Pet fee - how much do you charge?

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

Was just thinking about my pet fee and was wondering what everyone else charges? 

[Gerri7]

Here's our dog agreement - you may want to speak with your attorney before using it. Feel free to modify in any way that meets your unique situation. Good luck!

The format will probably change - hope it is readable when it uploads.

Dog Agreement - all dogs must be pre-approved

Based on the criteria below, please make a realistic call as to whether your dog/s are likely to do well at our vacation home. The reality is while most dogs are wonderful, they aren’t necessarily all great houseguests.  Nobody knows our dogs like we do ourselves, so glance at your buddy sitting over there by the food dish (or eating the food dish) 😊 … and keep him or her in mind as you read on. 

Requirements: Dogs should be…

At least one year old.

1. Spayed or neutered.
2. Obedient and calm – on and off leash.
3. Free from behavioral problems such as excessive barking or howling, chewing, scratching at/near doors and windows, hyper behavior such as jumping up.
4. Non-aggressive toward people and animals. Please do not bring a dog to our property if it has any history of aggression.
5. House trained. If your male dog likes to mark outdoors, please steer him away from exterior structures to avoid stains and odors. Fido can sign his name on plenty of trees instead.
6. We recommend Flea/Tick prevention to protect your dog (and future guests). We also recommend heartworm preventive.

House Rules:

1. No dogs on furniture without protective sheets (we provide these).
2. Leash dogs while outside to protect neighbors, other dogs, and wildlife. Even the best-trained dog may run to chase a deer, bear, fox, coyote or skunk. Wild animals can carry disease; many will bite.
3. Crate your pup/s when they’re alone indoors. You can bring a crate or we can provide one or two on request.
4. Good housekeeping. Wipe off wet/muddy paws; use an old towel to dry your dog before coming in after a swim.  Pick up dog waste, bag/tie and place in one of the covered bins outside or in the garage.
5. Report any injuries, damages or complaints to us right away.
6. Hosts retain the right to require immediate removal of any dog if the animal is being disruptive, causing damage, posing a risk to people or other animals, or for other major violations.

Dog Fees:

$20 per dog per night, due after your dog/s have been approved. You’ll receive an email requesting payment of any outstanding pet fees. Dog fees are not applied to extra cleaning costs or damage repairs. 

Dog Deposits:

$250 per dog, fully refundable. Deposit will be returned within one week after check-out, less any charges for damages, extra cleaning or other pet-related costs. If issues are found after check-out, photos will be taken and shared with you to document the reason for charges.

Next Steps:

If your dog qualifies and you’re ok with our house rules, please provide the information requested on the following page, sign and return both pages via email. Please contact us with any questions. Thank you!

Guest #1 Signature	Date
Guest #2 Signature	Date

Dog Agreement & Certification

Property Owners

Property Name

Booked through

Airbnb

VRBO

Guest Name / Address

Guest’s Mobile Phone

Alternate Phone:

Dates of Stay

ARRIVE:

DEPART:

DOG #1

DOG #2

Dog Name

Age

Breed/s

Color

Weight

Spayed/Neutered: Y or N

Male or Female

Rabies expiration date

Fees

$20/dog per night

$

$

Deposits: $250 per dog, fully refundable:

Total:  $

I/we own the dog/s described above and certify the information is correct and complete. My dog/s satisfy the requirements on page 1, and I will follow the House Rules. I accept full responsibility for any injury or damages the dog/s may cause to people, other animals and/or property. If the dog/s should be injured or become ill during my/our stay, [insert your business name/property name/individual names] will not be held liable.

Guest #1 Signature

Date

Guest #2 Signature

Date

Date

Full address, phone, website, email, etc.

[Jenifer80]

Hi Gerri. I just saw your post about pet fees. I like your idea of the pet deposit and the dog agreement. What I'm hung up on is the rate. We allow dogs upon approval. We have a large fenced yard so it's perfect for furry friends. Right now we do $45/day per dog. If they bring multiple, we do $45 for 1st, $30 for 2nd and $15 for every after. Most people are fine with it. Especially with short rentals. But when we have someone wanting to stay a week or 2, it gets costly. Currently, we have a request for 2 weeks with 3 dogs. Per our fees, it would be $1260. Now I agree that's absurd. So we offered them $850. You can't board your dogs for that. But they then were saying that some of the places they were looking at only charged $100 for the entire stay, and one was even $50. I just don't understand how you can do that. We've had some messes beyond normal use after pets have been in the house. Even your $20/day would still be $840. 

I just desperately want to have a flat method/formula that we use so it's not an issue every time so eone is requesting to bring pets. 

Was hoping you might have any suggestions for me? Maybe I do $75/dog/stay up to 6 nights , $100/dog over 6 nights with a refundable deposit and dog agreement?

Would you be willing to share your dog agreement just as a template? Thank you for your help on advance.

[Gerri7]

Hi Jennifer,

It's definitely cumbersome to come up with a fee schedule that compensates you fairly but doesn't cost the guests so much that it's a deal-breaker for them. Our longest stay is usually 7 nights, so I don't feel uncomfortable with charging $20/day ($140) and for 2 dogs it is $280. That's significantly less than a good boarding facility would charge (some guests do look at it that way). For us, we've discovered that guests with dogs are great about taking care of our places. So we don't charge as much as we could - because we don't want to discourage dog owners. We are a prized commodity up here in NW Wisconsin, because not many other vacation rental owners allow pets. Or, if they do, they have a size/weight limit (which drives me crazy because larger dogs are far less likely to mark and are usually quieter when unattended). 

I have offered discounts many times. If the guests have good ratings from other dog-friendly hosts and they ask if I'll consider giving them a break, I'll almost always say yes. I'd rather see the guests spend that extra $100-150 to do something fun in the area.

You might want to calculate the average # of days that your dog-owning guests usually stay at your place.  Then just come up with one single reasonable rate, per night, per dog. Unless you really need the extra income, keeping the charge lower vs. higher seems to be a great way to get more bookings and encourage repeats. 

I'm not familiar with how to share a form - but I can share the text content of our Dog Agreement if that will help?

Good luck with what you decide. I really think it's a win-win to allow dogs - glad you do, too!

Gerri

[Gerri7]

I shared it in this thread - pls let me know if you don't see it.

One other thought I had ... some of your guests have mentioned that other hosts charge much less than you do - and some don't even charge at all. My response is that most guests (the good ones, anyway) understand that they get what they pay for. I don't think I'd want to take my own dogs to a property unless the owner expects to be compensated and unless there is some sort of screening process, no matter how minimal. If a host doesn't charge pet fees, then he/she will probably have a lot more dogs at the property over time. (Guest thinks "Wow - it's free for dogs - may as well take our coonhound pack." LOL)   A careful, reasonable, fair policy is always better than a free-for-all.  And in my experience, guests who are willing to sign my form have already told me who they are and what they'll be like as guests. We have met so many wonderful dog-owners and dogs over the years. 🙂

[Susie236]

I would like a copy of your dog agreement - it's not in your thread - can you send it to me at ** without the dashes?

**[E-mail address removed due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines]

[Susie236]

Never mind - I didn't go far enough - thank you!

[Samuel947]

Hi Gerri, thanks for the details and sharing your ideas. One question: what if a guest instant books before accepting your pet agreement? Or maybe you don't do instant booking?

Thank

Sam

[Gerri7]

Hi Sam,

We do accept instant bookings for guests with prior positive host reviews. I mention in our listings that we charge per night, per dog, subject to conditions outlined in our dog agreement.

When an instant booking comes in, I send a customized email to the guest immediately, explaining that I'm limited as to what I can specify in the 'pets allowed' section, and I share a copy of our Pet Agreement for them to complete and return. If all is ok, I explain that airbnb will contact them with a request for payment of dog fees. I also explain that if they have any concerns or aren't willing to follow our policies for any reason, or object to the fees, I will issue a full refund of what they have paid toward their stay. I apologize for the inconvenience and any confusion.

It is a frustrating, inefficient, awkward process, and it ticks me off every time I have to do it this way. Airbnb really dropped the ball on this and I wish they would fix it. It's just a matter of programming within their system.

The good news is that not one guest has cancelled because of this backwards approach. They're generally thrilled to be able to bring their dog/s and our nightly fees are less than what they'd have to pay to board them.

Hope this helps. 

Gerri

[Lauren3607]

This may be a silly question - where do you send the dog agreement for the guest to sign prior? Do you ask for their emails to send? I know airbnb has their emails, but I don't think they are provided unless I am mistaken..

[Gerri7]

Not a silly question at all. If an instant booking comes in and the guests indicate they're bringing pets, I message them to say 'thanks again for booking' and attach a copy of our Dog Agreement. It's awkward and unprofessional that they can't see it until after they book.

I also tell them in the message that if they have any objections to the terms and conditions, or to the per-night fees, they can cancel and receive a refund of any amounts they've already paid.

When they send the signed dog agreement, I bill them through the Airbnb Resolution center.

As much as I hate having to handle it this way, I will tell you that guests have always been fine with it. They're so happy to be able to bring their dogs (2 max) that a little inconvenience doesn't seem to upset them. 

Hope this helps - there is just no easy way.

Gerri

[Mirko198]

Hello Gerri7

Airborne allows guest to be charged per stay which cannot be more then base price. base price is per day lets say 100/day  x 30 days =3000 and fro dog  would be 100 fro 30 days. I tried to enter 600 but did not allow me. do you use this charge per stay allowed by airbnb?

thank you

[Gerri7]

No. I bill separately through the resolution center. It's the only option that gives us any flexibility.

[Mirko198]

...one more question: would you be willing to send copy of your Do Agreement that you send to your guests, please?

**[Contact details removed - Community Center Guidelines] - Please note that it is not allowed to advertise or share contact details on the Community Center.

[Gerri7]

There's a copy of the Dog Agreement content in this post. Hopefully you'll be able to see it if you scroll through the messages. 🙂

[Vivian1237]

Where did you source you dog agreement? I would love to see it. And how do you charge the $250