I have one sit ending on the same that the next one starts. The sits are only about 15-20 minutes away from each other. It may be that the first sit owner will not be returning until later in the day so I may have to go back and fourth between the two for a few hours. Is this OK? Does TH allow this?
To clarify, the overlap is not even a full day. It would just potentially be several hours of overlap based on departure/arrival times of the two HOs.
Hi @Sam93. Welcome to our friendly community here in the forum. Iâm glad you found us.
You raise a good question. Iâve done slightly overlapping sits before, and, like yours, the homes were only a short drive apart. I left the earlier sit after breakfast and the morning walk to go to the second home for the walk through and to see the second set of Pet Parents off. Later in the day I went back to the earlier home to go for a second walk.
The most important thing is that both sets of Pet Parents know when youâll be at each home, and that they agree to such an arrangement. Clearly communicate your proposed plan to the PPs of the first sit you agree to and give them the chance to say no before you commit to the second sit. If they say yes, then talk with PPs of the sit you agree to second and ensure theyâre also ok with your plan. Both of these conversations should take place before you confirm sit #2.
If youâve already accepted both sits but now find youâll need to go back and forth (because the earlier sit PPs will arrive home later than originally anticipated), have the conversation with the other set of PPs, so youâre sure theyâre aware and ok with the situation.
Both PPs in my case were very comfortable with the arrangement, and they appreciated that I gave them a chance to say no (PP of sit #1) or select a different sitter (PP of sit #2) if they werenât.
We also do back to back sits - Communication with Pet parents is key .
Not all homeowners need you to be there when they arrive - in fact some prefer that you are not ( especially if theyâve had a long flight back and are jet lagged )
Some have told us âitâs ok to leave xxdogs after they have been fed and had their walk âŚâ
or Just leave xx cat with a bowl of kibble and they will be fine â
Others would like to see you for a quick handover .
In this situation when applying for the second sit we would let the homeowners know that we will not be able to arrive until xx time as we are coming from another sit but ( if itâs local) we can come and collect keys beforehand.
It sounds as if first PP has not yet confirmed to you their arrival time ? In which case it would be good to get this confirmed asap. You can also let them know that you need to leave by xxtime to go onto your next sit, but that you can come back in the afternoon to fed/walk /cuddle xx as you are only 20mins away .
When you know the time from first sit you can have a similar conversation with the second PP.
To answer your question Iâd say you need to check this out with both owners. Iâve seen sits listed which have started the same day I finish a sit. Before properly applying to the follow on sit Iâd ask them when they would require me, then get back to the first sit and ask if it would be ok. Itâs all about communication
I overlap regularly but only when all hosts know in advance. I just did one today, First sit two hours away from second sit. I left sit 1 early last Wednesday while host was in the air arriving home, met host at sit 2 and they left an hour after I arrived. Today I left sit 2 while they are on their drive back and headed back to sit 1 where they flew out early, which is where I am. I am very flexible and travel quite light so it makes it easy for me. I enjoy treating it a bit like a game, arranging all of the puzzle pieces for a winning outcome. 
Weâve done this many times and it has always worked out. Last year, for example, we did 30 short sits back to back in the UK- pretty intense to be sure! But we arranged with all hosts leaving and arrival times that suited everybody. On a couple of occasions we (hubby & I) split for the night so we could accept a sit with an overlapping night and more than once we did a back & forth- i e leave one sit to go and meet the next hosts for handover & then later pop back to feed the pets & finish up the first sit properly.
It was a fun and creative personal challenge to boost our review numbers as the UK has so many sit opportunities! At all times our priority was the animals- to be sure that all pets got 100% of our care and that all hosts were in agreement with our plans and did not feel âshort-changedâ. We did not accept any overlap where we felt for whatever reason we could not give 100% to both sides. It was a great way to spend the summer- cruising through the English countryside for 5 months from one sit to the next, sometimes overnighting at hosts request (or at their invitation- to fill a gap night) and we considered it a great success to add another 30 5* reviews to our profile without incurring a single night of overnight costs during the whole trip! 
Its all about communication and not overstretching yourself! If it flows then great!
@Lokstar Bravo!! I love how you beefed up your reviews so quickly.
@Sam93 To me this is a back to back sit and as long as itâs within short distance and you can take care of the animals, I see no problem. Weâve never been home when HOs arrive. Although in Port Angeles, we had already left and the HOs were trying to meet up with us and drove back earlier. So we actually drove back because they wanted to give my kids a few gifts and gave us hugs. In my application I state that we will be doing a back to back sit. âWeâre finishing up a sit that day in Portland so I should be able to get to your house to feed ____ dinnerâ.
@Sam93 we cannot emphasize enough the importance of what @Karen_E has said about conveying this to everyone concerned before accepting the second sit.
No pet should ever be left to move to a second sit unless the pet parent is in complete agreement. Itâs also worth remembering that reviews are dated so when a PP/Owner posts a review they see previous reviews and if there are two on the same date they may wonder how that happened âŚ
For the record I/we have also overlapped on sits and split to help pet parents/owners but never without being totally clear with the owners concerned.