One of the biggest worries experienced by pet parents is what to do with our furry friends when we're away going away, and whether our houses are good enough for sitters. Kennels and catteries can feel a difficult solution and house sitting agencies can be seriously expensive.
Help is at hand! It is possible to find a pet sitter happy to care for your furry family members, free of charge. How? Well members of the TrustedHousesitters community can connect with like-minded pet people willing to give their furry families the TLC they need while their humans are away (so there is never any questioning - is TrustedHousesitters too good to be true or are pet sitters trustworthy?).
Our members are here for the love of pets and travel, with nothing exchanged but love and care for pets, and a place for sitters to stay in return - it's the perfect win-win!
So, whether you're after somebody babysitting for dogs (otherwise known as dog sitting!) in homes around the world, join our lovely community to get started. And if you'd like to know to welcome cat and dog sitters home, take a look below to hear what the pet parents on our platform have to say...
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These friendly chaps want to stay at home
Most pets hate going to kennels and prefer to stay in the comfort of their own homes, that's no secret to people who have dog sitters at their home, caring for their furry families. And with traditional house sitting agencies charging very high fees, and the impracticality of asking a friend or relative to help, it's no surprise that many pet parents around the world are turning to cheap dog sitters to babysit their dogs, cats and other furry friends. We've spoken to many pet parents around the globe about their experiences, and first up is our member, Peter.
Peter in Sandbanks, Poole (UK) uses TrustedHousesitters "because previous attempts through friends, family or 'professionals', to get the cat, house and garden looked after, proved to be at best expensive, and at worst unreliable"
TrustedHousesitters is a community of pet-loving sitters ready to help free of charge (which makes finding cheap dog sitting and cat sitting simple) as Peter explains -
We had a number of swift responses from REALLY nice people, and chose a couple who turned out to be a major "find". We came back from our trip to a contented cat, and a house and garden in a better condition than we left it
Angela from British Columbia, Canada has been finding her house sitters free of charge with us, and is over the moon of the lovely sitters who babysit pets for nothing more than the love of animals -
For a number of reasons I choose not to use an agency; I need to have absolute control over my choice of sitter. I see absolutely no point in paying for a service that I can do myself. I have better ways of spending that sort of money, and who knows my needs better than I do? Agency sitters charge a daily rate, daily food allowance and charge according to the number of pets involved. In two years I have never paid a sitter!
Every pet parent can now get the same peace of mind as Peter and Angela by finding a pet sitter in this lovely community of short and long term pet sitters . It's a simple and easy process:
1. Create your listing: Purchase your membership and create your listing, then share as much as you can on your pets, home, and what you (and your furry family) look for in a sitter. Explore our lovely community of people looking for both short and long term pet sitting opportunities to get a feel for the lovely pet people on the site.
2. Receive applications
Review your sitter applications, read reviews from other pet parents and decide who’s the best fit for your furry family.
3. Create a connection
Get chatting to the sitters who’ve applied, setting up phone and video calls to cover the bases and make sure you’re on the same page.
4. Confirm your sitter
Once you’ve found the perfect companion for your furry family, you’ll both need to click ‘confirm’ to secure your sit.
If you have unusual pets, such as Alaskan Huskies, you can list all their requirements
We are confident that you will find your pets a ideal sitter among our many experienced and trustworthy members. Much like members Kathleen and Andrew from Rutland, UK.
THANK YOU! What a fabulous company! I love the ease of using your site - very intuitive and well designed. Reading the descriptions of your stable of house sitters - WOW - what a fabulous group!
Kathleen and Andrew use pet sitters for their wonderful home in Rutland Water
Your ideal sitter may be just down the round or from further afield. Wherever they are you can now chat a on the phone, via email or Skype a and really get to know each other before the start of the house sit.
Adriana from Vancouver Island found her house sitters from Australia, and first spoke to them on Skype...
My main concern was Tag my ginger cat, who's 13 years old. She just wouldn't be happy in a cattery nor I putting her in one. I had to go away for a work trip last year and found a brilliant couple from Australia who wanted to visit my local area so were happy to travel to come and look after Tag for free. It was a simple process and I came home to a spotless home with fresh flowers and just stepped through the door essentials - milk, eggs and bread provided my house sitters. Oh and Tag seemed to have enjoyed an Aussie owner for a while too!
Welcome your pet sitters a Invite your sitters to arrive with enough time to run through your pets routines and anything else they need to know about your home. This could be the day you leave or the night before (or longer) depending on the complexity of your needs (explore our blog on your sit handover and our pet sitter checklist for more handy tips and advice).
Make sure you take the time to run through your pets needs with your sitter
Go away knowing your pets are safe and happy at home
Your sitters will be happy to update you as often as you like about what your pets have been up to. So if you want a weekly photo or a daily 'Pet Skype' chat, you just have to ask.
Graham from Matlock England kindly shared his experiences...
Our experience with Trustedhousesitters.com has been outstanding. The site is easy to use and has produced very good results for us. Our friends with pets have now joined up too, and they have been very satisfied. So far we have had one sitter in our house in Derbyshire for one month and a couple from Holland looked after our house and cats in France for three weeks. On both occasions we were able to meet the sitters beforehand which was very reassuring for us and made their settling into our home easier. We now count these people as friends.
And if you'd like to hear more from our members on their experiences, check out our TrustedHousesitters reviews.
Graham's cats in his properties in UK & France have all benefited from the services of a free pet sitter via Trustedhousesitters
So, whether you live in pet-friendly Portland OR, Seattle, Ottawa or somewhere further afield, there are heaps of verified sitters, raring to care for your fur babies.
Join our growing ranks of savvy pet parents around the world today. And make sure your pets are happy and safe at home when you are next away with the help of a free pet sitter from TrustedHousesitters and our free vet advice line.
