Yes…we don’t allow pets. I would question before taking reservation.
Part of my 1st reply to guests
“Please inform us before booking if you intend to bring a service animal. There are natural predators and no fence or lawn so your animal could get into danger easily.”
No pets, ever, even if they ask nice.
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First, be certain that you know the Airbnb TOS that you agreed to regarding pets, service animals, and emotional support animals. I suggest reviewing them before you take any action, because Airbnb is free to change their TOS at will.
Thanks for the info - one more thing for a host to worry about.
Very rare to come across a true Service Animal much more likely this is an Assistance Animal, most dogs are, and they need not be declared.
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So many helpful comments, especially about the service husbands! 
Just to get on my soap box for a minute: my big pet peeve is people who don’t train their dogs in general. As a ‘woman of a certain age’, I seem to have more and more friends with bratty dogs. I put up with the dogs because I like them, and I love my friends.
I offer the airbnb apartment as pet-free, just to simplify my life, reduce cleaning and not worry about barking since this is a multi-unit apartment building. For my regular tenants, I require that dogs be non-aggressive and almost completely non-barking. I wouldn’t be worried about having to accept ESA’s if people would just train their darn dogs.
So, even though I’m offering a ‘pet-free’ STR, I wouldn’t mind a true service animal at all. It seems unfair to people with allergies, but I did an extra thorough cleaning. And it turned out that the next guests like to feed feral cats when they’re home. I guess people with ESA’s have a better lobby than people with allergies.
Oh, and a couple of people mentioned they wouldn’t have minded the greasy dishes. I agree, I just see that as part of doing business.
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Yes, it’s the dog owners, not the dog that’s the problem. One of the first things I taught my dog was not to jump up on people, as she would do when I came home and was excited to see me. Just a couple of times kneeing her in the chest when she tried to jump up was all it took. But other dog owners seem to think it’s cute when their dog jumps up on people-“Oh, he really likes you!”
I also have never allowed any dog I’ve had on the furniture, they have their own bed in the floor.
I find that in general, small dog owners are the worst, tending to think of their lapdogs as their “baby” instead of a dog.
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But they are under no obligation to let you know beforehand and it is completely up to them whether they want to notify you or just show up with them.
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I am both a fairly new host on Air, but I am a long time puppy raiser for service dogs. As a puppy raiser, I would have 100% let you know in a message prior to my arrival that I had a dog in training, as well as provide a copy of the dog’s ID card and documentation from the organization. In my opinion, they were hiding the fact they had an animal (service or in training).
I think it is important to point out that a dog in training DOES NOT exhibit aggressive behavior! The dog would be released from the program very quickly if that was happening often. The animal should also have “equipment” it wears (vest) with name/logo clearly visible from the organization it was trained through.
As a puppy raiser for service dogs I am angry and sad this happened to you. It makes all the hard work we put into these dogs disappear.
As a host, I think your comments were kind, but I would include you saw no evidence of the animal being affiliated with any legitimate organization as well as not wearing the appropriate equipment.
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I just want to say thank you very much. What an awesome task but also a much needed service.
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Ask for record of vaccinations. Don’t have them? Too bad. you failed to notify in advance and FTR: there is no national standard for licensing on ESA’s nor SA’s.
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I am pretty sure AirBnB will delete your mention of the dog. They did that to us.
It’s been about a week since the review was submitted. It may not have posted yet since the guest also has to submit their review. @jenstermeister what was the outcome on this? Any blowback from the guest or do you not know yet?
Of course a dog should be mentioned by a guest when they book. Quite apart from any other issues it’s only GOOD MANNERS to make the hosts aware.
At this point it is too late but no wonder the dog was aggressive they don’t consider it a pet. What is the definition of a pet. If you have a no pets policy they should ask up front anyway. I have instant book and someone said nonchalantly that they were looking forward to their stay with their pup. I messaged immediately and said I am so sorry they could not stay with a dog and I have free cancellations so I asked them to cancel. They did not. So Airbnb took care of it. If they leave in the review how nice you were about the service dog, you will have many more. Tons more cleaning oily residue and wear and tear. There are so many places that allow dogs they can stay there. I’m curious what their review looked like.
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Oh dear, I will check to see if they deleted mention of the dog.
No comment from the guest, and their review was “Cute little place, my family and I enjoyed our stay.”
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And this has all been posted for how many days?
She posted her review on Jan 25, but I assume it didn’t go up until I posted mine on Feb 6. And it looks like mine is up in her profile, so they haven’t removed mention of the dog. And she has a more recent review, “It was nice meeting Kala and her family and having them stay for the week.” So she has 4 reviews, 3 of them from January, all local. I think they are between apartments at the moment, and renting places one week at a time, which is odd because mine was available for longer. Maybe they don’t want to wear out their welcome. I have another local family in there now for a 2 month stay, while their place is being remodeled.
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Thank you for your honest review. I hope it won’t be altered or removed.
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