My dog bit a guest unexpectedly

[Brian]

Hi all, I am afairly experienced host and have a dog, but I am embarrased to admit that my dog unexpectantly 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 apologized, 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?

[Sandra]

Take the guest to a doctor immediately, should have happened yesterday. Tetanus shots need to happen if the guest is not up to date. Today is very late to do urgent care. Go now.

[Andy]

I concur, go now, cover it for now, you can work out the who pays what (you, homeowners insurance, AirBNBs insurance, etc) later.  Odds are it won't turn into anything more, but if it does, a $200 doc bill is going to seem like small potatoes later (especially when homeowners/airbnb gives you grief about covering it because you failed to act).  The one person who is certainly not responsible for it is the guest.

[Sandra]

And do I need to add: You pay. Of course.

[Sonya]

Oh, my ! Brian, do you have a homeowners policy which covers your dog AND covers STR guests?

I believeAirbnb will tell you to look to your individual owner’s policy First.

( Maybe I remember incorrectly ... Doesn’t bnb insurance come into play AFTER an owners policy is tapped out? I wonder what bnb insurance will cover IF there is Zero insurance coverage for the owners policy?) 

please keep us informed how this turns out. 

Oh, I hope you did refund all their monies... that might be a good gesture. 

[Brian]

Hi Sonya,

Thanks for the reply. My homeowner's insurance does offer a medical coverage. I will look in the details, about STR and if AirBnB might void or not be covered. I have yet to hear from AirBnB so I will let you know what they say.

[Mark]

@Brian  My advice is pay for everything yourself, don't involve your insurance company, as you don't want your dog designated as a 'dangerous dog'.... I can't imagine that airbnb would ever pay for any of this either.  You will also want to figure out ways to prevent your dog from interacting with guests in the future unless you can pintpoint a specific reason why you think your dog bit someone.

I don't the person will need a tetanus shot since you say your dog is up to date.  Also, urgent care may be required to contact police about a dog bite, I'm not sure.

[Sandra]

@Mark, It is not about the dog being up to date (that is more for things like rabies). Tetanus is from any bite, rose scratch, rusty iron wounds, all of that. Let the doctor decide, the important thing is for you to do the right thing now. Guest will know perhaps when they last had a shot. I think I had mine maybe 6 years ago, but who remembers these things really?

[Sarah]

@Sandra Actually, tetanus is a bacteria that lives in the soil, dust, and animal faeces. This bacteria can be introduced by a bite, a thorn, or a puncture wound. There is nothing about a dog bite or a rusty nail that causes tetanus- that's a myth. It's that if the nail is old and has been laying around in the dirt for a long time it could have come in contact with the bacteria, but it's actually not that likely. And of course puncture wounds are dangerous because they go deep and can almost right away close up, trapping any bacteria deep in the tissue.

But an interesting fact is that there has never been any documented case of tetanus in anyone who has ever been vaccinated against tetanus, even if they had that vaccination as a baby and never had a tetanus booster ever again. So the need for a tetanus booster has no basis in fact, it's just a way for the pharmaceutical companies to make more money.

[Brian]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the advice, that's true there could be some negative consequence I need to consider. As I stated, this was completely unexpected and I have hosted over 90 guests and this has never been an issue. However, I think there is a certain level of risk in these situations when AirBnBs allow pets to be in a rental, so that is the advice I am specifically looking for, is what does AirBnB cover and not my insurance specifically.

[Robin]

@Brian

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

[Sandra]

That's true, @Robin, I actually poisoned my whole arm from a neglected small wound on finger. Was very problematic, but kept arm.

[Brian]

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!

[Robin]

@Brian

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

[Cathie]

Thanks @Brian 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!)