I certainly agree about the value of having printed Guide on paper and many sits we have done have one whcih is very helpful.
The problem has been the printed Guides are often out of date.
Using the THS Guide, if something changes, it’s easy to quickly change it on THS so it is always current.
However, if someone prefers to use their own Guide, while having a printed on paper Guide in the home, while it can be very helpful, it must be up to date.
Using the online Guide can also prevent disagreement for potential liability on the HO or sitter.
With that said, it could even be a choice of Guide of the one on the THS site or one written by the HO.
If written by the HO, then I believe providing a PDF of it is necessary. Then you have a document the HO can update on their own and provide an electronic current copy. If you wish to provide a printed on paper copy, just be sure to update it, too, as it can be confusing when they disagree and possibly dangerous to the pets or home.
Another plus of the Guide on the THS site is sitters know where to look for what information.
I said the Guide must be completed at time of application. Why, you may ask ? (go ahead… ask) We’ve had sits where the HO said they would complete it later and it was only minimally done with much important information missing.
On one of our sits it was for a HO who had used THS numerous times as a HO in Europe and was their first time in the US so we felt they would know how important it is for the sitter to know how to properly care for the pets and home.
The HO told us they didn’t have the Guide completed but it was a small home and everything was very simple.
Yeah, right!
When we got there we began by meeting the 2 cats and then being told about the 4 different foods that needed to rotated in a certan way at various times and then shown the very detailed way of watering different plants outdoors! Bottom line: it was only slightly less complicated than launching a rocket into space (and we wanted to do it better than Bezos did recently)!
My wife couldn’t write fast enough and we had to make a spreadsheet to have a chance of following the “simple” instructions!
I prefer the standard THS Guide but one written and provided by the HO can be fine as long as it is current, complete and an electronic copy i.e. PDF is available.
So, one other improvement needed by THS is ONE button to print a PDF of the entire Guide which the sitter can save or easily print a paper copy. That way it’s available even if offline. Many sits are in locations with no cell or online service.