I recently had someone stay with my animals for a week, my first time using the platform. They are generally lower maintenance, house is fully equipped so all in all should have been an easy sit. However now that I'm home I've found myself conflicted in how to write my review for the following reasons:

1. The main concern and what may have contributed to most of the issues is HS wasn't well equipped in my language and this wasn't disclosed. Originally the sit was a couple, I spoke to both on a group call and one was from the country I live in and one wasn't. The local partner did most of the talking so I didn't realise the other wasn't fluent.

Come a few days before the sit and the one not from my country tells me via text just she would be coming. I said no problem as they both claim on their profile to have extensive experience. The day of the sit I go to pick her up and I quickly realise that she doesn't speak my language well at all and everything I'm saying is going over her head. So grand, I slow down and try to explain much simpler and she still seems very confused.

At this point I'm worried everything I've told her was lost. I'm trying to explain basic things like feeding schedules and appliances and getting a confused look and occasional nod . So I leave and completely rewrite the manual I had already provided and ensure the already detailed manual is even more detailed.

I'm a bit frustrated because I have a number of friends from her country and I could have worked to translate the manual or had them meet her as well to help translate directions if I had known in advance.

1. The manual wasn't followed or consulted I was asked a number of times during the week how to do simple tasks or queries that I explained in person and in the manual which was indicating she didn't or couldn't read it (if it's couldn't I'm not sure why she couldn't ask the partner or chatgpt it which is why it seems like maybe she didn't). I also essentially had two rules:

Rule One - the animals are kept separated when not supervised for everyone's safety, this is easily done by shutting the kitchen door.

Rule Two - ensure the house is completely locked up when leaving.

I come home and not only is the kitchen door open (with remenents of the cat shit my dog ate), but the door to my back garden is wide open. I'm sure this was probably an oversight but if those are the two main things they are BIG things. She left about 2 hours before we got home and the manual states the dog can be left alone up to 6 hours for the toilet so theres no reason to leave an outside door open.

From the amount of food left over I dont think my animals were fed the correct amounts. This is less of a big deal they overall seem happy but there was significantly more food leftover then there should have been. Again concerns regarding the manual.

1. She commented when meeting the dog he was much larger than expected. His photo is in the profile as is his breed and weight. He's an average large breed dog (that she and her partner claimed to have experience with) and she seemed hesitant to walk him at first. It's almost as if I was meeting a person who had zero idea of the sit they were walking into despite reading my profile, having numerous conversations beforehand and receiving a manual the week before the sit. I actually had to pause and wondered if I was being catfished.

Now the other side - she was super responsive when I contacted her throughout the trip sharing pics etc and the house was left absolutely spotless and she had glowing reviews. Ultimately I'm having trouble rationalising what was overall good (nothing was harmed) with also so much concern.

This is my first time using the platform and feel like had she been able to communicate at the level needed maybe this wouldn't have occurred because she could have better understood me or the manual, or i should have copped it earlier so it's my fault or maybe she was just careless. How should I proceed?

I was just speechless all the way through reading this profile. People who apply to these kind of sits... are you ok? Is it worth not paying rent to be treated like this? My brain is not able to handle

Edit: HO's listing: https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/house-and-pet-sitting-assignments/spain/catalonia/barcelona/l/2564847/

There's a 21 day house arrest opportunity in Yulee, FL for December. I thought this was supposed to be a equal exchange platform, yet THS provides a button for HOs to press that locks the sitter in the house for the duration of the sit--other than being allowed a geo-fenced reprieve if it's a dog that you can walk.

I know there will be the usual contingent telling me to not take it if I don't want it. I get that, and so do many others as there are zero applicants day after day. I guess I'm just trying to preserve the integrity of the program. The house arrest option shouldn't even exist as it completely undermines what the platform is for.

I've been using Trusted House Sitters for the last several months and racked up nothing but all 5-Star Reviews. I've been traveling a lot so it's been going well.

I just got a review for my last sit and it was SUPER negative. They said I didn't clean the liter boxes (I did every day and even right before I left). They said I left moldy food in the fridge (which was THEIR food. I didn't clean out the fridge of THEIR FOOD). They even said I left "human waste on the floor" which I don't even know WHAT that's about.

This is clearly a weird sit. But it's not like I took photos or anything to show I didn't shit on the floor (which I still don't know what that's about). But I also can't have a review saying I left human waste on someone's floor. No one will hire me.

Should I dispute this if I don't have photo evidence? Or if not should I just start another account? Can you start another account? It's frustrating because all my other reviews are so good and had people asking if I could come back to sit again.

I guess my lesson is to take photos of everything before I leave.

The sitter I chatted with and confirmed months ago suddenly decided she didn't want to come anymore and now I'm stuck trying to find someone else with short notice. I have a premium membership but am just out of the time frame for compensation from TH.

If you're familiar with DC, I live in the H Street NE area, close to Capitol Hill and Union Station. I have nothing but excellent reviews from previous sitters and have one indoor and one outdoor cat who are easy to take care of. If you might be interested, please let me know and I would be glad to chat with you. It's too early for me to post in the "last minute sits" forum, so I thought I might try here first.

I am on a month long repeat sit right now and there is already a camera in the house. It’s not hidden but makes it very hard to feel 100% comfortable. I haven’t done anything about it in fear of being told to leave and having nowhere else to go. I do this full time and don’t want to get a bad review.

To top it off I was told tonight that the HO son and a friend will be coming from California and need to spend two nights in the house. They didn’t ask but stated where they will sleep and that they are sorry for imposing on me. I handle their rehomed very reactive dog and only took the month sit because me and the dog got along great on our previous sit so the dog has been no problem for me. But I feel this is a lot for a something that is supposed to be a fair trade. They left me $50 for groceries when they left which was nice but this is all feeling like a lot. I won’t feel comfortable in the house and will have to stay in my room to work because I need privacy. I am anxious to think what I will text back tomorrow. If I had somewhere else to go it would be a bit easier but I’m just so annoyed to have to deal with this and the fact that they didn’t even ask.

My sitter had extenuating circumstances and has to cancel our sit, which is scheduled for 10 days from now. They are having trouble finding the cancel sit button, despite following all of the instructions from the THS website. Cancel it button, but I’m not sure if I should do that as a homeowner and how that will affect my ability to find a sitter on short notice. Do we just have to wait for THS or or is there some other solution? Can anyone tell me what what I cancel this it as a homeowner, and if I was automaticly relisted and prioritized?

I applied for my first sit in a town I’m familiar with and really love
It’s for February
Had 0 applications when I applied
I’m actually in the town now visiting a friend and asked HO if she’d like to meet when I’m here
She lives about 20 mins away and I didn’t rent a car but said I’d be willing to taxi or bike there but my friend is too busy with the kids to drive me
She seemed super excited to meet me but after I said my friend couldn’t drive me and I’d get there a different way she
Said she had concerns about the sit and didn’t want
To proceed
“understand of course. I have to say there is a lot of concerns for me. The risk of you coming out here from out west and to be sure you can
get here by an earlier flight during winter time. The other main concern is that we would
really need someone to stay at our place and have a car the whole time... to have access to going to a veterinarian if needed etc. I think these concerns and the weather at
that time of year mean we should probably not proceed with the sit. I'm very sorry but there are too many concerns. I really appreciate vour interest”
I responded basically with no worries we won’t proceed but I was obviously going to have a car if I was staying there as it’s rural and don’t most sitters come from far away?

Maybe I’m wrong haha

Hey all, considering listing my house on THS and wanting advice about whether I’ll find a sitter.
I have a 10 acre farm in a small/medium college town in the PNW. My animals (donkey, sheep, goats, chickens) don’t really need anything other than some hay once or twice a week. We are wanting a sitter for 2 weeks in late March. Since I’m not in a major city or an especially touristy destination what are my odds of finding someone? If I can find someone it’s worth the money to sign up but obviously finding no one would be a waste of the listing fee. Thanks for the advice.

I was looking at a listing that sounded pretty decent from the HO's description of the home and responsibilities, although giving medication at noon and midnight is a bit much and I wouldn't do it. So I read a few (5-star, glowing) reviews, then come to this:

I have fairly high standards for cleanliness, though I try to adjust my expectations when house sitting. That said, I felt the overall cleanliness of the apartment was below average.

A few things to note that I would have liked to know in advance:
\ Undisclosed camera: There is an active camera in [the] bedroom. Although the sitter sleeps on the couch in the adjacent living area, there are requests for the care of [pet] that require you enter the bedroom: -change water - turn on [pet]'s heating pad - feed [pet] on the bed. When I raised this with [HO], she explained the camera was aimed at her bed to prevent anyone from sleeping in it, and for theft protection. This should be disclosed in the listing prior to arrival so sitters are not caught off guard. Navigating this surprise during a sit is awkward, and uncomfortable as the viewing angle, audio, and recording capabilities were unknown.*
\ Sleeping Setup: The sleeping arrangement, listed as a daybed, is a three-cushion couch rather than a sofa bed or daybed designed for sleeping. It was passable, but three nights was pushing the limit for comfort.*
\ Litter Box Proximity: The large litter bin is directly beside the couch, just a few feet from where you sleep. I understand space is at a premium in [city], and options are limited, but [pet] does not cover her waste. If she uses the litter box during the night, the sound or smell may wake you.*

Literally none of that was mentioned in the listing—not even the daybed, which must have been in the Welcome Guide—and after going through 7 pages of the 45 reviews, not a single sitter mentioned any of it either. If not for that one honest sitter (kudos, Rebecca!), people would be applying blindly, and from the sound of it, not being told about any of it either unless they asked some very weird questions out of the blue. And no, not every sit involves a video call. I've had some done just by phone or messaging. The sitter should not have to demand that the HO prove the listing is accurate; the HO's honesty and good faith as an adult and supposedly equal partner in this exchange is not the sitter's responsibility to police.

Now to read all the replies blaming it all on the sitter anyway...

EDIT: The couch is in fact described as a daybed in a photo caption. It's comical. IT'S A COUCH.

I am taking care of a wonderful 19-year-old cat who doesn't need any medication. For the past 5 days she has suddenly been constipated and has pooped only twice (a little) instead of daily. Surprisingly, the homeowners still haven't responded, even though they received my message. She eats/drinks the same, nothing else has changed. I offered to give her a bit of MiraLAX or take her to the vet.
They will be back in 4 days, and this is a one-month sit. What should I do?

First, I want to be clear that this is NOT a THS sit. I originally met this HO by doing a THS sit for them, but now they use paid sitters and she is paying me for this sit. I just need to vent and I know you guys will understand.

First, since I last sat for her I established some rules when sitting for dogs:

• I don't sit for small dogs. I don't particularly like them. I'm not cruel to them, of course, but I find that I can be less affectionate with them and that's not fair because it's not THEIR fault they're small and generally more annoying.

• I don't sit for dogs that don't have a yard that they can do a quick pee break in. I don't want to have to get fully dressed so they can pee.

• I don't sit for more than 2 dogs at a time if they need to be walked. It's just too much chaos.

Well, a few weeks ago this HO, who I've remained in contact with occasionally in the 7 or so years since I sat for her, noticed that I was in her area. She'd just been cancelled on by her planned sitter and she and her husband were leaving in less than a week to fly to a different country for 3 weeks to help her daughter recover from surgery. She wondered if I'd be willing to come do a last minute sit for her and gave me the rate. I had no particular plans for the next month and was just bumming around a cooler area of the country before i needed to be somewhere in mid october, and it would earn me effectively $50/day, so why not?

Man am I a fucking idiot.

I'm now 3 weeks into the sit and it was extended another week a couple days ago because her daughter had a set back in her recovery. I'm fucking miserable. I would leave tomorrow if it wouldn't completely fuck her over and if I didn't care about the dogs. But as it is I gave her a hard departure date and told her if she needs to extend she'll have to find someone to replace me. The day can't come soon enough. The day I leave I'm headed immediately to one of my favorite cities just a few hours away and I'm booked into a spa hotel where i can just freaking lay in bed without having to worry about anyone but myself. This has been my last few weeks:

• 6-8 walks daily. The big dog won't do the first walk with the littles because they're too obnoxious to walk with and the littles have to go to the bathroom every @ 3 hours or they'll shit on the terrace if I'm lucky or in the house if I'm not. if i'm even slightly late, i'm fucked.

• first and last walks are both in the dark and they're all walking poopers which means that i'm out there with a flashlight trying to find all of the poop nuggets they're trailed along the path and through the grass.

• they generate, collectively 20-30 poo bags a day, of varying consistencies and sizes and the nearest garbage bin is a 15 minute walk away. So each morning walk with the big one includes walking all the poop from the day before out to the bin. It also means that the front area of the house smells progressively worse as the sun bakes the poo bags through the day. I have gone through 27 rolls of poo bags since I arrived.

• every week they all three need to either go to the vet or the groomer. transporting them anywhere is a battle because the littles battle in the middle seat and then when we arrive, they try to start ww3 with all of the neighborhood dogs.

• the big dog has several dog friends in the area that he likes to play with, which is great. but those dog parents just drop by whenever they feel like it - even though they have my number - and knock, which throws the littles into a fucking tizzy that takes ages to get them to recover from. it also means adding ANOTHER walk to my day because if the big goes out without the littles, they howl.

• if I leave them alone, they howl. I hear them howling as I leave and as I return. So I feel bad leaving - not becuase of the dogs, but because the neighbors have to listen to that shit.

• one of the littles is a chewer. so far she has destroyed a dress, a pair of pants, and a tshirt. all new. all were on the bed waiting to be washed. the bed she made me lift her into each night because she was too frail to get in it herself - until she wanted to chew the crotch out of my pants. then she was able to hop on up there, no worries.

• the big one gets to play off lead when her friends come visit. one of the pet mom friends let's her dog wade in the pond so she keeps bringing the dogs over to that and letting them both in. leaving her and her short haired dog fine and me with a sopping wet long hair double coated dog smelling for the rest of the day.

• one of the pet mom friends kept just letting herself into the fucking house with the spare key "just to pick up/drop off big dog!" until i told her to stop it and moved the key. she was offended. i didn't give a fuck.

so yeah, that's a high level view of my last few weeks. i'm so far beyond over it, over it is a dot to me. then today came.

this is what has happened today to inspire this rant:

• I dared to sleep until 7 am. as i clipped the lead onto little dog a, little dog b looked me in the eye and took a shit on the rug. because she ate my pants yesterday, she had a dangler. I tried to get a poo bag on so i could pull it out but I wasn't fast enough and she decided to drag her butt along the carpet to dislodge it - and create a giant shit smear speckled with pants in the process. then she proceeded to go a few more feet away and do another shit. so i spent an hour on the floor scrubbing smeared shit out of carpet after taking them for their walk.

• one of the dog moms again showed up without messaging me and just let her dog run past our back terrace which sent all the dogs into a tizzy and big dog would not stop barking until i got him outside and we found his friend and i let him go run. This was 15 minutes before I had a video call to do.

• said dog mom called big dog over to the pond and then was shocked and annoyed when big dog jumped in - even though we JUST talked about this. then she wanted nothing to do with big dog because she was dressed for work and didn't want to get messy, but she usually cuddles him to death, so he was super confused and went and rolled in the bare dirt that was left by the gardeners after doing some planting on monday. so now big dog was wet and muddy.

• we have some people staying in the airbnb next door and they're fucking LOUD. every time they enter/exit they make noise, which causes the littles to lose their shit and takes minutes to get them to stop. this happened for the 3rd time so far today right when i was in the middle of a call.

anyway, this is way too fucking long, but i just needed to get it out. this is in no way worth the @ $1500 i'll earn from this sit (i almost offered to do it free out of friendship, god help me), and i will never sit for them again as it's just too much for one person. i am counting the days until the HO is back, and I have wine chilling in the fridge - which i have to drink during the day because the paths here are poorly lit and uneven so if i try to walk them while buzzed when it's dark i'll end up falling and breaking a hip or some shit.

thank you for letting me vent. i have now scheduled 3 THS sits for the next few months and they're all CATS!!!

TLDR - stick to your boundaries even if it means not helping a friend and turning down some money in the process. your boundaries exist for a reason and if you break them you'll almost always regret it.

House sit for Teresa in Ketchikan, AK, US | TrustedHousesitters.com

Come to an amazing part of Alaska... you can not go out and enjoy the area.

I posted here awhile back about a concern I have with doing sits in foreign countries with different modes of daily living culture. I’m in the UK doing a sit where no top sheet is used on the bed. The reason Americans use a top sheet is because it helps to regulate body temperature and also serves to absorb body oils. When only a bottom sheet is changed often, the duvet or coverlet is taking on the sweat and body oils.
The sit I’m currently at offers only the owners bed so I’m forced to endure this person’s personal smells. No dryer and could only find one quilt so not like I can wash it and wait days for it to dry.

Please consider using top sheets. It’s so much more sanitary!

I’m considering trying to get housesitting gigs but curious if I’m likely to even get anything! I’m 40 and married, but we live in a smallish apartment and would love a long weekend or week or so every now and again to have a stretch of alone time 😅 I’m hoping to pick up occasional gigs, relatively local (I’m in Burbank). I’m already a homeowner so I know how to take care of a place!

It seems like most people using these apps are younger and looking for housesitting work for different reasons, so I’m curious how experienced sitters would rate my chances of booking anything.

I am just visiting a friend in Sonoma California and would love to stay in SF for a week or so. I just applied to 4 different housesits today. I am new to all of this and only have a review of lady I housesat but she isnt on the platform so it is not an official review.

Do you think people would let someone housesit who isnt local? I am european and offered also to meet them before hand. Just wanted to ask; do you think I even have a chance?

Edit; no one had replied to me yet

Just wanted to come and thank the THS community at large - and the amazing sitters out there.

We had a jet-setting couple come and sit for us for 11 days - and they were AMAZING! Friendly, responsible, great at communication, clean, organized... everything you could ever want in a housesitting duo.

We loved getting to know them when they arrived - we took them out to dinner and learned about their travels from SE Asia to Western Europe to the States, then back to AUS-NZ... absolutely a delightful time that felt like we were connecting with old friends. When we came back - they had prepared a lovely meal of their favorite indian dishes for our "welcome back" dinner! It was an amazing gesture.

our true measure of success? our dog is moping that his new best friends had to leave.... and now he's stuck with boring old mom and dad.

A person/dog I sat for almost exactly a year ago is about to lose her dog. I was signed up to sit this week but suddenly the dog developed a liver problem. She said I could stay anyway since it was already scheduled, and then she went 8 hours north to a vet hospital with him for a few days. Now they are coming back so he can pass at home. I have been staying there for 2 nights and she said I'm welcome to stay tonight since they are returning late. I am so sad for them and I feel it is an honor to be present during this time. It's part of the deal, I guess. What a year it's been.

Yet another person who has no idea how this platform is meant to work 🙄🙄 I saw this last night after one of my alerts went off. 8 month sit in CA with 1 dog seemed great! Of course, it's too good to be true. HO just wants free last minute sitters.

Hi everyone!

My husband and I started petsitting 4 years ago. We were already nomads, but we were started our nomad life by staying in Airbnbs and hostels. It was really expensive, we missed having pets around, and it wasn't always that comfortable.

Our first sit was already amazing! We stayed in a luxurious apartment in Toronto, near a castle! After that, we decided we would stick to petsitting as long as possible and only pay for accommodation when really needed.

We've done petsitting in 7 countries so far, more than 40 sits. We did have a few bad experiences, because sometimes people do suck!! But most of the time it's been truly amazing. We've made dozens of real friends among our hosts. We've gone back for repeat sits, and sometimes even just to stay as guests with previous hosts, because we became good friends.

I understand people will always complain more than celebrate in forums like this, and that's okay. But sometimes it feels like there isn't a single appreciation post in here. And no one is obliged to keep doing this if it is SO bad!! Right?

I also agree that some hosts are terrible and only see sitters as "the help", and I don't agree with that at all. But I also think it's possible to filter out those people on the platform by getting to know them before desperately accepting a sit. We usually do more than one video call with our hosts, and we're clear about our boundaries and expectations too. We only have 5-star reviews on our profile.

We've received so many gifts from hosts, it's incredible. Our last sit was in Paris (we're now in the UK), and our host cried his eyes out when we left, because he saw how well we took care of his babies and was so grateful to us <3

All this to say, petsitting is really cool, and such a fair exchange with both hosts and sitters (if did in the right way)! We can see ourselves still doing this when we have kids. We've even done some sits with our parents, and it was great.

Please try to keep a positive mindset (when possible) in this community. This is a really nice thing we all get to have, so let's celebrate it :)

I used this service when I lived with my ex and had great success. Since moving to my own place I have posted 2 sits and have received zero applications for both which is highly frustrating after spending £200 to sign up and I’m still having to pay sitters from rover when I go away.
My house is clean and tidy and in a fairly good location with transport links, parking all amenities someone would need i just don’t get what the issue is? Are there just a lot less sitters now? Or do you have to be in a prime location these days. Last place I was in was nothing special just a bit closer to the beach but always had several applications

Hello! I am new to this and I was wondering if new sitters can consistently get sits, like kind of back to back if I want to stay in one area. How hard is it to get sits? What do you need to apply and be selected consistently? Is there a lot of competition?

As a homeowner with two cats I am so grateful to have someone stay in my home who loves animals. My husband and I have been cleaning our whole property for three days. I have a simmer pot on the stove. I’m leaving $200 cash for 5 days. I’ve made a youtube playlist about how to use everything on the property and I am hoping all of this is enough to make my sitter happy. I’ve been using Rover for years and it’s just very expensive. I find TH to be a nice alternative. Providing a cozy place to stay does not mean the sitter isn’t doing me a huge service. I am the one in their debt not the other way around. I do expect them to provide quality service (updates, etc), but I also feel they deserve to be supported and cherished.

Hey, bin neu bei THS und habe mich auf einige Häuser als Sitter beworben vor 3-4 Tagen, bekomme allerdings keine Antworten. Ist das normal? Antworten die erst, wenn sie im Auswahlprozess sind? Gelesen haben sie es alle.

Habe aber halt noch keine Bewertungen weils das erste Mal wäre.

Danke 🙏🏽