ChewieTAG Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 (edited) just wondering if anyone has used the services from there and if you have good experiences? any bad ones that I should know off? Edited to add:- Anyone used their services & your experience? HouseMinders Phone: 1800 61 64 63 www.houseminders.com.au HouseCarers Phone: (02) 9913 1844 www.housecarers.com.au House Sit World Phone: (07) 5482 8008 www.housesitworld.com.au Happy House Sitters Phone: 1300 780 809 www.happyhousesitters.com.au What would you do before engaging the sitter? 1) meet them 2) ask for police clearance check? 3) ask for references so you can contact them? 4) negotiate the rules? 4) what other things to consider? such as, emergency contacts, vet clinic - dog account, etc. Thanks! Edited February 9, 2013 by chewak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChewieTAG Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 (edited) deleted and moved the content to the main thread Edited February 9, 2013 by chewak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Obviously, I can't vouch for individuals, but I used the Happy Housesitters website in 2008. I had very specific demands such as preferring a couple one of whom was home most of the time, etc etc and I found exactly what I was looking for. Long time ago, though. I also did a google search on the people who applied. I also met the couple beforehand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Sometimes your local vet clinic may know of someone reputable who house sits. They may even have staff who are available to housesit occassionaly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poochmad Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 We used happy house sitters august last year and I was not happy. We made the mistake of not meeting the couple before we went away and although they arrived two days before we left, we had no choice but to use them. If we had dogs without problems, they would have been fine, but they completely ignored the instructions for our female who is terrified of new people...just thinking about it makes me cranky. It hasn't put me off because we are going to meet a vet nurse in June before we go on holidays at the end of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tintin Jac Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 We've used Happy Housesitters quite a few times and have always been very happy. We usually go away for 2 weeks after christmas (we didn't this year) and have had the same family 4 times at that time. They come down from NSW. They have 2 kids who are the loveliest, most caring children we could hope for with our animals. I would highly recommend them. Last Easter, we had another family stay here when we went away. They, too, were just great. They really looked after everything and they had a great little holiday. I think it helps if your house is in an area which has something to offer. It makes it worthwhile for the people housesitting. Much cheaper for them than paying to rent a holiday house and all the comforts of home. We've used other people from HH before too, but these were the most recent. We would happily use either of them again. I would always suggest someone who you can meet beforehand or get RELIABLE references for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tintin Jac Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 ...which reminds me that I think I have talked about our success with HH before and someone asked me for details of one of our sitters. Oops, I can't find the thread and cant remember much more. If you asked me for details and I ignored you, I'm really sorry. Just give me a reminder and I will fill you in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirra Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I house sit for friends of mine and would enjoy doing more of it. I'm able to take my dog with me when I do it. Just wondering if this is something that is acceptable to you if the dogs get on? Or do you only want carers without a dog? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChewieTAG Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 Thanks everyone for the feedback. I am looking for sitters hence the research. I picked those up from Choice.com.au and it was dated 2008 (refer on the first comment of the thread). I live in Vic. I guess no one has tried the other sites other than the Happy House Sitters? I do like the idea on how there are no money exchange and both party win-win.. @lou_x : we are not ruling out career with dogs ..yet.. Just thinking of what we are after before we made a request . I see that you are from NSW. I am from Vic. Would that be a problem for you? Would probably PM you once we've confirmed on our stuff as we have yet to confirmed the dates, etc. I am waiting for more response from DOLers to see if anyone has any other experiences.. What would you do before engaging the sitter? 1) meet them 2) ask for police clearance check? 3) ask for references so you can contact them? 4) negotiate the rules? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Her Majesty Dogmad Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I have used vet nurses previously. Cost is $60 per day now, for live in with up to 5 dogs. I have dogs on meds so that part isn't a worry. It's important to get some basics clear (I've discovered). Check whether picking up poo in the backyard is going to be somethign they are prepared to do. I came home to discover a backyard full of poo .... I wouldn't get them to take your dogs to a dog park, just walk them around the streets if you do this. It's too risky as they don't know your dogs or other dogs in the area. Always have an account open at your vet, leave all the contact details in the world - your no where you are, your vet, your neighbours and friends - anyone who will help during an emergency. In emergency, I'm thinking if the petsitter has one and needs to leave. I try to cover all bases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChewieTAG Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 I have used vet nurses previously. Cost is $60 per day now, for live in with up to 5 dogs. I have dogs on meds so that part isn't a worry. It's important to get some basics clear (I've discovered). Check whether picking up poo in the backyard is going to be somethign they are prepared to do. I came home to discover a backyard full of poo .... I wouldn't get them to take your dogs to a dog park, just walk them around the streets if you do this. It's too risky as they don't know your dogs or other dogs in the area. Always have an account open at your vet, leave all the contact details in the world - your no where you are, your vet, your neighbours and friends - anyone who will help during an emergency. In emergency, I'm thinking if the petsitter has one and needs to leave. I try to cover all bases. thanks @dogmad! That help me to add on to what to things to do and what to expect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 (edited) What would you do before engaging the sitter? 1) meet them 2) ask for police clearance check? 3) ask for references so you can contact them? 4) negotiate the rules? All of the above LOL. For all the house sitters I have used, I made a list of everything they had to do daily and picking up dog poo was definitely on the list. Even the things you would expect to be a given and/or automatic like ensuring waters bowls cleaned and filled need to be on the list. I typed out a list in diary form of everything that had to be done on each day that I was away because some meds were daily and some every second day. In my opinion, you cannot give too much information. Make a note of everyone you do through the day and add it to the list and then put it in an easy to follow form. Edited February 10, 2013 by Danny's Darling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChewieTAG Posted February 10, 2013 Author Share Posted February 10, 2013 What would you do before engaging the sitter? 1) meet them 2) ask for police clearance check? 3) ask for references so you can contact them? 4) negotiate the rules? All of the above LOL. For all the house sitters I have used, I made a list of everything they had to do daily and picking up dog poo was definitely on the list. Even the things you would expect to be a given and/or automatic like ensuring waters bowls cleaned and filled need to be on the list. I typed out a list in diary form of everything that had to be done on each day that I was away because some meds were daily and some every second day. In my opinion, you cannot give too much information. Make a note of everyone you do through the day and add it to the list and then put it in an easy to follow form. thanks! That is a good idea to put down in list and give to them to do. With time scheduled too I suppose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChewieTAG Posted February 10, 2013 Author Share Posted February 10, 2013 I wonder how long should a list be without overwhelming the sitters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I wonder how long should a list be without overwhelming the sitters? If the list is arranged into clear subheadings with the info under each section, it is unlikely to overwhelm. If you just give them a huge long list written out like a stream of consciouness, they might be overwhelmed and miss some of the points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Also you can make a graphical wall chart like a calendar for medications, and they can mark off the chart as each dose is given. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I wonder how long should a list be without overwhelming the sitters? Even if your pets are on medications, it doesn't have to be all that long. I'll PM you the document I made for my last house sitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perrin Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 (edited) We had a house/pet sitter last year and were far from happy. She caused us a lot of grief and money in vet bills by overdosing my cat on insulin. Not to mention she abused people at the equine vet clinic because the vet refused to come out on a weekend to take off a bandage. I was sooo embarrassed by her behaviour when i called the clinic to find out what was going on because all i could get out of her was rantings about how rude the clinic was. She told me my vet was an arrogant beeeeeeeeep. I would never use HER again however it hasn't totally put me off. Edited February 11, 2013 by perrin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 We had a house/pet sitter last year and were far from happy. She caused us a lot of grief and money in vet bills by overdosing my cat on insulin. Not to mention she abused people at the equine vet clinic because the vet refused to come out on a weekend to take off a bandage. I was sooo embarrassed by her behaviour when i called the clinic to find out what was going on because all i could get out of her was rantings about how rude the clinic was. She told me my vet was an arrogant beeeeeeeeep. I would never use HER again however it hasn't totally put me off. That is truly awful. Only good thing is she probably won't be in business for long. No one would be going back to her and she wouldn't be getting references. I hope your cat is okay now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poochmad Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Not only did I document the dogs routines - i.e. feeding, grooming, etc, but also documented their quirks and behaviours. It came to about 6 pages long, but had everything in it. We also left $200 for emergencies and they were good with giving us back receipts and change. In answer to your questions below. What would you do before engaging the sitter? 1) meet them - abosolutely - don't do what we did and meet them, a couple of days before you leave!! 2) ask for police clearance check? - for peace of mind, good idea. 3) ask for references so you can contact them? - who gives bad references, really? 4) negotiate the rules? - rules are non-negotiable. It's your house and they are your pets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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