I charge what I would pay to not have to ask a friend to have my pooch, $80 a stay, regardless of how many days. There have been a couple of times I have accepted 2 dogs and I have still charged a flat $80 total.
I looked into it here in Australia as I rarely leave my house without my little dog. Unfortunately it’s not for me, I can’t pretend what is necessary to the medical experts.
As a reminder to anyone reading, it’s a violation of Airbnb policy to charge for ESA’s or service dogs. If the guest knows their rights and complains you may find yourself in hot water with Airbnb.
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US rentals…
This is global.
You not charge for service animals.
The difference between the US and the rest of the world is that only in the US you are not allowed to ask for proof that it is a service animal.
Ah, Chris is right. @Brian_R170 I was answering a different question in my head about accepting them, not about charging for them.
I’m so saddened to see that people are abusing the service dog privileges. I raise guide dog pups and we (us puppy carers) put enormous effort into making them well behaved in the home. Our role is to take them wherever we go so they learn to adapt and be able to work in all environments. I think you will find that the genuine service dog trainers and eventual owners are very careful and respectful. Its the pretenders who are the problem. I would hate to see these dogs lose their privileges because others are abusing our rights. It’s the blind people who will lose out in the longer term!
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They seemed nice, I loved their dog but it took 8 hours of cleaning to get all of the hair and smell out of the house. They had the 90 lbs St Bernard ‘service animal’ sleeping with them on the bed with them which was impressive considering its only a queen sized bed.
Immediately after that, I developed a severe allergy to dogs. So no more dogs, no exceptions. This is a private room in the house where I live so as far as I know, a guest can’t chase me out of my own house but I could be proven wrong there…
This is correct. If it’s in your house where you live you can forbid them.
Can you expand on this? If you are an in-home host you are allowed to ban service and ESA’s? Or is this just the case if you are in-home AND have a medical condition that would preclude you from taking animals, as in the case of @Mexican’s Allergies?
Thanks. Interesting that the exception only applies in “shared space” rentals. If you are renting out your vacation home, or if you are the principal cleaner of your rental, it seems to me that you should be given the same loop-hole. What’s stopping anyone in a shared space from claiming allergies or other health issues? I doubt Airbnb is following up on said hosts. 
It’s important to be aware of the fact that the assistance animal, whether a service animal or emotional support animal, plays an important role in your guest’s ability to travel. However, if your listing includes a shared space and an assistance animal would create a health or safety hazard to you or others (e.g. allergies and pets who are unable to share space with other animals due to a safety concern), we will not require you to host the guests with the assistance animal…
I’m sure they aren’t. It’s all about whomever complains. So if you are lucky and don’t want dogs in your rental you just keep refusing until you get de-listed or whatever they do. That’s why I’ve suggested alternate ways to discourage people.
But it’s important to realize there are people for whom these animals play a legitimate and important role. I’m a big support of dogs and assistance animals but on the other hand there are people who don’t want them in their home. Like all rights there is a balancing act.
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I’m happy to host them if they are legit or even just well trained. I have a cat/dog/horse allergy in my medical records, but after years of shots I can tolerate them…So I won’t be adding that medical detail to my listing unless it becomes necessary to deter cats! Not a cat hater, but harder to control allergies when they are typically all over everything spreading fur/dander.
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The most annoying thing is that if they are “fake” they still shed. They can still mark or have diarrhea and you can’t charge for it much less get Airbnb to pay damages. It seems like a good formula to make hosts more hostile towards the disabled, not less.
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I would like to contribute my two cents to this thread. This my offend some people - so sorry. There might be reasons for why people may not welcome dogs.
I do not allow ANY dogs, for any reason whatsoever. I don’t care if they are REAL service dogs. Why? Because I have very severe asthma, and I am allergic to dogs. I am disabled. So if someone else is disabled, are we going to have a disability contest? I live in my home, and I have a right to be able to breathe, I think. I have posted a $500 deep cleaning fee if someone shows up with a dog or any other pet that is not allowed, and they will forfeit their entire stay’s cost, and be forced to leave immediately.
There are other wonderful hosts out there that welcome dogs, as well as local hotels. There is no reason why guests cannot stay with these hosts or other locations.
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This is perfectly reasonable. The other side of the coin is that because I don’t allow animals, ever, my house is safer for asthmatics and I’ve had at least 3 severe asthmatics stay here because there’s no smoke, dander, hair etc. Pet owners might not notice it but I can tell the moment I walk into a room if an animal has been there.
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The amount of confusion on this subject is staggering. One thing is absolutely clear. As the owner of a legitimate service dog I I think I speak for the majority of service dog owners who would welcome some kind of legislation that would provide some kind of identification. These fake service dogs are an incredible incredible frustration for me. I belong to an organization that educates the public. Airbnb hosts are unfairly held to a higher standard then Ada standards. And the ABA standards are ridiculously loose. I truly hope and I believe someday, hopefully soon we will find a solution. My dog, tiger, was injured to the point where we had to go to the vet by a dog wearing a service vest.
But even in the article you cited there is a world of misinformation and ignorance. The vest means nothing!!!. The ad address is that . The dog doesn’t have to wear a vest . And there are no such things as tags or papers with which a dog be identified as a service animal There is no legal thing such as registration papers or a registration tag. If somebody hands you some form of registration paper they are in violation of federal law. They are representing that piece of paper conveys the title service animal upon that dog. Not true!!!. I would really like to say that that point you should have the right to kick the person out. Sadly, a lot of service animal owners get that registration paper because most people, including Airbnb hosts believe that the registration papers serve some purpose. I belong to an organization who advocates for service animals. We purposely leave our vests at home the second and fourth Sunday of every month. We do that so that when approached we can inform business owners and other people as to why the dog isn’t wearing a vest no. Why he does not need to wear a vest. And what they can do if they think the dog is a phony. We want to be out there so that we can explain the law, and what to look for, and how to spot a phony.
A couple specific things about that article. First, a PTSD dog is significantly more often than not a service dog. PTSD dogs are taught tasks to mitigate their handlers disability. That is the gold standard as far as a definition of a service animal. I have seen articles the state that psychiatric service dogs are not real sir. The same standard applies.
Pardon my language, but we’re Airbnb screws host over is in their Broad and often vague description of a service animal as well as guidance for a host when they have a dog that is not a service dog. The two questions you can ask are:
- Is the animal required because of a disability?
- They also asked the Handler what work for test the animal been trained to perform. Please keep in mind that you may not ask them to demonstrate that task.
We have found that well over 50% of phony baloney dog handlers are unable to answer the second question properly. The most frequent response is that the dog keeps the person calm or allows the person to do things that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do. Neither is a task.
Another place where Airbnb screws hosts is there really is nothing in their rules that allow you to give a dog that behaves poorly the boot. A service animal must be under the handlers control at all times. Barking dogs, who can’t keep their noses to themselves are not under the handlers control. Dogs who jump up on furniture. Dogs who approach new or other guests are not under the handlers control. Another one is… I see so many comments about guests who leave their dogs while they are out and about. The service animal is not under the handlers control if the Handler is not present.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing for an Airbnb host is even if the dog is obviously not a service animal you have no means to get the guest kicked out on the spot. I truly feel for people. It’s ridiculous and something needs to be done
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Yesterday there was a case on “The People’s Court” with a 100-pound service Rottweiler that had damaged the floors in a rental and bit a neighbor.