I HATE this. It’s SO intrusive to have someone come every day and just mostly hang around doing nothing. I won’t do them any more and last time I did I suggested that the HO cut it down to once a week but just pay them as per normal as there was not enough for them to do to justify the daily 5 hour visit. The HO was super confused. “Why would I pay them if they’re not there working?” and I was just like “Think of it as paid time off for them.” and in my head was thinking “you pay them when they’re not working anyway because all this lady does is wipe the counters 8234987 times a day to look busy.”
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I ask this and I also ask how much are they willing to spend. Which is a shocking question to some HOs but if they’re unavailable and I need to make tough decisions, I need to know if their budget is $5k or $500. Preferably they discuss this with the vet in advance and set up a payment option.
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@CreatureCuddler One of our first sits was 6 months on a pretty big property in Bali and there was a man and woman who came there 6 days a week for about 8 hours a day. For the most part, we didn’t see them as they were doing landscaping tasks around the property further away from the house–the woman would come in and clean the house each day-- but just knowing there were people around all the time just has a very different vibe to it. Things always felt so different to me that one day they weren’t there.
They were both very nice people and we enjoyed chatting with her a lot when she came into the house, but we quickly learned this was one thing we wouldn’t want to do again.
In our experience, this sort of full-time or near full-time help doesn’t seem to be super-common, but any time the frequency of the visits are not mentioned in the listing, we always check because this is something we really don’t want. There have been a number of sits over the years we would have loved to apply to had this not been part of the deal.
That she didn’t seem to have anything to do with all that time every day must have been extra-frustrating for you.
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Thank you @Silversitters for your insights 
. We’ve done 6 sits with Aussie House Sitters this year and, similarly to you, have received 70+ invites so I was wondering if adding our deal breakers to our profile would help streamline the process. But from what you and others have said, a lot of sitters tend to not be that overt. We have yet to do our first THS sit but have 3 confirmed 
. I didn’t think to ask about vet bills and getting a welcome guide (in some form) in our conversations before confirming, but will add these to the list!
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Hi @Fatamorgana, that’s a nice approach to choose by dog breed We own a Labrador but have enjoyed a variety of ages, sizes, and breeds of dogs while we sit, though as our experience grows, I’m sure there’ll be some breeds that we naturally gravitate to. Like you, we’ve put a lot of info into our profile and are now trying to keep our application message quite short. I’d been reading on the forum about “how long should my application be” and it’s great to hear that your approach of a shorter message has worked really well for you
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Yes, for us, it’s also a bit of a process to figure out which dog breed suits us best. We don’t have any dogs of our own, but my husband grew up with German Shepherds, whereas I never had dogs. I had no experience with dogs until I met him, and for a long time, my exposure was limited to German Shepherds until we started with THS nearly three years ago. Since then, we’ve dog-sat over 20 dogs, many different breeds, but always with a focus on our active lifestyle.
Of course, sadly, dogs have shorter lifespans than we do, and at some point, things will slow down and become less active, but we need to fit in our future dogs life. We’ve discovered two very special breeds that have led to what we call “heart dogs”—dogs we’ve cared for over several weeks and whose owners have become good friends of ours (it’s really crazy how you can become so attached to other people’s dogs! I often think it must feel odd for the owners, but luckily, we’re very close, and they appreciate knowing that we would go through fire for their dogs).
At some point, we’ll get dogs of our own when we settle down somewhere. And it’s great to have an idea of which breeds might be a good fit. We’re also actively involved with street dog organizations, keeping an eye out for the time when we’re ready to offer a home to some of them.
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Oh I love that idea about “heart dogs” @Fatamorgana! We have definitely met 3 dogs that would be our heart dogs so far. After we left them, I found myself talking about them all the time. My friends and family thought i was a bit crazy! 
Your future dogs will be well loved 
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Not a day without talking about them. I know exactly what you mean. 
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I still have pets I think of fondly many many years later. I also have breeds that I tend to go after (love me some staffies and rotties) and those I tend to avoid (small dogs in general) but I think that’s down to personality and personal preference and it’s good we all like different types of pets so there is someone for everyone.
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We don’t mention deal breakers until we are speaking with them over a video chat, or if they want to agree without it, then before we confirm the sit.
A lot of what is mentioned above is things you can figure out from the listing or pictures. We always ask about medications or special diets and if the dog is on a lot of medications or any shots, etc, we would probably not accept and move on. (Have had a horrible experience with a dog who was not well controlled with his disease and the HO put it on us).
The only non-negotiable deal breakers is internal cameras. We always ask before we accept and if we get a no, then we will agree. If we get a yes, but they can be taken down or moved, then we will agree. If we get a yes, but can turn them off…we won’t agree. We have had HO who have had them and ‘turned them off’ come to find out later that they are on. We use Fing App to check the wifi for cameras all the time anyways, but it is becoming too prevalent.
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Thanks @Couple_travels_fulltime, internal cameras is something else I’ve not thought to ask about though I’ve read about them on the forum. Its not really been on our radar as it doesn’t seem that common here, but will definitely keep that in mind. Thank you!
PS. I just downloaded the Fing app - thanks for mentioning 
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Ditto to that. I’ve never heard of Fing App, but will also be downloading it. Many thanks!
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I haven’t noted any deal breakers on my profile or made a list yet. I am about 16 sits in and have had great success choosing sits that avoid things that would be my deal breakers (cleanliness for example is big for me) by taking the time to read the ad completely and speaking with the homeowner to ask questions. Until now. The sit I am about to do has presented some undisclosed issues that are definitely deal breakers. Seeing this post makes me realize I might need to have an established list now.
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@BfromtheSea Are you already on the sit ? If sit hasn’t started it’s not too late to withdraw from the sit if the hosts didn’t declare pet behaviour, or there are internal cameras or third parties at the home ( which are against THs T&Cs)
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I am not on the sit yet. It starts in 2 days. I sit full time and cancelling now would not only leave the pets in a bad spot but leave me scrambling for alternative plans. Part of me blames myself because I am still learning how to navigate all this and I should have trusted my gut when warning bells went off a couple weeks ago due to communication issues. But TH helped resolve it and I was convinced to proceed. Now I am finding out that amenities that were listed for the home don’t exist (no desk or dishwasher) and that a third pet will be introduced at the end of the sit for me to manage that was not disclosed. Also, an undisclosed task (I have to de-spider the outside of the house. I am allergic. I know it is weird and rare but what can I say, I am special ). Basically I need to muscle through and this needs to be a major lesson for me on how to uphold boundaries and standards at the beginning. And this post is making me realize one way of doing that might be establishing deal breakers in a more visible way.
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It is not to late to muscle up. The host is presumably also needing you. One can for instance say that I know I can withdraw from the sit as there isn’t compliance to the THS terms. I will nevertheless see if there can be found a solution before I conclude. I can on my part handle the missing desk and dishwasher. However, the outside work and additional pet must be handled by others. Let me know your thoughts on this before «time».
The problem here is also that this host might very well impose other things on you at arrival and/ or during the sit. The difference is often whether people think they can act this way or not. People who don’t will not or at least ask you politely as a favor. People who feels entitled will get you to do whatever, really. So take into account that it doesn’t necessarily stop here, unfortunately.
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Totally agree with @Garfield and I would actually just say no to the spider de-webbing for sure. That is a paid job that they need to source separately. Good luck with how you choose to proceed! 
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I, too, agree with what @Garfield has written which you could use to the owners. Definitely no to the new pet and de-spidering. Be assertive and don’t let them walk over you. They have changed the original agreement when the sit was confirmed so you can throw it back to them to resolve the issues.
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I also agree that you need to say no now to the extra tasks and tell them they need to make other arrangements. If you don’t, it’s pretty much guaranteed that they’re going to spring more and more last minute items on you when what they’re doing is already way over the top.
Have you looked to see if there are other sits in the area or near where you currently are/your next sit that could work? Even if you have to pay for a couple nights in a hotel it’ll be better than being miserable for weeks at a sit where they’re essentially abusing you and the service you provide.
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If you confirm and get the welcome guide, how do you withdraw?