As a sitter I find a comprehensive Welcome Guide very useful. Yet increasingly I am finding that home and pet owners are reluctant to use it. They instead email or what’s app the information or leave notes in the home. As someone who does multiple sits with pets with different preferences and needs I find detailed information essential. Once written it’s there for all future sitters if updated regularly. Why the reluctance?
I can’t speak for every HO, but one thing is, that the Welcome Guide is not really very user friendly. It has many good sections, and the idea is good, but it is very … un-flexible.
We did fill the Welcome Guide, but it took way more time than it should. We’re also about to make our own PDF to make it more suitable for our home. Also, it will be easier to print it out.
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I wonder if memberships services are looking into this. Time to make it more user friendly so more HOs will use it.
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Hi @Coral It’s a good question and as a sitter I agree, the more information we have about pets, homes and location the better the Welcome Guide can provide all of that. Equally I have had many who prefer to provide their own “Home Manual” and as long as I have all of the information I need then I am happy.
All Pet Parents/Owners are prompted at regular times in the sit arrangement process to complete and share their Welcome Guide also to keep it up to date, as we know things are constantly changing in many people’s lives. Sometimes I do believe that the saying about familiarity applies, they see their pets, home and life as “easy” and “normal” and may feel that sitters will do the same, not by intent but just because they are so used to everything and don’t see their home or pets as being any different from others.
If they are engaging a very experienced sitters the PP may feel a verbal exchange is sufficient, explaining that completing the WG is for everyone’s benefit, especially their furry family member’s will often prompt them into action.
When there is one available I will request a hard copy also in case I cannot access the digital version for any reason … for me there is something comforting about have a copy of all the details I need, in my hand.
To answer @Smiley 's question we look at all forms of communication through the sit arrangement process to update and make as functional and purposeful as possible and the Welcome Guide is no exception we also welcome (speaking of guides) any feedback, suggestions and ideas on how the WG can be improved …
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Welcome Guide does not necessarily mean the THS website version. A word processor document is fine. I actually prefer this because it is easier to add my own notes. I would hope the HO would use the THS site version as a template though, since it gives lots of ideas of what the sitter needs to know.
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@Coral (Great name, by the way. There aren’t many of us!)
For new HOs, I always suggest they at least check the welcome guide for suggestions about what to cover even if they create their own version elsewhere. And I still think it should be printable (or PDFable) by sitters, not just by HOs–a long-standing annoyance.
I’ve had a number of pet parents who did not fill in the Home Guide and found it frustrating. I’m wondering if there is some policy on this and how others deal with it.
Some were rather easy going and just didn’t feel like filling it in, but it was annoying because sometimes I would misplace the paper with the instructions (e.g., wind blew under a sofa).
However, a good number of owners who do this had challenging anxiety and trust issues. They left me unorganized documents (Word, Excel, and Notes app), multiple long emails with instructions, then texted constantly with even more instructions. I work very hard to assure them that everything will be fine and everything is going swimmingly, but these left a bad taste in my mouth and burnt me out.
I find it impractical and stressful not to have the notes in the Home Guide. I feel like it’s a contract - THS and I have mutual access and everything is well organized for speed and efficiency. I want to take care of your pet and home well, not spend hours deciphering handwriting, looking through documents for instructions on a specific thing, etc.
The last two sits I had left me multiple, long Word documents, horribly organized. I took notes but it was such a time suck to read through just to verify a small bit of info. Often they leave info from a previous sit and key info is missing!
I think from now on when I am accepted, I will tell them that based on experience, it is much more efficient for everyone (me, you and THS!) to keep all info in the Home Guide. What do you think?
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Yes, because it feels like it should be part of the “soft contract”. If it says, for example, “Walk the dog 3x a day at xyz times,” then if the sitter doesn’t do it, then the sitter can’t get make excuses. (I’ve actually had 2-3 owners tell me sitters did not even walk their dog!)
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We started filling out the THS version of the Welcome Guide but we found it a bit constraining. We decided to go for a 14 pages Word document that contains everything to know about contacts, the cats, the apartment (address, appliances, utilities, etc) and things to do (ex. watering the plants) and the neighbourhood (restaurants, stores, activities, etc). We leave a paper version of the document and we also send an electronic version of it to our sitters.
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I’m sure that this would be welcomed by many sitters, including us. We’ve had both and while the THS form is “good enough” the ones the homeowners did on their own were more comprehensive
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I wish it was mandatory for HOs to fill out the welcome guide. There’s so much that HOs miss when they are in a hurry to get out of town and the last think I want to do is to text HOs while they are out of town when that info could have easily been in the welcome guide.
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I do the same. The THS template is very clunky and doesn’t print easily. My Word version is easier to update, organized, and sitters can easily search for key words if using the electronic version. Some sitters have said it is one of the best Welcome Guides they have ever received 
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Been to 1 sit that not only didn’t have a Welcome Guide (WG) but didn’t write a single thing down except the wifi password. I’m setting a new rule for reviews, if you don’t do a WG I’m going down 1 star and it get mentioned in the review so other sitters know.
I’m a HO as well and yes it is time consuming to do an all emcompassing WG but once done it’s wonderful. So much less that you have to go through during the walk through and the sitter doesn’t have to rely on memory. Also HOs, re-read your welcome guide for each sit to make sure it doesn’t need updating.
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So @Peg did you give the sit with no WG a one star review ?
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@Silversitters - not a 1 star, 4 stars. For me, a 1 star would have had absolutley nothing positive. There was alot to like on the sit and am hopeful that if we sitters can word our reviews as constructive feedback, that HOs will learn from it. I try very hard to put my own desires for a sit aside (because quite possibly my expectations are too high) and rate based on how the pets where, if the house & responsibilities were as described to me and how communication with the HO was (which includes the WG as written communication).
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Well said @Peg! It’s actually in the Code of Conduct that owners are to provide a Welcome Guide as part of their responsibilities but, of course, that’s not often read.
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oh I miss- read .
Well done on bravely not just giving a 
star if it was not deserved .
Certainly a sit without any kind of written welcome guide would be challenging and if Home Owner (HO ) does not provide or vet / emergency contacts this could cause problems if you needed to contact them in an emergency and couldn’t get in touch with HO quickly .
Even when we do a repeat sit I ask for the guide again - over the course of a year we care for so many pets in different homes it’s impossible to simply remember something as simple as what/ how much pets are fed and at what time unless it’s written down .
Something in writing ( whether that is the THS welcome guide or HOs own version ) ensures we as sitters know exactly the HOs expectations .
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It seems then that some HO find the process clunky and if that’s the case is this something is something that THS need to take on board? It is always useful if the WG is printed out, laat week we had a power cut and no WiFi so couldn’t check the online version. This is particularly useful if there are meds to be given at certain times. I cared for a dog who had heart pill 2 hours before meals and I set a reminder for this and meal times. Today I had to go to the vet to check the meds prescribed and how to measure them as I wasn’t shown and the written instructions were not clear. To the PP they made sense as they do them daily. I’ve had 5 dogs to look after in 3 different houses this month so far. All the homes and the needs of the dogs are different. I can’t possibly remember all the specific arrangements for food and meds so I need clear instructions and preferably shown exactly what to do. Going forward I will tell people the sit is subject to a comprehensive Welcome Guide. And yup, may mark people down of there isn’t one.
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Me, too. I have heard a few horror stories. But I’m also wondering if those people might have not communicated clearly and concisely with the sitters. Obviously the sitters were negligent, but like you said, the Welcome Guide should be like a soft contract.
I think that if THS is going to grow, it must make a hyper efficient Welcome Guide.