One flag I look for is if they say the animals can only be left for a certain period of time like 1.5 hours. Or they need 3 walks a day an hour each walk, morning noon and evening. Ummm no. This is a give and take. We come to stay in your house and care for it and your animals, “for free”. The trade is we get to explore the areas. I’ve noticed since Covid where people are working at home more that they are asking for people to basically stay most of the day in the house with their pets. Might be okay for some but definitely not me. I might as well stay home.

We've also noticed a big change in house sitting since the pandemic. We're lucky we have lots of repeat clients who we get along with and who understand what things should be our responsibility and what shouldn't, but we've definitely noticed longer lists of requirements on pet sits in the last few years. Some owners on the free sites really should pay someone if they have so many requirements for their pets... At the end of the day it has to be a fair exchange for everyone!