Rules for service dogs

[Erin-and-Justin0]

I know I have to allow service dogs but can I require additional rules to be followed?  Such as-

1) Animals must be bathed & dried before entering the house so that dirt,  beach salt & sand are not tracked into the house

2) Animals are to be kept off all furniture as we have white couches & bedspreads that could be ruined

3) All poop has to be removed properly from the property

4) Animals must be free of fleas & ticks

5) Animals can not be left alone on the property at anytime

I’d appreciate any advice or suggestions. Thank you!

[Ana1136]

@Erin-and-Justin0 yes you can require it but there is no guarantee that the guests will respect those requests. You need ro write everything in the house rules and make it very clear, you might even repeat it again when guests book with service animals. 

[Mark116]

@Erin-and-Justin0   As I understand it, a real service animal would never be left alone at the unit, because they are always with their person doing whatever task it is that they have been trained to do, so unless it's a fake service dog or the dreaded emotional support animal that should be a non issue.

I think you can require a note from a vet that shows the dog has all of it's shots/free of disease, but I am not 100%, the rest of your requirements seem totally reasonable. 

[Linda108]

@Erin-and-Justin0   Your rules are well stated but as the other hosts have mentioned, how do you inspect what you expect in this case?  When you have an entire house listing, rule enforcement is always an issue.  I wonder if you take an extra step with guests bringing service animals to discuss your rules over the phone in a polite way that acknowledges the value of the dog and avoids creating a defensive owner.

[Erin-and-Justin0]

Thank you all for the input. I really do appreciate the comments. AirBNB Community rocks!

[Tim-and-Holly0]

@Erin-and-Justin0:
One would hope that if a person has a service dog that they would have the courtesy to select a home that allows pets to start with. Extra pet fees are not allowed for service animals so they don't have to worry about that anyway. Just my thought......

[Gloria97]

If the guest didn’t tell you ahead of time and show up with their service dog.  What do you do ? 

If I rent the entire house out, am I allow to ask if they are coming with s service dog before or after they book my place ? 

[Cheryl602]

It seems more and more guests are showing up with "service" "support" animals, I had a guest with a support cat recently, my son is VERY allergic to cats. It would be nice if Airbnb could require a guest to list that they are bringing a support animal.  I've had 4 guests recently that had support animals, I have had dogs barking, running around the yard, in my garden, pond, unwatched, not well behaved.  I would like to require a special cleaning fee, or deposit for service animals.  Is this something that we can do?  I wonder how other airbnb hosts are dealing with this issue? 

[Sarah977]

@Cheryl602  I see you have an entire house listing as well as a private room listing. For the private room listing you can absolutely refuse to accept animals, including service animals, based on your son's allergy. So put this restriction prominently in your listing info.

Unfortunately you can't refuse so-called service animals and ESAs on the whole-house listing. But those animals cannot be left unattended, so if they are running around your yard and gardens you have every right to tell the guests this isn't allowed. Also if they claim it's a service dog (as far as I'm aware a cat could be an ESA, but not a service animal, because what tasks could a cat perform?) you can ask them 2 questions. Read up on the Airbnb policy so you know those questions and also the rules these animals must be subject to (housebroken, not left unattended, etc).