Brand new here.. pet question

[Meridith8]

Hi All 

I am brand new here and just booked my first booking. 
I allow pets and have in my rules that they must be housebroken and not left alone at the house unless crated.

i don’t charge a pet fee.. should I be?

if so, what is the going rate?

I have read some posts about some hosts having  a dog agreement; does anyone use those?

TIA

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Meridith8 Pet fees in your area can easily be found by searching for a few pet friendly properties. Discussing them on here could be seen as anti competitive and hence illegal in many jurisdictions.

[Ruth413]

@Meridith8 

I accept pets and also don't charge a pet fee and in 6 years of hosting have never felt required to do so except for one time, where obviously a pup had had an accident somewhere and  the guest had decided to cover the smell up with perfume. A total nightmare to get rid of the smell of perfume, it took me a whole week.  I think they had poured it onto a tiled floor and it had soaked into the grouting ! 

If you were to charge for a pet, I think it would be down to how much extra time you need to clean after a pet stayed and that would be down to you to decide.  Remember Airbnb charges for the stay, not per pet. 

I think if you clearly mention your rules regarding pets and ask the correct questions to potential guests and be totally upfront about your listing and what you do and don't accept it makes things easier for the guest to understand what is expected of them and their pets.

So far I have had dogs, cats & guinea pigs to stay and each time, there is a clear communication between myself and the guest.

Hope this helps

[Paula]

Hello @Meridith8, great suggestions from our Hosts here. Please let us know when you have read them and what decision you have made in the end 😊

All the best,

[Frances52]

@Meridith8, 

I don't charge for pet (dog) on my listing and to be honest, 8 out of 10 times, it's been fine with guests usually taking their dog with them when they go out. In all 5 years of hosting, I've only been asked once if it was OK to leave the pet as they wanted to go out for dinner, and I was okay with this. 

In my experience, it doesn't matter that I put in my listing that we welcome well-behaved dogs, or that they should be on lead, or only medium-sized dogs and below, 2 out of 10 will arrive with excessive barkers, let their dog off lead (one incident where dog entered paddock  which is off limit and got chased by our horses or bring golden retrievers, German Shepherds and so on. In other words, some guests simply do not read descriptions of listings anyways. 

As for cleaning, some dogs will shed more than others, it's to be expected. And some folks will let their dog on furniture and the bed without cleaning their paws, so that's expected too. 

Most guests, thankfully, are considerate, and we continue to not charge extra for pets as this would make us not competitive price wise (there are quite a lot of Airbnbs in our area).

We think allowing for pets expands the customer base and adds to the attractiveness of our listing, so we're happy to put up with the occasional pet-related issue.

Hope that helps 🙂 

[Betty530]

In rural Midwest USA and I didn't charge a pet fee at first, but I did start charging a $10 fee since I don't charge a cleaning fee. An Airbnb I stayed at gave me the advice couple years ago. She said dogs are an extra cleaning thing so we should charge that extra fee.

And, I let guests know in my description, that I only allow clean and well behaved dogs, no puppies. I have hosted wonderful pet owner guests. I also let them know that since I don't charge a cleaning fee, I do appreciate simple respect of my property. This has worked out well and I do screen them before I accept a booking. I have declined a few due to my gut instinct.