Pet friendly or no pets

[Beth6927]

Would love to hear from hosts that took their property from no pets to pet friendly. did you see an increase in bookings? how did it affect the cleanliness of your property

[Rebecca]

Hello @Beth6927 👋

What an awesome question. I can't think if we've had anyone that went fro one to the other but I wanted to tag in a few hosts who allow pets and have also made adjustments to the cleaning routines too. 

@Laura2592, @Alicia753, @Joan2709, @Elizabeth3370, @Karen4131 -  Do you have any support or advice that you can share with Beth? 😊

[Nicholas439]

@Beth6927 Didn't transition and have always allowed pets as we stay in all our houses and have pets ourselves.  Definitely you will get more bookings as guests with pets are looking for that - it's not that they have an option - pets are like kids - can't just leave them at home.  As to the cleanliness - that's really a cleaner issue, not a pet issue.  We charge a pet fee specifically to cover any additional cleaning needed - which of course ranges according to type of pet.  A couple of long haired shedding dogs is a lot more cleaning than a hairless cat!  We have not had any particular issues with pets at the property - only once had damage in over 5 years and 3 houses - dog got upstairs where there was carpet and chewed some.  Guests hired a carpet installer and replaced carpet - they were completely mortified. We also have fenced yards and dog doors on all our properties. Pet owners that take their pets on trips are generally really good caretakers of your property.  I can only recommend.

[Marie8425]

@Beth6927 

Beautiful house!  Wow!

Look at market.  Guests with pets are usually families with kids and your reviews are a lot of happy families.  Bringing a pet mazy increase how many days a Guest books because less expensive no pet boarding cost in addition to my cost.

I do set rules and you have an outstanding home maybe consider if dog is unsupervised while they enjoy the spot a kennel confinement.  Yes that offers you some protection but I always present the fact that it is also a safe comfortable requirement for an animal alone somewhere they don't know and noises they are not accustom to in a new environment.

Also, lol, dogs can't remove shoes.  Some areas that is okay but I noticed you ask people to remove shoes, if there is red dirt or something the dog finds.

Your furniture color, I would say no pets on the couch.  Dog beds, I just buy at Costco and it has a washable cover.-

[Frances3408]

@Beth6927. Hi Beth, great question. I have both types of listings. In one we were always pet friendly, but pets outside only. After a while we realised kids can do more damage than pets with responsible owners, so we changed to allowing them inside, added throws to the couches and changed out some furniture and rugs to be more hardy. We dont have carpet in pet friendlies and the rugs are relatively cheap so replaceable. A good pet vacuum cleaner is essential, though many of our dog guests shed very little.

Since making these changes, bookings have increased as I believe guests see they can relax with their fur babies as its not a museum.

The one no pet listing has carpet, a well tended garden and its the owners preference to keep it that way and consequently is less booked.

As a landlord for longer term rentals I have always offered pet friendly as you can ask more rent and will get a more loyal, stable tenant and be pickier. We can also retain a bond for damages.

Hope this helps.

[Courtney741]

Hi Beth!

While I do not allow pets at my property, I have granted permission to guests who have asked me in advance if they could bring along their furry friend. As a dog lover myself, it is hard for me to not allow it but for me a case by case instance works. You could charge an additional pet cleaning deposit or fee if that would work for you. I would have a prompt to explain pet history from the client when booking to ensure a smooth stay. Hope this helps!

[Ahmed1105]

Hello Beth 

At the 1st , surely it will increase bookings,  bit not too much level but it will affect the cleaning and furniture status that is why in the long term it may affect the apartment quality 

[Bradley286]

Hi @Beth6927 , Great question! Something we have thought about ourselves. We do not allow pets because it's nearly impossible to fully clean up after pets to the very high standards we have. Before we joined Airbnb, we did a few long term rentals [a few months] for friends that were going through life changes, and they had a dogs. When we went to clean up after they left we found dog hair EVERYWHERE! . It took the 2 of us days to fully clean up our rental. There is also the possibility that a pet will mark, or have an accident somewhere, which can be difficult to find, and then other pets will want to mark. [note- you can use a UV/ black light to see where a pet has marked, or had an accident] You'd be surprised how often that can happen. *We are not really a family type of a rental- one bedroom.  We are also typically fully booked with out allowing pets, with all 5 star reviews. We have found, many guests read our reviews and choose to book with us because all of our guests have left amazing reviews of our property. One of the comments we often get is that our apartment suite is "spotless clean". We just feel it would take so much more time to properly clean the apartment if we allowed pets, and if we have a guest check out the same day a new guest checks in, there simply isn't enough time to clean up after pets. Note, we have a dog, and I know how much hair they shed. *He's not allowed to go into the apartment suite.  I'm sure we would get more bookings if we allowed pets, but I would wonder if we would loose other bookings of non pet owners, if potential guests knew that we allowed pets in the space. End of the day, allowing pets does not fit with our business model for many reasons. I hope this input helps with your decision on the topic.

my2cents, Brad  

[Aleksandra293]

Hello everyone! During the entire time I rented the apartment, I had only two guests with dogs. I love animals and I think that people who go on a trip with animals are very responsible people. My guests were with two Scottish Collies. After them, the apartment was in perfect order, we remained friends and even now keep in touch.

[Cambria-Vacation-Rentals0]

Hi Beth,

We have a few homes that allow dogs (no cats). I have two that did not originally start out as dog friendly. They are: 555 Lancaster and 430 Orlando. Switching to dog friendly definitely gets you more reservations. It does of course, add more "fun" for the housekeepers. We have Pet Policies that we give to each reservation. We put the usual things like picking up your dog's waste, not leaving the dog alone in the house so it doesn't bark and disturb the neighbors, bring their own bedding/blanket so they feel more comfortable in a strange house, and we also list some local vets with phone numbers, also our 24/7 emergency vet. They are supposed to cover furniture if they let their dog(s) on the furniture (which they always do). Well...they never cover the furniture. You could provide your own covers, like old sheets and towels. Sometimes they leave a lot of dog hair behind, but it just is what it is. It can be easily removed with the right tools. I furnish my housekeepers with two vacuums. I'm sure an upright with attachments would work fine. We also use a little canister "Mighty Mite" because it is also wonderful for cleaning hard floors, instead of sweeping them. They vacuum the furniture very well, they even have a special pet hair remover attachment to help. Then, they have a couple sticky rollers. Not the normal little ones but the wider ones that are a little quicker. For beds, you can still use the sticky roller first, and then wash the comforter if needed. You can use a black light to look for urine stains you can't clearly see. We really haven't had any damage, it's mostly just urine when they can't get outside to go. We also charge a "pet fee" of $60. We are easy, it's just a one-time fee. One owner does a $15/day fee. You can think of it as a way to help pay for any repairs or upgrades you might need someday. If you have carpet, don't use those Oxy cleaners. They build up a kind of foamy leftover, and of course, too much is used. My wonderful carpet cleaner recommends Folex. It works great for normal stains and exterior pet stains. The only way to really remove the urine is to clean the carpet and suck it out with a carpet cleaning appliance. If you have, or can have, a fenced in yard or at least maybe an "area", that helps them choose your house over some that don't have any outdoor space for the dogs. It usually isn't a deal breaker though. We have very few fenced yards here in Cambria, CA. Oh! I also try to make it easy for guests to clean up after their pet, by putting in a pooper scooper and extra bags. They don't even have to bend down to do it. Geez, I didn't mean to write a book! 

Heidi 😎

Cambria Vacation Rentals, CA.