I agree with all of your points. Especially point #4, people who come across sounding demanding and entitled I do not understand. I’m much more attracted to posts from people who sound wam and gracious from the outset.
Conscientious house and petsitting is a valuable service and so far, every sit I’ve done on Trusted Housesitters has been for people who could very easily afford to hire a sitter, but even if you are paying a sitter, it still behooves you to Be Nice.
My own dog is my absolute treasure on earth. If I’m traveling and need to travel without him, having someone take good care of him, keep him safe and happy, keep in touch with me so I can see he’s well, that peace of mind in itself is priceless. That’s what makes it possible for me to be away and enjoy myself. That right there. Everything else is a huge bonus.
And for free? At my convenience? On the dates I choose, for the duration I choose, wherever I happen to reside, take good care of my home as well? C’mon now… it’s like a ‘Christmas miracle’!
I like to see that spirit reflected in the listings.
Interested to see the discussion on here about the lack of sitters, yet as a new sitter I am wondering how likely people are to take a chance on someone with no sits as yet. We are self employed so can flexibly work anywhere, and I am applying for various sits next week to get the first under our belts but have had a fair few still go unanswered for the start of next week. If anyone sees anything in our profile that might put someone off then feedback is welcome thank you…
Given how desperate many people in the UK are right now to find sitters, I think you’ll probably be ok. Maybe go through some threads and reach out to some of the HOs that are struggling and see if you might be a good match?
I would say that saying you’re out for long periods might turn some HOs away. Even with cats they likely aren’t interested in having them left alone all day. Your first priority is to care for and spend time with the pets. If you’re planning to be gone much of the day, it’s probably best not to do a sit. Because you never know what will happen and being gone all day may not be an option if something goes wrong.
Thanks so much for your feedback @CreatureCuddler I see your point. The majority of time we would be in the home working on laptops bar the one day we might be out shootingif it’s a working trip, and so have said we wouldn’t care for dogs on those trips, but you’re right a cat owner might be put off too. I’ll be clearer on what we’re likely to be able to achieve. Thank you.
I agree with what you have said but I have been criticised by putting too many photos of pets even though I have 1 photo per pet as requested by the site
@Lina_and_Tom - There are other threads here regarding how new sitters can get started.
Your profile looks great to me and I would happily have you sit for my single cat if you were ever in Dallas. I don’t mind if sitters are gone all day, or even overnight. My cat is mostly asleep or outside during the day. I did a sit in Denver recently where I only saw the cat briefly, once a day, and otherwise he was patrolling the neighborhood!
I think you will find other owners that don’t mind you being gone all day, but it is great that you are honest about this in your profile to save wasting time.
If you are interested in Sheffield we have just done a great sit with a easy to care for cat , the owners are often away and often looking for sitters that can do 2 week stays - if you think this may be of interest to you let me know and I will send you their listing link
You have a really nice profile! We also used to pick AirBnbs based on whether there was a cat or not. If there was ever a good time to start as a sitter, it’s now (especially in the UK).
If it’s just the odd one day, that’s different. In your profile it seemed more to me like you would be gone all day every day, which would not be attractive to me, if I were an owner. I think even with the one long day you could potentially do dogs if you could arrange a walker (paid for by you) with the HO for that day. It would depend on the HO, the dog, and whether they already have services like that which they use.
I appreciated your point of view though as it was something we hadn’t considered, and a great idea on the walker as a potential option for a one day out if the HO was comfortable. Appreciate your experience and insight, thank you
Hi @Lassie thanks for your response and for letting me know you think our profile is ok I think as experienced cat owners we know too that the majority of cats will be ok with being left alone during the day if necessary, but we will certainly be taking into consideration what our plans are during every sit we apply for. We’ll always have the pet’s wellbeing at the forefront of our applications for sure, and thank you, hopefully we will be in Dallas one day then!
Hi
I have a couple of dates I am struggling to get sitters for, before the pandemic always got loads of applicants, now fewer people seem to be active, I have July - Sept. dates I need help with, does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Norm
There are several threads on this topic as it’s an ongoing problem in a few areas. Have you read them and implemented the suggestions?
I’d start with that and adding your listing as a link in your forum profile so people can give you feedback about your listing. It’s currently a sitters market so you want to make sure you put your best foot forward.
I will also say that many people are wating until later to book so i wouldn’t start getting concerned yet. Good luck
Then there are some of us retired folks who are looking for ways to bless others so we enjoy sitting in quieter regions, out of cities, where we can spend quality time with pets and we don’t need to spend our time site seeing. We have travelled extensively so now it’s our time to give back.
I was very interested to receive an email from THS today (I have a combined membership) encouraging owners in the northern hemisphere to plan their summer holiday and book a great sitter. It also was promoting advertising listings which are still months away to secure a top-notch sitter! We all know it is a sitters market at present and many sitters are not considering sits until closer to the dates. I have a feeling there may be more unhappy owners as a result of this promotion email.
I find it interesting that so many sits are being posted now for June/ July. We are getting sit requests pretty frequently but are already booked up for sits we arranged months ago. I think home owners might find themselves struggling to find sitters when posting so last minute…
Yes that happened to me also. First time before Covid I got 70 responses within days and had to shut the ad. Last time it was a trickle. The first sitter had to cancel but gave me lots of notice and thankfully I found new sitters who seem perfect (I am hopefully on a flight July 31) but it was a completely different experience this time around. Best of luck with this sit.
If there was ever a good time to start as a sitter, it’s now (especially in the UK).
