Hi All!
New to Rover :) I just committed to watching a dog over the weekend but will also be having guests visiting for the weekend (they are also bringing a dog). Do you feel that is something I should let the dog owner know (and why?)?
Having another dog in my opinion has no bearing on the situation since your listing states that you will accept up to five dogs in addition to your own two. No customer should have any expectation that his/her dog will be your sole charge. However, the additional family or friends should be disclosed as a courtesy, much in the same way I tell customers during the holidays that I may be away at family dinners for longer than my usual (under 3 hours). They're all very understanding.
I agree with Deb about the presence of children and the need to discuss that with clients. Unless I knew every single dog staying with me very well, I wouldn't accept any boarders if I knew a child was visiting. Too much risk IMO.
I agree with Cari's answer -- again because of the additional dog.
If you take precautions to prevent door darting escapes when you or your guests come&go, you may not need to mention having guests without dogs. One exception would be if your guests include kids and a Rover dog may have phobias towards children, because you don't want to cause stress. If you anticipate this situation repeating w/other dogs, I'd suggest discussing possibility during m&g to find out any thing you should know about Rover dog reactions to others. I saw your policy is 5 dog max., so even though you have 2 plus 1 Rover dog, the guest dog makes 4 total (which is within your comfort zone since it appears two of you provide care).
Thanks, Deb! All of this makes sense :) It was after the meet and greet that our friends asked us for a place to rest their heads. They will be out and about all day with their dog so I wasn't sure if this is something that needed to be mentioned. I think it is best to err on the side of caution so I'll just send the owner a quick note and see how they'd like to proceed. Thank you for your response!!
When you set up the Meet and Greet I am sure you asked the owner questions about the dog and usually one of them is how well he gets along with other dogs. If the response was that he gets along with other dogs, I do not see the reason why you should tell the owner you are having another dog over or even that you are having guest over. You might say, something like "oh good, Fido will have someone to play with since another dog will be coming over" that will let them know their dog won't be the only one, but just to inform them for no other reason to me is odd. Unless the owner said the dog doesn't get along with other dogs, I see no reason as to why I should inform them.
Hi Frances! Thank you for responding! Personally, I would find it odd if someone asked me if it's ok to have guests over in their own home while my dog is with them but I suppose everyone sees the dog sitting experience differently. When we did the meet and greet the dog was totally comfortable with our dogs and she mentioned nothing out of the ordinary about how the dog reacts to people or other dogs. As such, when agreeing to give my friends a place to stay, I didn't think much of it. But now.... I've over-analyzed the situation! I think I'll just send the owner a quick note about it. Thanks for lending your perspective on the matter!!! :) :)
I would let the owner know, simply because your visitors are bringing a dog. The client dog may not do well around other dog or has issues around other animals, and the owners may not want to put their dog in that situation. Let them know how you plan to handle having 2 dogs in the house (separate rooms, etc) and couch it in positive terms. But definitely let them know ahead of time. In the future, let the client owner know of situations like this beforehand, or make other arrangements for your visitors.
Hi Cari! Thank you very much for your response! :) If my visitors were not bringing a dog, would you still inform the owner of having guests overnight?
Everything should come out in the Meet and Greet. On both sides.
If the visitors were not bringing a dog, I wouldn't mention it. The reason I answered the way I did is because I didn't realize you already had dogs of your own, so the client dog would already be around other dogs. In that case, I think you're doing the right thing by just letting the client owners know that there will be an additional dog in the house.