It can be a very simple reason: to help someone. People have reached out to me because they’re in a bind and I’m fairly local. If I’m available, I’ll do it.
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When I first got started, I saw a sit in my hometown, so I signed up for it. The HO was actually nervous and questioned why I would want to stay. For me, it is because it is close to home and would have been my first sit, giving me experience as well. They rejected me, I guess I seemed suspicious.
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Thanks to everyone for replying and for providing so much detail on your motivations. It seems to be a variety of factors but all your explanations have really helped me understand this community better. I appreciate it.
I still think it’s a little odd that the search function returns sitters in my area vs. sitters INTERESTED in my area. But I do understand better now why people would be interested in sitting locally.
Thanks!
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Long before joining THS we used to sit for friends and family locally. Once we retired, we sat more often and during the day we would regularly walk a dog that would have been housebound all day otherwise.
We live in a flat and travel quite a lot so don’t want to commit to a pet of our own…we still love animals and enjoy the chance of sharing time with them!
Helping out is addictive. We are retired teachers so understand being trusted with treasured ‘cargo’.
We live 45 mins by bus from Madrid centre so it is a world away in a quiet mountain village. The chance to live it up in the city with theatre, cinemas, museums and art galleries without having to worry about catching the last bus home is also an incentive to sit locally. Making new friends with a chance of meeting up again is also a factor.
The isolation of the pandemic has meant that time in the city would seem fresh and invigorating; we have missed out on regular excursions from here.
Housesitting with pets, especially dogs that require exercise, means a new, healthier routine even if it’s just up the road!
The pandemic restrictions and cancellations of flights etc gave locals the edge for getting local sits. I suppose too knowing Spanish and being resident with a Spanish car and Spanish driving licence are also recommendations…
Having said all this, apart from helping out with local friends‘ needs , our housesits have been mainly abroad!
We would consider doing a sit locally to free up our accommodation for friends and family to use our place too!
There are lots of factors and considerations.
It’s interesting to read some local applicants are treated with greater suspicion. With a great city like Madrid there is always lots to explore and discover on each visit at different times of the year.
Travel costs are becoming more pertinent by the day!
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Hi everyone!
So I’ve got a question really that pertains to when I have searched for sitters to invite. Sitters who don’t have any sit feedback/very low, I thought may be interested in sitting locally to help build up a feedback profile, but when I’ve approached relatively local sitters (less than say 20 miles), if they are responding to my invite and message, I’m being told I’m too local and they wouldn’t be interested.
Is this something that happens a fair bit? I’m lucky that all my dates that I needed a sitter are now covered but I am genuinely a bit surprised by the lack of messages back from people with no/low feedback as I thought it could be a win-win for us and them. Many messages go unread or read without a response and I just wondered if that was also pretty common?
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Hi @iamplankton (I love your username BTW 
)
Many of us got our starts as sitters taking local sits. You’re right on target with that. So I’m not sure why you’re not getting positive responses. Maybe try widening the radius of your search to include all of Cardiff and Bristol, and see if that helps?
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When I first joined as a combined member, I thought “Oh, I’ll reach out to local folks who have no sits or reviews.” That’s what I sought out as a sitter. Like you, I thought it would be win-win. I’d say a good 40% never responded, a select few were actively upset that I’d contacted them (?!), and the rest were perfectly pleasant, and happy to be considered. Like anything, it seems like a bit of a crapshoot.
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Thank you. We have been lucky in that 2 of our confirmed sitters have found us and contacted us (we are giving a chance to sitters who don’t have any/many reviews, the first sit starts in a few weeks). Then another lady I found her and contacted her and she has actually applied for 2 sets of dates with us and she also doesn’t have any reviews so we are looking forward to the mutual benefits and helping each other out.
I also wonder if the amount of pets puts people off even though they are an easy bunch, perhaps it comes across as a bit overwhelming to a lot of people!
@iamplankton I am so pleased you managed to find suitable sitters and as you say it’s a win win and helping out a newbie sitter who is looking for their very important first review.
Also regarding the number of pets, it certainly wouldn’t put us off, I would not consider that a large number of pets by any means.
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Hi @iamplankton your number of animals would not put me off- we have had far larger menageries! But what disturbs me a little is that all 3 dogs are prone to mess in the house on occasion (e.g if left too long) and I wonder how that can happen when you work from home? Also that they are all ’ no walk’ dogs? Both these things seem rather unusual…
So they’re ex-street Romanian dogs with issues
so are very much not typical dogs and all are wonky in their own way. One has dementia, is partially dead and partially blind and doesn’t go far, one was rescued from a kill shelter and won’t be restrained in any way and won’t even wear a collar let alone a lead of harness so that’s why she doesn’t leave the house to go on walks (she goes out to the garden), and one who has one eye and got tangled in barbed-wire in Romania, he will wear a collar but is also terrified of restraint and panics when a lead is produced so he also doesn’t leave the house to go on walks (again, goes out to the garden).
@iamplankton Wow! That’s quite a heavy history the all have. Bless them 
I think you should explain some of this in your listing- its so important to be as transparent as possible about your pets!
And kudos to you both for taking them all in and giving them a loving home. 
Yeah, I’ve made the sitters aware and it’s in the welcome guide but think I’ll add that to the front page also.
Thank you!
Yes Highfive
I have a number of reasonably regular “local” sits ranging from 1-50km from my house. During Covid these are what actually help keep me sane as I got to change location and scenery. I live in a reasonably tiny appartement so was glad to get out of my 2 rooms and see something different. Only time i got a bit miffed during this was that a HO actually told me when he was at his location that his GF had tested postive that morning. So you can imagine my cleaning frenzy after hearing that.
But I certainly don’t underestimate local sits. It gives me like you say the chance to visit different museums, theatre’s etc etc without having to think about how do i get home late at night or having to travel after having a day out walking al around town. Your temporary “ home” offers you the chance to make short trips out locally and have a pet as well. (which i don’t have at home anymore)
So i can imagine you jump at the chance to visit Madrid often. It’s one of my favorite locations as my best friend ‘ unfortunately’ moved back there after 26 years in the Netherlands so i “have “ to visit every now and again
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I’ve spent months on end sitting in my own city. A small sit (I missed the company of animals, and there was a sit around the corner for the weekend so I took it) turned into a longer sit, and then a longer one still so I gave up my apartment, it was ridiculous to go between 2 homes for 3 months.
After that I felt like sitting still, dogs, cats, chickens.
I often sit if I am looking at living in a new area of if I really like an area, But mostly what sends me to the website when I’m not travelling is wanting to be around animals - I used to travel a lot, so never made the commitment to be an animal parent, pet sitting scratched that itch.
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Lots of good answers here. Why do I sit locally? I live in a small RV and it’s really nice to get into a house or condo with a little more elbow room. It’s like a free vacation. So far I’ve only sat locally for friends and they know I enjoy their larger home and TV and I use their wi-fi. I sit for friends in the area a lot. Also I look for THS sits that are maybe one or two hours away in a town I’d like to visit, so I do seem local but it saves hotel fees or campground fees, and I love watching pets.
Not usually, although our very first sit was just 12 miles away ( our initial ‘test’ of THS) and the one we are currently on (gorgeous 6 mth lab in a stunning manor house) is even closer. Albeit this was because the HO is a friend, and THS member. We are already booked for a follow up next month.
Much of the THS attraction is to explore new places so staying in the locality sacrifices that.
On a related point we sometimes meet other owners friends during our sits that ask about our ‘services’ and maybe keen for us to look after their pets. But it is awkward to turn down ‘friends of friends’ when you don’t really fancy the sit, or pets - how do people decline sensitively ?
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I’m curious to see how many of us sitters routinely apply for local sits and would like to know the reason. Is it just to build the reviews? I’ve seen some listings where the homeowners state they would like to find someone local so that they could house sit in the future.
If you use the search function and type in local sits, you will see many responses to this question. Here is a link to one of the threads. Sitters - do you sit locally? Why?
We do, since we no longer have our own pets. If the pet appeals to us (and many have) we will absolutely apply. And sometimes it’s just fun to try out a different neighborhood, if you live in a large metro area. We are close to the city center now, but have taken a sit at the edge of town, where the feel is just very different.
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