I didn’t know that. Anyway our young host, also a first timer, was great in all respects and gave us a great first review! 
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No. There are easy going and strict people at any age, there are tidy and messy people at any age. It really doesn’t matter.
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Well, I’m less fit than I was too. But it has nothing to do with my age and everything to do with the fact I’m lazier nowadays.
What irks me is when Society assumes that to be over 60 is to be a wreck. It just ain’t so.
Mind you, I’m neither wise nor assertive and I’m hopeless at setting boundaries, so assumptions shouldn’t be made there, either. 
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We have completed petsits for all sorts of age ranges and they’ve been great. Young people who are jerks grow up to become old people who are jerks. Luckily, we only been matched up with young people who are awesome to senior citizens who are awesome. I only care about the animals, responsibilities, location, safety, cost to get there, and whether we will experience something or somewhere awesome
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I’ve never thought about it. The youngest HOs I’ve sat for were in their early 30s and they were great hosts; considerate, flexible, laid back, clean and tidy. I’m not convinced age has much connection to this, although possibly younger people are more used to having people in and out of their home so feel more relaxed? I know I used to have far more friends staying over at that age, often on the spur-of-the-moment.
The oldest was in her 70s and very nice but not the best host as she failed to understand what working from home actually meant. I was instructed I wasn’t allowed to use the room’s main light to work by in the dining room but use the tiny bedside lamp she’d put there for me instead - in winter when it was fully dark at the start and end of the day and pretty gloomy the rest of the time. I’d arrived the night before at her request and the first day until she left mid-morning, she kept constantly interrupting me to chit-chat, show me photos and stuff. She obviously didn’t understand I was doing an actual job. I spent the morning squinting at my laptop in the gloom then after she left, the big light went on. I do think that was her age and I’d be a lot clearer about my WFH needs with older HOs next time.
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Not necessarily. THS doesn’t really support us screening for age, because it oftentimes would seem inappropriate to outright ask. Obviously we can assume categorically how old somebody might be.
Most of my confirmed sits have been offered by older women. Maybe because they have a soft spot for young men? It’s clear that the current sit I am on, I was probably selected because the cat is owned by her son, who is roughly my age (young adult male). Turns out this cat LOVES men. And as a result this cat adores me. She is very much in love with me, which has made this experience a breeze. So in this instance I think that the HO screening for my age/gender worked in their favor. But typically it seems irrelevant to the degree of care that a petsitter can provide, and vice versa it seems irrelevant when I’m considering sits.
The only thing I will mention is that I do tend to get along well with younger people in their 20’s, so applying to those sits might get me a higher chance of being confirmed simply due to being relatable and pleasant during the interview. But besides that, I think age of the host isn’t super relevant
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No, that’s her experience, not her age. I’m in my mid-seventies and taught online courses from home for twenty years. WFH didn’t start with COVID. However, I agree that if it is important, then it (whatever it is) needs to be clearly spelt out between the sitter and the homeowner.
@Garfield I’ve been pursuing the same/urban walkable sits and i just realized that’s why many hosts are younger.
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Although the hosts’ age is not the first thing I think about while looking for sits, I nonetheless do pay some attention to it. And not only older hosts but also younger ones could be a concern for me.
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The younger ones’ homes are very often a somewhat larger version of a dorm room: messy, quite dirty, poorly furnished/equipped, making them rather uncomfortable especially for older sitters.
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The (much) older hosts’ homes are very often too meticulous, which also makes me feel rather uncomfortable, as I feel my freedom and well-being are constricted. Also, I find homes like that too cluttered (years of collecting stuff), and I hardly dare to move around as I worry I might knock something down. In addition, quite a large group of older hosts have hardly done any traveling, have stayed in the same place forever, and have little to no understanding about alternative ways of living. Therefore, I avoid hosts like that, as I do not think we’d be a ‘match made in heaven’."
Unfortunately this is something I think I’m coming up against now. I’m now 66 and have had 3 applications for sits turned down on the basis of “the dates didn’t work out” don’t want to sound snarky but why didn’t the dates work out when they were published on the site and I applied for precisely those dates. The only reason I’m starting to think is my age. I’ve done more than 50 sits and only have 5* reviews so this is starting to worry me. I’m hoping that this isn’t the case but if it continues I will have to rethink continuing my membership which I would find after 9 years on THS a shame.
Health problems seem to be given here as a main consideration for not taking an older sitter but the are enough younger people who also have health conditions which could also flare up during a sit or they could just as easily become otherwise incapacitated.
So hoping that this doesn’t become something permanent and I manage to find a new and exciting sit somewhere
The auto decline says something like “Sorry the dates didn’t work out this time” rather than “thanks but no thanks, we found someone else.” So it might just be that and not your age at all @maggie? It’s a daft message and makes no sense. #sixtysixrocks
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@Maggie As @Cuttlefish says, the words you quoted are what THS says in the auto decline message and NOT what the actual owners say. So young and more senior, singles, couples, families etc ALL receive this message. Hope this makes you feel better.
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I was expecting a zoom call on a sit today and got the auto decline. But I was kind of hoping for another sit with a more convenient location – which showed up today. So there is always another sit to apply to, unless it is New Orleans.
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@maggie, we’d agree with @Cuttlefish.
Cause and effect seems marginal. No reason to conclude that your declined for sit was a result of age. Sometimes rejections just happen. Especially for high-demand listings. Not big deal. Seems that you have many great ratings so plenty opportunity for exciting sits somewhere in the future. Enjoy!
Re, OP - we have not considered age of PP as factor. Like @Silversitters then we prefer longer duration housesits (month+). These tend to involve PP that are retired.
But we do fill gaps with shorter sits, and some geographies (e.g. Schengen area) tend to involve shorter sits, so we have flexibility. Curiously, when we identify atypical PP-pet relationships (high and low intensity) then we observe the PP demographic. Seems conceivable that a retired PP has a different relationship with their pet(s) than say a working PPs that have young kids. Not better or worse, just different.
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Thanks for your answer. Yes auto repliek are indeed not the most handy or friendly for that matter. Also like the longer sits. Actually had my longest dit ever earlier this year was 4 months from nov 24-March 25.
So just have to be more ok with not getting chosen and that the sit also reapoears on the site as they didn’t find anyone suitable. Shame one sit I would really have loved to do in Scandinavia 
Thanks Cuttlefish. I ‘ll keep on trying of course but 3 in a row was a bit much all of a sudden and worst thing was I’d turned down a repeat sit that I was actually offered.
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@Maggie Where in Scandinavia was that sit?
Hi Maggie, I’m older than you are, and I’m pretty sure a Tahoe sit was declined early on because of my age…so I beefed up my profile, emphasizing my athleticism and general physical fitness, including flattering pics at a waterfall with an inner tube (!), and voila! No more rejections. I think ageism is alive and well. I mostly apply to older HOs anyways cuz they tend to have nicer amenities. But not always…last week I got a primo sit w a single pro surfer chick…(and her review of me was very very positive); just depends. So hang in there and consider emphasizing your fitness to reassure HOs you’re not gonna keel over on them, I think it’ll help.
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I completed a recent sit for a young couple in a small urban terrace with a huge pitbull and it wasn’t obvious how dirty and untidy the house was from the photographs.
I was shocked at the lack of basic hygiene and preparation for a HS and, to make it worse, the dog went berserk after they left and was frankly frightening. He was lovely once he calmed down and I was very sorry to leave him.
The house, however… well I couldn’t leave it as I found it so spent a good while cleaning the stained and dirty loos, basins, floors and kitchen surfaces!
This, along with another messy sit, has put me off sitting for anyone under about 45!
Sounds like a drag, sorry P&b you had to deal w the pit bull freaking! Yikes! I just wanted to chime in, cuz one of my favorite sits ever was in a 70 year old’s Hawiian plantation home which was soooo grungy that the kitchen cupboards were black around where you’d open and close them! Nonetheless, I didn’t mind cleaning ever so methodically during the month long sit cuz I could tell she was overwhelmed and needed the help. Now I think we’re gonna stay in touch cuz we really hit it off. And no, she didn’t notice the cleaning I did, nor did I expect her to. Anyone who’d let the cupboards turn so grungy isn’t gonna notice when they’re cleaner, makes sense. Guess there’s no telling, I dunno.
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