As a homeowner, I want to provide my sitters with all information they might need, because I want the sitters to have a safe, comfortable, and convenient stay. Therefore, I have created a 20-page guide with these sections: (1) Kitty Care (shortest and most important section), (2) Emergency Information (for sitter and pet), (3) House & Property information (covering such topics as where to find clean towels and linens, where certain light switches are, how to use the washer and dryer, how to operate the heating/cooling system, where to find batteries for remote controls, what to do if strangers seek entry to the property, etc.), (4) Theater System operation (we have a theater with a projector onto a 10-foot screen, surround sound), (5) Generator Activation (in case of power outage), and (6) a section on use of a hybrid vehicle if weâre allowing use of car. (Each section is thoroughly indexed to make it easy to find information.)
I supply the guide to the sitter via PDF at least two weeks in advance, and leave a hard copy for them.
I can always tell if a sitter hasnât read the guide, because there will be some problem when we return. Example: a sitter put regular dishwashing detergent in the dishwasher, then couldnât figure out how to operate the dishwasher (all of this is explained in the guide), left the wrong detergent loaded in the machine, and we come home and use the dishwasher and suds go all over the kitchen. Or: a sitter put powder that wasnât a detergent into the washing machineâs detergent port (only liquid detergent should be used), and the powder clogged the port and had to be scraped out (the guide explains proper use of the machine). When I find such incidents, I wonder if the sitter read the Kitty Care section. Was our cat cared for as requested?
Most sitters express appreciation for the guide and do a good job, so I assume those good sitters read the guide.
My questions to sitters:
Would you appreciate having a 20-page guide?
Am I unreasonable to expect a sitter to read such a guide? (I ask them to read Kitty Care within a few minutes of their arrival, House and Property within a few hours, then consult the other sections when/if they need that information.)
Iâm a sitter. We have received very large Welcome Packs when there has been a large amount of land to take care of, or technologically advanced properties.
Personally, I would prefer manuals to be separate (washing machine etc), as we donât have a real reason to know those details on arrival (when itâs such a large pack), so it potentially detracts from the info we really need on arrival, ie about the pets, alarm codes, vets, emergency contacts, feeding times etc.
But I wouldnât presume that just because a sitter didnât read the section on how to use the dishwasher, that they didnât read the pet care section. We glance through a Welcome Pack when we receive it, but with larger ones they donât really make sense until we are actually in the property, but the first thing we re-read is the pet care side of things shortly after we arrive. I would imagine a lot of sitters do that.
I want key info about the pets and expectations for them and the house. I donât need everything shoved into a welcome guide ahead of a sit. Like personally, Iâve yet to encounter a washer, dryer, dishwasher or other appliance that I couldnât figure out without directions. And if I did need them, I wouldnât want them till I was trying to use it.
In the form of a binder maybe, as a paper copy at the home.
I had that once. But then all the instructions of garden care were a bit overwhelming, with a detailed color map of the garden, different kinds of water, taps and sprinklers, etc, etc. Which was just part of all the directives.
That sounds really thorough, and Iâd appreciate it, especially as itâs indexed. Does it include how to use the microwave (if you have one that has more than a timer knob)?
My husband and I sit together, and I love lots of details, but he would never read an entire, long guide. Everyone is different. If you sent me the guide ahead of time, I actually would read every word of it. But I realize that I am an outlier.
For the appliances, I think it would be good to ALSO create a concise instruction sheet and tape it to the appliance or a nearby wall/cabinet when a Sitter is going to be there.
We do home exchange, and several guests have expressed appreciation for my salient, tiny notes throughout the house.
Hi @michaeltt I have a similar guide except the stranger danger part. And a kitty guide.
I even have a section for the noises the house makes as well;
we have a pump in the basement with a rather loud thunkâŚ
I have such detail for my peace of mind and hopefully to give the same to the thsitter.
Personally as a sitterâŚone of my priorites is to read the welcome guide upon arrival.
Some of what you list seems even beyond not reading.
DW liquid confusion?
Could you guess as to why that person would be confused about a DW?
I sat in a home that had a washer with a control panel that looked like it belong in a rocket ship; no directions but I figured it outâŚ
What powder do you have near the laundry that could have caused potential confusion?
I could not figure out how to empty a Dyson once and didnât try, as they are expensive, so I left a note.
Itâs posts like these that make me wonder if the blind reviews will lessen these types âhorrorâ stories.
Or if home hosts are choosing inexperienced sitters due to applicant choices.
If I have âevidenceâ that my welcome guide had not been readâŚI would question that in my review of the sitter.
If Iâm talking to an applicant and they are poopoohing the WG⌠either from being an âexperiencedâ sitter or because they are showing their inexperienceâŚ
I would not offer the sit to either person.
I am looking forward to thsitters in my home this Fall and feel pretty darn good that we are on the same page! (YeahâŚI did that )
Additional information I would like to see in the welcome guide is impairments in the home. For example, do not use the right knob on the bathroom faucet as it will snap off, the cabinet door above the stove is unbalanced and if you open it too fast instead of slowly it will become unhinged etc. These are things only the homeowner/pet parent would know since they live in the space. Sitters wouldnât know these things until they have tried to open the cabinet door or tried to turn on the faucet. Iâve had such encounters that left me thinking I damaged the property until I discussed it with the home owner all for them to tell me â itâs always been like that itâs not brokenâ itâs a bit nerve wrecking.
Naturally HOs are familiar with their homes so I think they sometimes underestimate how much information there is to take in when you arrive at a new housesit, especially if youâve been travelling, etc.
A 20 page Guide does sound excessive, unless it contains photos. Personally I appreciate a Guide that lays out pet care and house security etc and then individual brief guides for each appliance, preferably located near that appliance for when I need to use it. Bullet points are the way to go rather than long paragraphs you have to read through.
My absolute fav was a HO who had brief laminated cards (some with pictures) for each of the TV and security systems, which past sitters have obviously struggled with. Their washer and dishwasher was just standard and they left me liquid to use (which I just replaced same for same) so it wasnât necessary.
I once took a job across the country and sublet a place for starters. The owner-professor was away teaching at another school. He had a TV so old, I turned it on just to see if it worked. It had knobs and turned out to be black and white. He might have well watched the moon landing on it as a child. But it still functioned, LOL.
Hi, im a sitter and love receiving as much info as possible, i think itâs important for all the details to be written down and detailed as much as possible, i.e lights, switches, sockets, washing machines etc, even any hidden draw in the kitchen units which i came across in one of my sits, i had to send a message just to ask where the cutlery was kept as i couldnât find any, they messaged straight back and apologised as they hadnât thought to mention the hidden draw in the top of their pan draw that just pulled out, i had never seen one like this before so felt a little foolish having to ask after much exploration of the Kitchen, but we laughed about it when they came home, one home owner wrote a very detailed file that was brilliant, i messaged her back to say it must of taken her a long time and i appreciated it very much and that my husband said he was thinking of having it published, she laughed and said she didnât want to miss anything out, needless to say i didnât have one question to ask herâŚ
So, yes, write a much as you possibly can, Iâm sure it will be much appreciated and the sitter can just keep reverting back to it for the info they need to focus on at their particular moment in hand, i read mine over and over as theirs always something i might of missed out on
I definitely wouldnt of found it lol, i know we can go on you tube these days to find anything but even on there it didnât show or understand my question
@michaeltt, could you copy the section on your dishwasher and your washing machine here? Maybe we can see if some of us are confused by the instructions?
I think itâs quite likely the sitter did read the section about the animals, but maybe didnât think they needed to read the section about the dishwasher because they assumed they knew how to run a dishwasher so didnât bother to read that? Ditto the washing machine? I could see myself making such an assumption. I think I might consider a sign on top of the machines, with the correct product sitting beside it, saying âThis is the detergent for the dishwasherâ and âOnly liquid detergent in the detergent port of the washerâ or whatever, if this is a regular occurrence for you. Sorry if it is!
Yes, yes, yes! Especially when Iâm in someone elseâs house, I want to get it right and not break anything! It sounds like I could stay at your house and have all the instructions that I need! It seems that most microwaves, ovens, hoovers, dishwashers, washing machines, heating etc are all different. I feel that it is so kind of the HO to leave extensive notes. I want to care for your home and this helps me so much to do so. When I meet a host, they usually give me so much verbal information all at once and it feels like my head is spinning. To have it written down is so helpful. Of course, I know I can look things up on line, this is quite frustrating when you just need to use a thing. I could message the HO but theyâre away, I only want to send pet updates or pet queries. My first pet sit host was well organised and had detailed notes for everything I might need. This was great. The next sit had a welcome guide online but no hard copies at the house and no instructions for lots of things, which just makes my task that much harder.
Something to consider if youâre writing an extensive welcome guide:
Share it digitally as well as in paper if possible. Why: For us digitally inclined folks, it takes seconds to search for key words or phrases on our devices, rather than waste time looking through a print version and possible missing something.
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one home owner wrote a very detailed file that was brilliant, i messaged her back to say it must of taken her a long time and i appreciated it very much and that my husband said he was thinking of having it published, she laughed and said she didnât want to miss anything out, needless to say i didnât have one question to ask her⌠
