Pet fee - how much do you charge?

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Pet fee - how much do you charge?

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

Top Answer
Gerri7
Level 4
Birchwood, WI

We charge $20 per night per dog, and collect a fully refundable $250 security deposit per dog. Our maximum is 2 dogs. Guests are asked to complete and sign a copy of our Dog Agreement (contract). We have several restrictions - no puppies under 1 year, dogs must be spayed or neutered (less likely to mark, to be aggressive, to roam, often are more calm, etc.), dogs must be well behaved on leash, and owners must agree to keep dogs on leash whenever they are outdoors. We have lots of wild critters here - bear, deer, turkeys, fox, eagles, coyotes, etc., and the leash rule is intended to protect wildlife as well as the dogs and our neighbors.  It is amazing how few problems we've had. Vacuums are available to guests at both of our homes and we tell guests if they clean up after the dog/s and there are no damages, we'll refund 100% of the deposit. I don't know how many visiting dogs we've had over the years, but it's a lot. The owners are thrilled to be able to bring them along on vacation, and we have found that dog-owning guests are often better than those without pets. In 5 years we have only withheld money once from the deposit. We have dogs ourselves and allowing them at the rentals is really a win-win. 

 

Sorry this is so long, but I want to add a comment about the new restrictive policy Airbnb has implemented. If you check the 'pets accepted' box, their default is 5 animals (!!! right??) and you're required to enter a per-stay fee. The host has no flexibility to charge per night, instead of per stay.  

 

My workaround is to message guests immediately after booking with a copy of our Dog Agreement. The Agreement contains information about our fees and deposits. I bill through the Resolution Center and, after the stay, I promptly refund the deposits. Not ideal, but there doesn't seem to be any other way to do it.

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95 Replies 95

Hello!  How do you charge a fee per pet please?  Thank you!

Dawn162
Level 4
Eustis, FL

How do you handle service and emotional support animals?  The fees are suppose to be waived.  Has anyone had either of these animals?  Do you have a policy about what type of animal will be accepted for these disabilities?

Personally I would waive the fee.  I would much rather take a small loss on guests with special needs and make up the money elsewhere.  In fact, I haven't allowed pets previously, but if anyone says they have a service dog, I simply say, "Of course.  Thanks for letting me know."

The laws have recently changed to differentiate between ESD (Emotional Support) and true Service Dogs (Dogs trained to provide a specific service to their handler). Fair Housing hasn’t, I am told, caught up with that. That being said, each state has different legislation and some states may not hold private parties to the same standards as businesses, who can’t ask for proof that a dog is truly a legitimate Service dog. To blanketly say you must not charge fees for service dogs isn’t necessarily correct. I travel with two Therapy dogs and am often charged as if they were pets, even though they are certified and registered, and Therapy dog is often a better citizen then a Service dog, and many so called ESDs are a joke

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

If I traveled with my dog, which I normally don't, as she is quite large and hates riding in the car, I would not balk at all at a $15-25 pet fee. Altho she is mainly an outside dog, doesn't ever go on furniture or the bed (that was a no-no in my world from square one), doesn't chew or scratch thing up, doesn't defecate or even pee anywhere on the territory where she is staying, she is a heavy shedder and has the type of fur that sticks to everything, so even walking through a room or lying down in it for awhile would result in dog hair needing to be cleaned up and I wouldn't expect a host to have to deal with that without compensation for their time.

Where I live, if you want someone to do the job of cleaning you need to pay at least $10 an hour, but if you want to have a cleaner where you always know the job is done when they say its done and you don't have to doublecheck their work, you are in the $20 -$25 range easily.  I can't imagine $25 paying for dealing with shedding in my area.

I paid $25 an hour and still recived poor cleaning.

Me too. I pay $30-$35 and find myself disappointed every time. There's no way that I could just have cleaners come clean, and then have guests immediately check in. I absolutely have to go there and double-check everything and catch all the details that they miss. And these are professional, full-time cleaners. No one has the same standards that business owners (i.e., hosts) must maintain to satisfy their guests.

@Jeff67  I wasn't saying I wouldn't be willing to pay more than $25 cleaning fee if I brought my constantly shedding dog somewhere- I'm well aware that cleaning costs are relative to the area one lives. And it would depend on what was rented- if it was just a room, that would take far less time to clean than if it was a 3 bedroom house where the dog had been allowed to wander throughout. For me, personally, I'd only book something that had an outside area where the dog could hang out, because, in fact, she's primarily an outside dog and prefers to be outside rather than inside.  Actually, I'd feel terrible about leaving a mess of dog hair somewhere, even if I had paid a pet cleaning fee. I'd ask the host for a vacuum cleaner to deal with the bulk of it myself. But I know a lot of dog owners are oblivious to the mess their pet creates. 

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

I was just about to start a new thread about pet fee when I found this one 🙂

 

So, it seems most hosts charge 1x pet fee .....and some charge pet nightly fee.

Pet fee range from $10 - $35  / dog

Some hosts limit the number of dogs ,.... some accept just small dogs

Some hosts charge $150 pet deposit

 

Considering prices in my area , 10€ pet fee / dog seems reasonable to me.

 

 

 

 

 

Per night or per trip?

Mitch64
Level 2
Washington, DC

How much do people charge for small hypoallergenic dogs?

Jennifer1995
Level 2
Louisville, TN

Hi, how do you charge the fee?  I am new.  Do you add it to the listing description and get at check in or do you add it to be charged somewhere on air bnb? 

Kurt-And-Sheila0
Level 2
Woodstock, GA

$69 for up to 7 nights.  Then $10/night thereafter up to $129.  

Is this PER pet or altogether?