Trusted House SittersReviews 1,000

We prefer to leave our pets in our home when we're on vacation to reduce their anxiety and to be sure they will have access to being outside for exercise. Trusted Housesitters not only matched us with a reliable caring woman to look after our older cat, but it was very inexpensive compared to paying daily pet sitting rates or kennel rates. We had regular updates via email and photos while we were away and returned home to find our home spotlessly clean and our senior cat relaxed. This is a wonderful resource and we're so happy we discovered it.

We love the site and have had many positive, if not perfect (!), experiences so far as house sitters.

The only feedback I would have at this point (members for over 4 years and 7 sits completed) is for home owners to be required to respond to an application within 2 or 3 days with SOME kind of personalized reply (not a copy and pasted template). The reason is because when applying for a house sit the house sitters are working with scheduling: arranging multiple locations/times/transportation/flights etc so it would very helpful to know one way or the other if you are considered a or not for that house sit. Often an application can go unanswered at ALL and the applicant is left waiting and wondering. Perhaps some kind of point system or requirement or rating for the home owners in terms of response times could be added to their profile/listing ("this home owner usually replies within 1 hr, 1 week, 2 weeks or more etc)?

My husband and I joined Trusted House Sitters 6 months ago. We were interested in settling in the Seattle area but wanted to explore different locations. We thought house sitting our way through winter would be a good way to go. But would it work? We have now completed 3 house sits and have 4 more lined up! Trusted House Sitters has more than exceeded our expectations. The process is easy. The choices are plentiful and the rewards are great. We highly recommend Trusted House Sitters!

Sandra and Colleen went well beyond what we imagined our experience with Trusted House Sitters might be. This was our first-time use of the service, and we could not have been more impressed with the entire process. The website is easy to navigate; the developers seem to that thought of everything - anticipating questions and issues one might have in bringing newcomers into the home and watching the pets.

We asked Sandra and Colleen to join us for dinner the evening before our early-morning departure, and this gave us an opportunity to share info about our house, and for them to meet our pets. Kali the cat is low maintenance, but Figaro the dog can be somewhat reactive. He barked, and wanted to playfully chew and hump when they arrived, but these ladies are both expert dog handlers, and they instantly got Figaro to calm down and accept them as new friends in our home. They also sent us regular updates with photos while we were away. We were so confident that we had left our home and pets in the best of hands. Sandra commented that some of Figaro's puppy-like enthusiasm would be calmed if he were able to be around other pups. So, at some point they got him a furry, stuffed toy companion, which he dearly loves! This was another example of the care and insight they bring to their sitting assignment!

We suggested that they shouldn't, but nonetheless they washed their linens and re-made the bed before they left, also vacuumed and cleaned the kitchen - probably cleaner than when we left. All who consider Sandra and Colleen for a sitting gig should know that they are in for the best of all possible experiences!

We have had six great experiences with TrustedHouseSitters. It is like any other matchmaking service; you must read the reviews others have left for either the sitter or the pet owner. And following up with honest reviews improve the site and gives notice to future sitters and homeowners. Emailing or videochatting prior to the match provides extra confidence that it will be a good match for both parties. I email or text a photo of the pets every few days to give the pet owner an update. Obviously cat sitting is easier than dog sitting, so if you're new to this site you might start there.

The mobile app is not as handy as the website but is helpful "on the go."

The challenge for TrustedHouseSitters users is that it is very difficult for sitters to ascertain whether the description of the duties is accurate and/or deflated. Our experience has been that all of the pet owners have loved their animals so much that they have not been able to see them realistically. An eighty-pound dog snapping at other dogs, and pulling, does not "walk well on a leash." Cats that use rugs for litter boxes are not well trained. Pets in the kitchen during cooking time endanger themselves and others.

On our last sit, the owner told us specifically that we were not to allow her dog to eat anything but his regulated food. We did that, and she appeared angry when she got home and he had actually lost a few of his ten overweight pounds. She had what appeared to be a great little housesitting instruction book; but, she did not mean what she said.

Owners also have problems estimating the time involved in the household chores that they expect. Some expect you to handle toxic pool chemicals. Some leave a dirty house for you to clean. We encountered one hoarding situation. It is hit and miss. The system is slanted away from housesitters toward house-owners. I can imagine the tables can turn the other way, too. Sitters can overinflate their experience or abilities because they are not really vetted, either.

When parties enter into this sort of arrangement, they both need to carefully consider the consequences of their agreement. We developed a list of questions that we thought would help to mitigate the problems we have encountered but, to date, we haven't been too successful. Perhaps THS could come up with a better system for evaluating both sitters and owners.

My husband and I have professional experience in property management and pet care. We were comfortable with this concept of International House Sit Exchange and so we joined Trusted HouseSItters. It has exceeded our high expectations. The model is excellent and the high quality of communication and opportunities is invaluable. We very much ENJOY the process of watching for housesits, applying, and going through the steps. Trusted HouseSitters makes it very very user friendly. Whether you get the particular house sit or not, you learn each time about countries, areas, people, places, and things. We focused specifically on Portugal and have only wonderful results. We have only great things to say about these experiences: the people, the places, the pets. We even met another house sitter in Porto, Portugal and we had so much good information to share. Terrific resource. Great pets and people.

This is the worst house sitting site ever. I have had numerous technical issues with the web site that have gone unresolved. But the most difficult problem I've had is trying to contact customer support in the first place. They do not answer the phone numbers they have listed on the site. The "Live Chat" function is a lie. It does not exist. It is the most blatant example of their contempt for their customers - to have a button that is non-functional. I have never had problems like this with the other two sites I belong to.

We have just completed our fifth sit through TrustedHousesitters. We joined as we saw this as a great way to travel and meet some new animal friends. We like that we only apply for sits we believe match our abilities and interests. We recently returned from a 3 week sit in Ireland. We knew we loved Ireland, but we didn't know how much we would falll in love with the border collie we cared for. It was a wonderful experience. I highly recommend TrustedHousesitters.