Trusted housesitters

[biedrona]

Has anyone successfully used trusted house sitters?
I am considering this as my boarders upped the rate to rather unsustainable level. Perhaps this is an alternative solution? This is where verified pet sitters stay in your home while you are away. You pay a one off annual fee to TH via their website.

We've not had a sitter in yet but I signed up earlier this year for our holiday in summer 2025 and was really impressed. Quickly narrowed it down to 2 sitters I would have been super happy with and then had calls with both and chose one. I was impressed how committed to actual petsitting they seem to be rather than just wanting somewhere free to stay! Lots of questions about my animals' needs etc. And they all had good reviews too.

Obviously having not been through the full process I can't vouch for it all but so far I'm happy. It does help that we live in a pretty cottage in a desirable part of the UK - not sure if that would have a big impact on how many applicants you get?

That's promising.
I am in Edinburgh so I reckon would also get a lot of interest.

Yes, I've been using them for many years and have had dozens of house sitters through them. They've all been excellent. No problems at all.
It works very well for us as our cat would be so stressed out at a cattery and he'd be lonely if we just had someone popping into feed him. He very much enjoys having their company.
I'd highly recommend them. People say "Oh why would someone want to stay at my house?". But people do. Our house sitters have stayed for a variety of reasons. Often they work from home and just want a change of scene. Sometimes they have friends or family nearby. They all seem to love animals.

anyone else?

Our first was great, no issues at all.

2nd was another story. They broke our washing machine and our toaster.

There was also a strange smell :/

We've since decided not to use house sitters anymore, it's too much of a risk.

Oh just re read your comment. I didn't realise you meant a specific website! We found ours through an app (Wag! maybe)

I’ve been a member for 2 years, had 8 sits and can’t recommend it more. It’s been a great success for us.

We have a very needy high energy Hungarian Viszla girl. Kennels (we tried it twice) didn’t work for her - as our girl didn’t like being away from home or her people. THS is a great compromise as the dog gets to stay in her own home, stick to the same routine.

We interview via zoom and are very honest that our girl is best suited to a couple & she needs big walks.

Whats the worse that can happen? They break a couple of plates & go through your knicker draw (this has never happened to us)!

Its been a great success for us & I would highly recommend.

To also add….

We’ve used it for 1 night, a weekend, a week and did 28 days last year.

We used them once - never again! We met with her beforehand and she seemed like she was onboard with what we were asking ie 2 walks a day, 2 meals a day and cuddles nothing too strenuous.
We were going to leave them for 2 nights, within an hour of being away from the house she asked if we would mind if she left them at 4am one morning as she'd been offered a shift at a supermarket. We said no! Next thing she said she was working later that day but her mum would come and takeover looking after the dogs!! She walked them for approx 4 mins (could see on ring doorbell). We could not relax and cut our break short, arrived back to her mum in our house ( not her) with her feet up and just wanted to finish watching her program before she left! Never again

I use it but the other way around, I'm a sitter. I sit with my partner and we've done fifteen sits so far with three more in our diary, and one we're meeting next weekend. We both work from home, love animals but take a lot of holidays so it's just not practical to have our own. We mostly sit for cats but have also done smaller dogs-I have fibromyalgia so for us it's important that my partner could walk a dog alone if I was having a pain flare so smaller dogs are perfect.

We started with local sits where we met the homeowners in person before they accepted us, to build reviews. We now do return sits for three of our first sits (Frank the cat, Barnaby and Marple the cats, and Lady the Beagle) and have an open invite to visit Crash the terrier who lives just down the road whenever we want to as we fell in love with him.

As well as getting to hang out with lovely pets we enjoy taking our walks around a different place, staying in houses different to our own-we are looking to buy together soon and I see a big benefit of housesitting as a way to trial things (like, do I really need a downstairs loo? Yes it makes life so much easier and oh, induction hobs are much easier to clean than my current one, I'd rather have one)

Highly recommend that as a pet parent you're clear about your pets personality, wants and needs-if a dog needs two hours of walks a day that's not a sit we would apply for, but people who walk for hours normally would love that, and the dog who is ultra clingy and wants to be on your lap might be annoying for some but thats the sit I'd go for as I love cuddly pets. There will be the perfect sitter out there for every sit

That experience from @WhycantBarryswim goes against all of the rules on THS, I hope you reported her! When we apply for sits, we make sure that the sit is clear about when the pets can be left. Like, no we aren't going to be with your pet for 24 hours a day for two weeks because we will need to go to Tesco, but we won't leave your dog for more than a trip to Tesco unless you've clearly said 'he can be left for 4 hours' and if we were to leave him, we'd do a big walk, play and then leave him with his toy/kong/whatever you use, as you would.

A decent sitter will treat your pet like they would their own pet. My own (family dog, lives with my parents) pet is my very best friend. I treat all pets like I treat him.

Yes, I've used it many times over the last 3 years with great success. A few minor issues (e.g. pen stains on bedding, failure to read recycling instructions) but nothing major at all. However, I do have a very easy cat so it's much less work than a dog would be.

Don’t they all want to sit at houses more fabulous than their own? My house is tatty and frankly grim, I can’t imagine a stranger staying here at any price , though the pets are lovely.

Lots of people just want free accommodation, because they're on holiday or living in a grotty houseshare. I make clear in my advert that my flat is a bit scruffy. But I do get a professional cleaner in before a sit.

In our experience @YourWinter it's the pet and the area I'm more bothered about. You live somewhere different to us? Cool that's a nice change. Your cat is very cute? Sold.

I basically need a decent bed-don't mind if it's the guest bedroom, if it's comfy. Some fridge space to put my food in. Ideally some space for my clothes to be actually unpacked. And a room I can close the door and work in. That's it

We’ve used THS for about 7 years and only two imperfect experiences in that time and they weren’t even that bad - interestingly they were both sitters who didn’t have their own permanent homes and who used THS to make up the bulk of their accommodation. So I now only use people who do it for love not necessity! But we have 4 or 5 repeat sitters some of whom have become lovely regular visitors and friends. I’d really recommend it.

We used THS and also Rover, but are now looking for a "proper" housesitting business we can use and just budget more.

Experience wasn't terrible but it wasn't brilliant either, and that was despite interviewing and leaving really thorough instructions.

One guy left the oven on for 24hrs, used the washing machine with bits of metal in the pockets (detectorist) and didn't clean out the chickens which was the one thing he was actually required to do.

One seemed really good but cancelled on us a couple of weeks before, which was a massive pain in the arse.

One was really good in the house, really thorough with the cuddles and cleaning, and sent us lots of photos. But she was so lazy with walks/stimulation and would just take our dog to the nearest field and let her off twice a day. It pissed off the local landowners and it completely wrecked her recall, as poor dog was bored out of her wits so would just run whilst she had the chance. We still have got her behaviour back to before and it's been a year!

I also found the faff of choosing someone and squaring dates and interviewing such a hassle. We got a lots of requests from people who quite clearly hadn't read the description at all. It just made planning a holiday so much more stressful, I'd rather pay a profressional and if you've got one you know and trust I would stick with them!

Did the fee cover insurance should damage happen while house sitting? Or is it just your responsibility? That is concerning

Hi, have you already had the sitters in?

We have some some sitters in at the moment. As with all our other sitters, it's going very well. Lots of photos of my cat sitting on their laps and looking content. We've never had a bad experience with Trusted Housesitters.

I am new to THS, put an ad, chose sitters, they just cancelled and not provided a proper justification. I am gutted as I do not think I cannot trust this website

It’s silly to discount all of the positive experiences people have had on here because of one bad experience. Readvertise and see who applies.

Our neighbours have used them a few times. They probably think they are great but it’s us that have heard the dogs barking all day outside on more than one house sit. Funnily enough we are in Edinburgh too, and I suspect some sitters use it as a free place to stay without considering the pets requirements.

I am very wary about it because if people are travelling to sit for you what happens if their flight gets delayed or whatever. I have a great occasional dog sitter through borrowmydoggy. We have also used rover.com for sitters and once when desperate I went in FB and now our friends adult DD looks after rookiedog for a cost much lower than professional dog sitter.

Yes, many times and are excellent. I had a few apply when I put an add up and quite a few applied. Can you contact any of the others who applied to fill the cancellation?

we now contact our direct and don’t need the website. But you need to be confident in them to do this so obviously stay with the site.

My sister sits via trustedhousesitters and is very conscientious and has a lot of repeat sits. She lives in a small flat and can’t have a dog so likes the chance of a weekend in a house with a garden and with some dog walks. However, she may not continue because of hidden cameras in the bathroom of the last place. You have more to lose of course, but they are trusting you too.
Try a weekend first perhaps and see how it goes.