Dog-Friendly Hosting: What do you do?

[Alexandra316]

Left to right: King Bexley, Alonso, and Coogan the Terrible

Hey all, I've been a dog-friendly host since I opened my Airbnb just over 2 years ago, and I think I've hosted over a hundred dogs at this point. I chose to host dogs because I have three of them myself, and I find it tough to find accommodations that will accept them. At the moment, I offer dog treats, bowls, paw towels and dog sheets, but I'm wondering if anyone else does anything special for their canine guests.

Also, I was thinking about starting a dog wall of fame where people could post pics of their dogs. I wasn't sure how to do that: I was thinking of maybe leaving a Polaroid camera and encouraging people to take a photo and pin it to a board. Has anyone else done anything similar?

[Suzanne302]

Thanks for pointing out this thread @Stephanie !

@Alexandra316  I love your idea of a doggy wall of fame! Outside of Airbnb I'm involved in lots of doggy activities and promotions through my full-time job and one thing I've learned....People LOVE to show off their pets so I'm sure most dog owners would participate. And I'm going to have to borrow your idea! 🙂

I too allow dogs because I love to travel with my dog and I know how frustrating it can be to find pet-friendly properties.

I provide everything you've mentioned for doggy guests, plus poop bags and doggy wet wipes. The dog also gets a mention on my "welcome" sign.

In addition, I provide a list of emergency vets and a booklet with dog-friendly restaurants, businesses, activities, and trails/parks.

[Alexandra316]

@Suzanne302 Really like your idea for a guide with dog-friendly places to go and vet info. I will need to add that. Thanks!

For sure, people love to show off their dogs! I hope the wall of fame will be a hit.

[Rita662]

Hello everyoune

My place is pet friendly; I have a dog and 2 cats and I know how dificult it is to travel and get a place that allows pets.

I have  bowls, water bottle in the summer, some snacks, poo bags, and a little bed with a blanket for our furry friends.

My place is in Porto, Portugal, and most of my Spanish guests bring a dog with them.

[Ale113]

Hello!

I have a dog at home but I don't feel sure to welcome guests+pets. Maybe someone can give me some advice:

- Extra effort for cleaning? (products, professional, smells, fur...)

- Do you accept guest coming at the same day a guest is leaving? Because of the cleaning.

- Do you avoid some breeds?

- Have you had any issue between your dogs and guests' ones?

- Do you allow owners leaving the dog alone at home?

- Any issue with poos, pii, dirtiness?

- Do you ask for the vacunation details, illnesses or corrent infections?

Sorry for my English.

Thanks in advance 😘

A.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ale113 

We hosted about 5-6 groups with the dog (one group is checking in tomorrow) so we don't have a lot of experience but until now:

- Extra effort for cleaning? (products, professional, smells, fur...) 

- NOT MUCH, SOME DOG'S HAIR

- Do you accept guest coming at the same day a guest is leaving? Because of the cleaning.

- YES

- Do you avoid some breeds?

- NO

- Have you had any issue between your dogs and guests' ones?

-NO, WE ARE OFF-SITE HOSTS

- Do you allow owners leaving the dog alone at home?

- NO, BUT WE CAN'T CONTROL IT

- Any issue with poos, pii, dirtiness?

- NOT YET, KNOCK KNOCK ON WOOD

- Do you ask for the vacunation details, illnesses or corrent infections?

- NO

[Alexandra316]

@Ale113 All good questions: I'll try and give you some answers.

-  Extra effort for cleaning? (products, professional, smells, fur...)

           - Doesn't really make much of a difference. We offer paw towels and old sheets to place on furniture, and haven't found it to be substantially more work. You get the odd dog that sheds more than others, but we have a pet Dyson and find it takes care of it pretty well. 

- Do you accept guest coming at the same day a guest is leaving? Because of the cleaning.

              - Yes we do, and we've never had a problem. We've had way more issues with dirty human guests than dog guests.

- Do you avoid some breeds?

              - No we don't. We have had dogs of all sizes stay, and we haven't had a problem with specific dog breeds. I specifically won't limit size because as an owner of larger dogs, it's super difficult to find a place to stay. I find that the smaller dogs tend to be the yappers/barkers.

- Have you had any issue between your dogs and guests' ones?

             - We never have, but the interaction between our dogs and guest dogs are limited because only the yard is shared. We always watch them if they meet. I personally wouldn't allow unsupervised interaction.

- Do you allow owners leaving the dog alone at home?

          - Yes we do. Some hosts require that dogs are crated when the guest leaves the property: we don't require it. Some people choose to crate them anyways, because they know that's what their dog needs. It's never been a problem for us.

- Any issue with poos, pii, dirtiness?

         - We have the odd guest who doesn't pick up outside poo, which is annoying, but I'm scooping all the time anyways, so not a huge deal. Inside, we have never seen evidence of an accident. If one has happened, the guest has done an impeccable job of cleaning it up.

- Do you ask for the vacunation details, illnesses or corrent infections?

           - No, we don't. Our dogs are fully vaccinated, and we leave it at that.

I really enjoy hosting dogs, and I haven't found it to be an inconvenience. You do get the odd barker, but they're few and far between. I've never hosted a dog that barked all the time: that would drive me nuts.

[Kevin1322]

@Ale113 

We personally don't bother with vaccinations as our dogs are ex-racers and immunised anyway.

Yes there may be extra effort in cleaning with older/incontinent dogs.

Yes we avoid small breeds unless the owners can assure us they are familiar with greyhounds, as our own dogs would kill them (not to put too fine a point on it) because they are hunting dogs by nature and hard wired to kill small stuff.

Poos etc: we have tiled floors. If a guests dog has an accident it's no big deal. 

But generally we find that most dogs of most breeds get along fine.

If you are going to take guests with dogs it really all depends on how sociable your own dog is. 

If your dog gets on OK with others in the park, then I wouldn't worry, as people do not travel with ill mannerd or unsociable dogs as a rule.

One positive thing us that your dog, just like the host, will meet new and interesting people (and dogs).

[Suzanne302]

@Ale113 

- Extra effort for cleaning? (products, professional, smells, fur...)

It depends. I've had about 30 dogs come through my listing. I've never had to deal with a bad smell. But two of the dogs shed pretty bad and I had to do some heavy duty washing and lint rolling of the linens.

- Do you accept guest coming at the same day a guest is leaving? Because of the cleaning.

Yes. Never been an issue.

- Do you avoid some breeds?

Nope. I will say the smaller dogs tend to cause more problems than the bigger dogs. One small dog peed in the house. And most of the small dogs I've hosted have been yappy and barked at every little thing.

- Have you had any issue between your dogs and guests' ones?

Nope. They either never meet or we do a meet and greet and they play in the backyard.

- Do you allow owners leaving the dog alone at home?

Yes. But I do require a crate.

- Any issue with poos, pii, dirtiness?

Nope. Just the one little yappy dog that peed in the house.

- Do you ask for the vacunation details, illnesses or corrent infections?

Nope. That's not really a concern since my dog is current on vaccinations.

[Kim866]

We also allow dogs!  I leave dog bowls and towels in the house all the time, and if I know an animal is traveling with my guests I also leave some treats for them!  I love the idea of a photo wall!

[Helen427]

@Alexandra316 @Kim866 @Suzanne302 @Sarah977 @Kevin1322 

@Stephanie

Fabulous topic, unfortunately I'm not allowed dogs to come stay, however may I suggest those of you who do Host dogs have available the names of local Vets for your Guests should the need arise.

As an aside stole Zara the Jack Russell for the day when Prince Charles & Camilla were here during the week and can proudly say she's now had 4 Head rubs from British Royal family members!

2 from the future King of England!!

"Smart dog!"

Will try post photo when I've gone through & edited them...

@Stephanie you will so laugh at what she did, shame I can't post videos on here...

Meanwhile check out Clarence House Twitter account as the little poser got snapped sitting in the background on a barrel with Charles in the foreground inspecting Navy personnel at Seacleaners appearance 😉

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Helen427 !

If you upload your video to YouTube you can choose to embed the video in a post or reply from the text editor options:

Thanks

Stephanie

[Helen427]

Ahh yes thanks @Stephanie I'm still chewing over if I should put it online...could be a popular one 😏 might need to see if I can get voice over of first part of his speech ... Be better with that introduction...

[Sarah_Matthew0]

We are dog friendly as we live by the sea and have amazing walks all around us so it would be wrong to say no, but no dogs upstairs - we have a stair gate, and provide dog beds, blankets bowels and treats, we ask dogs are not left in the house but I can’t guarantee this happens, No problems with any dogs so far but we limit the number to 3 dogs and charge £20  per dog per stay for extra cleaning although there usually isn’t any, 

[Alexandra316]

@Sarah_Matthew0 3 is a generous limit!

[Kevin1322]

A friend of ours has a traditional small B&B, although she doesn't take dogs her neighbour is on a Dog-Hosting platform and lives close by. (yes, there are several dog-hosting platforms!) So her guest's dogs stay just over the road.

There are  quite a few hoops to jump through with your local council, licensing requirements and complying with  UK animal welfare laws to host dogs (in the UK) or even provide doggy-day-care,  but the rates customers pay are quite surprising.

It could be another nice little income stream for some dog-friendly Airbnb  hosts,  just host the pets 😉

We are looking into that one.