5 dogs......should I?

[KathyG]

I've been looking for somewhere for us and our 3 and several places charge £25 per dog. If you've only got 1 or 2 then it's not too bad but they'll really struggle to find anywhere that'll take more than 2 anyway and like us they'll have to bite the bullet if they want that many dogs.

We didn't really want more than 1, bit of an accident really!

[Wendy@NorthIdaho]

An extra 125 euros for 7 dogs is a bargain basement price, they couldn't kennel them for anywhere near that price for 2 weeks here in the US. So I don't think they will be dissuaded unless they are the type that are seeking the lowest price possible.... if they fuss at all I would hold my ground (or maybe say that's per week!)... as far as I'm concerned you'd have to pay me more than that for 7 hairy dogs..

I hope it all goes well!
Wendy

[wallypott]

Hi

You no longer have to accept dogs in French self catering.

[KathyG]

Oh! When did that change Polly?

[wallypott]

It was on this thread

viewtopic.php?p=220217&sid=65c8d5beb052 ... fddfa8c174

Such a relief frankly.

[Nemo]

My normal maximum is two, but I stretched this to four for a dog trainer/professional dog carer. They had cages etc and the people were fine although my neighbour took offence to them!

I charge £25 per dog per week, so wouldn't hesitate to charge for the seven dogs or however many the final number is. There will be a lot of hair and extra cleaning, so it would be necessary to pass some of that on to your cleaner, depending on their hourly rate etc.

I think it is ok to decide to amend your pet conditions for certain circumstances, which you decide.

[booboo]

I hope it works out for you KathyG, you never know they could turn out to be repeats, like its been said it's hard enough with one dog never mind seven

We are both fond of animals big and small we accept all pets and have as yet no limit or extra charge.
I was going to post about pet T&C's but it would seem that a lot has been answered so thanks for that

[welshgirl]

My normal maximum is two (although it states one on my HL page, just gives me a bit of flexibility)

Funnily enough I get quite wound up about those "8 adults 5 children" enquiries (max 10!!!) but don't mind the "can we bring 3 well behaved dogs"

I make a £25 extra charge for more than two dogs and because there has nearly always been a discussion, either phone or e-mail, I can underline the no bedrooms, no couch, poo-pick up rules.

I did accept 5 dogs this summer, I took an extra £100 on top of my usual £200 security deposit and had no problems. They did leave the house messy but not dog related so the extra £25 came in handy and no bad feelings as the cleaners did and extra couple of hours.

I think allowing and extra dog or two (or 5!) if you feel comfortable is a USP that will bring in bookings

[Windy]

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

LOL - well I assumed you weren't including FCRs in your "We'd rather have a handful of well-trained gun dogs" comment - a well trained FCR is possible I am led to believe, but you've met Suki haven't you, and we met two others on Loughrigg feel this weekend who were even more "independent minded" than she is

I'd still rather have a lodge full of flatcoats than a single terrier - at least the bark PROPERLY.

Fr me the issue with dogs isn't damage or mess, it's noise. At our park this weekend there seemed to be a huge number of yappy little dogs who all seemed to be on a mission to prove (very vocally) they owned the place whenever another dog hove into sight.

Real dogs don't yap!

[KathyG]

Whippets don't yap either and very rarely bark.

Still haven't heard from Mrs I've got 5 dogs (although actually it's 7)

[Sue Dyer]

I have (or had!) 2 regular set of guests who bring 4/5 whippets/lurchers to my not too huge cottage. Each couple have come twice a year for the last 4 years. Unfortunatly one set of guests loved the village so much they have bought their own holiday home up the street.

Kathy knows both sets of guests from whippet/greyhound forums (and has been great with PR for us). We don't clean ourselves anymore and haven't had any moans from our cleaners. As I have said many times before, our doggie guests are so happy to find somewhere that takes more than 2 dogs that they leave the place immaculate, much more than ones with small children.

I don't charge extra for dogs at all and point out on my website and emails that this is a considerable saving on kennel fees. This has been our worst year in 10 years of letting but for some reason we are doing a LOT better than our local competition.

[gardenboy]

I did a winter let a few years ago to a couple with 7 dogs.

They left the villa in an immaculate state, no issues whatsoever.

In fact, badly behaved children are far worse than dogs.

Now I ask for double the damage deposit for dogs (well their owners of course). Responsible dog owners don't mind, I had 2 last week & apart from the odd poo in the garden (dogs not owners, I hope), no worries at all.

[French Cricket]

We ask for a 'dog fee' of 5 euros a day (max 35 euros), which we donate to the local dog rescue centre.

We do that because we reckon - or hope at least - that it will sort out the serious dog owners, who are the ones we want. And deter all the yappy Yorkshire terriers who have bows in their hair and live in handbags, who are the ones we don't want. (Fortunately we have a 'get out of jail' card, because our very well brung up and discerning Labrit can't abide them either, especially when they get - um - unnaturally attached to his back leg, which they seem to do with monotonous regularity).

Early days for us accepting dogs but so far so good. I'm interested in this thread though because at the moment we have a limit of one dog, but sooner or later we're almost certainly going to be asked about more, so it's good to hear what people think. (Personally I'd be overjoyed to have a house full of Proper Dogs. Just not sure what the other guests might think ...).

[Mouse]

As a dog owner can I just add something I hope will be useful; make sure (if you don't already) that there is a hoover available to the renters.
Every place we've stayed with the dog/s I've been frustrated by the lack of one.
I don't want to live some place for a week without being able to hoover dog hairs from the floor...and a brush and pan just aren't as efficient.

The other thing I could point out is that I am also frustrated by the lack of stylish/well furnished accommodation that also accepts dogs.
I've just been trawling the entire island of Majorca and came up empty-handed apart from one that wanted to take an extra charge...which, to be honest, I was a bit miffed about.

Finally I found my dream place and begged her to change her no dogs policy which, thank god, she's done. It's a beautifully furnished villa that I'm looking forward to staying in...though I have also asked her about a hoover

People with dogs are not second class citizens but are often made to feel that way.
As has been said...more mess and dirt can be created by toddlers than dogs. All depends on the owners/parents. Though when toddlers are in the house I know we will have up to an hour of extra cleaning...so perhaps the same with dogs?

Mouse
x

[welshgirl]

Well said Mouse!

I take dogs and hope that guests find my place smart & stylish (?) but trying to find somewhere that doesn't look like it's in a 1980's timewarp when I travel with my dog can be very frustrating.