Thanks. I will review my profile.
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I am retired too and just want to hang out with dogs mainly and walk in other areas to my own. Its such a brilliantly way to do things on this site. I just type a chatty type of message to the pet owner and ask them to look at my profile and reviews and see if they think I will suit them. I do not apply for sits with three plus applicants anymore.
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Since I am going nomadic for 5 months after Oct, I sort of have to apply for competitive sits, if I am going to stay south for Jan and Feb. Though I find that I have to search everyday for things to come up. If something shows up in Fl in Jan, it will be very competitive. I edited my profile this morning and redid on how I do my application on a sit this morning. See how it works. I only have 3 sits completed, but have 5 booked coming up in the next few months. So by yearend, I will be nearing double digits in sits.
I canât speak to your profile or applications, but I was really disappointed the last time I posted for a sitter. I received several applications and all were bad. A message with just a few generic lines and profiles that had very little information and one or two bad photos. THS has a serious recruitment problem. I ended up finding a sitter off platform. (I live just outside San Francisco and have 2 easy cats. The sit was for 3 months. Normally I would have a better pool of applicants.) I guess I am saying it is important to introduce yourself. A few lines will not cut it.
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Why not?
When it is couchsurfers, cyclists etc that ask to be hosted, I usually donât pay that much attention to what people write about themselves in their profiles (interests, books they read, favourite movies, etc). I will mainly look at what previous hosts wrote about them, and that may make me accept a request even when it is an icehockey guy.
@pietkuip
Whatâs wrong with ice hockey guys?
When I hosted people on Couchsurfing many moons ago, the message with the request was super important to me. If it wasnât personal and trying to establish a connection, I said no.
There was nothing wrong with him, a nice guy!
And I have actually watched a movie about Wayne Gretzky once, in a cinema in Jamaica of all places. But temperamentally, I am more likely to get along with a solitary cyclist than with a guy who is heavily into macho team sports.
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There are as many variables to your question as there are peopleâs personalities. Just be confident that your profile and interviews are good as possible then try not to overthink it.
Well, I did edit my profile, and expanded on my application, using some of the suggestions here. And I got an immediate request for interview on an app I did 2 days ago. Maybe it was just the HO, or maybe the suggestionsâŚThanks.
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A short message could be fine if you have a profile that tells something about yourself and pet experience plus good reviews. Let me repeat and make more clear: I received a bunch of short messages with 3 sentence profiles (not exaggerating) along the lines of âI once met a cat,â 2 blurry pictures and no reviews. Why isnât that good enough? If someone canât be bothered to put time into convincing me they can take care of my house and cats, then how much effort will they put into the actual pet care?
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I whole heartedly agree.
Thanks very much for the thorough explanation. Youâve reminded me of something I tend to forget: explaining my reasons to be in the area. The thing is, most of the time Iâm attracted by the pets and I donât really mind if the area is considered to be attractive. I feel all the areas ha something to offer and I would never experience it otherwise if they are not in the tourist routes.
I am getting a lot of positive responses now. Now I have to figure out which sits work for my travel and schedule.
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Well, I was more positive, then I nudged a HO, she got back to me, apologized and said letâs chat, I told her my availability â which was pretty open, then I got a declinedâŚWell, it is what it is. Really wanted that one, since a similar sit I applied to has more âhotelâ stops in between sits on my way out west. She left me hanging, then said she wanted to talk the next day or two. I was available on day two, and she didnât wait and declined me. It is what it is.
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I agree with @Huronbase , you never can predict a PPâs response.
We applied for one sit over a week and a half ago, received an immediate positive acknowledgement, then nothing. The PP had 3 x sit dates listed and all 3 were showing as âreviewingâ after they each received the full quota of five applicants on the first day of listing. They still all appear as reviewing and the sit we applied for starts in a week. We withdrew our application after the first few days of silence. I just donât understand some people⌠
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I applied for a sit with low applications and my application went unread. The hosts work in tech, so I figured they didnât have issues using THS and probably wanted to take their time. I wasnât interested in waiting, so withdrew. Then I quickly heard from them, saying that my application was âlovelyâ and they were sorry that I withdrew. Shrug. There are so many sits. Iâll leave slow hosts to other sitters, in favor of ones whom I mesh with better.
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And maybe another sitter had left her hangingâŚ
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I never put what I did in my former working life. I have added that recently. HO are responding in seconds. Every single one I have applied to since I added that. I should have done that soonerâŚ
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Ditto what Felinelover says.
I tailor my application to each individual sit.
My short intro paragraph says that I am interested in the sit. And I say about one sentence about the area (enjoy the area, like the coutryside, whatever it is). I keep this short so that the focus is on the pets and house needs.
Then I go on to say that I am a very attentive pet sitter, as well as a thoughtful and considerate house guest/sitter. I will treat their pets (I use language specific to their animals: cats, dogs, use their names) with love and care, as I do (did) my own (if you have or have had your own). I say that my goal always for any sit is to care for the pets in such a way that follows their normal routines as best as possible so that they feel safe, secure and comfortable while their folks are away. I give lots of love and attention, and play (or whatever the pets needs/likes are).
Then I close with:
Please let me know if you would like to meet by phone or Zoom.
Thank you for your consideration.
I find it helpful to specifically tailor to each sit. So far Iâve had good luck with responses. Iâve only done a handful sits through THS so far, but I have good reviews because what I say about myself is true (AND because I have not had any bad pet parent/home owner experiences!).