How to have a stress free meet and greet?
Every meet and greet we’ve had has been stressful. I keep my dogs put away so that I can talk with the owner when they enter my house. Typically the new dog comes in and immediately pees on our carpet. Then the owner is embarrassed so they ask to take their dog out back where our dogs are. My German shepherd barks and runs around like a maniac while my border collie tries to herd the dog- which is typically too much stimulation and the dog freaks out. It’s never a good time and very stressful. I’m at the point where I don’t want any new clients because of meet and greets. I would prefer to introduce the dogs myself, very slowly over the period of a day on their first stay. This seems to have a much better turn out when they meet each other through a baby gate in our house for the first day. But people don’t seem to agree and they want to see how my dogs do with theirs at the meet and greet. Any tips for moving forward?
That's tough because I totally expect and accept that owners may want to see how the dogs interact. I think the best thing you can do is to stipulate your preferences in the initial communication. It will turn some people away for sure, but others will be willing, and you can move forward with them
Try to set up MG somewhere near your house,like on a sidewalk, then you can all go inside in case dogs are fine with each other and the client still wants to look at your place. And you can put away your dogs right after you enter the house, explaining to the owner that there is no need for a chaos.