@Newpetlover - GREAT ATTITUDE!!! The glass is half full sometimes!
THIS!!! Fool me once as they say…
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Very true indeed! 
How about this: I just got off a chat for a sit applied for mid Dec. She had 2 other sits, one in Jan and one in March. She told me that she may not do the sit in Jan, as she may take her dog. So I was interested in March? I said, I applied for the Dec sit. Oh, I found out I have a wedding then so it is not happening. So she wants a call, doesn’t check when I applied, didn’t cancel a sit that is not happening…But she likes me enough to have me sit in Jan. She may make arrangements for a tip then…but after this, I am hoping for the one in Austin coming up at 2 pm.
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Great info, would you be willing to share the list of questions you normally take to the video chat? As a HO & one day hopefully a sitter, I would like to have these answers before the video chat, so we can go over them. I’m prior military too & I agree promptness matters. Thanks so much!
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Thank you for your service!
Depending on what the HO lists in their listing, I will personalize my questions as needed for each sit. For instance, if they list that their dog can be left alone for 6 hours, I won’t ask that question. And note: This list is for dogs only.
Here you go:
- Does your dog get along with other dogs? Strangers?
- Any specific times for (dog’s) daily walks?
- Any specific times for (dog’s) meals? Are (dog’s) meals before or after he walks?
- Fun question…How did (dog) get his name?
- Does (dog) enjoy playtime? balls? tug of war? hide and seek?
- During your time away, will need any medication(s)?
- Any behavior issues? Afraid of noises? Aggressive behavior? Separation anxiety? Excessive barking?
- How long can (dog) be left alone?
- Do you have a Welcome Guide to share? Disclaimer: I won’t accept any sits without this being done.
- Does (dog) know basic commands…i.e., heel, come, stay, sit, down?
- How is (dog) on his leash walking? Does (dog) pull? wear a harness?
- Fun question, when is dog’s birthday?
- Where does dog sleep at bedtime?
- Allowed treats? car rides to explore? allowed on furniture?
- Does (dog) have to be crated? Or does he have free roam of the house?
- Security cameras on premises? Interior / Exterior?
- Is your home non-smoking?
- What time would they like for the sitter to arrive and what time would they return?
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Thank you so much!! 
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Also, where you see (dog) that is where I would insert the dog’s or dogs’ name(s).
We also ask about the vet arrangements in the unlikely event of any emergency treatment being required
are the pets registered with a vet /is there 24 hour cover in case of emergencies / has owner set up an account / credit card set up with the vet / how would pet be transported to vet ?
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We experienced another of those yesterday, where the husband kept looking at his phone!
There are a few things I look for on a video chat. First, I look at the backgrounds. Just as I do in the posting. Is there excessive clutter, filth or anything striking me as odd? Anything that seems red flag?
I rarely decline a sit as a result of a video chat. I did decline one when the HO stated that her home was Kosher vegetarian and that I could not consume meat in her home. I’m 90% carnivore so that wasn’t going to work. This was not stated on the posting or I would never have applied.
Mostly I’m getting a feel for the owners. Do they seem like nice, rational humans? Fortunately they almost always are.
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I am a HO, and I always share our flight information with sitters. I appreciate if they can be there just before we leave so we can have a smooth handoff and I don’t have to worry that they somehow got delayed. While I prefer for sitters to wait to leave until we get back so we can debrief and thank them (I always try to pick up a gift for the sitter when we’re away), I don’t require it. I do, however ask them to stay until we know our flight will not be unduly delayed or cancelled. Our last sitter told me the day before we were due home that she had to leave early in the afternoon (we were due back late afternoon). I called my son to come and be with our dog just in case since we were arriving from overseas. I try not to be unreasonable about anything, but I have anxiety about a sitter not being able to get to the house (or get in or whatever), and about our pup being left alone all day or night because we’re delayed through no fault of our own. Am I being unreasonable?
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Greetings @JudyY ,
Thank you for your comments.
If you choose sitters that are within 30 minutes of your location, I wouldn’t call your expectations unreasonable. But if you are choosing sitters that may be far away enough to travel to you outside of that, unreasonable is strong but I would call that unaccommodating to the sitter.
HO (Home Owners) have it easy, from a logistical standpoint. HO leave the home and return. That is it. You just have to make sure you leave on time and you arrive when you arrive…simple.
Sitters…we have that part very difficult. If I have to drive in from far away or fly in…YOUR departure may be the absolute worst times for me to drive in/drive out or fly in/fly out. If you expect me to arrive early on a Tuesday morning and leave on a Sunday evening, absolutely no way. Granted, I am not retired so my time is not my own at all times.
I go over this with the HO. I advise them based on my schedule what my ETA may look like as well as my departure time.
For example, I had one sit where I drove 900 miles to get to (5 weeks). They had a flight out at 09:00 on a Saturday. To me, it wasn’t worth taking a day off of work to drive on a Friday, get a hotel (they offered for me to stay with them on Friday night but they had three children…I am not spending the night in a strangers home with three children!), spend a night and be at the home EARLY enough to meet them. Absolutely not.
I advised them I can drive 1,200 miles in a day so the 900 miles was well within my range, my ETA was to be between 18:00 - 20:00 MDT (I was leaving from CDT that sit so the time change worked to the HO, pets and my advantage) and that all I can do was keep them updated. I told them if they want me to sit for them, they must;
- Provide the contact information of a trusted friend/family/neighbor so I can keep them updated if I need them to assist me. For example…it was April and I was driving into the mountains. I can’t control if the highway was to be shut down for 3-1/2 hours.
- I am willing to turn my location on for them so they can monitor my whereabouts, if they had the ability to do so.
I told them, if they are dissatisfied with my proposal, just decline me. If they are willing to have someone else possibly assist, accept me. They accepted. All went well and they appreciated knowing where I was and that I was on schedule. But if I wasn’t, they wouldn’t have worried as the neighbor would have just gone to feed the cats and they didn’t have to lift a finger.
So as a HO, you must consider the logistics of travel on BOTH days, as well as the time AND day of the week into consideration. If you do not consider those factors, you are unreasonable. Not everyone is retired and wealthy enough to just pick the flights that meet a schedule, flights range greatly (in the US) based on the time you fly as well.
But, if your flight was arriving in the afternoon/evening, I wouldn’t want to wait around just for you to say thanks when I could have already been at my next destination. My next sit…the international flight they arriving on arrives around 20:00. I have a 500 mile drive ahead of me so I gave them three options;
- Have a trusted human let the dogs out/feed them dinner as staying late enough to feed/walk/bathroom was reasonable in the morning.
- Allow me to remain in the home until the morning after…I am not spending another $150 for a hotel just because they picked a late arrival.
- Decline me and find someone that didn’t have my schedule constraints.
Well…they chose option #1 and I know they interviewed 4 others.
My message is not meant to be derogatory or challenging to you. The simple fact is, you can pick me just as easily as I can pick you and you can decline me as easily as I can decline you. This must work both ways. As long as it works both ways, it isn’t wrong! We both accept each other, as long as you communicate effectively, all will be good.
But you must consider other factors, this isn’t just about your dog and your home, this is also about how comfortable you are making this for someone taking care of your dog and your home. By sticking to your said scenario above, you are limiting yourself to people that don’t have a job most likely, live close or don’t care about the costs of transportation and logistics. If you are in an area with more HO than sitters, good luck. If you are in an area with more sitters than HO, you should be just fine.
I like that you share flight information, that is great. I also request flight information from the HO just so I know when they are leaving and also arriving. If the HO flight works well for my schedule and I am able to meet with them for dinner as a Thank You…I like knowing where they are so I can make sure I am not washing sheets when they are returning. It also gives me a heads up if the flight is cancelled to perhaps alter my plans or call the emergency contact well before they alert me. One lady told me it wasn’t my business to her her flight information…I told her we are not a match and ended the call!
I hope my response gives you a different perspective and comes off as trying to assist rather than berate. Good luck to you!!!
Short answer to this: I imagine your terms will work fine when people need a qualified sitter and don’t have many great applicants to choose from. Not so much for a competitive sit.
As a host I don’t list until I’ve figured out when I would be need to leave the house and the max time before a sitter would need to arrive. I’m flexible in that sitters can get pick up the key from a neighbor. I’m not flexible to the point of neighbor will have to feed my cats if the sitter is late. If the sitter is delayed, I could call someone (paid) to get the keys and feed the cats, but I wouldn’t choose a sitter likely to be late, and definitely give preference to sitters who happen to be in the city on another sit, or local, or visiting friends, etc. So if a sitter offered to come the day after the listed date, it would be a very quick decline for me.
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Personally, it doesn’t bother me at all if only one person out of a couple or family of hosts is interviewing or if one of the couple who was the least interested walked away after saying “hi.” Although that second part has never happened to me!
There is a division of labor in many households. As a sitter, I usually interview solo even if my spouse is accompanying me. I’m probably more comfortable talking to one person than two, so I’m fine with that.
I’ve also interviewed sitter/couples where only one person was available for the interview. It’s really not an issue as there is usually a “primary” sitter.
As a host my spouse is rarely even available for the interview and he trusts me to pick the best person for the sit. It’s partly a time thing. His job is much more demanding than mine!
Sitters should do whatever makes them comfortable, but I wouldn’t consider it a red flag at all if one person interviewed me or did most of the talking or seemed more interested.
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@JudyY some things to take in consideration when asking a sitter if they are available to stay until you return home on the last day of the sit are:
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How late are you returning home from holiday. If you are returning late afternoon or evening are you offering overnight accommodation to your sitter?
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Does your sitter have a departure flight/train/bus on the last day of the sit. I feel most PP/HO don’t take this into consideration at all. I travel full time and more often than not I’m moving on to the next country on the last day of the sit and might not be available to stay until the PP returns depending on my departure time. During my video chat I mention this to the PP/HO to ensure there is a meeting of the minds on whether or not the sit is a good fit for both parties.
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excellent reply.
@kimshady Totally agree!
We’ve received communications from 2 pet parents this morning, both of whom haven’t considered how their schedules might align with a sitter’s. The first states he has an early departure and a very late return, so wonders whether we can arrive a day earlier and leave a day later than the listed dates (we can’t, and wouldn’t have applied had the proper required dates been listed). The second pet parent states she’ll be home around 8:30pm and expects us to leave after a return handover. That’s not feasible.
We’ll accommodate timing requirements wherever possible but it would be really useful if times, as well as dates, could be included in listings, together with handover requirements. It would save a lot of fruitless messaging.
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What time does the dog go to bed is now my opening question 
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