Dogs and house viewings

[gebs]

We are currently on the market at the moment, and I wondered if this is now acceptable or if I'm BU...

Firstly, we looked around a house to buy, we arrived (me, husband and mil) and met the estate agent outside. As she opened the door, she said 'oh the owners have left their dog behind, is that okay?' My mil has a dog so was fine, I'm not too fussed by them and my husband doesn't really like them but it was a small cockapoo type dog so we said it was okay. We looked around the house and it was okay/fine, but the dog followed us in every room and was constantly dry humping my husband and mil's legs. Estate agent was very apologetic but couldn't really do very much (fair enough, it's not her pet) but we left feeling pretty miffed that the owners had gone out while the viewing was going on but had left their dog behind?

Second situation, we had a viewing on our own house this week. I was working from home due to a midwife appointment in the morning and the house viewing was at 3pm. The house was relatively tidy due to having a viewing earlier in the week but I had some washing drying, plates from my lunch and breakfast needed putting away, my laptop and work bits were in my sitting room etc. At 2pm I decide to start tidying my washing away in the kitchen when I hear my front door open and the estate agent is with the person viewing at house. He apologises and said the person viewing text him and asked if he could do the viewing earlier and assumed we would of been at work. I was pretty annoyed at this point and told him to give me 10min to clear my work stuff away and give me a chance to give each room a quick whip round and check. As I go to leave the house the estate agent is talking to a lady next to some parked cars outside, he comes over and says sorry again and he'll call when the viewing is done. I walk away and as I turn around the person viewing my house has a dog with her and proceeds to go in the house with the estate agent and the dog! I missed the dog as I was walking pass as it was hidden by the cars/me not noticing in my annoyance at the estate agent.

Now I appreciate the first situation was not my own house, but still off putting to people who don't like dogs and you are trying to sell your house? And for the second situation, surely if someone was bringing/wanting to bring a dog they should at least ask? I could have house cats or allergies? (I don't, but you'd surely check with the agent and agent would check with us?) and I don't know if my view is tainted by our estate agent being rubbish to start with or third trimester hormones, but my husband was very angry when I called him about it and we are removing ourselves from the estate agents. But surely people bringing dogs to house viewings (especially first viewings) is not a thing?!

Did you actually say anything when you saw they had a dog with them? I definitely don’t think yabu, I wouldn’t even think about bringing my dog along, but you should’ve said something.

I wouldn’t have left my dog home alone if I knew someone was going to view our house but they may not have had any other choice and I t is still their, and the dogs, home at the end of the day.

Your estate agent is a prat. They should never have allowed someone to bring their dog into your home without your permission. Who takes their dog with them to view a house unless they are a guide dog? What did the estate agent say when you sacked them?

With regard to owners leaving their dog at home whilst the house is viewed there's not much you can do about that. I would take my pooch out because some people don't like dogs and it can taint people's perception of a house and therefore make it harder to sell. If they don't see her they wouldn't know we had her because our house doesn't smell doggy. When we put ours on the market a few years a go we would just tidy her stuff away and my hubby would take her to the park whilst I showed people around. Even as a dog owner I wouldn't be tolerant of someone else's dog humping my leg as I went to view a house.

The first situation is the seller’s problem. If they were more organised and arranged for the dog to be somewhere else they would probably find it easier to sell their house, but that’s their business.

The second is ridiculous and I would have been quite cross. I love dogs and have one and would have said yes if asked whether one could be brought but not to be asked is bad, and the timing thing too. Time to find a better agent.

Oh my God!

You're totally right to feel annoyed, I'd be fuming if an agent let someone view my house with a pet. I adore animals but I have severe asthmatic reactions to some hair/fur.

And letting themselves in an hour before the agreed time is also unacceptable.

Put in a complaint and sack your agent!

To be honest, an hour after the first scenario with the other house viewing we'd sort of laughed it off. But after Fridays experience in my own home it made me remember how off putting it was for us. I totally appreciate it's down to the seller to sort out and wasn't annoyed at the estate agent or anything, but it did taint it.

With our own home viewing I didn't really see them go into the house until I was part way down the street and was pretty shocked so immediately rang my husband absolutely raging. But I was annoyed by the whole situation not just the dog so didn't want to go back to the house to make a scene in the heat of the moment.

Re the first situation, you were strangers in its owner’s house and it was asserting dominance over you. That said the owners shouldn’t have left it.

Second situation woman was a CF and no mistake. No way would I have taken my dog to a house viewing. Or did she have it specially trained to sniff for dry rot and other structural defects?

No, this isn't normal at all. Why on earth would someone take their dog to a house viewing?

We just had one house launch so all viewers came on one day. That was that so our dog came with us when we cleared off for the launch. Would never take our dog to a viewing.

I was annoyed by the whole situation not just the dog so didn't want to go back to the house to make a scene in the heat of the moment

I'd have done the same thing. Things happen and it can take time for it to register. Still can't believe your agent 1. Let themselves in early and 2. Allowed the viewer's dog in and 3. That the woman thought it was reasonable to BRING a dog on a viewing!

I wouldn't have been impressed that the dog was there for your viewing, either. Was it the same estate agents? I'd feedback that the dog being there all humpy-dumpy was a real distraction. It could be that the owners thought the dog would be well behaved and would be mortified to know your experience - OR it could mean they're lazy fuckers who leave the dog at home all day and couldn't be arsed to sort out getting it cared for, for viewings.

No we are with a well known online agent, I would not recommend them but annoyingly you pay the fee upfront so we have lost that. The other viewing was a local estate agent and they never asked for feedback so never got it!

Estate Agent here for 10ish years - YANBU on either counts.
I've refused entry to people's houses on several occasions because they've turned up with their dogs and not had anyone to wait outside with them. One rocked up in muddy wellies with 2 big wet dogs and said they'd arrived early so been for an explore in the local woods - in the rain!! Errrrr no!

I also accompanied a colleague to a viewing when I was training who let a viewers dog into the garden whilst the people looked around the house - it did a huge shit and they didn't pick it up when he told them - I was the work experience girl so got lumbered with the job..

No dogs at viewings. It works both ways, don't leave them home alone for viewings at your own home and don't take them to other peoples!!!

I'm maybe a bit of a hypocrite on the matter, because I'd say no dogs whatsoever, but then I wouldn't apply the same to cats.

In fact, as per username, our vendors cat peed on the bed during the viewing, and they had to strip it! We bonded over my questions of whether the street was safe for cats, and I'm not sure I'd fancy evicting my two for every viewing - however, we do have a cosy, large shed I could lock them in for the day.

Once when viewing a house, we went into he master bedroom and there was a little lump in the bed. The vendor’s cat apparently.

We recently sold our house, and arranged for our dog to stay with family who live nearby, while we had viewings. The estate agent also advised us to hide away cat bowls etc. I wouldn’t buy a house that a dog had the free run of.

@SerenDippitty

“Re the first situation, you were strangers in its owner’s house and it was asserting dominance over you.”

Very outdated advice. Dominance theory has been thoroughly debunked in the past 20 years.
The dog was likely anxious about strangers entering its home. Humping is often a means of acting out anxiety or frustration.

Oooh YANBU.

1. I wouldn't be comfortable leaving my dog in the house with estate agents and viewers. What if he escaped? What if someone was afraid of/allergic to dogs?

2. This estate agent sounds really unprofessional. It's still your home.

FWIW when we were viewing houses there was a cat in one, which was cute and looked like a lovely accompaniment to the sofa. I also wouldn't mind walking into an empty house to find a dog. But not everyone is like me!

YANBU

I don't even let my friend bring her dog into my house.
They smell which is fine if you are accustomed to them but otherwise not.

Yabu as obviously the viewer needed to know if her ddog also liked his potential new home!!
*joking.....
Complain to the agent definitely..

WRT the first house, it’s their house and it’s obviously not ideal but it is their house. If the house doesn’t sell because the dog is running loose or for whatever other reason then that is down to the vendors. I’ve viewed houses in all sorts of different states, and will usually feed back to the agent, but ultimately the house either sells itself or it doesn’t.

I once went to view a house where the owner insisted on doing all the viewings, and before we went round the house he quizzed us as to why we were looking at other houses given his house was there to be bought. It had been on the market for over a year and it wasn’t hard to see why. And as we left he let his dog out of the car and it chased us off the driveway. It was called asbo. when the agent rang for feedback I did say that the vendor insisting on doing the viewings himself clearly was having an impact on his inability to sel, and she didn’t disagree with me. But ultimately it’s his house and his decision.

Whenever people viewed my houses I’ve shut the dogs away, but I did have other animals which obviously were around.

And as for the buyers coming to view with a dog,I would make it clear in no uncertain terms that this was unacceptable, because again, your house, your decision. I would also be telling the agents to knock first and not just let themselves in when you potentially could be there.

I absolutely would not want a dog brought round my house on a viewing. Hugely unprofessional of the estate agent - it's really not your place to point out how inappropriate it is, that's what you're paying them for.

However, the "animals are my fur babies and part of the family" brigade, they will not accept that there is a difference between bringing toddlers or a labrador.

why you didn't just put the dog in the kitchen or somewhere with a door while you looked around the rest of the house?

Bringing a dog to a viewing is unacceptable and I would tell the agent to not allow again.

they never asked for feedback so never got it!

I'd have given them feedback anyway. I also can't believe the agent didn't have the courtesy to ring the doorbell first even if he thought you would be out.

I saw a house on Right Move recently where the photo of the living room showed a cocker spaniel in the garden with its face forlornly pressed against the French windows, obviously having been put outside for the photos.

Not OK, given allergies. Or even that if your coat or trousers end up being butted by a dog, your cat may react adversely.

Ex estate agent here. Taking some viewers round we went into the main bedroom and there was a full sized pig in the bed. It charged the male viewer with me.

When I questioned the owners about this I was told that the pig always slept in their bed and she apologised because she had forgotten to tell me it didn't like men!

I'd be furious about a dog being brought into my house, we have a house cat who gets really stressed out by dogs. I have a friend who sometimes brings her dog and I have to shut the cat away before she brings him in.