I would never have guests in someone else’s home. I think this is a matter of respect for the home owner and also somewhat of a privacy issue. That being said, if you have pet sit for a number of times for the same homeowner and they feel comfortable enough for you to have an additional person with you- that is, if there was enough room and it was planned out in advance. Maybe? But- at the same time I would never bring children or other pets. It would have to be another responsible adult.
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Honesty is always the best policy. Good for you and your wonderful home owners.
When I’m in an area where I have friends, I’ll ask the HO if I might have them over for a meal or coffee. If yes, fine, if no, I’ll meet my friends somewhere.
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Many owners have never said anything about it either way, and in most cases, we are in an area where we don’t know anyone, and even if we met people, we wouldn’t bring people we barely know to the house. So I figured there was no point in asking.
For sits where I am inm or near NJ–where I am from, and stay to visit with people, which is something I mention in my application-- I’ve had people specifically mention it was okay for my family and friends to visit, and even stay over, and I have had them do so a couple of times.
I am at a NJ sit now ,and I didn’t discuss visitors with the homeowner before, but asked one day if it was okay if my sister came up for a bit, and she said my house was her house. I had a strong feeling she would be fine with it based on how she was when we met, so I felt comfortable asking. If it was someone I sensed may not be okay, and it hasn’t been discussed beforehand, I probably wouldn’t bother asking and just not have anyone here.
I rarely have people come even when given permission ,and usually meet them elsewhere. I note on my profile I am always interested in NJ sits to visit with friends and family but am sure to mention I am OK if you don’t allow guests , and probably wouldn’t have people over even if I was permitted .
I know some owners may be concerned about sitters hosting guests if they know people in the area, and this lets them know I have no expectation of being able to do that, or even want to.
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I would always ask prior to even accepting the sit if I knew I was planning on having visitors if it was okay.
My Husband will come visit for a meal once a week with the Children and I, especially if we are away for a couple of Months, depending on how far away we are, he might stay overnight, however only 1 sit out of 26 so far, did he stay overnight and it was Christmas.
It’s a personal preference and needs to be discussed with the sitter/s prior to the sit.
As a HO who just found out through a Facebook post that my most recent sitter had a friend fly in and stay at my house for a few days without asking or even notifying me I must say that this feels like a betrayal and makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. To me it is a total no-go without previous confirmation from the HO that it is okay. I have an agreement with the sitter. They can use my house (and in this case my car) while I am away and in return they take care of my dogs. This agreement does not give any rights to have other people stay over at my house. I learned my lesson from that.
It was my first “bad” experience and I am still not sure how to handle it. It feels like invading private space since I don’t know that additional person. I may over react, but I personally would never even think about anything like that. And honestly I would not bring anyone into the house without asking the owner in advance. Not for a meal, and definitely not for an overnight stay.
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@ArcticLights I’ve added an extract below from: House and pet sitting: sitter guidelines | TrustedHousesitters.com
I suggest you contact @Therese You may also want to take screen captures of the Facebook post.
For everyone’s sake, please also provide an accurate review of the sitter.
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Just chiming in here. Yes, not only was that a violation of trust, as @Snowbird says, it’s a violation of the THS Code of Conduct. Membership services can handle the issue. I am sorry you had this experience.
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Hi @ArcticLights I am really sorry to hear this and thank you @Snowbird for giving support and correct direction to our member.
I will also tag @Therese who will reach out to you directly to help and advise.
Please feel free to Direct Message me should you need any additional support or help.
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Correction: This is not in the THS Code of Conduct. It is in THS Policies under Third Party Policy:
Sitter third party policy
A sitter must not allow any third parties to attend the sit or enter an owner’s property without the owner’s consent prior to arranging the sit. If an owner is happy for a sitter to arrange for a friend or family to visit them for any part of their sit, then that is absolutely fine provided the owner gives their consent for the sitter to make those arrangements.
Sitters must remember that they are staying in an owner’s home and be respectful to not allow unauthorised third parties be present on the sit unless the owner says it is okay to do so.
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As a sitter, the only time I’ve had someone over during a sit was the HOs neighbors, who they introduced me to and were good friends with (they invited me over for dinner so I reciprocated). I still asked the HO if it was ok. I have an upcoming sit scheduled where I’m in a suburb of a town where I have some friends. My friends are interested in seeing my campervan so I might ask the HO if they’re ok with me having them over for lunch one day. I haven’t decided yet. Otherwise I’ll just meet them somewhere and they can see it there. My other friends will just be visiting a couple days while I am there. They asked if they could stay with me and I said no. I didn’t even ask the HO as I just wouldn’t be comfortable with that even though I’ve known them for 20+ years and I know they’d love having a chance to cuddle the critter I’ll be sitting with. It would never occur to me to just have someone over without asking. That’s so inappropriate.
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Hi @ArcticLights We are so sorry to hear about this negative experience. I will email you from our membership services platform to take this further. Kind regards Therese
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I have to agree with your HO that you were sitting for, I would not be happy if I had said it was ok for someone to visit and they brought an animal without prior permission…… I would not want strangers bringing animals into my animals territory without me being there……
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Sorry, I wasn’t blaming you, I understood from your post that it had not been your intention for your husband to bring your dog, I was just agreeing with the HO saying that she wasn’t happy about it…I would not have marked you down just for that either…
That’s an absolute no-go! Even if everything else went perfectly, I would mention this in the review. Like this other HO may clear this topic beforehand.
I have it in my welcome guide on the first page, but I am aware that not everybody reads it.
A post was merged into an existing topic: Christmas sitting
I hope you wrote about that in the review of that sitter. Other HOs need to know such things.
Can you clarify this please? This sentence sounds like a sitter may have anyone they want in our home.
Hi, it wasn’t a sitter from THS or any other site like this but a private arrangement. Actually it was my former cleaning lady and we paid her nicely for sleeping here (which she didn’t do the last two times). She became more and more unreliable also with cleaning appointments so we don’t employ her anymore.
Hi @Crosswords_and_puzzles =Thank you. I will certainly point this out to management regarding the wording, as this could be confusing. If a homeowner is happy for a sitter to have a third party to stay, this must be mutually agreed prior to the confirmation of the sit. This is documented in the third party policy clause.
Kind regards
Therese
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