Dog issue

[Jan186]

These are my first guests and i was reluctant to accept them as they have a 'small timid and well behaved german shepherd'

This pm the dog managed to get out of the house when they were out via the cat flap which is now broken

They haven't offered to pay for repairs and I know I'm not covered with air bnb as shes not a service dog

Lesson learned!

any suggestions, similar experiences welcome! 

[Colleen253]

@Jan186  If your listing is 'no pets' then stick to that rule. If you bend it for every guest who has a 'non shedding/small/timid/angelic/quiet/fastidious pet' (which they always are, by the way - no guest will ever tell you their pet is gigantic, loud, obnoxious, sheds like a son of a gun etc etc) then you may as well just be pet friendly. Airbnb does not do a good job of supporting pet friendly hosts, though.

I'll add, if you do want to ever claim for pet damage, don't mention the pet, just the damage. Also, if you're not going to accept pets, you will still get inquiries asking you to bend your no pets rule, so it's handy to have a saved template message to reply with. "So sorry, but as we are listed as 'no pets', we must adhere to that so that allergic guests may book with confidence."

[Jan186]

Thank you, ive definitely learned my lesson

Im asking Airbnb to support me in getting recompense for the damage tho

[Colleen253]

@Jan186 Your claim will automatically be rejected if you mention it was pet damage. A few things to consider here. Note that the guest must accept your claim and if they refuse, it goes to Airbnb to decide. They typically favor the guest not the host. The other downside is you run the risk of a retaliatory review from the guest. As a new host, you must weigh the pros and cons. Is the damage enough to be worth it? Starting your listing off with a bad review is not great.

[Amanda660]

@Jan186  how much longer are they staying?  Could you perhaps suggest that they ‘pick up a new one’ when they were out and about? 

Every day’s  a school day. 

[Helen3]

There's no such thing as a small German Shepherd -- it's a medium to large sized working dog. @Jan186 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

... except when it's a puppy @Helen3  🙂

[Helen3]

True but then I wouldn't want a puppy in my listing either 🙂 @Branka-and-Silvia0