Lots of horror stories here recently. I’ve had a few bad sits, but out of about 35, only 4 were bad and only 2 very bad. So I’ve had about 30 great or good experiences. Currently on my way to a repeat sit with an adorable dog 
How about others?
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Oh, I’m sure that’s most of us! After 45+ sits through THS (and many more before & besides) I would say I’ve only had 4 that weren’t great and only 1 that was kinda terrible. And even that was just the host, not the pet or location.
But I think it’s when we have trouble we come to the forum seeking advice or commiseration. Sort of the negativity bias idea.
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Without fail ours have all been one or more of the following - enjoyable, enlightening, funny, fulfilling, adventurous, convenient and new! Quite a few we wouldn’t repeat but that’s mostly because house sitting is a way for us to travel so new destinations appeal more. We have zero regrets 
#longmayitcontinue
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I’ve done 10 THS sits since starting in March and have had a blast.
I wouldn’t describe any of them as bad sits, but I also don’t go into sitting expecting perfection — I take the rough with the smooth. I’ve enjoyed myself on all of my sits, in one way or another.
As an American, I’ve been especially lucky to do four U.K. sits that were amazing, including an unexpected one in Scotland, which I just wrapped up. I was thinking I’d done my last sit of the year before that, but at the last minute landed that sit between U.S. Thanksgiving and Christmas — so I could visit Scotland for the first time and not miss the holidays at home.
I’m happy with my THS membership and won’t hesitate to renew. It’s been well worth the cost. And I say that even as I plan to do fewer sits next year, so I can do more other traveling.
Something worth noting: I’m careful about how I choose sits and cut bait anytime I encounter questionable listings or hosts. I have clear boundaries that I have no problem holding up, so I don’t end up feeling taken advantage of. And even if I encountered problems, I could solve on my own or discuss directly with my host without angst or such.
It seems like a number of sits gone wrong (as folks have mentioned on the forum) have happened when sitters don’t feel comfortable upholding boundaries. Like one host tried to change months after we’d agreed on our sit, saying their grown son would be staying at their home during my sit. I was polite, but absolutely not going along with that. We kept things friendly and canceled, and she said she’d like to have me sit some other time.
Something I think that’s also important: I would never accept a sit anywhere if I couldn’t afford a Plan B. That’s because I’m not leaving myself at risk of being trapped in a terrible sit or being stranded if a host cancels on me or shortens a sit. If I couldn’t afford a Plan B, I wouldn’t do the sit. That’s within my agency. For example, I had one sit cut short, because the host had an accident and I handled that in stride.
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Very happy experiences overall - even when the first sit for a homeowner was curtailed because they had a medical emergency while on their holiday, it was a stressful situation all round ( finding alternative accommodation whilst staying on to look after the pets uncertain exactly when the HO would be returning due to tricky logistics of their emergency return journey from the other side of the world)
However we were adaptable and it has resulted in a great relationship with homeowner and we are about to do our third sit for them .
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Nice topic @andrealovesanimals . Here’s my tally;
51 fabulous sits
4 good
3 fair
1 not good
1 awful
THS (with all its flaws😉) has changed my life very much for the better. I’m so thankful I discovered it.
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I am on my eleventh. They were all good, ten of them were excellent.
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I joined in March of this year and have completed 5 sits. They were all good, positive sits. So while I see flaws in THM changes it has allowed me to have some wonderful experiences and I will be renewing.
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We’re on sit number 21 and none were bad. They all ranged from great to excellent. There are a few we probably wouldn’t consider a repeat sit for, but none because the sit was bad.
Wonderful to read everyone’s posts.
This has definitely changed my life for the better too!
To clarify what I said in my first post: I had 2 very bad sits, one bad and one not great.
The others were either fantastic or at least good. 
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My husband and I have done 8 in 1.5 years. 6 were great, one was fine, but we should have been less naive about the HO’s anxiety and not accepted it—rookie mistake.
The last one was a huge learning moment for me. I learnt to accept that other people may live in a not so clean house, but the HOs’ warmth and generosity, coupled with intelligent conversations, and becoming part of the small community in their hamlet for 3 weeks, certainly made up for some shortcomings. We overlapped over 4 days between before and after the sit, and I learnt to appreciate them as individuals which greatly sweetened the disappointment that I was feeling about the state of their house.
Let me sign off now, I have to send them Season’s Wishes. 
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6 sits. No bad experiences as far as interactions with homeowners or houses not being as expected, or pets being less than delightful.
To begin with I don’t expect luxury, and any sits I apply for describe the bed situation, so I’ve never been surprised by a pullout couch. I probably wouldn’t take a sit in a studio, so no issues with cats annoying me in the middle of the night. (Besides I’m such a crazy cat lady, cats wouldn’t annoy me any time.) I get that some sitters have been surprised by grimy, dirty, houses. This hasn’t happened to me, but my standards as a guest probably aren’t super high, and if I had to clean a bathroom or kitchen upon arrival, I wouldn’t be thrilled but I wouldn’t let it ruin a trip. If I got any kind of weird vibe from a homeowner, I wouldn’t take the sit.
51 Great 
1 Awful 
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3 sits
3 great
11 excellent sits in 16 months. Excited to be heading off tomorrow for my 12th. Sooner or later I may have a not great or maybe even terrible experience but that’s just life. Stuff happens.
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I’ve done 19 sits and one was very bad, 2 I’d not choose to do again but would be good sits for some. I’m more careful on vetting any potential sits now but obviously bad sits can still happen.
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While your ratio of good to bad is still mostly good, did the bad sits teach you anything to look out for or that you could advise others to look out for that you wouldn’t have thought about previously?
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We joined THS 8 months ago & are currently on our 8th sit over Christmas. All in England & all of them lovely pets, lovely people & lovely homes. Loving pet & house sitting.
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Had 4 different location sits in our first year. Enjoyed two and didn’t enjoy the other two.
We had a gut feeling about those two and proved to be correct.
So effectively a 50% enjoyment rate.
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35 sits in 4.5 years.
33 great sits and 2 awful sits.
Mostly love the lifestyle, but sometimes need a break from doing it full-time.
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