5 dogs......should I?

[KathyG]

I'm tempted, received this just now:

"We will be traveling with 5 (well educated) dogs and hope this will not cause any problems. We are professional dog trainers, so none of the dogs will sleep in a bed or jump on furniture. We hope you will considers us as your guests."

They're German and only 4 adults in a 12 person house for 2 weeks September 2013, will have to find out what breed first I think. Would you take them?

[Moliere]

If they are professional, you should be able to check them out online. If they are as good as they say, then subject to considerations of breed, I would take the risk.

Moliere

[KathyG]

Good thinking Batman! Have found their website, nothing about dog-training though, just a dog creche, still searching.....

[Harborfields]

Ask them to send pictures of the dogs and to discuss their training and handling of the dogs.

Our pet policy says 2 maximum, but we did have a guest who asked to bring 3. After getting more information, we agreed. There were no problems with the dog's behaviors, but the cottage was full of dog hair everywhere.

So you might also make it a condition that they leave the place clean...

[KathyG]

Our pet policy is 2 maximum as well, unless they're whippets..... It also says no dogs on furniture or bedrooms, no evidence left in garden etc I've got 3 whippets, short coated and are supposed to hardly moult hmmm! It looks as though theirs might be golden retrievers, one of the hairiest dogs around I think. Will have to update dog policy to take cleaning into account I think.

[greenbarn]

We accepted a booking from an Italian couple with 7 dogs....... They were professional trainers, they had their own website, made all the right noises, supplied a lot of information on first contact, they'd be coming in a converted van where the dogs normally slept etc etc. We did think long and hard about it, but with the research it seemed as though there shouldn't be too many problems, apart from inevitable extra cleaning.

As it transpired, the booking didn't go through as they had to change their dates, so I can't give you a smiley happy ending or a horror story - sorry!

We're of the view that it's the owners that make the most important difference, followed by the breed of dog, then the number of dogs. We'd rather have a handful of well-trained gun dogs (or Border Collies) than one yappy little fluffy thing who's Mummy's Little Darling and Can Do No Wrong. ("Oh, he's just marking his territory." "Tell him that sofa is NOT his f***ing territory!")

[greenbarn]

Will have to update dog policy to take cleaning into account I think.

Recently we decided to make a cleaning charge for dogs (and our normal guideline maximum is 2 or 3 depending on the property) so we now ask for £10 per dog, cash on arrival, which goes straight to the cleaners. We think it's realistic - a dog invariably causes extra cleaning no matter how good the owners, and it's likely to add about an hour of cleaning behind floor length curtains, hairs that have got to places the dogs haven't, etc etc. So far it's been perfectly well received.

ps - I'd better add whippets - and retired greyhounds - to my previous list; in fact pretty much any working breed, including terriers that have been raised with a well-defined framework. And Cocker Spaniels (but maybe not the flouncy American Cocker), and - well, you get the idea - proper dogs!

ps I forgot to mention Flat Coat Retrievers, even if they are generally as daft as a set of brushes.

[KathyG]

Well it now transpires that there are 7 dogs! 4 retrievers, 2 rhodesian ridgebacks and a collie, they've sent a lovely picture of them all. They hunt all of them except the collie that's into agility, another fluffy breed. They're saying that they think they 'might' only travel with 5 of them..... I think I'm going to go for it, GB - do you still expect them to clean dog hairs your rental as well as charging the £10 per dog?

[Harborfields]

We charge a US$75 pet fee per stay. We don't call it a cleaning fee, just a pet fee.

[Marks]

5 becomes 7. I would walk away now. Your policy of max 2 dogs is there for a reason.

[salmoncottage]

I'm with Marks, if you bend your own T&Cs wont your guests tend to see this as a green light to do the same?
Also wondered what you would do if a subsequent guest told you that they had been bitten with pet flees or had a problem with dog hairs etc during their stay? I ask simply because we don't accept pets at the moment but have considered it as we do still get enquiries from pet owners who can't bear to put them into kennels or leave them with friends and family and our location is ideal for walking the dog.

[greenbarn]

GB - do you still expect them to clean dog hairs your rental as well as charging the £10 per dog?

Early days Kathy, but our normal approach is "Please leave the place tidy and reasonably clean" whilst also pointing out that we do a full clean anyway. Same applies with dog owners; we'd expect some effort, but they're never going to leave the place without some doggy evidence if you know where to look.

We've started the cleaning charge since we had the 7 dog enquiry (no connection); I'm not sure how we'd have felt asking for an additional £70 as a cleaning charge. Two dogs might just about generate twice as much extra cleaning as one (unlikely) but there definitely isn't a linear relationship; it's a special case, it's our business, we can all decide what we do.

For us, dog owners are a good market as there's a shortage of decent quality places in the area that will accept dogs, and it's an area that appeals to dog owners. We invariably found extra cleaning required, so we pitch it as a realistic charge purely for that; "our cleaners always have extra work to do after a dog, and unfortunately they don't work for free" etc etc. It's not a lot, we could absorb it (although it stacks up), but owners aren't surprised or dissuaded by it (and we definitely don't want to dissuade them).

5 becomes 7. I would walk away now. Your policy of max 2 dogs is there for a reason.

I wouldn't necessarily agree, but I wouldn't dismiss Marks' suggestion out of hand either! It does add something more (two dogs, to be precise) to the equation.

[KathyG]

Apologies to Marks and salmoncottage but I've accepted them ....they may not take me up on it though, it's only an enquiry after all.

I've rewritten the dog policy so there's now a £25 pet fee per dog, thank you harborfields, good idea. I previously had a refundable pet fee of £100 but this works better. That might be enough to put them off at £125 extra.

Salmoncottage - our house is in France so we legally have to accept dogs. It doesn't actually say that two is the limit on our site, yet......

[salmoncottage]

Oh I see Kathy re French policy, that of course makes a difference to you. Personally I would accept doggies but not worth the battle with other half....

[Harborfields]

Just for what it is worth, our pet fee is not per dog -- it covers up to two pets, including dogs, cats, even guinea pigs! But a per dog fee doesn't seem unreasonable.