I’m new to trusted house-sitters and was wondering if I can have a house sitter for my two dogs but also have my two teenage kids stay in the house. I’m taking a two-week trip and my kids stay home alone and don’t need a babysitter, but they are out of the house so much (and sleeping out, etc.) that I want somebody to housesit to watch my two dogs. If the house-sitter (and my kids) are okay with it, is it allowed?
Thanks,
Beth
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Hello and welcome. Speaking as a sitter, we appreciate you asking, rather than just assuming all will be OK. Your home must be vacant - no one other than the sitters there. You can find the details in this Code of Conduct blog post.
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Hi @Rami5
I agree with @Snowbird . Just being curious and not a criticism; did you have to sign up to the Code of Conduct before you signed up? We oldies on the site are told that all new members have to agree before signing up so I am simply wondering what the procedure was when you joined.? Thanks
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Hello @Rami5 and welcome to both TrustedHousesitters and our community forum. We hope you enjoy connecting here with other members, and as you’ve already seen they are both friendly and helpful.
As @Snowbird correctly advises, TrustedHousesitters are clear about their “third party policy” and how a home must be left vacant (including family members) during a house sit. Here’s the information and guidelines specifically about third parties:
So unfortunately, in this instance it wouldn’t be permitted for your children to use the property along-side sitters. Is there somewhere they could perhaps stay while you are away - with friends or family maybe?
Sorry it’s not the answer you were perhaps hoping for, but hopefully you can find a work around so that can leave the property vacant while you are away. All the best, Vanessa
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This happened to us on a Housesit in Malaysia. The HO did say that her sister would be there also since she was finishing college and had no other place to go. We had no problem with that and accepted the housesit anyway. We were worried that her sister would be uncomfortable with us being there, but we only saw her a couple of times.
We are thinking of going away in Nov 2022 for a months… we hv 2 dogs… Our 24 year old daughter, who lives with us cannot commit to looking after the dogs, due to work and social commitments, hence looking at a this forum. Is it unusual for a house sitter to have someone else in the house? And Would they rather not? Just asking to find out if it’s the right route to go
Hello @j_sturdy and welcome to the forum. Thank you for taking the time to research your particular needs before joining. I have moved your question here to a thread with a similar question and as you’ll see in the link above, TrustedHousesitters do have a “Third Party Policy” that explains that another person… in your case your daughter … cannot be in the property at the same time as sitters.
Maybe your daughter could take care of the dogs with the assistance of a paid dog walker or drop in pet sitter? These aren’t services that we offer at TrustedHousesitters, but you’ll usually find plenty of local services like this online. The only other suggestion I have is could you get your daughter to stay with friends while you are away, or is it too long a trip? There’s no doubt pets are happier at home so I hope you find a good solution for you all.
All the best, Vanessa and the forum team
In practice we have had other people living at the same place while house sitting (both on THS and elsewhere). In one case it was a young gentleman just coming twice a day to use the kitchen / bathroom and once there was an adult daughter staying on the upper floor and using the kitchen. It wasn’t too awkward with them and we got along well, but still we really made sure that the kitchen was 100% spotless every single day. Probably I would ask your kids first and then see if any platform like this even allows for other people in the house. We would not go for it, unless maybe your kids have a separate flat in the house.