I have a guest staying with me who is afraid of dogs however...

[Vicky353]

I have a guest staying with me who is afraid of dogs however, they booked the place knowing that there’s a dog on premise. 

in my Airbnb profile and on the listing page i include that my husky lives in our backyard and they will have some sort of interaction with him before getting to our guest house. So far we’ve had no problems with any of our other booking however, i just had a guest check in who seems to be afraid of dogs? My dog is a 3 year old husky so he is still kind of jumpy when he first meets someone and needs to be pet and acknowledged. We tell all our guests this and they all understand and knew already because of my listing. After the initial meeting, he pretty much just walks alongside you as long as you acknowledge him and give him a small pet. These guests arrived and they have constantly asked us to leash up our dog or hold him so they can get to their place. It’s come to a point where they are messaging me to go outside and hold my dog so they can come inside. This is very inconvenient as it feels like we are planning our days according to their schedule. I wasn’t home tonight and my old father was and they made him go outside while it was pouring rain and try to grab my dog so they could walk in. This made me very angry because it is so inconsiderate and absolutely unnecessary  at this point. There are a bunch of other airbnbs in our area that they could’ve booked/also hotels. They told us they ”knew what they were signing up for” when they booked our place but i just don’t understand why they booked it in the first place. This is just proving to be trouble for us and them. What should i do in this situation? Should i reach out to the guest and let them know we can’t continue monitoring their stay and go according to their schedule? It is the holidays currently and i have to be with my family but because of this situation i haven’t been able to enjoy family time on this small vacation that i get also. I’ve constantly been needing to attend to this situation. Any advice would be great.

[Sarah977]

@Vicky353  I also have a dog that's not a husky but in the husky family of dogs and acts exactly like yours, except she's not jumpy, she just barks ferociously at strangers. (she used to try to to jump up on me and others when she was excited, but I broke her of that real fast) But same thing, once she realizes they belong here and they acknowlege her and give her a pat, she's fine with them, even to the point of being sucky-friendly. Luckily I've never had a guest who's afraid of dogs but booked anyway.

Yes, I'd sit down  with the guests and have a chat. Personally, I would have done that as soon as the issue was evident. It's never a good idea to let issues with guests get past the initial stage, otherwise they just end up escalating and we get more and more irritated and resentful the longer we hold our tongues.

I might first off ask them empatheticly if they had had some frightening experience with a dog in the past, like being bitten, that causes them to be afraid of your dog. That might break the ice. Then you could assure them that if your dog posed any danger to other people, that you wouldn't dream of hosting at your home. Then explain to them that hosts disclose things like pets, or small children in the home specifically so that guests who are uncomfortable with pets or kids around will look for a listing which suits them better. That it's no more fair for them to have booked with you knowing you had a dog theyw would have some interaction with, and then expecting you to lock it away every time they leave or enter than it would be to expect you to lock up small children or force them to be quiet all the time just because a guest who knew you had children was disturbed by the sounds of them playing, crying, etc. Maybe ask them if there's anything you could do to make them more comfortable with the dog. It may just be a matter of walking with the guests and the dog once or twice to the gate until they realize the dog won't do anything to them. Or having them throw sticks for the dog, if he likes to fetch, so they get comfortable with him, or even give them some dog treats they can throw to the dog which will distract him while they get to the gate or the house. And do tell them how this is affecting you and your father, and that you can't be expected to hold the dog  every time they go in or out and suggest to them that perhaps they look for another place in the area to book if this is an insurmountable problem for them.

What a ridiculous situation for these guests to create.

[Vicky353]

Initially when i noticed they were afraid of dogs i asked them why and they said they had never been around dogs/did not have any of their own. I basically gave them pointers on how to interact with my dog and even spent that day making sure i was walking with them + my dog and showing them how to pet him/distract him. However, every time my dog would come close to them to be pet, they start backing away abruptly to which, my dog thinks they’re trying to play with him and starts jumping on them. It’s just very frustrating because now i am required to babysit the home and can’t attend to my other plans during the holidays. 
thank you so much for your advice. Tomorrow i will be chatting with them regarding this! 

[Helen3]

Hello @Vicky353 

Why are you letting yourself be held to ransom like this by these guests?

If they are not comfortable being around your dog, then they need to cancel their booking.

Of course you should get on with your holiday plans. This is their issue not yours as you made it clear in your listing that you have a dog.

Please stop pandering to them. Just explain that you can't always be there when they come in and out of your home and that if they don't feel able to go in and out by themselves it would be better for them to cancel.

Make sure you follow up on any conversations on Airbnb .

[Vicky353]

Thank you!

in regards to cancelling, will they be given a full refund? Because they booked at a time that is high demand and now if they cancel, i technically lost a holiday booking which is also unfair to me.

i have a strict cancellation policy but I’ve noticed that people will beg and plead and obviously not understand the side of the host when it comes to getting a refund. 

[Sarah977]

@Vicky353  What's more important to you at this point, your sanity and your own time off stress-free, and your old father not being at the mercy of these guest's demands, or the money you'd stand to lose if they cancel? 

It sounds like you did everything you could think of to try to make these guests comfortable with the dog, but I have to say that you need to train your dog not to jump on people. Don't make excuses to yourself that he's excited or thinks someone wants to play.  It's bad dog behavior and a three year old dog isn't a puppy anymore. Knee him in the chest every single time he tries to jump on you, and firmly tell him no, and tell everyone else (I don't mean these guests, they should go) who interacts with him to do the same. Huskies are smart dogs- it won't take long at all before he stops that jumping on people. It only took a couple days for me to break my dog of that, but she was quite young when I did it, less than a year old, for sure- now she just jumps around when she's excited to see me or anyone, but she doesn't jump on anyone.

[Luana130]

I have dogs, Maremma, same size to bigger than husky. My dogs also stay in the backyard, but luckly guests have no contact with them. I don't disclose that in the profile, because it would be like disclosing that a neighbour's house has a dog. Apart from a ocasional bark, guests will not interact with them.

 I do not lock them up for family, I will certainly not lock them up for guests. If the dog is not aggresive, there is no reason to.

I see you have a profile picture with your dog. Add some pictures of him in the yard on your house photos, that shoud be enough warning.

[Mark116]

@Vicky353  How many more days will these guests be at your listing?  I would talk to them again, and tell them that your schedule and your father's age do not permit you to be available to coral the dog every time they leave or enter and if they are not able to manage on their own, they should strongly consider cancelling and going elsewhere.  But, yes you will lose the $$ on whatever their remaining nights are.

PS..I agree w/ @Sarah977  that you need to train your dog not to jump on people....because such behavior could end up causing a problem, jumping dog+person afraid of dog=bad situation and bad outcome for both you and the dog. 

[Sarah977]

@Mark116  To me, a dog jumping up on people isn't just about scaring someone, it's that no one, including me, wants to be all dressed in clean clothes to go out and then have the dog jump on them with their dirty paws. If you're wearing a thin fabric, they can even end up ripping it with their nails. I know a lot of dog owners let their dogs do all sorts of things that the owner doesn't mind, but if there are going to be other people around, the dog has to have good manners. To me, that means no jumping on anyone, no sitting next to the dinner table salivating and begging, and sleeping on their own bed, not the human beds or the sofa. A dog brain can't distinguish between "Oh, I'm allowed to this at home with my owner but not with anyone or anywhere else" so they just have to trained not to do it at all.

[Linda108]

I have one of the most chill dogs on the planet and I NEVER allow any unsupervised contact with the dog. I do that for 2 reasons.  I do not want my dog to ever think it is okay for strangers to enter my property.  I do not want guests to be uncomfortable.   I hold all dog owners to the standard: Your dog, Your responsibility.  It is not your guest's fault for asking you to control your dog.  Having a dog in the listing does not given permission or expectation that the dog is allowed to jump on the guest.  Access of the dog to the guest must be controlled.  This is not an inconvenience, it is good hosting. You will be held liable for ANY problem with an unsupervised dog/guest interaction.  

In some cultures, dogs are not held in high esteem.  In some people's history there can be negative experiences with dogs.  If you only want guests that are super cool with a dog jumping or greeting them, then perhaps you can have a message to expect that before you accept the booking.  Just acknowledging the dog's presence is not enough. 

[Ann489]

@Vicky353   I just took a look at your listing(lovely guesthouse!) and noticed that your description is not very clear in regards to Leo, and I can see where it might cause some confusion.  While you mention that you have a dog and that he is in the backyard, you do not make it clear that guests WILL have to walk through the backyard, and therefore encounter the puppy.   

We frequently see similar issues with our cats.  We have five Highland Lynxes who are allowed to roam our property freely during the day, which means, they often hang out near our guesthouse to greet our guests.   Now I am very specific in  my listing details and mention the cats several times--I even put pictures of them in my listing, yet we still get guests who are surprised by their presence.   We had guests who demanded that we lock them up because they have allergies/are afraid of them.  It can get quite annoying when guests don't read the description carefully;  I refuse to lock up my animals because someone was too lazy to read the entire listing. 

Anyway, I would suggest being VERY clear in your listing, in case any future guests decide to complain to Airbnb.  Good luck!   😉