Accepting Pets! Advice? Tips? Experiences, both good and bad? Please Help!

[Kaitlin38]

I have been hosting for a year and only had 1 person with a pet, tiny dog, everything went fine. 

Although I have a huge fully fenced yard and am not opposed to pets (I don't have any of my own though, largely because of airbnb hosting and guest allergies), I run two rooms now and worry about other guests and their interactions with guest pets, barking, pet hair/smell, etc. 

For those of you who don't take them, why not?

For those who do, do you charge a security deposit?

What'd you put as a policy or rules? 

Did you charge extra for cleaning or extra per night? 

Thanks in advance!!!!!!

[Alan475]

We don’t except pets but guests think it’s their right to bring them along as they are part of their family!

We have only one guest actually ask and I declined the request as they were only an hour away from home. And have had two guests just bring them along and say “oh you don’t mind do you?”

If we add an extra charge for them that means we will except them, hell NO we are not doing that.

[Ramona2 · Accepted solution]

Hello @Kaitlin38 

First of all, you must to know that if your listings are Pets allow,  means the agreement in the Private Room, not in the yard, so in the house.

As Airbnb advises, the guest may ask for more details from the host: if the pet can be small or big, if allowed in bed.

My advice is to set the rules for the waist, big, small, medium.

For the Guest, to check if you can have pets at a specific listing:

1. Go to the listing on airbnb.com
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page
3. Under Policies, check House Rules to find out if pets are allowed and if there are any restrictions (for example, pets not allowed on beds)

 It’s also a good idea, for the guests,  to contact the host before you book, to find out if there are any specific restrictions.

Airbnb understands that assistance animals are not pets. As such, outside of a scenario that might jeopardize the health of a host in their living space (or the health of other people who live in that space), hosts are expected to accommodate assistance animals in accordance with our Nondiscrimination Policy.

Pet fees or one-time cleaning fee increases shouldn't be applied to a reservation as a result of an assistance animal.

https://www.airbnb.ie/help/article/86/how-can-i-tell-if-a-listing-allows-pets

In conclusion, if you accept pets in the house, and break something in the house, or scratch the leather sofa, Airbnb will not reimburse you for the damages suffered.

The guests who are allergic, choose houses without pets allowed, no problem.
I wish you all the best and a wonderful summer!

Ramona 

[Kelly793]

Hi Kaitlin, thanks for posting this topic. I have debated whether or not to accept guests with pets for a while now. After much deliberation, I have decided to not accept pets because I have multiple rooms rented out by different guests. Some guests might have allergies and I do not want to compromise their stay. 

I have stayed with a host with pets and what she has done is to make it clear in her description, as well as in the "welcome message before booking," she stated that there will be pets. You can find the "welcome message before booking" through Listing > Booking Settings > Guest Requirements > Your Welcome Message Before Booking.

[Kaitlin38]

Thanks Kelly! I suspended my second listing for seasonal reasons since my dedicated guest room's calendar isn't full, which means I don't have to worry about other guests running into unexpected pets etc. I added some guidelines and a pet fee and have received a few dog bookings, this month and next, we'll see how it goes! 

[Mark116]

@Kaitlin38   We originally allowed pets, though only had one taker, because we wanted to support the idea of people being able to travel with their pets. 

Unfortunately, that one guest who came with two dogs and a cat ruined it for everyone.  They said the dogs didn't go on the furniture but the couches were covered with dog hair, they didn't recycle the food cans, simply threw them in the trash to turn rancid, and on top of that they left a long ranting review complaining because we had asked them some questions about their dogs and considered charging a pet fee.  That was enough of that, so no more pets, sad to say.

[Kaitlin38]

Wow! What a negative experience! I think it's so hard to determine a fair compensation even for ALLOWING pets especially MULTIPLE pets, because boarding them is SO expensive! But not everyone is clean or respectful, and anyone can own a pet so it is a gamble. Thanks for your feedback Mark!

[Emilia42]

@Kaitlin38  I think it also depends on you as a host and what you want to experience. I am not a pet person. I don't want to clean up dog hair or have dogs wandering through my backyard. I don't want to be left with any surprises because there are irresponsible pet owners out there. Some people love dogs and don't want to deny people from traveling with their "family." And they can make extra money from it. But I'm not part of that scene so I choose not to allow them. I know that one day a guest is just going to show up with some sort of animal and I am not going to be happy.

[Sarah977]

@Kaitlin38  I don't allow dogs, although I have one myself. She's primarily an outside dog, so doesn't get hair all over the guest room. But she's also very territorial with other dogs, so it could be a disaster to have another dog here. Also, although I'm a "dog person", I have never allowed dogs on the furniture- my dog has her bed and as far as I'm concerned, furniture is for people. But most dog owners I know, don't think like that- their dogs are allowed on the chairs, sofas and beds. And a dog owner can't really prevent their dog from going on the furniture, if that's what the dog is used to. So I would never trust another dog owner if they said  they'd keep the dog off the furniture. Nor do I want to deal with dog poop or pee in the house or the yard- my dog is super private about her bathroom business, and as I live in the countryside, she trots off to the back of a big field behind me where no one lives. I've read on this forum numerous times about guests who bring their dogs and use pee pads- i.e. the dog pees on the pad inside the house- that's just unacceptable to me.

And every dog owner is going to tell you their dog is well-behaved, even if it's not.

[Kaitlin38]

So true Sarah! Thanks for your input, you have several good points to consider!

[Inna22]

@Kaitlin38 I do allow pets. I do not charge an extra fee. I feel it gives me a big competitive advantage. Plus I read somewhere that 40% of travellers now want to bring a pet with them. Also, since as we know guests do not read, several tried to sneak a dog in when I openly allow them! I can only imagine the headache of cat and mouse game for those who don't. It does take longer to clean - the hair is everywhere however I charge a cleaning fee and my places are not cheap so I feel like I am still ahead overall. I have not had any damage to the house that I could attribute specifically to dogs. Little kids and drunk young adults are probably worse (I have been both of those things so I feel like I can say it). My floors are pretty scratched up already. In your case I would worry about the guest in the other private room. What if the dog barks a lot or they both want to utilize the backyard and the other guest is not a "dog person". You would need to make it pretty clear in your listing. 

[Anonymous]

@Inna22  How does your listing also communicate that it may be inappropriate for people with pet allergies? 

A standard cleaning might not render the space safe for a highly allergic guest, if a previous guest brought pets.

[Inna22]

@Anonymous I make it really prominent that I accept pets, either in the title or in the very top of the description. I hope people with serious allergies will read at least that far! And if they don’t, I really cannot be responsible for somebody who is that irresponsible towards themselves. In 2 years I have not had an issue

[Kaitlin38]

Haha! So much hilarious truth in these statements! You never know what you're going to get. 

I sometimes have my small children here, so I have to be a little bit more cautious, but I have decided to continue to allow them for now, and charge a $10/day pet fee for stays up to 5 days, and a flat $50 fee for stays over that. So far people are willing to pay it, and i feel like it's an even reciprocal agreement in which all parties benefit! At least for now, until i get my own dog! Thanks for your input!

[Justin271]

Once you allow one then you allow all of them. I definitely do not allow them for the sake of guests who are sensitive to allergies plus the wear and tear that they cause. The only experience I had with a guests pet was when they decided to sneak in their dog and locked it up in the bathroom. The guests had texted me to apologize but their dog had destroyed the bathroom door trying to claw its way out and offered to pay for the damage coming clean. Plenty of enough reasons right there.