Dog Home Sitters.

[2littleboys]

Originally Posted by Hopefulholiday

I used a website Trusted Housesitters in 2019 as was recommended on the Dibb. It cost a fee to register but the actual sit was free as the sitters use it as an opportunity to stay somewhere.
Our sitters were lovely and very experienced, we video called beforehand, they had lunch with us before we left and took copious notes. I suppose you do have to have a bit of trust here but the site has review of both sitters and the hosts. Our dog didn’t like to be left so he was taken on lots of days out, we had picture of him on a train, by the pub etc and it was obvious he and the couple had become quite fond of each other. They kept the house tidy and even fixed the shower whilst here and sent updates and pictures every few days.

We looked at the big house sitting companies and they seem to offer a comprehensive service but our quote was £1600 which was more than we wanted to pay.

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I am really interested in registering for this site, when putting in details do you need to put photos of your pet/home/local area etc. We live quite rural in SW Scotland so its not exactly a hot spot for travel

[Nicksgirl]

Originally Posted by 2littleboys

I am really interested in registering for this site, when putting in details do you need to put photos of your pet/home/local area etc. We live quite rural in SW Scotland so its not exactly a hot spot for travel

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Don't put in photos of your house number, number plate of your car etc...

xx

[jemrock]

Thanks Amy - makes sense, to be honest the point of this for us is to get to spend some extended time with animals as we don't have space at home and very much miss having pets. This is the case for other people I know who do this sort of thing (though they, like us, do it unofficially for friends rather than through an official site) so I'm sure you won't struggle to find someone with the right mindset if you decide to take the leap. I'm working from the position that presumably everyone on the site loves animals so I just wondered if the property side would be seen as an additional asset in a sitter.

I don't want to derail Nicksgirl's thread but thanks both for the views

[Kat11]

Following!

Kat

[catherinesian]

I've looked into this a few times but so far have struggled to persuade my OH to let them stay at our house. He's fine for pet sitters to come in 2x a day but he feels them 'living' in our house is different. I can see where he is coming from but it doesn't bother me as much!

For me looking for someone - I would be actively looking for someone who has worked / volunteered at a really decent small animal rescue or has copious experience themselves through their own pets. I have 5 rescue rabbits (one is a free range house bunny) and 2 rescue guinea pigs and am acutely aware that most pet sitters who cover dogs and cats tend to think they can just chuck the food in and leave them to it when it comes to small animals. Consequently I find it hard to find and trust sitters!

[Hopefulholiday]

Originally Posted by 2littleboys

I am really interested in registering for this site, when putting in details do you need to put photos of your pet/home/local area etc. We live quite rural in SW Scotland so its not exactly a hot spot for travel

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Hi, sorry I’ve only just seen your reply.

Yes you sort of put an advert for your sit, so dates, information about the location, photos of pets, house (internal) etc, whatever you think will attract a sitter.
I don’t think you need to be in a tourist hotspot, we are in rural Norfolk but not in a tourist area.
You can also look at sitters profiles and approach them but fortunately we didn’t need to do that.

[Hopefulholiday]

Originally Posted by jemrock

TigerLily no it's really helpful and pretty much what I expected to be honest! I have been incredibly nervous the couple of times I've let my flat out on AirBnB and can only imagine it's worse when you're leaving pets as well.

Out of curiosity would you find it in any way reassuring if the applicant could link to positive house management reviews or included that they are approved fosterers for a cat charity (had to submit x2 character witnesses and undergo a home inspection to be approved)? I suspect if it's not through the Trusted Housesitters site people will probably just think it's irrelevant but interested to check my assumptions before ruling it out.

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Yes your reviews and information from the cat charity would definitely make me feel more comfortable. Everyone will start as a new sitter on the site so I wouldn’t let that put you off. Also you may find people more willing to use you for shorter sits to enable you to build your profile.

[Gryff]

We signed up with them years ago and have used the same couple for 10 years they now jus sit for us and our 2 sons this last year has been hard for them too but sunce we came home last April from the villa they have stayed in Ds2 holiday rental working round the property and helping out with the horses chickens etc