What do I respond for emotional support animal request

TBH, it’s not entirely known how she does it, but we do sure listen to her, well I do, but the wife fails to as she is stubborn. The wifes heart rate can go super high as well as super low due to her PoTS (Postural tachycardia syndrome)(https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/postural-tachycardia-syndrome/) which is caused by her EDS (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome) (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ehlers-danlos-syndromes/) - links for anyone wanting to read up about it.

Before Christmas we were in the kitchen sorting out dinner etc… and Roxy comes in, looks at me and then rushes to my wife, jumps up at her and then sits at her feet; conversation as follows;
Me: “you feeling alright?”
Wife: “yeah fine”
Me: “Shes telling you different, thats a lot different to the alerts she normally gives, go sit down”
Wife: “No no I’m fine”
Roxy then jumps at her and, comes to me and jumps at me, then she runs into the lounge and back again
Me: “I think you need to sit down”
Wife: “Yeah I best do”
5 mins later after sitting down Roxy is at her feet
Wife (slerring her words): “I don’t feel so good”
Best alert our wonderful dog has ever done a full 5 mins. Normally she runs between my wife and a seat and if my wife continues to ignore her she will come and find me to tell me that she’s not doing what she should do.

Our dog is honestly amazing how she does it, dogs seem to have a sitxh sense when it comes to this kind of thing.
Due to COVID and the wifes health we haven’t really been aware other than the Post Office (well I go in) to send off parcels. Roxy has started to lick my noise when I get home.
Before COVID we were shopping in a big clothing store, I took the lead of the dog while the wife went into the changing rooms, a gentleman spoke to me and asked what Roxy does, I explained and he went well thats amazing! At that point, Roxy looks at me, runs to the guy and runs towards a seat, with the lead stopping her, the guy looks at me and asks if he should be worried, I said “Only if you have a heart issue”, which he replied with “well kinda”, I explained he better go sit down for five, which he did, luckly he was fine and not too bad, just need a rest rather that following his wife around the shop!

There are dogs out there than can sniff out cancer! Dogs really are amazing!

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We don’t deserve them. My heart breaks for people with severe allergies who can’t be around them or for other people who fear dogs for some reason.

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I wouldn’t feel comfortable with this guest. Bringing up Airbb policy etc. Very passive aggressive. As hosts we have the right to say no if uncomfortable with the situation. Just keep it simple and say your place is not a good fit

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Agreed. Last year there was a story about having a seizure detection/alert dog present in the Operating Room for a child’s surgery. The dog detected seizures up to 5 minutes before the medical devices. Child’s surgery was to help reduce the frequency of seizures.

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You’ve gotten good advice in this thread. I’m rather sour on emotional support animals. January 2020 I had a renter who lied about several things. After booking she disclosed the ES Dog. I jumped through the hoops to get it approved by the HOA (renters are not allowed pets on premises).

Long story but I’ve considered just not responding at all to a request to book with an ES animal.

I know it means a ding to my time for response rating but hopefully the delay would mean the guest would find something else. I’m not declining so they can’t say I discriminated.

Working service dogs are a completely different situation. I respect the services they provide and I am amazed at the trainers.

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yes! that was actually another big concern. i’m glad you read it that way as well. in my experience, this is the type of guest prone to issues (entitled and a bit of a bully). if the guest had on the other hand genuinely inquired if we would make an exception to the policy, instead of informing me as a head’s up and then stating “it is discriminatory to deny your place”, i could have just responded to her with the issue directly. but instead i think that was a bit of an intimidation tactic, and a red flag.
Sadly my husband was a business owner and has tons of examples of people lying stating their untrained animals are support animals to gain access. He says some people feel their pets are more special than others so they read the policy as “no pets (except for mine of course b/c my dog is much more amazing and special than others)” :slight_smile:
good thing it worked out ok with me responding politely and honestly but directly to the issue… this time at least.

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thank you very much. i was too nervous to get dinged to not respond. but that is a really good point. and speaks to my point about the type of guest.
i have very good response rates and excellent reviews, so i can probably absorb a ding or two along the way. it is also good to review that AirBandB goal is genuinely as a booking service, no more. not a vacation site, not a host protection group, nada more. reminder for me to do three things this week:

  1. make sure i have umbrella insurance covering my STR
  2. continue to aggressively book on VRBO and any othe competitors that surface (as long as AirBandB has a corner on the market, they have us trapped)
  3. remind myself it is my home and not a hotel or BandB and i shouldn’t feel intimidated by anyone asking permission to come into my home
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If the yard between your house and the guest house is shared, it’s a shared space, so the “shared space” exemption to animals should apply, as should your having a dog that does not get along with other dogs.

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You are allowed to deny emotional support animals if you have a health or safety concern. Being on the property gives you even more latitude to do so.

It might be easier to to just block some days during the reservation and get some work done on the place to avoid a discriminatory compliant. I know thats kind of the sneaky way around it but unfortunately many people use the emotional support line to bring pets that are untrained. Sadly the service animal situation is very much abused by pet owners and does hurt people who have actual trained service animals. However people and property are also hurt by these same pet owners abusing the system.

In my opinion, Airbnb and the emotional support animal advocates that wrote the policy thats beyond what most local laws require. The should also should provide some programs for people to obtain service and support animals rather than the current online certificate/prescription if they truly wanted to protect both the people who actually need the support animals as well as the people in spaces the animals are occupying. Until they do, by all means protect your kid.

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A friend gets round that by saying she can’t have dogs because of guests who are allergic to dogs

We had a person booking our house (no pets policy) and then mentioning casually the next day that they will be bringing an animal. Referring to the Airbnb service animal policy and saying that they did it to maintain a good relationship with the host. They do not answer questions whether it is a service animal or ES.
Has anyone reflected the presence of a surprise animal in the guest’s review to alert other hosts? As in “Susan and Tom and their animal left our house in … condition?”

I like your clever way to alert other hosts to the animal accompaniment!
Are you OK with the animal? As others have noted, there are circumstances where Airbnb will allow you to decline – your allergies, your incompatible pets – or information you should give guests about potential danger to their animal.
It does not hurt to remind guests that the animal cannot be left on the property alone, inside or out, and as a support or service companion animal is expected to be with the guest at all times per Airbnb guidelines and your house rules.

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We just had someone book with an emotional support animal (we have a no pets policy). After walking through the basic rules like never leaving the dog unattended or alone in the space, being liable for any damage or accidents, keeping the dog on a leash and picking up after it outside… she decided to cancel because the dates she booked no longer worked her her :woman_shrugging:t2: Sometimes just being very upfront and respectful with expectations can deter folks who sadly are trying to abuse the lenient Airbnb animal policy.

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All dogs can smell cancer and some are being specially trained. The dogs - and cats - can hear elevated heartbeats due to super sensitive hearing. That’s one of the ways they track their frightened prey.

My cat knows when my afib kicks in before I do even though I track it with alerts on my iWatch. She’ll yell at me and try to get on my chest when it gets over 90bpm. She won’t settle down until my heart rate does. Then she sits on me and purrs. And drools. :wink:

I’m sorry to read that the OP’s son is fearful. Hopefully he can get over that with good, controlled interactions. Great that the guest understood.

I never advocate lying to the guest. Short, simple answers usually work best.

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Disclaimer: US-based response.

There is lots of great advice on this thread. However, I would like to note that emotional support animals are not service animals. Service animals (dogs and miniature horses) are
trained to perform an assistive task and are protected by the ADA. ESAs are not required to be trained, and are only protected in housing that does not normally allow pets. The ESA must be certified by a medical professional such as a therapist.

See FAQs on Emotional Support Animals | Animal Legal & Historical Center for more on the difference between service animals and ESAs.

However, AirBnB chooses to treat ESAs and service animals the same, both as “assistive animals.” So, any guest may claim their pet is an assistive animal. Luckily, guests are not allowed to leave animals alone in the listing at any time. The host may also be able to bring up safety concerns with hosting an animal.

AirBnB policy does allow hosts to ask the above questions presented in HudsonNY’s letter. I am unclear what happens when the guest says “no” and wants to bring their ESA anyways.

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Airbnb’s policy does allow hosts to ask guests how the animal is assisting the guest and also to confirm as an assistance animal it must be with the guest at all times and not left alone at the listing.

I stated the same things and the guest did not end up booking. Does make you wonder…

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When asked to accommodate pets despite my no pet rule, (allergies), I do suggest there are other places better suited to their needs. But upon receiving a counter response of a hypoallergenic breed, I say OK, however, it must never ever be unsupervised…especially outdoors as the coyotes would have their way with him. Lol, that usually solves it. I actually did have a dog here once and he was the perfect guest. No signs of him having been here- in or out.

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I am actually allergic to even most “hypoallergenic” breeds. I am thus very “doubtful” about all of them. I have a very good friend I stay with when I travel “home” who has 2 hypo dogs. I can play with them and even roll on the floor with them for short periods of time but then I must change my clothes and wash and when I return home EVERYTHING gets cleaned. There is no way I could actually have them in my own home as the dander would stay in the home for a long time after they left.

If it were me, I would not make exceptions.

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Apologies in advance for possibly restating advice. TLDR:

BTW: the following is TLDR… so skip it as needed:)

I think the laws are state by state (US) and quite possibly different depending on country. ( I believe you can still abuse, season, cook and eat a ‘support’ animal in some countries so my response may not apply for some folks).

As far as I know (Florida): pet MUST be with owner 24/7. Not in property, without the guest. I think this above all, is the most effective manner in which to deny a guest who has a support animal with them. It will break the true needs from the false bs…’ I wanna have my goat with me’.

I have deterred guests from booking… based on allergies ( which I have but not extreme) that’s not for a guest to define ( although have tried to) .

The Biggest deterrent has been the requirement to confirm, document, and assure the support animal will be with them 24/7. After all, who defines support? This should be answered in every state or country.

Now, will I ever preclude a blind man who has a ‘seeing eye dog’ with him/her from booking. No, I will not. It’s not my preference… but this is far beyond the flimsy definition of a support animal… and I’ll ask the questions to understand this myself. Not to mention…the legit guest will have the documentation to define this.

I’ve had guests try to intimidate me into accepting their ‘support animals’. Well, I already know you’re insecure… so that’s not gonna work with me;)

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