If you insist on continuing to host pets, knowing that this gives your problematic neighbor cause to harass you, it would seem that you only have one option, which is to build a fenced area (preferably on the opposite side of the property from said neighbor), thereby eliminating the problem.
While I understand your desire to allow pets, in listening to hosts in my area rant about the numerous complaints regarding their guest’s animals, it is beyond me as to why they continue to do so. It would be interesting to know how occupancy rates compare, hosts allowing animals vs those who don’t. 
As to your comment about @Rolf being a troll, I will only say, maybe this forum isn’t the best fit for you.
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I used to host dogs until several years ago when the HOA banned guests and tenants from having pets. (Apartment owners’ pets were grandfathered in).
This is no way affected occupancy at all. Yes, a large number of domestic guests may travel with pets but the majority of guests as a whole don’t.
As several people have said, the neighbours are simply looking for an excuse to stop the OP from hosting. The OP should note two important things though.
- If they don’t realise it already, the neighbours may soon be aware that Airbnb provides several ways on its site that neighbours can use to report a nuisance from a host. (Example.)
- That if a neighbour complains to Airbnb and/or the local authority, either of those two bodies can close down the rental and ban the host. Airbnb can simply, at any time, remove a listing at their discretion. The local authorities, if the rental is found to be unlicensed, has inadequte STR insurance or fails in one of the many issues that local authorities insist upon, can close the rental down completely and impose some pretty scary fines.
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I am not sure that neighbor complaint feature Airbnb offers results in listings being shut down, although Airbnb may notify the host that there have been complaints and warn them to remedy the situation.
I have read several posts over the years from frustrated neighbors who have a problem Airbnb next to or near them, who have called that neighbor hotline multiple times, the listing is still up,and the situation has not changed.
These were neighbors who had legitimate complaints of excessive noise, party houses, guests blocking their driveways, etc., had tried to talk to and reason with the host before reporting them, to no avail- not just fussy nasty neighbors trying to hassle hosts.
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Yes, it’s debatable just how much attention Airbnb will pay to neighbours’ complaints. I’m sure that there are some complaints that are justified - ut equaaly, many that aren’t.
Some areas, especially neighbourhoods which aren’t classed as tourist places, where the locals simply object to STR - period - for no specific reason.
Recently I was in an area just a few miles from where I lived - a residential neighbourhood - that featured many sidewalk signs reading “Homes, not hotels” which I took to be an anti STR message, as rentals have recently been cropping up there.
I still believe though that in many cases, the host can do a lot to help themselves by getting their neighbours onside.
I had a hell of a job with our HOA and the neighbours, persuading them that there’d be no trouble - this was at a time when simply the mention of ‘Airbnb’ terrified HOAs. I have to prove to them that I ciould conduct my business properly and told them that we’d have a 6 month trial and if there was any bother at all, I’d agree that their worries were justified. (They weren’t 
)
I think though that for any hosts who are flying under the radar, even if only a little, any sort of complaint can cause a lot of trouble and even bring their STR career to a halt.
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Out of curiosity - which neighbour would be screaming: “Please, can I have an STR next door?”
When setting up an STR, I believe it would be thoughtful to make neighbors aware of it and ask them for their feedback if anything happens that looks off (in case the hosts doesn’t live on site).
We live on site an we may occasionally be out, we’d greatly appreciate if our neighbours let us know if guests used that opportunity to sneak in more people or make a lot of noise for example.
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You have option #1) don’t permit dogs, option #2) build a fence, or what I would do is this … reiterate at time of check-in that you have a neighbor who will report them to the authorities if their dog is off-leash and on neighbors property. This then becomes the guest’s responsibility to keep their dog on a leash or face the ire of the neighbor or the legal consequences of the authorities.
Having said this, winning over a neighbor who is hostile to guests is certainly advisable; but seems unlikely in this situation.
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Ha, I take your point!
i agree so much about getting the neighbours involved. I think it was my second set of guests after starting to use Airbnb who wrote a review about everyone in the apartment complex being really helpful and friendly.
That was lovely.
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I truly believe we all would see more of that if all people would just start acting mindful, respectful and show some ****** common sense. All these things don’t cost anything and they don’t hurt either…
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Is there anyone who could mediate? Your city council rep or someone in their office? It doesn’t sound like the neighbors are taking photos and without photos they have no case. Nor do they have a case if there are no damages.
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Hi.
A couple of other options.
- start asking for a pet security deposit or 2) include in your house rules that there will be a $200 penalty charged if their pet gets loose. Put signs up at doors saying the same thing. I’d also suggest a line about neighbors not being pet friendly or that there have been some Parvo reported in your area.
You might want to take a special treat to your neighbors so you can let them know of your penalty charges, security deposit. Whatever.
Good luck!
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It is very difficult to get guests to pay “penalties”. Most simply refuse to do so, and can cancel their credit card to avoid being charged by Airbnb.
And most people’s dogs are vaccinated against parvo, so that scare tactic seems pointless.
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While I understand that the neighbor might be looking for something to complain about I would suggest not allowing pets and see what happens.
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Sadly the OP posted here over a week ago and has not responded to our remarks.
That’s a shame because we don’t know the outcome here.
Most of us agree that the OP should stop hosting dogs (permanently or termporarily) but maybe the OP disageees with that?
To me, if an aspect of hosting is causing problems (i.e. hosting dogs) isn’t it a good idea to get rid of that problem?
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Maybe the OP realized that, indeed, this forum might not be a good fit for them. Hmmm?
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It might just be a notification issue on his device or his email’s spam filter, still the discussion he started is really interesting and useful in dealing with neighbours category.
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Usually, when someone comes on here to vent, and are surprised that fingers point to them as the reason for their issue, they ghost. The help and information they get from here is seen by them as a rebuke.
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Just ranting. I’m dealing with some .json errors on my device from using this forum. I might log out, investigate the cause, change my approach, factory-reset the device, or even get a new one. I have neighbours in the STR building; most are generally nice, but persuading them and making them to understand advantages of having tourists instead of dealers or clan managers as long-term renters is very time-consuming since they aren’t really citizens, and I don’t want them as guests. My brand-new neighbour smokes at the window all day, and with the building design and natural airflow, the smoke drifts into my STR, so I’ll have to figure out a way to divert it. I might disappear from this forum for two weeks while I sort this out, but that doesn’t mean I won’t come back. Those who can’t resist giving blunt answers rarely evolve. But since the post is 9 days young (am I wrong?), maybe the host is caught elsewhere.
I have been having trouble writing posts here, in that they “time out” after I type a few words- a red triangle with a “!” appears at the bottom. If I refresh the page, I can type a few more words, then the same thing happens again.
Same here when I try to respond some message pops up asking which thread I want to respond to. Just buggy behavior. Have fun admins 