My dog bit a guest unexpectedly

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Brian430
Level 2
Raleigh, NC

My dog bit a guest unexpectedly

Hi all,

 

I am a fairly experienced host and have a dog, but I am embarrassed to admit that my dog unexpectedly bit a guest on the leg after over 90 reservations incident free. Luckily the bite did not require immediate medical attention, but left some bruising however, there was one area where some blood was drawn, that might look like that of a scratch.

 

I of course apologised, and provided the guest with cleaning alcohol, bandaids, and antibacterial ointment. Even though my dog is up to date on shots, I know that there is always a potential for an infection. The next day, my guest is still concerns as the area is a little swollen, and I want my guest (as well as me) to have piece of mind and I have offered to take her to the urgent care.

 

My question is, where does AirBnB's protection insurance come in? My guest is international traveler and unsure what insurance they may have. I have already notified AirBnB and they are assigning me to a case manager, just waiting to hear back. I am surprised I couldn't find this scenario on the forums, nore much documentation.

 

Has anyone else experienced this? I feel compelled to cover the expense of her being checked-up, but does AirBnB have an obligation or incentive to cover the costs? What has been your experiences?

1 Best Answer
Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Brian430

No matter how well trained a dog is they do have a mind of their own and once this happens once there is no way you can guarantee that it won't happen again.

As I see it you have two options....

A/.......Relocate the dog somewhere else so there is no possiblity of contact with unfamiliar people!

B/.......Stop hosting and having strangers in what is the dogs space!

 

Airbnb will not cover you in this instance because they will consider you did not take adequate measures to protect the guest while they were on your property....this is not an accident, it is a potential foreseen event. In many parts of the world authorities will remove and destroy dogs when they bite somebody!

 

I feel for you terribly Brian, we are the owners of a dog and I know how attached you become to your pets. We would be devistated if this ever happened to us and we were forced to give up our Betts! Fortunately our dog has an extremely placid nature and loves people...full stop because to her people mean pats and treats.

If you feel you need to keep persisting with having this hound and guests, I would suggest that you keep a bag of treats at hand and as each guest arrives get them to feed the dog a treat so the dog learns to understand that strangers mean something good is going to happen. A friend of mine did that and it worked, although his dog never bit anyone but, would growl when strangers came into its space. The dog now accepts strangers with the wag of the tail and waits for its treat!

 

In this instance Brian, refund the guest and get a professional opinion on the nature of the wound, don't think that because it doesn't look much, it must be ok. We know a woman who lost a finger due to complications from the **bleep** of a rose thorn....it didn't look much, in fact you could not see it but...she lost her finger!

Sorry Brian not a nice thing to have happen and I hope you get out of this without too much pain!

 

Cheers.....Rob

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32 Replies 32
Brian430
Level 2
Raleigh, NC

I see many of you all are very invested in the story, but not providing the guidance I was seeking and I must have not conveyed adequately that the nature of my dog interacting with the guest did not result in required medical attention. While I appreciate the good intentions offered by everyone, I would like to focus on the insurance questions.

Since so many of you were concerned about the medical details and customer service please note:I Ioffered and was more than happy to take the guest and pay for the exam for  their peace of mind. The doctor looked at it for no more than three minutes, and said no worries nothing more needs to be done than what was done. No tetanus shot, not antibiotics, etc. 

 

I've resolved all the customer service aspects that we mutually felt was appropriate. For those who are following this thread and have similar questions about insurance I will post a follow-up about that so we can be informed instead of just speculating. So pet owners, stays tuned  for the insurance questions. And thanks to everyone for their concern!

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Brian430

Thanks for that update, we are a small cross-section of the Airbnb hosting community, and in all probability none of us has had this scenario happen so, none of us can give you a qualified answer to your insurance  quiery. All we can do is sympathise with your position.

There are however a number of internet articles relating to Airbnb and dog bites and I would direct you to one of those which you may be able to get some information of the sort you are looking for.

https://www.maafirm.com/library/as-an-airbnb-guest-what-should-i-do-if-the-hosts-dog-bites-me-.cfm

 

I hope this is of some help to you!

 

Cheers.....Rob

Cathie19
Level 10
Darwin, Australia

Thanks @Brian430 for the clarification and the information. 

We all live in fear of this happening with a guest and our pets. Your customer service is what we all would expect and do, so well done for being on point.

 

Not having an insurance background, or a detrimental experience to learn first hand, I thank you for keeping us all informed. We all learn some thing from one another, and I appreciate you being the teacher of me, in this instance.

 

(As an aside: we preempt that not everyone is a dog lover. My dog has full access to the outside yard, but we have swinging gate/fencing  and divisional  fencing in the middle of our garden that we utilise when we have guests. This then restricts access to her. We do this automatically, if they are fearful of dogs, or have small children. It keeps everyone safe, including the dog. Our dog can’t get into their driveway, or into the Airbnb space.

 

She’s placid and friendly, but... she’s a 🐶 dog and not all guests have the ability to greet correctly or touch correctly. They could also injure the dog if fearful. I once had a guest poke an umbrella at its face because she got a bit too close to want to sniff and say hi!)

Kath9
Level 10
Albany, Australia

@Brian430, I feel terrible for you and am so grateful to you for sharing this. As @Cathie19 said, this is every dog owner's worst nightmare. Here in Australia, our dogs can be mandatorily euthanised for biting someone. This is precisely the reason I won't have guests with children in my house, in case they annoy my dog to the point that she snaps at them. It sounds like you've done absolutely the right thing here and thank goodness your guest is OK (and sounds like they've been very understanding). Please do keep us posted on the insurance question - it would be good to know the outcome.

Kath9
Level 10
Albany, Australia

Oh @Cathie19, I just read through to the end of your post - poking an umbrella at your dog's face? What the...??? Some people really don't know how to behave around dogs, do they, and this is what bothers me the most is that more often than not a dog will bite someone because it is protecting itself (or us). After having had a number of guests who were frankly terrified of dogs (one woman ran screaming down the hallway and knocked a large picture off the wall, leaving a deep scratch in the paintwork), I have made it very clear on my listing now that my guests MUST like dogs because I cannot keep mine from wanting to interact with guests. This has made a big difference and now, the few times I get a guest who is scared of dogs, I refuse to take responsibility for keeping the dog away from them. Read the listing, people!!!

Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

The Host Protection provided by Air BNB is primarily a liability policy, so should you hear from the guest, contact  Air BNB.  Dogs are reactive beings, so whatever triggered your pup should be assessed. If it is not clear, keep the guest and your dog separate.  Thank you for sharing.  So many hosts are not aware of the risks associated with guest contact with our beloved pets.  Linda

Ben551
Level 10
Wellington, New Zealand

Wow, this is terribly unfortunate for guest, host and dog... watching and hoping this ends well...

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Brian430  Most people didnt' offer any information on whether airbnb's "insurance" would cover any costs probably because they won't, LOL.  I would be truly shocked if they covered something like a dog bite which would almost surely be considered outside the parameters.  You may also end up being sorry that you involved airbnb at all in regards to a dog bite, but keep us posted.

Brian430
Level 2
Raleigh, NC

Hi all,

 

I wanted to provide an update on the steps that happened just to keep everyone in the loop. An AirBnB representative reached out and asked me several questions relating to the inciden, injuries sustained, percautions taken, communication with the guests, etc. I provided a detailed and accurate narrative of the incident but also my follow-up actions that I took such as taking the guest to urgent care, paying for the medical exam, and other customer service steps I took to help ease the situation. I should note that we resolved things amicably and the guest is continuing to stay with me for the remaining week of their reservation.

 

I shared with AirBnB, that because I took the responsible steps of addressing any concerns from the guest that mitigated any potential desire for future liability claims and asked so I asked for reimbursement of the medical exam. AirBnB agreed, and is reimbursing me for the expense and called it a "good-will one time reimbursement."

 

AirBnB also stated  "due to this being such a low amount and no prior incidents along with your long-standing Superhost status we wish to reduce any inconvenience to you and reflect appreciation for taking steps to ensure safety and security of your Guest. A note has been added to your account that you've been informed of our policy pertaining this incident. If we receive a similar report in the future, we may take further action on your account."

 

I feel this is fair and appropriate, and as many of you have suggested, I am eliminating any interaction between my dog and future guests, even if they are dog lovers, because you just never know how an animal may behave to a new person.

 

Also, I am appreciate of AirBnB's resonable customer service and balancing both the needs of the guest and host. I think because of the steps I took with the guest and notifying AirBnB it resolved in a way that was favorable to all parties. I am hopeful that this experience won't happen to any host but hear are the  lessons that I took away from this process in case others have a similair experience.

 

  1. Remain calm, and acknowledge that the incident between the pet and guest was not okay and work to make things right.
  2. Offer the guest the resources they need to feel safe and secure in your space and offer to cover any medical expenses needed.
  3. Reach out to AirBnB frst and let the guest know that you are providing information on the incident and they may reach-out to the guest.
  4. Provide a detailed and accurate narrative to AirBnB of both the incident and the steps that you took to rectify the situation.
  5. Ask AirBnB for reasonable reimbursement or file a claim through the Host Protection Insurance claim process.

Thank you all for following my story and I hope it assists future hosts, if unfortunatley the incident arises in your situation.

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Brian430

Brian thank you for taking the time and effort to keep us informed about this unfortunate incident.

It helps everyone when you come back here and tell us the outcome. So often we discuss topics with users and never get to hear the conclusion.

 

I have also found Airbnb customer support to be first class Brian, very helpful and I am glad they have undertaken to help you out here with your medical cost.

 

Your post for me is a timely reminder we should never take things for granted. Our Betts has never bitten or growled at any one but that doesn't mean she won't at some point. I do need to stay vigilant.

Thanks Brian and, all the best!

 

Cheers.....Rob

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Great, calming advice here @Brian430. Thank you for taking the time to update us and for sharing your tips for hosts in the future. Situations like this can be so worrying, you have clearly showed that taking a level head, caring for your guest and keeping Airbnb informed really helped in this. 

 

Thanks again and I'm really pleased you have got this all sorted. I hope your guest enjoys the rest of his stay. 

 

Lizzie


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Great to hear that it worked out!  Good steps/advice too.  🙂

Peter893
Level 3
Atlanta, GA

Brian, check your Homeowner's policy.  It usually has a fixed amount (without deductible) it will pay for minor thirp party medical issues like this.  Good luck.  PS.  Our dog nipped and ripped a guest's pants for the first time in her life - I think he was messing with her feet which she does not like.  I paid to replaced his pants.

Suzanne302
Level 10
Wilmington, NC

@Brian430

 

Wow! You got a very understanding ABB rep. That is awesome to hear. It sounds like one of the keys to a positive ABB CS experience is to not only be clear and concise, but also friendly and calm. I often wonder if some of the hosts with nightmare CS experiences blew up at CS or did not approach the situation calmly.

 

Glad this was resolved for you! If your insurance company does not know about your ABB, it's not likely they would cover the dog bite anyway. Most STRs require additional coverage or a separate policy.

Ben551
Level 10
Wellington, New Zealand

@Brian430 Hey thanks very much for summarising the steps and learnings from this so clearly for others. I’m glad it sounds like things have concluded as well as they possibly could.

 

I think it is a sign of a true super host that you were able to stay calm and approach the situation thoughtfully and professionally. Well done 🙂