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I host dogs in the separate part of my house which is the Airbnb. I have a dog myself, Spike, a 10yo rescue Mini Foxy (like an ugly Jack Russell Terrier but don’t tell him I said that). He stays upstairs with me but as soon as a guests dog arrives he can hear it through the floor and starts snuffling around. So I usually ask guests if he can go downstairs and say hello. Which he does and I leave the gate on the stairs open and he comes back up after about 10 minutes. After that he is relaxed about the other dog.
Question: how do you ensure your dog and guest dogs (possibly several from different guests staying at the same time) get on okay? Are there any horror stories? After months of pandemic isolation when there were no guest dogs, weekend neighbours dogs and my dear 16yo Golden x Jade died I vowed never to complain about guest dogs barking again. Which I have stuck to. Even the two Corgis who howled in unison at midnight.
I would also love to see any photos of your dogs or even weird guest ones (there are no bad dogs just bad owners)
I chose an Airbnb related one. About 4 years ago I had someone book who lives in a town about 3 hours away. She stayed several times a year but never had me board her dog until last fall.
lol, is it though? i know it’s a cliche name for jokes. is the shark in Finding Nemo called Bruce?
I’ve got SO many dog pics. where to start?
We tell guests our dogs are roaming around so they should probably contact us on arrival to do a meet and greet. so far we’ve never had any issues with aggression. my old boy is too old for nonsense now, but 5 years ago i couldn’t do airbnb because he and his gang of 4 were just too spirited to allow guests to roam around. now we have a young KelpieX who is a sweetie, and the old retired boy. I agree with you that having the quick meet and greet is a great way to set the tone for any stay.
this is a terrible iphone pic, Knight is so tolerant, letting the young one squeeze into his bed, even though Braxi has his own bed too:
We do not allow guest dogs. Guests love to meet and/ or hike with Bella and Loki, but they are reactive to other dogs so it is best that there are none, just out of reach, at Tiny Tiki.
Beautiful boys. You must be young and fit my dogs are getting smaller all the time. Elsie was a BC, Jadey a BC Golden Spaniel x, Spike is a Mini Foxy. I am now looking on Chihuahua Rescue websites for my next dog.
adorable!! I find a lot of guests love coming to the farm and meeting our “big dogs” and they will often mention it in the messages and even in the reviews. I would feel that way seeing your gorgeous doggos!
This is Heidi. We mention her twice in our listing, plus we include a photo of her. Its a good indication of how well the guest has read our listing when they say “Oh you have a dog! What’s his name?”
my easter egg in the house rules in the listing is "please respond with "can’t wait to meet {dog’s name} " and the dogs’ names are about 2 lines up.
It is possible that guests might forget we have pets, especially if they book a few months in advance and are busy with their own lives/travel. having a pic of your pet in the listing is very wise!
Great idea for an “Easter egg.” Mine is, “Tell me your dog’s name(s).” When they do I feel confident that they’ve read my message about how to get into the cottage.
The owner is a German national but has lived in the US many years. Bruce was adopted in CA and now lives in TX.
In fairness, some guests have looked at many listings before they book yours and may have also stayed in more than one on their trip when they stay with you. I put info about boarding dogs, hearing dogs bark or jangly collars in my part of the house and this picture:
Our house is 4 units with a shared yard (and shared halls and stairs too). We have a dog, there’s always at least one dog with a tenant and the airbnb is dog friendly. I just ask outright about the temperament of the dog(s) that the guest wants to bring.
I’m very clear that there will be other dogs on the property and that their dogs don’t have to interact but could see the other dogs in the common areas. The backyard is “dog park rules”. It’s always worked out.
Our dog has had many playdates with guest dogs. And we’ve had many guests who are traveling without a dog who ask to meet our dog. She’s often mentioned in the reviews. Here’s a past playdate with a guest dog. That’s our black dog on the ground, belly up. As you can see she’s not aggressive at all, haha:
She’s always been oblivious to her size (likes to get in your lap) and as she’s been getting older she has taken to perching in the window like a kitty
We lived on the same property as a Ridgeback and a Rottweiler before we bought our home. So we got spoiled by the big dog love forever! When we were building, our contractor had a tiny Chi, she helped me tile from inside my sweatshirt. I knew that if I could love her, it was time to get our own dog.
Bella is reactive due to being brutally attacked by a Cane Corso, and Loki due to having a rough start in life and being beat up by Dobermans. So I don’t want them to be stressed about other dogs coming and going.
I do not put pics of our dogs on our listing because I don’t want lookers to think they are guest dogs and allowed. They are on our IG however! We go to beach with them today to escape heat wave!!!
Girl and Boy. Bella and Loki. Yes they do take some strength to control, and I’m no spring chicken. They have also caused (innocently) serious injuries to myself and my hub. I suppose the next will be a smaller rescue.
The last two meet and greets with dog clients ended with me telling them no, I wouldn’t watch their dogs. I just doubled my 9 year rejection total in one month. A major part of the issue was they were young, strong dogs. One was a 92 lb, barrier reactive, American Bulldog (which they lied and said was an English Mastiff prior to the meeting.) I no longer feel confident in managing such a large dog should there be an injury or incident. When my personal 50 pound dogs pass away I’m going to go without owning my own dogs for as long as possible. If I ever have dogs that aren’t client dogs I’ll probably do small geriatric dog hospice type fostering.
I’ve always been a large dog person, and really have no attraction to little dogs. But if and when I get another dog, it will not be a 70 pounder like my girl who had to be put down in November was. When she became arthritic and could no longer bound up into the car, it was a real struggle for me to even lift her back end up.
She appeared at my place from who knows where at the age of about 5 months, and was likely mixed breed, so I really had no idea how big she’d get. I’d go for a medium sized dog next time.
Rip Minga, my co-host. I don’t allow guest pets, but she was a big hit with most of my guests.
I always have big dogs too and have been through that too many times We already know that we’re going to have sell our house in the next few years before our current girl gets too old - we live on the third floor
We’re dog-friendly – dogs love the woods and open field and muddy river. I’m as pleased to see a dog having a good time as I am the humans. And muddy paw prints are easier to launder from bedsheets than spilled wine. Dogs never spill their wine, I’ve found.
I’ve always had big farm dogs. None right now, but the next stage of my life will have a dog in it. This stage almost did this spring when this cutie patootie showed up and asked to be let in. He was just confused, following his human’s tractor, and ended up here, but before I discovered that and got him home, I asked him who was a good boy, and told him he could stay if he wanted.
We already know that we’re going to have sell our house in the next few years before our current girl gets too old - we live on the third floor 
