As a sitter, I square away how many updates to provide during the application process. I normally send a quick update the moment I arrive so that the hosts know I made it to their home. Then I will send an update that night and the next night to calm their nerves. After that if it is a short sit (one week or less) hosts get to choose either nightly or every other night updates. For longer sits like a month or more, I send updates Monday and Friday nights unless there is an emergency.
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Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to respond, I truly appreciate the thoughtful and supportive advice.
It is reassuring to know that our concerns are not unreasonable and that regular communication is generally expected, even on longer sits. We did not set clear expectations beforehand, which is something we will definitely make a priority in future arrangements. We now realize how important it is to establish the preferred method and frequency of updates in advance.
We are currently trying to reach the sitter through WhatsApp and SMS, since THS messages do not seem reliable for active sits, as many of you pointed out. Still no word, so we are planning to ask the person who did the handover to check in and confirm everything is okay.
We are hoping it is just a simple miscommunication or technical issue but we will reach out to THS member services soon if we continue to have radio silence.
Thanks again for your experiences, suggestions, and empathy, it has been incredibly helpful during a stressful start. I will post an update once we know more.
Best regards by Moe
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We send photos and video every day with updates. What I usually will do is tell them that they don’t need to respond, I don’t want us to become one more chore while they are on vacation but I want to set their mind at ease.
It is unconscionable that they are not responding to your texts, and I would find a way to contact them to let them know that you are concerned. Maybe their phones broke, I would send an email. If they are just not responding then I would be very worried and it would even Potentially be reason to end the sit early. I would be beside myself with worry if I was you.
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I always take a picture immediately upon arrival and send it to the homeowner, assuring them that everything is fine and the pet and I are making friends. That’s what I would want if it were me.
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