Pets

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Pets

Hello.. May I know if you charge a fee if they Bring a pet? I have a guest and  brought with her 4 beagle dogs..  

1 Best Answer
Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Yes you can charge a pet fee as long as you disclose this in your house rules @Myrna48  and as long as it is not a service animal.

 

You can then create a special offer to collect the pet fee or raise a request through the resolution centre.

 

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19 Replies 19
Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Yes you can charge a pet fee as long as you disclose this in your house rules @Myrna48  and as long as it is not a service animal.

 

You can then create a special offer to collect the pet fee or raise a request through the resolution centre.

 

Luana130
Level 10
State of Bahia, Brazil

I have 2 fees for pets on my house rules. One for an extra cleanning fee. And another insurance fee that I only charge if there is damage to anything.

How much do you charge for extra cleaning  and the insurance fee.   Do you put those on your notes?

I’ve just had a situation that the guest was running a shelter out of my Airbnb and I had thousands of dollars of damage.  After all was said and done, I found out that Airbnb did not cover any of the damages.

 

@Kathleen710  Really sorry this happened to you, but how is it that someone could do this without you being aware of it?

 

And yes, you need to disclose any additional fees in your listing info and reiterate in messages with guests.

How much do you charge for pet cleaning fee? 

I charge $5 per pet per day or for longer stays , $100 per month. 

Mike-And-Helen0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Myrna48 wow that is a lot of doggage!

M214
Level 2
Bentonville, AR

This string has been very helpful. 

 

I would like to reiterate the questions about charges. I have not seen any actual numbers for pet fees, or the insurance for damage. Is there an insurance for pets? Some sort of "rider" on our insurance policy, or is this a self insured situation?

 

How do we create a special offer? 

 

Also, I realize each of us are entrepreneurs, making our own decisions. I wonder though, the bigger the dog the more the possible damage. Is there any correlation to fees and number of animals, and or a weight associated? Like 3 smaller dogs, would be $15 (just an example) and 2 smaller and one large (great dane, let's say) would be $25-$30?

 

@M214  The bigger the dog, the more possibility for damage? No, not at all. The breed, the age of the dog, and the training are what determine that, not the size of the dog.  

 

For instance, my dog weighs 70 pounds. She has never chewed up anything, even when she was a puppy,  because I went to the butcher shop and got her bones, so she knew that was what she was allowed to chew. 

 

She has never destroyed anything, is quite calm, has never been allowed on the furniture- the only thing about her that would make her an unwelcome guest is that she sheds like mad 🙂

I had less issues with big dogs in business and personally. Big dogs (medium ti large) are more trainable and more obedient.  Small dogs can't hold their bladder, I don't care what their owners make themselves believe...and lots of pet owners lie to themselves. I have not encountered a small dog that did not sneak a pee or two inside of a home.

 

The smaller they are, the harder it is physiologically for them to control their bladder.   Chances are you won't discover the offense early enough or often enough to bring a change in behavior.  

 

I charge $10/night for one dog. Give 25%-40% discount for multi dogs or long stays. It gets confusing there a bit so I negotiate with the guest. 

 

I lost guests with nonrefundable deposit so I took that out.  

@Val4219  I don't accept pets but I agree with you about large vs. small dogs. Large dogs are more often accustomed to sleeping on the floor or their own bed (sleeping with a 70 pound dog in the bed isn't very comfortable), their owners treat them like dogs, not babies where everything they do is considered cute, and while some are barkers, small dogs tend to yap more. 

 

 

My two cents is this: 

 

Smaller dogs cause more damage than big dogs (just my experience as a professional animal trainer and rescue volunteer). 

 

Pet fees are important but shouldn't be astronomical. There are people out there with well behaved, trained dogs (few and far between). 

 

For those pups not well trained: I would require a deposit (not yet sure how that works on AirBnB but I know you can do it on VRBO; so any insight on this would be great). If the dog doesn't destroy the house they get that deposit back. 

@Mallory65  I don't accept guest pets, but I've had dogs all my life. I disagree that a pet fee should be returned if the dog doesn't "destroy" anything. The pet fee is meant to cover the extra cleaning involved in dealing with pet hair, smells, land mines in the yard if the guests don't clean up. If a dog destroys something, that's damage and the guests should be charged for it additionally, although Airbnb for some clueless reason, doesn't let hosts claim for pet damage, so you have to simply refer to it as damage.

 

I feel the same about big versus small dogs, because small dogs are more likely to be used to sleeping on the bed and furniture, small dog owners tend to treat them like babies and don't necessarily think they need training or discipline, thinking everything they do is cute, and  in my experience, are more likely to relieve themselves indoors, maybe because the owners, thinking of them as their babies, don't consider it any big deal.  They also tend to be yappers.

 

But a host on another forum who also runs a small dog boarding business pointed out that small dogs' nails don't scratch as deep, there's less hair to clean up, and a few other things I can't remember.

I charge a flat fee of $25 per pet per night, regardless of size.  I have not had to deal with insurance, so I'm going to look into that. I also have in my welcome email that they have to pick up after their dog as they go as it is a shared space.  In addition, I state I will charge $50 if my lawn person has to pick up poop.  I have not had to request payment for this though.  It seems people take it seriously and respectfully pick up.