Trusted House Sitters

I've had cats all of my adult life (25+ years). I've tried every option when I am away from home: taking them to a boarding cattery, having friends stay over, having family stay over, paying cat sitters who come to the house for an hour or so per day, paying for 'professional' overnight housesitters. TrustedHouseSitters is by far the best of all the various methods. I can't easily afford 'professional' sitters and I found that they tend to have a list of dos/don't as long as your arm. It always irked me that I was paying them, but, they were the ones calling the shots. Friends and family unfortunately just cannot be relied upon. I've had them cancel on me when I am literally about to go to the airport to leave. And don't get me started on boarding kennels. Due to 2 horrific experiences, I will never use another one of them again. I was nervous using trustedhousesitters for the first time, but, I found the process relatively easy. I see it as an exchange of equals, rather than a customer-provider relationship. I'm much more comfortable with this exchange being equal. So, that's a plus in my books. Whenever I post new dates on the website, I tend to get a lot of enquiries from a very wide range of people. The reviews are always a good way to find exceptional people. The different levels of verification are an excellent way to get the people you will be comfortable with. The website can be a bit clunky to navigate around, but, nothing too major. All in all, i think this is a great company. I've now had 4 vacations where I used the company to arrange a sitter. All of the experiences have been very positive.

I have house-sat with TH in the States, Canada and the UK and have had only great experiences. I had only applied for far-away destinations, but local homeowners also found me on TH and engaged me, and I have ended up also having great mini-vacations with lovely pets only a few miles from home `` such a great break. Extensive emails back and forth essential, and for local sits I always meet them in person weeks ahead of time as well. I also will send documents to prospective homeowners to prove I am legitimate, and have asked homeowners for references of their own in the past. There is a lot of trust involved on both sides, so both sides should do as much research as possible. I do not have any pets right now so am very happy to play and care for other peoples' pets. I have found the homeowners I have helped out to be universally grateful and relieved to have someone caring to trust with their pets and home. In return, I am appreciative of the trust they show me and the chance for a free vacation in interesting places plus pets! What could be better? (I do not charge a fee). I always leave the house as clean or cleaner than when I arrived. Perfect arrangements for me, as I am a young retiree with grown children who loves pets, is good at outdoor and indoor work and is self-motivated to do a good job. If I apply to something it is only after some thought so I always ask them to briefly acknowledge my application even if they have chosen someone else. This has worked every time but once. Was it a false review, as one reviewer suggests? Possibly... or maybe it is a careless person who neglected to remove his ad after having chosen someone.
Again, I urge everyone to get as much info on the other person as possible before accepting, to avoid uncomfortable or dangerous situations.
I would also like to see more homeowners think to add requirements such as "dog must not be left alone for more than 4 hours". I am surprised that all dogowners do not do this.
For me, TH has been worth the annual fee.

We signed up because of the rating system and sitter verifications. We are 3 months out from our sitting dates and can't seem to find anyone to sit for us. Our situation: 3 healthy dogs, beautiful modern country home with every amenity ever needed in a crime free golf course community in the suburbs of a large city in Virginia, USA. We are going away for 2 weeks. Our only limitation is that the sitters do not have children because our dogs have never lived with kids and can get nervous around them. Before I tried contacting a particular sitter, I verified that they were available on the dates we needed, were not traveling with children, and that they had a history of sitting on the East Coast of the USA. (A lot of the sitters say that they will sit in the USA but then you look a their history and they have only housesat in the UK, Europe, or Asia.) They also needed to have been verified by the website, which is why I thought that the price was worth the cost. In a full week since paying our $119, we have been turned down by 15 sitters, 3 have simply ignored our offers, and the 2 sitters that proactively contacted us had children (ignoring that our ad said "no children.") The site says to sit back, relax, and the offers will start coming in. My experience: 2 offers in a week with both sitters ignoring the one restriction we had, with 18 verified sitters with a history of sitting near our home turning us down or simply ignoring our offer. $119 down the drain. I put up an ad on a competitor's website that does not charge the home owner and had an offer to sit in less than 12 hours. Unless you live in the UK or in a major tourist destination in the US, Canada, or Europe, you will find it difficult to find a sitter with this website. PS I did contact their customer service 5 days in and was told that they "would keep an eye on my listing." I don't know what that means.