House sitters - especially with pets

[Nowthereistwo]

Hi, has anyone used house sitters whilst you're been on holiday?

We're considering who can look after our dog whilst we're away and someone recommended house sitters - the free sitters, not the paid professionals.

We're going away for 2.5 weeks, the kennels are £480, a dog sitter in their house was £600 so we're considering all options.

Any thoughts?

We've been using Trusted Housesitters for years https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwP6sBhDAARIsAPfK_wbR3brLWDXWi4AmNq94ZGhrQ9kM1otFhiDJS1fXxKOID71W4pGFoHgaAsztEALw_wcB
I can't recommend them highly enough. Every house sitter has just been lovely. They take excellent care of our very nervous cat. We've always come back to an immaculate house. You pay a joining fee but after that it's free for you and the house sitter. It's really been a positive experience.

Thanks, I did see they were well reviewed on TrustPilot.

I suppose I'm concerned whose going to want to dog sit in your average suburban house?

You'd be surprised. We live in a suburban semi on the outskirts of Leeds but we always have several applicants for each sit. Last time about 12 people applied! The more positive reviews we get the more people apply. I've found that post-Covid more people are working from home and just fancy house sitting for a change of scene. I didn't imagine so many people would be flocking to Leeds but they are. We've had people come from America, Canada, Belgium and Holland plus many people from the UK. They all have different reasons for coming - some have friends or family here, some just want to see somewhere new, some really just want to hang out with a cat because they can't have pets. I'd give it a go if I were you.

We also use trusted house sitters for our cat.
I think we pay about €180 a year membership which includes insurance which your away and 24/7 vet call if they need. We usually have 2-3 sitters per year for 1-2+ weeks at a time. Always been very happy with it, and ours water plants if needed and some even mowed the lawn on longer sits.

We signed up with THS last year and arranged a one week sit well in advance. With a month to go, the sitters cancelled. They turned extremely nasty when I told them how disappointed I was. It put me off THS completely, which is a shame, as others seem to have had good experiences.

I'm sad to hear this as we've had dozens of positive experiences. Everyone, without exception, has been lovely. Once or twice people have had to cancel last minute due to Covid but we understood and managed to quickly find someone else.

@tishtishboom that's a bit crap if you have a holiday booked and are relying on it though.