@BonnyinBrighton
I love my home and garden and I am crazy house proud. I think its good to show my potential pet owners my area Most say "why do you want to sit if you live there? "…I say to look after your dogs
and walk in another area.
I love being a part time sitter
This is my little pal for the last week, she goes home tomorrow, she stays with us, not done via THS.
I always look at the photo’s
I have also sought out fairly local sitters who may be new to the platform. It’s a great way for them to get a nice rating under their belt, and because they’re local, we can meet in advance and feel nice and comfortable about having a newbie here with our pup. So far, it’s worked out out really well!
Totally on point. Even as someone experienced in writing resumes et al, I still occasionally forget the homeowners WIIFM. (What’s In It For Me)
I think different approaches can work. For instance, I see some homeowners and full time sitters discourage short applications because they get back-to-back sits with long applicatons with loads of personal information - while I as a new sitter without TH-reviews (and without photos where I interact with animals) have gotten three approved sits in a short while with short applications and referral to my profile - and I am on my second sit now.
Some doesn’t need hobby photos while others can feel a connection because they see that they have interests in common. As they say - «you do you». The important thing is to get a connection with the right match.
The fastest way to turn me off as the home and pet owner, whether your new or not, is to tell me you’re the dog whisperer or the cat whisperer. In particular if you make it sound as though you actually aren’t going to respect anything that i’m saying about my potentially reactive dog Because you make it sound like you know it all and that every dog loves you.
Instead, tell me why you feel you have the right skill set and you would be a good match for a potentially reactive dog.
Even better, outline why you feel this would be a good sit for you.
But when I look at your profile, it says you would be bringing your dog with you! And you didn’t say anything in your application and it’s not marked as a sit where bringing a pet would be possible anyway.
Even though it specifies that the sitter has to have a car to be able to take the dog to a private dog park, because of the dog reactivity, I don’t mind if someone asks if there is any chance of using my vehicle.
But it is a waste of my time when someone applies and tells me they actually don’t even drive, but they’re in really good shape so they feel they would be able to walk my dog to the private dog park, which is a 15 minute drive away and yet the whole reason of taking the dog to the dog park is because the dog could be reactive on leash and therefore I don’t want the sitter walking the dog around other dogs in case of an issue, hence I pay for the private dog park.
I’ve had a number of new or almost new sitters through THS and another sitting site and I don’t think everything else has to sound perfect , but at least make sense and show that you’ve basically read the posting.
Hm. The THS terms and conditions say in 5.2.11 that pets with a history of attacks on pets or people are not allowed. Terms & Conditions | TrustedHousesitters.com
I was astounded by an application the other day. A couple had no recommendations from THS—we can get past that. Only two pictures on the entire listing and both were of the same person. When I asked about a photo of the other person, they said they weren’t comfortable with my request for pictures and they would look elsewhere….WUT!!!
They won’t offer a photo and I’m supposed to offer my home and dogs?
Glad we sorted that out VERY quickly.
@sharose Nuts! Is sitter #2 a celebrity or in some witness protection program??
Go go dancer, hilarious!!! . Good stuff. My understanding is that if you are travelling with a partner you need to be jointly registered as sitters. Maybe I’m wrong here.
hahaha that’s crazy. How can people be taken seriously if they can’t be upfront. I’d probably send their profile to THS to keep an eye on. Sounds fishy to me.
There’s a difference between saying a dog possibly can be reactive and a dog that attacks other dogs.
I am aware of what the trusted house sitter site says and I think i’ve shown that i’m very honest with pet sitters.
I do recall that prompt as well when I set up my profile. Show hobbies and you interacting with friends/ family. Over time, I reduced the number of photos without animals. I figured it was to show a homeowner that their location was a good match - it’s by a river and I like to canoe. Or we have a back yard pool so we have experience and can trouble shoot if the homeowner has one.
A hiking photo without a dog could indicate they are physically capable of taking a dog with them.
I’ve got nothing for selfies on the beach or in front of Eiffel Tower!
I totally agree. If I ever host as a pet parent I couldn’t care less about what a potential sitter likes to do for fun or what makes them tick. All I’m interested in is what experience they have with animals (particularly my types of pet) and what specific skill set they can offer my sit and whether or not they’re honest and trustworthy enough to honour the list of responsibilities I give them and to respect my home whilst they’re staying there for free.