Help! I posted my sit dates 5 weeks ago( for a sit in June/ July ‘25)and received only 1 application,( which would not work). I’ve invited a dozen or more sitters, but all have other plans. Yes, I looked at the available calendar but they all said they were unavailable. I don’ t know what to do.
Linda234
With 4 dogs, for the future, post a lot earlier, because there are less sitters that can handle 4 dogs, but there’s still sitters, just less of them. So all it means is that you need to give more time to find the perfect sitter for you, ie more than 2-3 months notice.
But here’s a couple of tips to tweak your ad. Hope this helps, please don’t take it personally, most of your profile is great, there’s just a couple of errors with it.
At the moment, your main image is of your 4 dogs, so straight away without sitters reading a word, sitters need to decide in that moment whether they can handle 4 before they click into your profile, so you’re probably limited to couples, and that’s before they’ve read anything about you having an acre for them to play in which is a huge bonus.
While dog sitters love dogs, leading with your pool image as your main image will be even better for you, given you have 4 dogs, as that may appear at first as being overwhelming to some… that didn’t realise you had an acre of garden. Your pool is your homes biggest selling point in your particular scenario, over the dogs.
You also mention 2 rescue dogs in your title, and then there’s 4 dogs in the image/text, so there’s an imbalance. So at first glance it makes things look iffy, at first glance things just don’t add up, and when things don’t appear genuine, sitters just scroll on to the next home, where everything makes sense to them. So tweak your title too, I’d remove the bit about 2 rescues, and say you have an acre instead.
Hope that helps, you’re place looks lovely, and your dogs are cute, so I’m sure your perfect sitter is out there, if you just tweak your profile a little, so that they definitely click into your ad.
You might want to mention average high and low temperatures (in F and C) during your dates. Potential sitters don’t have to research.
Did I read correctly, fill hummingbird feeders twice a day? How many feeders do you have? You may want to specify the exact number of feeders. Do you keep the liquid in the refrigerator, or does the sitter have to dilute a concentrated solution? You might include photos of the feeders. Some people love hummingbirds!
Reading your listing thoroughly, it seems your four dogs could be doable, especially since they don’t «need» walks.
It is undoubtedly more responsibility than the average sit in my opinion. That means that if a sitter has several options, the likelihood of the sitter choosing another sit is higher.
Have you considered marking your sit as «family friendly»? I would think this sit is not suitable for smaller children due to four dogs, but maybe it could be for a family (or grandparents) with one or two 12+ or teens? I would think a house with pool in summer could be a nice holiday option. As families have less opportunities as petsitters this sit could stand out more as an attractive sit to that segment of sitters.
You should absolutely not do something you are not comfortable with, and even if open to families it would still be 100 % your call to identify an application as a good match or not. Just a thought, as some sitters might search specifically for family friendly sits.
Are there 2 dogs or 4? The title states 2 yet you show a pic and name 4 dogs
Yes, I’d update the listing to show and list only the 2 dogs that will be there, as sitters will be swiping on before reading the details. As a solo sitter, I’d consider 2 dogs but not 4.
Otherwise it looks great!
Yes definitely only show the two dogs who will be at the house and choose a stronger first image.
If I saw four dogs as the first image I would scroll by no matter where the location was. Good Luck
Welcome to the forum @rgo
You might want to start your own thread so it doesn’t get confused with the OP.
Usually sits without pets get lots of applications as the sitter will have lots of free time .
I think it is the length of your sit >90 days that is the main hurdle . The majority of sitters on THS are from U.K. and USA . Visitors who are not residents of the Schengen area can only stay in EU as a tourist for a maximum of 90 days out of 180. Your sit is longer than 90 days and you ask for someone who is flexible to stay on longer if needed. That won’t be possible for the majority of THS sitters .
Other things to consider -
You request for sitters with gardening and DIY skills sounds more like a job application that could be off putting because there’s no indication of how long a sitter would be carrying out these tasks on a daily basis . Is it 30mins or several hours ?
THS unpaid house sitting is about keeping an eye on things and maybe a bit of watering of the garden but not about undertaking time consuming maintenance or renovation tasks or any task that could be done by a paid professional or that take many hours of the day.
The other things that will further narrow the pool of sitters that might be attracted to apply to your listing are that you want sitters who are familiar with living off grid ,
someone who has a car and they must buy their own gas for cooking & drinking water and can’t have any guests for 3 months …..
Things that could make your listing more attractive
By changing one or more of these , this will greatly improve your chances of sitters applying .
@linda234 You’ve gotten lots of good suggestions - and do make clear that it is only 2 dogs on the sit, and which ones so the sitter knows size and age.
I sat in Las Cruces over Christmas/New Year last year and would love to get back when the pool is ‘open.’ And several Tex-Mex restaurants I didn’t try on my last sit.
But I am already sitting your dates. I think I was in your neighborhood - the view from your yard to the Organ Mountains is familiar. And there are a
Welcome to forum @rgo !
A 3+ month sit in Spain would normally attract sitters I’m sure.
I think you will have a much smaller pool of possible sitters because
Many sitters would regard their travel expenses to the sit enough of an expense to do tasks for the host, and are not willing to in addition to travel costs to pay for cars, energy, water and such.
Many sitters travel by air and have no car and are not willing to pay rent for the needs of the host. Sitters that do have a car is often mindful of not having to have heavy wear and dirt in or on their car - often avoiding to transport pets that may cause fur, dirt - or even bodily fluids in their car. I can imagine full time sitters with vans would avoid dirt roads as it could cause damage to their home on wheels that they rely on.
I would consider if it was possible to offer use of a car somehow. It could also be an advantage if it was possible to offer some time off for the sitter(-s) so that they would be able to have a break during a 3+ month sit. It seems a big ask to live off grid for such a long time, never having time off and being forbidden to have guests. In a more central area one could have family or friends staying in a hotel or meeting up at a nearby café.
So in total - it seems to be both more work and less rewards than an average sit. This means that many (most?) sits would seem a better option. Especially since one need to be on site off grid for quite a long time.
It might sound harsh, but just offering a sitter perspective so you can possibly work something out to get a good match.
Thank-you for the helpful comments.
I have already fixed that. We do have 4 dogs but decided we could take the 2 small ones with us, so the sit would only be for the 2 mid size dogs. I thought I might get applications better that way
It’s better I do not list for a family. All our dogs are fine with kids,… BUT if there is a lot of splashing , screaming etc as kids usually do, that riles up the dogs, in particular our terrier who tries to “SAVE” the child by grabbing them by the hair of head. Thank-you for the suggestion though.
Linda
thank-you.
Thanks
Linda
Hey Linda, just a shout out and hello from Barron, Wisconsin!
I agree completely with @Silversitters. I had seen that listing from @rgo and immediately rejected it (even though I’m one of the few who can stay in the Schengen area as long as I want), because it seemed pretty clear this was a landscaping / gardening job disguised as a housesit. I immediately noted that the stated goal is to “revitalize two hectares of neglected land…and start a vegetable garden.” - and you’re leaving the property right in the middle of prime gardening season.
The statement “We also expect that any items damaged during your stay are communicated and covered by you.” was a red flag. I’d guess that 99% of sitters on this platform would do this without being prompted - it’s like writing “We also expect that you won’t steal from us”. It made me think, “Well these owners are going to be trouble” and I moved on to the next listing.
It sounds like what you really need is to hire a professional gardener, landscaper, or property manager. I’m not familiar with the laws in your country, but in some locations if you have someone stay in your place for an open-ended, extended period of time (you indicate they might be asked to extend beyond the three months), they get “squatters rights” and it will be a whole lot of trouble to get them to move out. Trusted Housesitters is about an equal exchange - property owners can expect to return to a property that is in the same condition they left it. It’s not about getting unpaid labor for heavy work like landscaping. Per the THS site: "Please note that sitters are not expected to complete any tasks that are considered ‘work’. This may include helping a pet parent maintain any business they have or completing tasks like home renovation work where it would be better for them to bring in paid employment to complete those tasks. "
My solution is not a preferred one. I have listened to all the suggestions and made adjustments to my listing. I removed some of the responsibilities that might have been offensive to some, I reworded things and changed some pictures. I changed the number of pets for the sitting from 4 to 2, (we would just have to take our 2 little ones with us.) I changed the dates by a week to give more time for applications. I personally invited “50” sitters, bot near and far but still no applications.
My only solution is for my husband & I to travel separately and at different times to visit the family we haven’t seen in 2 years. We do not believe it would be fair to our animals to board them for 3 + weeks and it would be impossible to bring all 4 with us. I just thought I would give an update to those who were kind enough to respond to my topic.
Linda234