The HOs don’t have a Welcome guide or a similar summary list .
I was going to send a list of common items that are usually on the Welcome guide so that they get back to me with a complete information.
I’ve seen many information docs for all the sittings I’ve done so far, but I’ve none handy at the moment that I could take as a starting point.
I would have a list of information in my mind, but if there was any bulleted list somewhere on this forum it would be very helpful in order to make sure to include everything.
I checked on THS website, but I could only find the procedure on how to enter info into the Welcome guide without specifying each single paragraph.
The HOs have access to the THS Welcome Guide template. They can either fill it out or use it as a guide. I wouldn’t be scrambling to do this job for them but that is me. Have you hit the Welcome Guide request button on the THS platform so that member services can see that you have formally asked for the guide? @Maggie8K has a good way of stating she must get the WG and won’t go into a sit blind. Perhaps she can chime in with her exact wording.
Ah yes — the “no Welcome Guide but we still need everything to run smoothly” situation… we’ve all been there at least once.
What you’re suggesting is exactly the right approach. I’d keep it simple for the HOs and send a friendly checklist they can respond to, rather than asking them to build a full document from scratch.
Here’s a practical, no-fuss list you can copy/paste and send — it covers the essentials without overwhelming them:
Any known issues (e.g. “door sticks”, “tap leaks”)
Local info (optional but helpful)
Nearby shops / supermarket
Walking routes for the dog
Recommended vet / pharmacy
You can frame it lightly, something like:
“Just to make sure I look after everything exactly as you would, it would be great if you could fill in anything relevant from the list below.”
That way it feels collaborative, not like homework.
One little observation from doing quite a few sits — when HOs don’t have a Welcome Guide, the gold tends to be in the small details (pet quirks, house “personality”, neighbour dynamics), so if anything comes back a bit thin, it’s worth gently asking a couple of follow-ups.
I let hosts know during video chatting that I will make travel plans and bookings after I receive a welcome guide. That creates incentive for them to send promptly. Like I’m on a sit now and had the WG about two months ago.
If nudging is needed, I would message and say, I’d love to do our sit as planned, but unfortunately can’t go in blind, so please send the WG. (I’ve had to nudge only once, for one of my earliest sits, and they sent it as a result. I wouldn’t nudge more than once. If they didn’t respond, I’d just let them know I was canceling, which has not been necessary.)
In one case, the hosts revealed only in their WG (sent promptly) that one dog needed to be let out overnight and the other was prone to diarrhea. In that case, it took less than 48 hours with video chatting, WG sent and read, and my canceling in a friendly way.
Providing a welcome guide is part of the hosts’ responsibilities in this exchange. They don’t have to use the THS guide, they can use some other format, but they do need to provide the information needed for a successful sit.
HOs who refuse to do their part by providing important and necessary information are not people I want to partner with. I request it as soon as the sit is confirmed and send a nudge if needed, but typically it’s sent within a few days of my requesting it.
Thank you @WeRPAWsome that’s exactly what I was looking for.
I didn’t mean to ask the HOs to create a Welcome guide, I just would like to be sure to ask all the information that I’d need for the sitting. This is very handy especially considering that there are three pets of different kind.
I must say that of the 20 sittings I’ve done so far, I’ve always received a Welcome guide at some stage or a similar file of information.
I usually ask all the questions during the online meeting and so far I’ve never got bad surprises. I prefer not putting the HOs under pressure and normally ask for the Welcome guide 2-3 weeks before the sitting unless they do it first well before the start date.
This is the first time I’m dealing with a sitting with no information at all, although they said that they are willing to answer all my questions.
I think it is a good point, another lesson to learn for me reading from your experiences. Next time I meet a host online I’ll mention about the Welcome guide and go through it before accepting the sitting, just in case!
I use video chats for personality matching, rather than a bunch of WG questions. Short and sweet.
As for “pressure” on hosts, shrug, I’m not interested in matching with folks who can’t be bothered to produce a WG (in whatever format). Sitting is a shared responsibility and if they can’t put in the effort to see that their home and pet(s) are well cared for, that’s good to know and for me to avoid. I’m not so keen to sit that I’ll hand-hold hosts through a bunch of Qs.
This is fabulous. You are very helpful on this forum, I like your style.
On my current sit, there was no Welcome Guide. i told him days before arrival - I don’t even have your address, so he sent me it.
He is foreign, and older. I am his 3rd sitter. He has one review, a good one.
He told me “ I don’t do formalities”. I explain to you here.
He did have all relevant info pinned to fridge, contact, details, vet no, etc, and showed me walking route. So on first evening we sat down together and I completed his WG.
added amenities, No Guests rule, descriptions to room photos, etc
Next sitter that comes along will have all the info.
It was interesting for me to see the Home Owner side of the site
in fact, he has a sitter lined up in June, her name showed up, and there was the facility to send welcome guide to her NOW, so together we did that. Being proactive.
We will need to update it on his return, as side gate was locked and he had key to padlock on his house keys with him, so I could not take the bins out on their due date.
A few other quirks that he physically showed me, need to be included in WG too.
@MaggieUU I can see that they previously had 6 sitters. Apparently none of them bothered asking?
I don’t think I am hesitant to ask, I did ask and that’s when I got the reply that they don’t have a Welcome guide! Anyway, I copied and pasted all the items that @WeRPAWsome kindly posted in here and now I am waiting for the filled list.
I normally request the WG a few weeks in advance, but the couple was meant to go on holidays to a destination at risk. Their travel plans were very much unsure until they eventually cancelled. As an alternative plan, they decided to go away just for a few days to a much closer and safer place. Because I live just an hour driving from their home, it is fine for me.
The sitting is just for five days, I’m not too worried. However it is good to have at least the basic information before leaving.
