Now retired, and with time on our hands, we started to think about getting a dog of our own. But, wanting to do some traveling as well held us back from taking the plunge. Then we heard about home and pet-sitting services from a Patagonian couple we were hosting on their world cycle trip ! After looking at several competitors we opted to give Trusted House Sitters a try. In comparison to THS the signing up process and financial arrangements of the others we looked at seemed much more onerous. For the home owner their charges seemed quite high and the small fees paid to sitters hardly worth considering. THS provides a much easier platform to bring owners and sitters together at no cost other than a modest annual fee on each side.
Trust, of course, is crucial to the successful operation of any service like this but we feel that all those using the opportunity have a common and vested interest - a love of animals and respect for others and their property. Members can be verified (as we are) and insured which may increase the likelihood of everything being tickety boo, but we prefer to rely on good, old-fashioned, respect and a belief in our fellow human beings. THS also use a feedback system to capture comments on people's experiences that others can look at. Everyone has the chance to create their own profile describing their backgrounds, likes and dislikes and, well, sell themselves. We have found Skype and WhatsApp very useful tools to initiate contact between owners and sitters - a sort of casual interview process to ensure both are happy to proceed.
Aside from the annual fee, there is no additional charge for owners (although we have been grateful, as sitters, for the odd bottle of wine) and sitter's costs are essentially restricted to the expense of getting there and eating.
The THS website has been recently updated and is now easier to navigate. Sits can be offered or sought very easily and exist all over the world, although a recent change to impose a limit of five applications to a 'sit' is causing problems - notably a decrease in the number of opportunities that sitters can see (once five applications are received the 'sit' is paused and made unavailable) and an increase in perhaps poorly considered applications being rushed in order to be one of the first five applicants. But beware - as a sitter it is very easy to feel like a kid in a sweet shop - there is so much on offer and the lure of lovely animals, gorgeous properties and far flung destinations can prove irresistible !
Our first few years have been brilliant - we have now completed over twenty sits, in England, Greece, France and Italy. All in all we have spent many weeks doing something we have come to love very much indeed. In fact things have gone so well we have been invited to more sits than we have applied for. It is a shame we sometimes have to say no but we do need to spend some time in our own home and get on with the other part of our lives.
We would welcome your comments, suggestions or feedback - get in touch via the CONTACT section; it would be great to hear from you. Not all of our sits are featured on THS as repeat sits tend to happen through personal contact and therefore miss the THS feedback section. We would be more than happy to facilitate references from our generous hosts.
Trust, of course, is crucial to the successful operation of any service like this but we feel that all those using the opportunity have a common and vested interest - a love of animals and respect for others and their property. Members can be verified (as we are) and insured which may increase the likelihood of everything being tickety boo, but we prefer to rely on good, old-fashioned, respect and a belief in our fellow human beings. THS also use a feedback system to capture comments on people's experiences that others can look at. Everyone has the chance to create their own profile describing their backgrounds, likes and dislikes and, well, sell themselves. We have found Skype and WhatsApp very useful tools to initiate contact between owners and sitters - a sort of casual interview process to ensure both are happy to proceed.
Aside from the annual fee, there is no additional charge for owners (although we have been grateful, as sitters, for the odd bottle of wine) and sitter's costs are essentially restricted to the expense of getting there and eating.
The THS website has been recently updated and is now easier to navigate. Sits can be offered or sought very easily and exist all over the world, although a recent change to impose a limit of five applications to a 'sit' is causing problems - notably a decrease in the number of opportunities that sitters can see (once five applications are received the 'sit' is paused and made unavailable) and an increase in perhaps poorly considered applications being rushed in order to be one of the first five applicants. But beware - as a sitter it is very easy to feel like a kid in a sweet shop - there is so much on offer and the lure of lovely animals, gorgeous properties and far flung destinations can prove irresistible !
Our first few years have been brilliant - we have now completed over twenty sits, in England, Greece, France and Italy. All in all we have spent many weeks doing something we have come to love very much indeed. In fact things have gone so well we have been invited to more sits than we have applied for. It is a shame we sometimes have to say no but we do need to spend some time in our own home and get on with the other part of our lives.
We would welcome your comments, suggestions or feedback - get in touch via the CONTACT section; it would be great to hear from you. Not all of our sits are featured on THS as repeat sits tend to happen through personal contact and therefore miss the THS feedback section. We would be more than happy to facilitate references from our generous hosts.