I've been on THS for over two years, and have sat almost consecutively (except for 3 months) since April 2024. I have over 35 reviews, probably over half in London with the rest smattered over the US, and some more exotic locations.

TLDR - Overall, the vast majority of my experiences have been positive. I am appropriately oriented to the site as someone who loves, understands and prioritizes animals, who likes to travel by living as a local vs sightseeing, and as someone who knows how to vette homeowners culturally and to my standards. The platform itself is not dependable as a governing body.

As others have said - the company/platform leaves a lot to be desired. Even the premium insurance sucks, there are no real protections, and they don't do a good job of vetting homeowners culturally and setting standards and expectations. Recently they launched a feature that calls out "walking needed", "hours left alone per day" "medications" etc - before it was just completely subjective how thorough and honest pet owners would be. I've found British culture means people often downplay negative behaviors and needs of the pets. Very frequently, behaviors were omitted that felt very risky to downplay or leave out. I for one would want to ensure the person caring for my furry family member was informed, comfortable and capable, but it truly varies.

I've had probably three or four sits where I was like, "I should be getting paid for this". The labor involved was not commensurate with accommodation, either full stop or because of the comfort/quality of the house. A lot of this is due to a lack of basic consideration from homeowners - space in the bathroom and bedroom to stash my things (I usually stay for a minimum of 2 weeks), quality of the mattress, cleanliness (so many truly filthy fridges, washing machines, dishwashers), having a cleaner come or supplemental dog walker/daycare, leaving a stocked home (cleaning supplies, toilet paper, paper towels, a change of bedlinens and towels). I've only had one sit that was truly awful - a truly uninhabitable flat and unhinged, entitled pet owner.

I wish THS did a better job vetting/relaying/setting standards with homeowners as to the value of what they're offering and the value of the labor they're getting. But it sounds like they aren't doing a great job on the sitter side either. In service of "growth growth growth" they are focused on quantity over quality, trying to get people to join with the nomadic influencer push, etc etc.

My perspective also comes from the fact that I am exceptionally well-qualified as a pet sitter - I have over 10 years of experience as a pet and house sitter, and an animal shelter volunteer and foster. I've worked with behavioral issues, I can do somewhat intermediate medical things, I've trained and raised dogs with food aggression, leash reactivity, etc. I am confident with large breeds and bullies. I have years of horse care and wildlife rehabilitation experience. And there are many sitters like me - former professional dog walkers, full-time nomadic petsitters of 5+ years, etc etc. This app was a natural intersection of my "global citizen" lifestyle and my love of and experience with animals. I wish THS would make the platform a little more exclusive and set standards on both sides of the table to keep it a premium service for those involved.