During client pickup, my dog is super excited and eager to greet people. Often times this creates a very chaotic environment and occasionally the guest dog becomes protective of their owner. Just wondering how other sitters with dogs handle this situation?
We put our pups in a separate location during drop off and pick up. We find that owners often need a moment to leave any last minute directions or stay goodbye without dogs they don't really know interrupting. The same is true for reunification at the end of a stay. Everyone gets to say hello without extra dogs around. It works really well for us!
My dog and other Rover guests stay upstairs during drop off and pick up as we do not wish for a chaos and barking, as not everyone handles it well. I like to give the Rover dog and their parents their space during drop off and pick up. They don't need to deal with my dog and my other guests. This is their special private time when they are leaving their dog with me or picking him up after a while. I let them enjoy it, and my dog and other guests upstairs don't need to interfere. And everybody is happy :)
I put mine outside or upstairs behind a baby gate during drop off and pick up.
I ask the dog owners to meet down the street, and walk my dogs to them, this way the dogs are meeting on a walk and in neutral area then walk back together to the house, but that time, they are calmed down and used to each other.
My canine mix differs from yours in that mine and all guest dogs are under 20 lbs. My dog goes along with me to every coming and going and displays great enthusiasm (vocally and wiggly body language). However, none of his friends or their pet parents mind - in fact, they kind of love it.