The second floor of my house is only bedrooms and the vast majority of time will be spent on the 1st floor and outside. Even if the dog will be sleeping with me, do I really need to show every room of my house to the pet parent?
No, it isn't necessary. Just the general area where the dog will spend its time, as well as your backyard area or whatever outside space you have. I will typically show pet parents that I have a fully fenced-in yard that their pup can't escape from.
Thank you!
I just show prospects my living area, where we do the M&G, and walk through the kitchen to the back yard, where I let the dog roam around. I tell the parents that I will be in the yard at all times with dog, that he won't ever be anywhere without supervision. Plus it gives me a chance to observe the dog's behavior - does he roam around, does he stay close to parents, etc.
I live in a 1 bedroom apartment. I take them around the back of the complex so they can see where I will walk dogs as well as our on-site dog park. Then I take them inside our apartment and have bedroom and bathroom doors closed because dogs don't hang out in there. They get to see the kitchen, hallway, den, living room and enclosed balcony.
My house is pretty open, so I show them the guest room/my office (which is open anyways and the dogs spend a lot of time in there while I work, even though they don't have to. They just all love the guest bed and to watch out the front window haha) and the general area. I let them know that during the day, we keep the other bedrooms closed so that I can keep a line of sight to the dogs and I also show them the backyard. No one has ever asked to see my bedroom, but they usually end up seeing it via photos that I send since the dogs are allowed in my bed when we're hanging out in there. I've never had anyone ask to see my other bedrooms during a M&G though.
I show them our 'dog area' which is also our downstairs living/kitchen/entry way. We spend most of our time down there. They're also welcome to check out the backyard. I've never had anyone ask to see more, and most people don't do more than glance around as you would at any other place you visit. My first 'unknown' client really looked and peered. It was kind of unsettling. Some people act like they don't even care about coming to check out the place their dog will be staying!
I have my dog area gated off so they are shown that area, they see the welcoming area and the back yard. The rest of the house is off limits to pet sitting dogs so no need for anyone else to see it.
I typically show the KItchen and Family Room where we spend most of our time. I show them the Toy Box, Ramps and Stairs for little dogs, and my backyard to show how large it is and that it's fully fenced. I don't think there is any reason to show our private quarters. I do send a lot of pictures, so they end up seeing most of the house anyway. I have had no problems at all with owners.