I am looking for a sitter for a couple of days in mid May and have invited thirteen potential sitters over the past eight days. Each one has seemed to be clear on those days with nothing marked on their calendar. Each one has responded to say that they are already booked, either to sit elsewhere or with other commitments. I am increasingly frustrated by this. How can THS encourage sitters to keep their calendars up to date? How can we as owners find available sitters if they are not doing that?
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@Andrea13 if the sitterās calendar is showing white or crossed through they are unavailable.
If a sitterās calendar is green they are available but not necessarily for your location. They may be looking for a sit in another country .
It has been discussed here
Make a good listing and sitters who are interested will apply .
Some great suggestions for improving listings are here 5 common mistakes to avoid for a successful listing
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A lot of sitters, like us, do not update their calendar, as the calendar on THS is totally flawed and misleading for pet owners, for example unless you know how to read it, it looks like weāre not busy when we are and vice versa, and is different on the mobile app with different shadings. THS need to update the calendar system, an update has been requested on A LOT of occasions by both pet owners and sitters.
I know it is frustrating, I know itās annoying, and I know itās a pain, itās 2024, you wouldnāt have thought a normal-modern calendar feature would be that difficult, but we are still waiting. It ālooksā good, it just doesnāt do what it needs to do.
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We couldnāt be bothered updating the calendar, itās way too clunky!
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Invites unfortunately donāt really work @Andrea13 as sitters donāt just sit for THS and the calendar system (as many threads mention) is seriously flawed. Way better to post an attractive, welcoming sit with lots of pics and info and watch the sitters apply 
#winnerwinner
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Thankyou, I see that the calendar is irrelevant. I had a look at the 5 common mistakes and will fine tune my listing which is probably a bit too wordy. I followed the help notes given by THS when I first made my listing but the advice on the 5 mistakes article contradicts several of them ā¦ itās all so confusing and yet I have had three great sitters over the past couple of years so my listing canāt be too bad!
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Thankyou, thatās useful to know from the sitterās viewpoint. Iād better fine tune my listing although it has been successful in the past. I suspect that itās easier getting winter sits than summer ones when everyone is on the move.
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Itās become harder for many hosts to land sitters, much less good sitters. Thatās because THS has been growing unevenly (not much in their control about evenness), with more hosts joining than sitters. So what worked for you previously wonāt necessarily be enough now ā you might need to retune your listing and what you offer.
As for the calendar feature, even if THS made it top notch, relatively few sitters would use it. Thatās because most sitters sit only sporadically. If so, the calendar feature is basically useless to them. All they have to do is use the search feature for when theyāre good and ready.
Yes, it would be great if hosts could just see real availability among sitters. But for sitters to make the effort, there has to be motivation for them. If someone sits sporadically, why bother?
And personally, even though I sit more than sporadically, I donāt care if hosts want to invite me unsolicited. Why not: Odds are super low that that a sit will match my preferences for location, time, pets, home and otherwise. I get a good number of invites and have accepted only one, and that was when I first joined and was completely flexible. Now, a year into sitting, thereās almost zero chance that Iāll accept an unsolicited sit. That means itās a waste of time to update my calendar.
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Thanks for your reply @Maggie8K. All of that makes sense. Sadly, I donāt have anything more to offer than I have offered already. A super cute, loveable pooch (as they all are. no doubt!), a comfy, easy to live in quirky old cottage in a beautiful part of the country on the edge of an increasingly destination small town and a huge chunk of trust in complete strangers! No gimmicks, no hot tub, no swimming pool, no gym! Like so many things perhaps this idea is another āto good to be trueā thing and Iāll have to rethink. Hey ho.
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@Andrea13 what you have to offer sounds very attractive. Most sits donāt come with hot tubs, pools or gyms!
I noticed in your original post that your sit is short - a couple of days. It is also relatively soon - in May. I wonder if this is the reason you havenāt had as much interest as in the past? Many sitters book quite far in advance, and short sits can be less popular than longer ones. So you may have a smaller pool of potential sitters than if you have listed a stay of a week or more.
That isnāt to say that sitters donāt do short sits. Many of us do. Sitters interested in short sits might be looking to fill a short gap between sits. Or they may be looking for a weekend break and change of scenery. We like to do the occasional weekend sit to break up the school terms, and longer sits further afield in the school holidays.
Wherabouts are you based? You could always link your listing to your forum profile.
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Thanks for your response @Debbie. I live on the edge of Shaftesbury in North Dorset. Of all those I invited, all said they would be interested another time, and I know that previous sitters enjoyed being here.
A Monday and Tuesday is probably not an easy time of the week but in this case I am going to an album launch, so the dates are not flexible. I couldnāt start looking until I knew I was definitely going.
Iāll try linking my listing as you suggest. Thanks again. 
Try putting a link to your listing in your post (it currently goes to something about art work).
Until THS creates a means for sitters to broadcast where and when they want to sit, invitations will not get results.
Until THS makes the calendar easier to use and understand, the calendar will be irrelevant.
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Hi @Andrea13. Iāve found your listing. What I would suggest is using paragraphs with a line in between in your Home & Location and Responsibilities sections to make for easier reading. Both sections could be condensed using some dot points (especially responsibilities). As you have completed the Amenities filters you may not need all that you have written in Home section if it doubles up.
I would use the photo of Pippin which appears before the one of you and your son(?) as your first photo. You just need to add it to the Home photos to be able to use it as the first one. I would also just include the main internal photos - kitchen, living area, sittersā bathroom and bedroom and remove some of Pippin as sitters only need a couple of the pet.
Lastly, what you can do is remove your dates briefly then re-list. This will bring it to sittersā attention as a New listing, especially as itās only 2 weeks to go till you need someone.
If you click on Find a Sit then put in Shaftesbury and your dates, your listing will come up. Take a look at it so you see what sitters are seeing. That may help you to make changes.
You live in an interesting town with glorious countryside where I will be sitting nearby in June! All the very best.
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@temba Thankyou - that is very useful and I have spent some time improving my listing and re listed it. Hopefully, it will make a difference. Enjoy your stay in June - lets hope summer arrives! All the best. Andrea
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@Wildcolonialgirl - ahah, my confusion. That was my own website - silly me! Now I think I have replaced it with a link to my THS listing but Iām not sure how to test that it works. Thank you for your help.
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Hi @Andrea13 ā¦ I can confirm that the link works and we can see your listing .
Great that you have country walks on your doorstep. That is the kind of sit that appeals to us . It would help sitters to know how long Pippin can be left at home alone for , since she canāt be taken into town -if you can add that information to the responsibilities section .
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It is a good listing in a great location. Iāve āfavouritedā to apply next time as Iām already booked on your current dates, although I usually prefer a week or moreās duration.
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