I notice with a lot of sits I am looking at there are many early risers. Many sit have pets being fed and walked at 6am. We are retired and find that a little early for us. Are there lots of early birds on the forum?
I should add this is not in hot countries where you need to ‘beat the heat’
We don’t apply for these sits as we realize the importance of keeping a pets routine.
Most people work. So if you have to get up and walk your dog before getting ready to work, then early it is. I always stick to the HOs schedule, even if it’s inconvenient, unless the dog is clearly not interested. For example, one sit I did in London the HO told me her dog loved 5 am walks. That was not even remotely true. There were a couple times I had to shove the dog out of bed so I could walk her because I had lunch plans. I think mom likes her 5 am walks and doggo would be thrilled to sleep most of the day. 
I will say that early morning walks are one reason I generally only do sits for dogs that have yards as usually with those, even if they need an early morning bathroom break, usually you don’t have to do a full walk at that time.
I’m an early to bed up with the lark so that suits me
My husband is the early bird, but he has to work and prefers to begin with it between 7 and 8.
He usually gets up to feed the cats at 6.30 in the morning.
I am quite the opposite and (because I often come from a different time zone plus a night flight back) I rarely begin my day before 11AM. However when my husband isn’t at home, I get up at 6.30, feed the cats and go right back to sleep.
As long as there’s a 12 hrs interval for one of our cat’s medication, the sitters can sleep longer. But the other one is quite demanding and might wake them up, because he is used to somebody being up and feeding him.
@Kootenaigirl, I’m with you. I prefer dogs that can wait until 8 or 8:30 AM and have a yard you can send them first thing in the morning. Any HO reading this, please specify how long your dog can be left alone, even if just occasionally. I’ll watch a dog that can be left for only four hours as long as they can occasionally be left for longer.
It’s important (to us) to keep the pets in their usual routine so 6am morning starts are becoming the norm. I have been known to fling a fleece over my pyjamas and take the dogs out for their mini walk then try to go back to bed. It doesn’t usually work!
The most frustrating thing about routines is when the pet owners say an hours walk and the dog is exhausted after 10 minutes. It leaves us wondering what we are doing wrong until a neighbour makes an off hand comment along the lines of the dogs never get so much walking usually. Please don’t lie to a sitter.
Not us. If a sit says we have to walk the dog at 6am, I scroll on past. If it says 7, I will consider it but always discuss with the home owner as to how strict this timing is. Then it will depend on how long the sit is. Often we can take the pup out to do his business early and then then for a proper walk after I’ve had my coffee.
Early bird here. I am up before 5am to get ready to zip out the door to do my run session then the gym. I loathe busy paths,trails &roads so you’ll find me out there before the sunrise. I also often need to drive 1hr+ for a good trail run so early it is.
I worry i’ll wake the pets I may sit up & often apologise to them 
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If you need an early riser to check on horses, etc, i’m your person 
Yup, I’m an early riser, up with the sun or a little before. With my last dog sit I would wake early and make tea while she slept on the couch. When the tea was done and in hand and I was nestling into an armchair, that’s when she would be ready to go. Cold tea on return. We never could get that timing right.
I notice so many listings say the dogs get 3 walks a day or two walks of at least an hour, etc etc. When do these people get to do other things? I think many of them increase the number and length of walks and decrease time apart from animals just for their listings. I guess they’re trying to get “their money’s worth” (even though there’s no money) from their sitters.
Either that or they don’t want to admit how little they walk their dogs. I don’t mind either way but just tell me the truth so I don’t end up dragging your poor dog half way up a mountain.
We had a sit where the dogs wanted out for a pee & fed at 4.30am! (owners informed us abt this when applying)
So we got up, a quick 2min walk outside, food and hup, all back to bed again till 8 
Yeah, I’d do that no problem.
No we are generally not early risers either!
Mainly we do cat sits, though some cats can be wide awake early too and we do enjoy some dog sits.
We got caught eatly on when we first started with a sit that required the dogs to be walked before 7am! Which we didnt know until we got there. We worked around it by taking it in turns.
Now I ask when we apply if they need the dog walking or letting out by a certain time and then decide if it would work or not.
The last dog sit the dog did wake us by 7 each morning but it just needed letting out, which again we took in turns & then went back to bed.
On the other hand for a not normal early riser I find I quite enjoy the early morning calm sat with the pets in peace and quiet, so it can have benefits.
Between 4-6am for me.
Mornings are my most sacred time.
I walk myself after I feed the cats 
Hi @Kootenaigirl I am always up and out with the dogs at 5am when I’m at home (and I am semi-retired also) however I do not expect sitters to be up at that time in the morning! The dogs are very adaptable actually and are quite happy going to bed later and getting up later. The lurcher is also prone to lazing around whenever possible and getting her up in the morning is like trying to wake a teenager! Also when we take them away with us we tend to get up later and they are not at all bothered. So I would say don’t be put off applying for a sit if you fancy it, just discuss with the HO and you might find that like us it isn’t a problem.
Same here, best time of the day for me and the fact that there’s no - one else about is a bonus!
Our dog loves a lie in as do we now retired. If there’s anyone out there 9-19th May needing a lie in we are desperately seeking someone. Worth an ask!
So - all you folks who are morning people and up at 5am, I’m curious, what time do you go to bed? I’m usually up until at least 11, sometimes a bit later. I am not up at 5…
I’m generally awake at 6 am, but i’m definitely not up and out. though i should get back into that habit vs laying around in bed futzing around online. lol
I go to bed around 11-12. i work until 10pm on week nights.