any forms on arrival and things like that.
Anyway, if petsitting is considered a job I would not risk mentioning it.
Pet sitting is 100% considered a job in the UK even if you’re not paid cash. It is not legal unless you’re legally allowed to work in the UK. People should know this so they can make educated choices.
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