Haha that’s a good one bc that has happened to us! Smoke alarm beeping and no batteries anywhere to swap it out. Also the keypad lock battery dying too. We’ve had to change a lot of batteries!
Know your limits
We did a repeat sitting where they had a gorgeous golden retriever, one cat and 15 chickens. We were invited back but they had 2 new puppies. It was just a few days so we thought how hard is that!!!
So time consuming, our feeding routine went to pieces, I accidentally let the 15 chickens escape into the lane. After rounding them up, time to take the puppies out again when we noticed the cat eating the retrievers food - we had forgotten to feed the cat.
We now have a limit of 2 dogs and/or 2 cats. No puppies!
Did it go on to say what to do if frogs were found…
Put them in the post box…
No!!!
??!!
No. 
As we’re now focusing on finding a winter sit, I didn’t bother. 
We’re currently in Costa Rica, where I swim every day alongside hundreds and hundreds of tadpoles in a natural swimming pool. According to our host, once they have turned into frogs, they will set off on an adventure into the jungle surrounding the house where we’re staying. Some will grow into big old toads and live long, happy lives near the pool.
Most of them, however, will become part of ‘the circle of life’.
Great story for long winter evenings! “Oh, do you remember that time when….”
That I still prefer pets over people, perhaps even more now, especially cats. And that I simply cannot function without a massive bathtub.
Priorities 
Fantastic advice, though the thought of running around trying to round up 15 chickens also gave me a giggle, so thank you for that!
How hard was it to get the chickens home safely?
I have a repeat sit coming up. They had a cat. Now, they have a dog - a wee poodle, about 14 weeks old. They’ve never had a dog before. The dog will never have been left with a sitter before.
What could possibly go wrong…?
With difficulty - I wish we could have seen ourselves - it would have given us a giggle and like @EmilyDickinson says, a good story for long evenings!!!
A puppy is a HUGE amount of work, prepare yourself for a lack of sleep, lots of wees and poops in the house, lots of chewing, etc etc our neighbours are just emerging from a veritable puppy storm (the puppy is now 7 mths old so can be left an hour alone).
Let’s hope it’s a very short sit! Best wishes though….
Bucketlist: Puppies. Max time: let’s start with a week. As a relationship coach, I am curious if and how our relationship will survive. Taking turns in sleeping? 
Yep hubby and I did puppy shifts…..
“We’re not here to drink your booze or eat your food.”
Some Pet Parents are clearly anxious about the possibility of housesitter helping themselves to drink/food. Perhaps notable for us as we have been fortunate to housesit numerous premium properties that have internal bar area; wine cellar; or premium food storage. Especially in Canada 
.
From experience, we address this topic directly with pet parent during handover. Often we can see pet parents visibly relax.
Only exceptions are items expressly identified/gifted by pet parent or fridge items that will clearly expire before pet parent returns.
That’s such a good tip @GotYourBack - I imagine particularly new Pet Parents might be a little nervous about what to expect when it comes to the food and drink in their home!
What’s the nicest thing you’ve been offered by a PP heading off on their travels?
@Jenny, with neither request nor expectation then we have received some very thoughtful gifts (e.g. wine, gift cards, local treats) at start of housesit or gifts at end of housesit (twice envelope of cash equal to avoided pet boarding costs). We have also given plenty of gifts to pet parents to welcome them home.
But frankly we think the nicest things we receive are honesty, friendliness and flexibility. All of our poor experiences have involved undisclosed, surprising facts. We enjoy meeting people, breaking bread and sharing stories. And, as [currently] full-time international sitters then flexibility - say on arrival/departure date or use of vehicle - can make a big difference to our travel costs or logistics.
At its core, we see housesitting as a fair trade where all three parties - pet parent, housesitter, and pet(s) - benefit. And there’s a common bond of pets and travel. Each time we meet a pet parent that has a similar mindset - rather than an employer mindset or unreasonable expectations - then we smile, engage and often return.
I’m definitely here for the smoke alarm tips lol, haven’t had this one yet
TEXCOCO DE MORA house sitting (no time to sit) So excited to do this one month sit in an area of Mexico that tourist don’t visit as its very much the working class of Mexicans with lots of interesting restaurants, a lovely town square for people watching but don’t use the public washrooms. I got the hang of using the public mini bus and taxis (beware they like to overcharge).
The house is located next to a busy highway (not mentioned) and next to a gated community. The HO’s house was just outside the gated community which seemed really weird. The animals are a miniature Pinscher and rescue dog of mixed breeding, 2 cats and a parrot. The rescue dog was very keen to go for his walk even although he had issues from being hit by a car so I also included him in our short Pee and poop walk and afterwards would go on a much longer walk in a gated community with the Miniature Pinscher ( very feisty yet very lovable).
I am writing about this sit because of the HO disappointing review and lack of appreciation for dedication, caring and time I spent with her animals. Lola the rescue dog had a habit of defecating and urinating in the living room even although she was taken out for a walk in the morning and evening. I stepped in Poo one night to use the bathroom and discovered the next morning poop all over the floor and stuck to my shoe! The area to walk dogs was next to a very busy secondary highway with a small area of grass which is why I took the highly strung yet lovable Pincher on a much longer walk through a gated community. The guards didn’t seem to mind. Apparently Lola got ran over a week before I arrived. She must have had a miraculous recovery is all I can say. Sleeping arrangements were complicated as nobody explained to me that I had choices I got the impression I had to sleep in the smaller room cramped with furniture! After the first night of no sleep as both dogs wanted to be with me! Thankfully the maid told me I could sleep in the larger bedroom which was far more comfortable and I could accommodate both dogs. We had a good downfall of rain during the night which caused the bedroom to start dripping water. UGH … no sleep again. Mama Mia! Got hold of owner they got a handyman to come in. Now onto the cats … lol. The owner allows both huge cats to sit on the dining room table. The one cat has a GPS tracker as both cats are allowed to wander outside during daytime however they had to be back at night. The very large cats would come and go thru left open kitchen window! One of them jumped on my face and scratched me while I was sleeping. The HO calls me at night asking me where are the cats? The cats were forced to be inside night and they were not happy about this prowling around meowing and jumping on my face while I’m trying to sleep! Sometimes they were in the house or come thru window much later. She would call and check up each night if her GPS showed the cat was still outside and asked me why isn’t it inside? I found the situation very frustrating to say the least. Not to mention the one cat jumped on top of my face while I was sleeping! Another very scary thing was the Canon noises that kept going on forever! When asked about it I was told to celebrate a religious holiday.
At first when I woke up from the noise I thought we were being attacked!
The only reason I managed to complete this 30 day sit was because of the maid OTI. She was wonderful and helped out with the dogs cleaning up the poop and pee as well walking the dogs with me. And she was wonderful company with our limited ability to communicate with my basic Spanish.
On the bight side the daughter who was travelling in Africa took me grocery shopping before she left. But it was confusing because she kept asking what I wanted to buy and even her friend was confused. Upon her return from her trip in Africa she drove me to the airport which I’m very grateful for as it probably would have cost me quite a bit.
The most disappointing part was the luke warm review from from the HO …