I have been really enjoying reading the forum and want to throw out another question. I had an applicant who wanted to bring her dog with on the sit. I have a dog, a cat and a parakeet. She withdrew her application when I said that wouldn’t work out with my pets. My question is do HO 's usually allow that? I thought it was alot to ask. The sitter who is doing my sit is bringing her 2 teenagers with( that is on her profile), but also is bringing her sister. I did okay that, I was wondering how other HO’s felt about that. I know the sitters are background checked, but, ofcourse, relatives would not be???
Hello @Charlize1 I agree, the forum can be a good read and resource.
We don’t allow visitors, as we only have one extra bed, so a solo or couple fits.
And, if there are known people in the area for a thsitter, they could always visit elsewhere/their home.
My hospitality extends well but only to the sitters.
We have a kitty and so other pets would not be welcome.
Our home is adult oriented in design and maintenance and so not suitable for children.
The above is also my attempt to minimize mishaps during a stay.
It truly is the home host and sitter preferences.
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This is a matching site, so you can accept or not accept a sitter based on your preferences. Once a listing is public, any sitter can apply. Some listings specify that the HO prefers solo sittters only, solo sitters or couples, only couples etc. Some listings specify that they are “family friendly” other nope. Some listings say they can’t accept sitters bringing their own pets. Most sitters don’t list a preference, but even if they did, anyone could apply.
I don’t explicitly say “no pets” on my listing, but no one who’s applied has ever mentioned bringing their own pets – though I know there are some sitters who do that. I also don’t say “Sorry no kids” but I do state at the beginning of the listing that we are looking for “a solo sitter or couple” and that’s usually who applies.
Personally, I would never accept a sitter bringing their own pet. I’ve got cats and bringing another pet no matter how lovely and mellow would not be something they would understand or be happy about.
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I am a HO and in my sittings: no own pets, no children, no visitors, no sisters and brothers and mothers. I am not a hotel.
The sitting is about my pets and the full concentration shall be there.
I am taking my time to select a sitter and I am asking about passport. In absolutely no case I ever would accept another person during my absence who I didn’t select carefully.
To ask as a sitter about bringing own pets to a sit is imho completly absurd.
In no case we would accept children. We have art in the house and I really would get crazy to find chocolate or whatever on our art.
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Hello! Just like everything on THS, you can always say no!
As a HO, you’re looking for people who will treat your pets like their own, right? Doesn’t it track that people who love animals also have animals?
I am a petsitter, and I often bring my dog with me! Honestly, I’m surprised that everyone (so far) has agreed for me to bring her. Maybe it’s because I only do longer sits.
The best thing about me as a sitter is that I treat the HO’s animals like they are my own, and I do that even more effectively when my own dog is with me!
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I agree with @KatLikesDogs … I have done many sits over the last year and brought my own dog. I treat the HO dog just the same as mine and we all have a great time together. I understand it wouldn’t suit every HO but I always read their profiles carefully and wouldn’t apply if they said their dog wasn’t keen on other dogs etc.
I’ve been told in the past that by me having a dog already it gave the HO confidence that I understood dogs rather than someone just looking for a place to stay.
Luckily there are plenty of sits to suit most types of applications.
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We also have our own dog. She is a sprightly very calm 13 yr old ex companion dog. 38 sits in and booked now up to November with another 10 sits. We never apply to sits with cats or other animals and always check if the sit dog(s) will be accepting.
We are not sitting for a holiday more a lifestyle choice as we retired early and are not good at sitting still for long so no pressure to find sits but saying that we can’t fit in many repeat requests. We do tend to take sits that although in beautiful places and homes may come with other ‘challenges’ such as multiple dogs, large dogs, remote places requiring a car.
All our HOs and their dogs have loved our sweet natured girl and are so grateful to us that many have offered to take her for us so we can take a ‘proper’ holiday. In fact one is doing just that for several months so we can visit our ‘second’ home down under. On the understanding we come back in time for their next trip away 
.
The beauty of this community is that there is something for everyone and we have been blown away by the kindness and generosity of HOs we have met with many new friendships being formed. Which I might also add is great for our mental health too as being nomadic our whole lives established friendships are rare and scattered around the world so we really appreciate those HOs that have welcomed us and our dog into their lives.
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Regarding bringing pets, i don’t think its fair on either pet to be honest and as far as bringing other people, it sounds more like they are after a holiday. Thats my initial thoughts anyway.
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Good to know! It is very interesting to hear of all the different scenarios. Maybe I should include in my listing that bringing a sitter’s own dog with is not an option for us. It took 6 weeks for our cat to make peace with our rescue dog that we adopted in 2020. Also, our rescue is getting better with other dogs, but has quite aways to go. She doesn’t seem to have been socialized in her first year of life. Thanks for the input!
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Yeah, I don’t think it’s fair on a cat to have a sitter bring another animal. I did let one sitter bring her little dog because we were taking our little old rescue kitty with us. It was okay until we got home and she sensed that a dog had been there. It took hours for her to settle down secure in the fact there wasn’t still a dog in the house. I felt bad, she’d had enough stress in her life. Now I have two rescue kitties who can’t even get along with each other so I wouldn’t consider bringing another animal into the mix! It comes up so rarely I don’t have it in my listing because there are more important things to focus on there.
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It’s not odd to ask and it’s not odd to say no. I have a very easy old dog. If the sit is within driving distance I look for sits where I can bring her. No cats and single dog listings. Everyone so far has seen it as a good thing.
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Our family of 5 sit together as we travel and although we don’t have pets of our own currently, I do know that some of the hosts we have sat for have previously confirmed sits with other sitters who brought their own pets. If it’s not for you, you should not feel bad about saying no. Regarding other family members who are not on the profile page, I have heard of sitters sometimes applying with others. I haven’t applied with anyone other than our family, but there was a host who wanted us to sit for them last December then asked if we could come in November. We stated no because my father would be with us and she said my father could come too. We didn’t accept the sit as it was too difficult to rearrange our travel plans but it made me realize there’s all sorts of sitters and hosts and THS is a platform where everyone is looking for the right fit
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Hi @Charlize1, I love to see this question posed in the forum! As a user on THS who started sitting full-time in mid 2023, and travels with a dog, I’ll add my insight as I consider myself quite fortunate to have ~20 sits under my belt with an accompanying pet.
I have a pretty detailed intro that I send which is customized to their pet & location if their home is nearby or if it would require me to travel. If the sit is nearby I always suggest having a meet & greet to ensure their comfortability with having my husky in their home.
I noted on multiple places of my profile that my husky goes everywhere with me and has lived with numerous pets (dogs of all sizes, indoor + outdoor cat, gerbils, birds, etc) and I reference several reviews that she is mentioned in from past THS sits.
I add new photos of my dog from recent sits and reference them in my intro note as well. I have snapshots from the gangs hiking & of our beach days or of my dog surrounded by cats as they sleep the day away. Side note: I wish THS allowed videos so I could better showcase her interactions with other pets.
And most importantly, I always am direct that I certainly understand that welcoming another pet is not accepted by everyone, but if it is viable that I would like to schedule a video chat rather than converse via THS or a simple phone call.
I am quite understanding of what an unknown variable could do to pet parents with added anxiety and concerns while traveling. But in my experience, having another pet as well as a new human made some sits easier rather than more difficult. It’s all comes down to both parties being open and honest about their pet’s behaviors and tendencies. I’ll forever be grateful to the THS owners who allow other pets into their homes as more folks utilize this site for a variety of reasons. In fact, the only product update that I’m hoping for in the coming months is a label for owners to indicate whether other pets (the same way they can indicate solo, couples, or family travelers) are acceptable in their home so that pet sitters can filter searches by this criteria.
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