Just joined-possibly too early. Living in Wisconsin in US and traveling south each winter, wondering when best time will be for me to post our house/cat sit? Maybe joined too soon? It’s 2-3 months in rural area (Door County) and afraid there won’t be many sitters interested coming to cold climate in winter. We don’t have specific dates yet. Any advice? I’m still unsure if this will work!
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I’m currently looking to sit in Perth Australia for January 2025 so I don’t think it’s too early, many people like me will want to plan well ahead. Also with flights being so expensive it’s good to book early for good deals or if you’re using points. Good luck 
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It’s not too early, especially for locations that aren’t in high demand. But if your dates are undecided, you risk turning some sitters off.
You can say in your listing headline that dates are flexible, but even then, if you can’t decide relatively quickly / negotiate dates reasonably soon, many sitters will consider it a waste of time for you to have posted. And for a location like yours, you’ll already have a small candidate pool, so you don’t want to burn folks.
Hi @DoorCountycats try and make your sit very appealing. Can sitters use your car? Is there plenty of space for a remote worker? Highlight that. Offer to pick up at the airport and offer a complimentary ride back upon departure.
If you link your listing here on the forum profile and ask for feedback. You’ll get some very productive advice.
Also, try and get a thsitter with 5 or more THS reviews. And have a very candid chat about the commitment to not canceling from both parties.
READ REVIEWS! From both parties for a given sit.
Read the member code of conduct and the terms & conditions - very helpful.
This is a great topic as well.
Good luck!
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Yes, but on the contrary, I just had a sitter apply for my dates in July with a message “I hope it works out to sit Bowie this time!”
She had previously applied even when she had conflicting dates. We liked her a lot, and I know she really wants to sit Bowie so much that she came to meet him last summer (she’s between NYC and Chicago a lot).
When I replied back to her and asked if she was committing to my July dates (which are pretty set in place for us) she said it was too early to committ… so why even apply? lol she put me at 5 application limit and wasted both our times.
The experience prompt me to say this in our profile: “please only apply if you can commit to our posted dates”
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Sounds like Bowie bas a silly fan!
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It’s not too early, I’ve already booked a sit starting end of Feb in Wisconsin.
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The only difference though is you are coming to our beautiful summer in January 2025 rather than to a cold, rural location in Wisconsin @BonnyinBrighton!!
Mind you it’s boiling hot in Perth in January and with my ‘old lady hot flushes’ it’s not the easiest of environments to be staying in. Last time my son scolded me for running up his air con electric bill…. it. was 39° at 11pm so phew 
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Some Owners and Sitters are “Planners”. Some are “Last Minute”…both types here I think.
My regular Snowbird Owner has flown south for the Jan-Apr winter months for +10 years. When she returns from Florida May1st, she ALREADY books next season.
When you decide to travel, Post your Sit for winter 2025. Get a Sitter commitment, and have a backup plan too. Good luck 
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We’re sitters. We have sits booked for winter 2024-2025. All of the locations mean we are sitting closer to our immediate family, which is why we like to plan ahead. They are actually in warmer places, but nevertheless the reason is because our family lives there. Every sitter chooses their sits for different reasons, but family plays a large part in ours.
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Some people love a winter wonderland, others might have family or various reasons to be there.
As suggested by another member, make your sit as interesting and ‘convenient’ as possible.
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As a sitter in the USA, I would not say it’s too early. I’ve already booked some longer-term sits for next Jan/Feb actually, however I would say that I tend to not want to go north in the winter, but that’s just me! I live in NJ and do not want more snow/ice/storms to deal with than the very few we have, so I would say try to make it appeal to folks who not only love winter, but are familiar and comfortable with the specific stressors that winter in a rural area can bring up there, tending to a home and potentially their vehicle. Why would a sitter want to stay there for 2-3 months in the bleak of winter? Have a good answer to that question and sell it!
As for the dates part - I’m not an HO, so I can’t speak to how to get around that!
Good luck!
My parents have been to Door in the summer and loved it by the way
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Personally, I don’t think anytime is too early. However, I have noticed I get more applications when we’re about 2 to 3 months out.
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yes and it’s beautiful where we live. And our 3 cats are indoor/outdoor. easy sit. this is our street.
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Door county is absolutely beautiful. Have been there a couple times. I’m in Northern WI. I suspect there’s snowshoe trails? Do you have equipment like that , etc?? Certainly list all the great things folks can do in that area over the winter. Of course, this past winter was a different beast from last year. I would post your listing as soon as you can.
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Whether it’s too early or too late depends on each sitter, although generally speaking I would think you get more applicants by NOT posting this super early. I for instance would absolutely not commit to anything yet right now that’s winter 2025, whether that means January 2025 or December 2025. I’m assuming though that you’re referring to ~Nov/Dec 2025, 1.5 years away!!
The risk of committing someone that early, even when you do get responses, is that they might change their mind, things may come up etc. E.g. I really can’t tell what I’ll be doing in 1.5 years from now…
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I’m talking about Dec 24 through March 25. We go south with our RV each winter and our neighbor has been cat sitting but graduating from high school so this was a possible new solution. It’s less than a year away but too early for us to book sites as campgrounds we’re looking at not yet taking reservations. As soon as we nail something down I’ll give this a whirl. Encouraged by having this community blog.
Either way, make a backup plan. The more experience on this platform the sitter has, the less likely they’ll cancel without a very good reason, but peoples’ lives change over the course of 8-10 months. I once had to cancel a sit I’d agreed to 6 months before – had already bought plane tickets for, I was definitely going – about six weeks out because my cat was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was given two months. I just didn’t feel I could leave her alone all day while my husband worked in case she had a crisis. The HOs were very kind, and they did get another sitter fairly quickly – beautiful house, 1 easy cat, use of a car. But it did highlight for me that making such plans early isn’t always best. HOs want to get the plans in place, but life moves on despite our best-laid plans.
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It’s great you’ve come to the forum for advice @DoorCountycats. One thing to consider when trying to attract sitters to your area for a lengthy winter sit is the use and cost of utilities and you will find other threads in relation to this if you use the spyglass in the top right corner. I am assuming you want to head south where it may be a little warmer to avoid the cold winter so do think of your sitters’ comfort. Many of us would not consider a listing where we are asked to contribute to utilities so, if this is something you would like sitters to do, it needs to be mentioned in your listing. Or else you mention about sitters being mindful of their use of utilities but you certainly don’t want them being cold. What have you done in the past with your 3 cats and your home over winter when you have gone south?
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