I am a sitter and a HO. I just had to use the forum LAST WEEK to even remember what the different colors mean on the calendar.
Sitters are not employees. We are people with lives, just like homeowners. We have paid a membership fee to travel and be with lovely pets, but that doesn’t mean we are just waiting around to serve.
Exactly this! The way the interface works it seems like we’re just going to magically materialize the second we receive the invite. And the advertising does nothing to contradict this misconception – I’d go so far as to say it leans into it!
Thanks everyone who replied. My sit is for a month and I’m in the Oregon wine country. But clearly I have the wrong idea about how all this works. THS implies that there are thousands of pet/house sitters signed up (there are)- and that you can specify an area/town where sitters live, then you can read through their bios and reviews and then check their calendars and if you, the homeowner, think it’s a good fit, you can contact the person and express your interest and offer to chat. That’s what I’ve done. But clearly the calendars that the HO sees are useless. And sitters don’t keep their posts up to date (many have replied to me that they’ve moved away) - And I had no idea that it’s mainly up to a prospective sitter to happen to see my post and send a reply to me. From some of the replies I have read, it seems some sitters are offended if they are contacted, because it implies they are just sitting around waiting for an offer. Since I will be in Europe for a month, I wanted a sitter from my local area because I have pets and local veterinarians. All the people I contacted had done housesits in and around my area and were local. The reason I like THS is that most sitters seem to be retired or working professionals who can work remotely – not just college kids trying to make a living petsitting through an agency that takes part of their sit fees. I would cancel my membership with THS but I can’t, because once you’ve posted a sit, you are not eligible for a refund. Live and learn. I appreciate the feedback. THS needs to be pushed to create a useful calendar system that benefits the sitter and HO. Some sort of calendar that a sitter can “activate” when they will be available to sit, otherwise, their posts would be noted as “inactive” or “don’t contact” - Thanks again.
I’m a newbie too but on the sitting side of things. It certainly takes a while to understand the world of THS. I liken it to arriving in a new country where although you’ve read the Lonely Planet Book the reality takes some experimentation…and patience and humility. There’s a kind of THS etiquette around communication which I’m learning by observing threads, and taking time to read reviews written by HOs and Sitters and learning what seems to be most important to people and what appears to become problematic. I think steadily building a reputation in the forum together with great reviews is a good plan.
It would help to follow the advice above to add your THS profile to your Forum profile. I asked Carla to do this as I couldn’t make it work. She very kindly assisted. Don’t give up at the first hurdle- THS seems to be a wonderful opportunity once you’ve worked it all out…
Also worth noting that sitters will change their location to where they are sitting as they go along- so the ‘locals’ might simply be nomadic sitters passing through on a sit.
I think you’ve entirely missed some points that others have made. It’s very rare that inviting a sitter to sit for you would work out. So asking THS to improve the calendar wouldn’t help much. Also the place listed as where they are may not be where they are because they could be travelling. Sitters in the main don’t want to sit in their home town, why would they if they have a perfectly good home to live in? Your best bet is to make your listing as attractive as possible and hope that you get some applicants.
Regarding local sitters, if you peruse them, look for people who specifically state that they do sit locally. I recall seeing a few people (in Seattle) who WFH and appreciate periodic breaks from partner and kids, and someone who lived with a roommate and wanted to write her novel in peace.
Thank you. I have only posted to local sitters who - in their profiles and reviews/recommendations, show recommendations and reviews from the town/area where they live…which indicates they sit locally.
The recommendations can be from anyone, though. Family, friends, colleagues. I’ve happily done sits for those people in exchange for goodwill or returned favors down the line. Very different than being a dedicated sitter with a local “home base” where payment might be the expectation.
You mean the References? Those are written by friends (nowadays one needs one or two references to join THS as a sitter) and would typically be local.
It is also common that first reviews come from local sits (often a short one). After one’s first review, it is much easier to get one’s applications to nice destinations accepted.
Hi, I’m a little confused in that I’m not sure that you have actually posted your sit in the owners part stating that you are away on certain dates and then leaving it to sitters to read the post and decide, having looked at your profile, if they want to apply or not. This is actually how THS works. It isn’t for the owners to contact individual sitters although it’s possible, but as you have found, this rarely works.
Also why would it be important that the sitter is local just because your vet is, if that’s what I read. The sitter becomes local as they are staying in your house and caring for your pets. Posting your dates means that any sitter interested and free, will be able to contact you and express their interest in your sit. You can then contact the sitters and talk further about the sit and indeed the ‘fit’
Yes, as an owner, I’ve posted the dates. I was told that my listing was “live” - on my dashboard. As far as contacting sitters, I contacted those in my area who had favorable reviews from people that they sat for (in my area or state) - I realize references can come from anywhere. One person from out of state responded but she had a really bad review and I would not consider hiring her. Another was in St. Louis but said she had an elderly mother that she cared for (in Florida!) So what happens if I’m out of the country and her Mom gets sick and lives 3,000 miles away? As I realize now, I think THS is misleading in their advertising. It appears to be an interactive site where the HO or the sitter are equally free to contact each other. From the feedback I’m getting it seems some sitters are somewhat offended at the thought of being contacted, implying that I think prospective sitters are just waiting to be of service to me! Me, as a HO, have no idea how my post is distributed or who might or might not see it. I just know it’s “live” - I know people are busy and may in fact be on another sit or not interested, hence would not contact me. I thought as a HO, I had the right to designate that I would prefer a sitter that is local, at least for this particular sit and to freely invite a sitter. THS has a heart you can click on as a “favorite” when you see a sitter who sounds appealing - and then “Invite a Sitter” is a very clear next step. And, believe it or not, I believe pet care is so valuable that I don’t expect people to care for my pets for free. That said, I appreciate everyone’s feedback.
Do you want to put a link to your listing into your profile? Then we can give you feedback on how to make your listing as attractive as possible to the kind of sitter you would like to attract.
I would like to encourage you to stay active in the forum. There are very experienced home hosts and thsitters that are interested in helping and supporting.
You can definitely specify local…it just may behoove you to think a bit more broadly about what you define as local. Your specific town? Central Oregon? The drivable in an afternoon Pacific Northwest?
Many folks do local sits to get a few reviews built up, but generally the aim of THS is travel further afield. It may be worth contacting some nearby sitters with few reviews who might be amenable to your listing. Plenty of these will even have other profiles, on sites like Rover, so you can cross-reference even if they don’t have much on this particular site.
I would never view a house/pet sitter on this site as an employee to hire! Rather, I appreciate their time and willingness to care for beloved pets and spend the time to love and care for them. Pet care involves living beings; for my one old cat, that means some medications and special care. Instead of giving candy, makes sense to reward with some cash so the sitter can enjoy the sit and the wine country.
You’re not allowed to offer cash to a THS sitter @NorthwestCatMom however well meaning. It’s barter and exchange only on this platform. Free pet care for free accomm. #donedeal
Sitters are not allowed to ask for cash, it can get you booted from the site. But HOs can be as generous as they want. (Or as stingy as they want, or even require a fee per week or a cleaning fee in their listings.)
While the calendar system in THS is terrible and a lot of sitters don’t use it the most likely reason you are getting responses saying “we’re booked” or otherwise engaged is that this is just their polite way of saying no thank you they’re not interested.
THS is mostly used by sitters to travel so finding a local istter is limiting your options. Reaching out to sitters has a very low success rate and stating on your listing that you want local sitters will also limit the pool of people available to you.
If you have had no applicants you can remove your dates and then re-list them. This shoudl show you as ‘new’ and put you near the top of the list for anyone looking as most sitters order by recent listings first. You can also open up your listing to non-local sitters.