I’m scheduled to leave the U.S. in 2 weeks for a 3-week trip to Europe and my sitter just cancelled (legit medical reason). But now I’m in a panic and although I’ve reposted my dates just now, I’m concerned about finding anyone this late. Just curious how others have dealt with this situation. I have 2 dogs and the stress and expense to board them is not an option.
Hi @TitoandLuna
Welcome to the forum!
Sorry to hear that your sitter is unwell, I’m sure you’ll find someone just as perfect for your home and sit.
Just an idea which may help, If you’d like any suggestions/ideas from members that may help your listing stand out, you can add the link to your forum profile.
Here are the steps to do it 
What do you need to do?
- Select your forum profile picture
- Choose the ‘profile’ icon (the head & shoulders)
- Hit ‘Preferences’
- On the Preferences page, select ‘Profile’
- Paste the link you want to display
- Scroll down and hit ‘Save Changes’
How the link will appear…
It would be a good idea to attach your profile to your “forum handle” so that you gain more exposure. Maybe someone reading here can jump in to help. We do not even know where you are or what sort of pets you have.
Just an update - is there a way to say that my dates are flexible? My trip is 16 days but I can find neighbors to help on either end. Or should I create 2 separate 1 week posts?
Longer sits are generally more attractive. You can state in your listing (near the top) that you can get a friend to help on either end for a few days. Sitters who are already committed to sits for any of your dates are unable to apply; the system will not let them. You might get lucky and have someone nearby apply—someone willing to drive there. One suggestion is to consider offering to contribute X dollars for someone willing to fly into Jacksonville, and offer to pick him/her up at the airport.
You have had several sitters in the past. I would reach out to each of them personally (phone/text/email) and ask if they are interested. Past sitters know exactly what they are getting into. We do lots of repeat sits in California which are not reflected on the THS platform. You never know—it might work. We frequently get requests when we are not necessarily “looking.”
Thanks. I’ve done that with our preferred sitters and they are all unavailable.
Because of the overlapping rule, some sitters might be able to do the sit, a day later or need to leave a day before (as an example), so they might SEE your listing and WANT to contact you about discussing date flexibility, but they won’t be able to contact you because their already booked sit might end on either your first day or last day of your published dates blocks them from contacting you at all.
To go around that slight nuisance in the way THS has implemented the overlapping rule, I would
- publish as soon as possible (I think it’s 14 days before the start of the sit) in the “Last minute sit” category of the forum, so people who can not contact you through your listing can contact you by DM, then you’ll be able to amend your dates according to their availability to book them in the system
- renew your listing often so it comes up as new to attract more eyes regularly
- write in the listing "if you cannot apply to our listing because you are already booked for a part of our listing dates, please send us a DM on the forum, my member name is @TitoandLuna ".
you might have new applicants quick, that are available last minute, as your listing is fabulous, your dogs are adorable, plus the tone of your listing shows clearly that you are amazing hosts+offering a fantastic sit opportunity, on top of multiple 5* reviews.
The only issue I can see is that the US sits are competitive, so I’d suggest trying these tips. As a sitter who has often been blocked from contacting a HO, as I could see an amazing opportunity, with flexibility in their (and our) dates, but yet, could not make contact, I wished these HO had been on the forum so I could have explained our date situation
I recommend creating a dummy sit, e.g. December 25-26, that is not likely to attract real applicants. Start your sit headline with “Flex dates” and, in the text of your listing, note that the December date is a dummy sit. You can suggest that sitters who cannot do the real sit dates apply for the dummy dates and tell you what dates they could do. That helps people who may have overlapping sits and therefore cannot apply for yours but could come, for example, one day later.
that’s a brilliant solution, and these dummy dates could be long in the future, and I would write everything in capitals to attract attention, especially as these dummy dates might deter people who are looking to fill an August-Sept immediate dates
how do you do this? Start your sit headline with “Flex dates” - only option is dates, no text. I added that my dates are flexible in my general profile listing.
nevermind. figured it out
It also gets around the 5 applicant limit. I’ve been doing this strategy for a few years. I have a cat and he can easily manage for a day on his own if the sitter can’t do my exact dates.
@TitoandLuna, welcome to THS Forum. Really sorry to hear about sitter cancellation. While THS does not publish any data on sit cancellations then, from our experience, they are stressful. As sitters, we’ve experienced two cancellations on first day of sit. Ugh.
You can encourage THS to enhance their Sit Cancellation Insurance - basic and better than nothing, but frankly stale amounts and questionable terms that limit eligibility.
But priority is pet care and your forthcoming adventures. Two weeks is hopefully sufficient time to find a replacement sitter. As proactive folks then we encourage investing time & effort into your listing. An attractive listing seems far more likely to attract applicants than a poor listing. So perhaps a great catalyst to review photos (great primary photo, no clutter, all key rooms); review content (amenities completed, no silly date/time expectations, honest pet care responsibilities); add content (e.g. local transit, local attractions); consider sweeteners (e.g. willing collect from airport, willing housesitter arrive day early or leave day late, perhaps use of vehicle).
Good luck!