Hi,
Never used THS to date, because I’ve always thought that the business model doesn’t lend itself to longer sits, it seems far more attuned to the odd day here and there.
Is there a kind of cut off, after which just no-one is going to bother - for example “months”.
In reality, I think the most we’d ever be after is a couple of weeks, but I’d really like to know that two weeks wouldn’t be a massive put off before starting on the journey?
Loads of people sit for between 2/4 weeks as a general rule, if not longer. Our own experience is that short sits are the exception (depending on where you are sitting) Our preference is 10 days to 3 weeks and the max we have done is 3 months with a few one monthers in there @clanger32 #somethingforeveryone
@clanger32 We frequently sit for 3-4 weeks and have a 3 month sit booked. While that wouldn’t work for everyone, there are lots of sitters and homeowners that it works out well for.
Dan
I don’t really know what you mean by “the business model doesn’t lend itself to longer sits, it seems far more attuned to the odd day here and there”.
Personally I rarely take sits less than 2 weeks and my preference is 1-3 months. But the longer sits now tend to be with HOs I’ve sat with previously and know I enjoy their home and being with their animals.
It really depends on what you’re after - I generally use THS for sits in Asia, where I spend 6 months in wintern and the UK when, for eg, I want to see friends who live in a certain area, or am having work done on my own UK home.
Many sitters enjoy very long sits, months at a time.
On this site, I don’t think 2 weeks would even be considered a “long” sit!
Not clear what you mean by this since most THS sitters are traveling. I primarily do sits of 2-6 weeks. Rarely I will do a one week sit, but that is typically when I happen to have a week between other sits or other plans. If it’s less than a week, I would rather just get an Airbnb or hotel.
Long sits are always very popular, 4 weeks is our sweet spot.
Your thinking is totally incorrect, we’ve had plenty of longer sits, and we’ve got a 9 week sit coming up, and a 4 week one, and a 3 week one, numerous 2 week ones, and shorter ones too.
There is something to suit everyone with THS.
I think you see many short sits listed - home owner taking quick weekend trips - but that doesnt mean they are more popular. In my experience, the longer sits go quicker. Smaller sits work for people who want to fill in pet sitting gaps, people who want a weekend get away, or new sitters trying to get experience. Longer sits are more desirable for people who really want to visit and know a place, full time travelers, and digital nomads.
Ive sat for a homeowner who actually tacked on dates to a sit and spent time at a daughters house to make the sit longer and more desirable.
I am now doing a series of shorter sits because I want to see what the social situation is like now in the UK.
A week is almost the shortest that is of interest, though. In last week’s home I was still learning where light switches were. And this week is almost at an end but I am still making progress with the dogs.
I am a bit wary of sits that are longer than a month, because of the risk that there was something that I would not want to live with for a long time. But once I applied to a three-month sit, in a location that I like with unproblematic pets and sympathetic owners. At such listings, there is competition!
You may be unaware that some sitters (like us) return to some of the same pets. Those owners simply create a set of dates that other sitters don’t see, and then send us a private link to apply.
So there are far more sits than what everyone can actually see, we’ve got a 3 week sit and a 4 week sit that are return sits that are coming up which are return sits (along with shorter ones), that no-one else would have seen an ad for.
I prefer longer sits. I am in the UK and did do one in Australia that was six weeks. If flying that distance it is not worth doing a very short sit, due to costs of flights. If the right location would be happy to do up to three months.
Sits of a day or two are really not worth doing, if you have to factor in petrol costs to get there.
I made a post a week or so ago about the abundance of 1-3 day sits. The selection of longer sits has in my opinion decreased dramatically in the past 2 years. Maybe people cannot afford to travel for long periods of time, post c19.
I prefer 2 weeks to 1 month for my sits.
Full time sitters here - with 15 THS sits to date and 5 more confirmed . We love long sits - last year (our first on THS ) we did an eight week sit and a six week sit , plus several three week sits and filled the rest of our year around those .
Our shortest sit was four days ( a repeat sit ) that filled a gap in our schedule. However it is too much work for us to do that regularly.
This year we have picked up mainly three week sits but would prefer more 4-6 weeks sits. That gives us enough time to settle in get to know the pets ; explore the area whilst also working .
@clanger32 id actually say it was very much quite the opposite.
It’s not worth the effort really for the odd day here or there. It’ll cost sitters more money in transport just to get to your house and back for one or two nights than it’s worth just getting a hotel or alternatives without all the added responsibility of pet care and then cleaning and laundering the place.
2 weeks is what we consider a short sit. We tend to only do minimum 3 week sits - ideally longer is better - we’ve done multiple 6-8 week sits now. Usually average is a month per sit.
THS lends itself much better for this set up. Pets aren’t in kennels for prolonged periods, they can stay in their routine and the house is being taken care of.
I’ve seen people advertising for 6+ months and even heard of someone who sat for 3 years.
Similar topic from just a just few weeks ago
Since joining THS in 2021 as pet owners we’ve had sitters for 4 sits: 6, 2, 9 and 9 weeks. We have another 9 weeks trip at the beginning of 2025 with repeat sitters. The THS model allowed us longer trips because we do not have to pay professional pet sitters for visits that end up costing a lot of money with very little quality time for our cats. Our 4 weeks trip back in 2018 cost us 1000$ for 1 hour a day visits that we complemented with friends coming to stay during the weekends. I don’t see short sits as very interesting for anyone other than local sitters.
Can I just say a really big thankyou to all of you for your kind and informative responses. I’ll get set up and see if we can’t get a first stay booked in then!
Just to answer some of the questions about my view of the business model - bluntly put, last time we went away we used “Rover” (we used to have a lady who came regularly who was lovely and brilliant with the furry kids, but sadly she determined the work balance became unbalanced and stopped). A week with a Rover sitter cost us £400. IF that kind of money is on offer, I was just struggling to see why THS sitters would do it for so much less. Viewed through that lens, then “I fancy a weekend away in Wales, I wonder if I can sit for someone” seems reasonable, whereas 2 weeks is less so. That was my logic. Of course I understand that many people are travelling - I guess it’s just not how I would do it myself!
In any instance - huge thanks to you all.
Well, I get happier by the day that I am not travelling through England with a tent this time!
Welcome @clanger32
There are/have been a number of listings I’ve noticed in Europe for 2/3 month long sits in the last week. These do get applications. Although as a sitter I prefer (especially if a new sit) 7-14 days sits but that’s just how I like to work. I did a month long sit in January but it was a repeat sit. Shorter sits unless on my doorstep aren’t worth the cost of train/flight costs for me.