Why don't people take the dog out when they have a house viewing?

[RingFence]

It's really off putting! I hate walking viewing a house with a strange dog sniffing my ankles. Or jumping up at toddler DD, who gets scared and then has to be carried. Or yapping and snarling from the kitchen because I've asked the owner to shut it away.

Viewed one recently where the owner hadn't even bothered to pick up a dog poo in the garden. Toddler DD stepped in it We didn't notice until she left a trail of dog poo indoors. Owner tutted because of the floor, but I was so angry at the thought of having to clean dog poo off her shoes, having the smell in the car, disinfect them at home etc I just thought 'serve you right'. Why on earth would you not pick up after your dog when you're trying to sell your house??

Then there are the owners who say 'I'll just keep him in the living room' and sit holding the straining/growling/whimpering dog by its collar, so you have to rush that bit of the viewing.

We saw one house where the dog was in the garden, barking and growling. Owner said 'he's all right with people but he might jump up. Do you want to go in?' We declined and ruled out that house.

Why don't people take the dog out for a walk or get a friend/relative/neighbour to look after it for the half an hour it takes to view? We always book a time days in advance so it's not like it's short notice.

I love my dogs smell. It's not offensive to me although I know not everyone would agree. If possible I would try and get him out for a walk whilst conducting a viewing but if nobody was available to take him I wouldn't put him outside. He'd be instructed to stay on his bed, which he would do and be very cute wagging his tail the whole time.

How could anyone not love him

I've always been dog-phobic (until my sister got a puppy - then I had to get used to them) and it could be off-putting to me. Some owners don't understand why everyone else isn't in love with their dog too.

The only way the message would get across to them is if lots of prospective owners refuse to come in because of the dog - the penny would hopefully drop eventually but surely a good EA would tell them.

You would ever want to visit my house then op it's full of fur glad animals! Hardwood and tiled floors make leaning easy but bound to be a few stray hairs here and there including DD she moults more than the animals. Swell behaved dog or sleeping cat would actually feel more "at home" when viewing a property but a whinging sticky toddler would put me straight off. I have also had parents bring a toddler to viewing (first house sale) and it kept kicking the walls. I did ask the child to stop as parents did not. They did buy the house and we did not paint over the damage their child inflicted on walls in 3 rooms. As foot poo on the lawn, even if I did pick any the dogs might do there would probably be fox poo if miss

Fur clad animals/a well behaved dog/as for poo.......need a new tablet

I've sold 3 houses in 8 years, we ALWAYS take our dog out for viewings and hide any evidence of having a dog!

I love my dog but appreciate not everyone's a dog lover! They are also really distracting.

I think people should view houses empty - you want to walk freely around and talk openly with your partner or estate agents etc.

I'd recommend dog owners to take their dog and themselves out for a walk or drive when they've got a viewing!

I think it's always best to have the dog off the premises if you can. That way there's no risk of poo on the lawn either.

There's ALWAYS a risk of cat and fox poo in our garden.

Our dog gets walked in the local forest backing us every morning, so does his business away from the garden - he's a morning boy so rarely has ever done it in the garden.

Yet OH is constantly picking up cat shit and occasionally fox shit (and you really wouldn't want to tread in that as it STINKS! We pick it up as soon as it's noticed and before the dog rolls in it - lots of dog owners will know this delight happens).

It's very depressing and annoying as we've even had the misfortune of re-planting pots and found our hands in buried cat shit. Especially knowing that our neighbour has never wormed her five cats as "it's too difficult" for her to bother.

People who move into a new property maybe should always check their gardens for shit, especially if they have toddlers. Even if the previous owner hasn't had dogs, there's a risk of toxoplasmosis from unwormed neighbourhood cats.

I'm finding this thread helpful as we are looking to putting our house on the market soon.

We have two large dogs who, although both friendly, bark when somebody knocks at the door and like to go and see who is visiting before settling in their beds. Much as I love my dogs and trust them, I know this isn't the case for everyone. It is made worse by the fact that one is a German Shepherd, a breed which makes many feel nervous.

We are currently preparing our house for sale - clearing as much clutter as possible and decorating a couple of the main rooms in a light neutral colour and replacing the flooring.

We are planning on having an open weekend once the property goes on the market; we will go away for the weekend, taking the dogs with us. This will leave the EA to show people around. After an open weekend, we will arrange for the EA to acccompany viewings, as I am disabled and am not able to show people around our house. I can be around, although if my husband is at work, I will need to keep the dogs out of the house.

My greater problem is that, as well as two dogs, we have 8 cats. Most will make themselves scarce with strangers in the house and we do not have litter trays in the house. However, I will not really be able to prevent them from entering the house, particularly if the weather is bad. I am very aware that we have a fair amount of hair in our house - we dust and hoover regularly but hair always seems to be present. My plan is to have a professional house clean just before we have an open house, but cannot afford this every time we have a viewer.

Would be grateful if anyone has any sensible suggestions on how to manage the cats with possible viewings.

Would be grateful if anyone has any sensible suggestions on how to manage the cats with possible viewings

The 8 cats wouldn't bother me, unless they were ankle biters or the type who like to launch onto your shoulders from high up.

We've viewed houses with lots of cats, mostly they hid or tiptoed up to us purring then followed at a distance. Cats aren't protective of their home like dogs, and I've never felt threatened by a cat.

I would open windows an hour or so before a viewing, to reduce any cat smell. Hoover up any obvious hair on furniture. Warn viewers you have cats just in case they have an allergy. Move toys to corners so nobody trips on them (or treads on something squeaky!)

Most people get a house deep-cleaned before moving in and we always replace carpets anyway, even if they had no pets (I prefer hard floors because of messy toddler!)

The dogs would put me off though, I get nervous when I hear barking and wouldn't enter if there was a German shepherd roaming around.