Air bnb owner ott or do we deserve to be chucked out?

[Pilloh]

We were forced out of our house due to a water leak in the house. The insurance company said we had to move out due to the severity of the work.

A bit of a nightmare for us as we have a large dog. He’s been called a wonderfully mannered dog by a qualified behaviourist outside the house who really doesn’t care about people/other dogs. But he is a breed used for guarding and therefore very barky at home (we have a command that gets him to be quiet but it doesn’t stop the impulse to bark initially). Not to make excuses, we were working on this with the behaviourist pre-pandemic but our progress stalled so we just manage the situation. Ie we have gates all around our house/garden, don’t allow strangers and the dog to meet inside the house (he’s totally fine with people when they are not on “his” property). Our house is basically Fort Knox and only DH and I are here so it’s all pretty easy to manage.

We told the air bnb owner that please tell the cleaner not to enter house or garden without telling us as dog will run up and bark at strangers. He agreed. We explained the situation and he said he understood.

Yesterday pm, cleaner comes into the garden when I was playing footy - she was fetching something from shed. Dog ran towards her and barked. I gave the recall command which worked initially but then my dog ran back to cleaner and barked. It’s no doubt intimidating. After 20 ish secs dog was in the house and I apologised. Recall is not full proof hence why we never rely on it. We would never have found an Airbnb where we were not assured we would be informed of any person entering the property.

Owner has messaged now saying the cleaner won’t return whilst we are here and that means we have to leave as the owner is not ok with the house not being maintenanced.

Cleaner has visited 4 times without incident as the right procedures were followed.

Who is being unreasonable?

Desensitising the dog involves having people who are not afraid of his barking to enter while we reward calm behaviour. Dog is friendly to family and friends. I have not been able to put in the effort of hosting dog people who are amazingly kind to help with this training. Like I said I have been diagnosed with depressive disorder. It’s not a simple fix.

Dog was being trained pre-pandemic? That is 2019! Clearly there's an issue here and it is with you for not continuing to train the dog. You may have been EXPLICIT about how the dog reacts - the dog should be trained not to react in that way, and the owner of the property is being EXPLICIT about their position.

And I am not a dog hater - quite the reverse, I love them. When trained.

It depends what has been exchanged in writing or email. If he acknowledged the situation and said okay I can do that and informed his staff properly then this situation wouldn't be happening. Poor management by the the owner of the air BnB.

Exactly. They were bred to be guard dogs, not kept in houses as family pets. And all these arguments actually demonstrate what rubbish it is when people declare "it's not the breed, it's the owner" over the XL bully ban for example. Dogs are bred to have certain traits. If those traits make them inherently more dangerous than other breeds then of course it is the breed that is the problem; we already know that most dog owners are irresponsible anyway. Got to ask why people knowingly opt to have a dog that is larger and more powerful than they can handle and is a breed that is bred to bring down large animals, bite and hold on, or aggressively guard against intruders. That's not a pet- that's someone making a point.

But none of these things were the case and if there was an emergency when the OP was in the property then I would imagine they may have some idea that someone might turn up to fix the issue and be prepared ... But even if that happened then I would still expect them to knock/ring the bell instead of just waltzing straight in.

The OPs dog barked at an "intruder" ... Most dogs will do that because that's their natural instinct - my parents have a dog, she's a lovely old (15) border collie who hears the door go and wanders off to check it out. If it's someone she knows she will give a bark in greeting then come back to whoever is in the house to bark at them to essentially say "someone is here but they're someone we know". If it is not someone she knows she will stand in their way to stop them entering beyond the porch and bark at them until someone in the household comes to see who has come in. She would never bite but she will bark aggressively at anyone who has waltzed into her home that she does not know until someone comes to tell her they are allowed in.

I think the Airbnb owner is being unreasonable as he agreed to no unannounced visitors. He may have asked the cleaner to drop by unannounced to see if there was another reason for you asking for no unannounced visits.

If possible I'd stay without the cleaning service - you have a contract.

Fine. I just think the owner should have not taken our money in the first place then. We would have given dog to sister in London - not ideal as they only have a small paved garden. Hence why we tried the air BnB. Owner assured us we would have prior warning.

I also have a brother who would have him. But being an airline pilot I did not feel comfortable potentially disrupting his sleep schedule (I experience insomnia)

The cleaner got barked at - probably scary for her but for exactly taking her life in her hands. And actually you should always know as a guest when the property it going to be accessed (except in an emergency like a fire which this clearly wasn't).

I have not been well since the pandemic. So much so DH and I left London for a new rural life.

I get that and it's shit I know. Im sorry your mental health has been poor. but what was DH doing?

Is this one of those posts where the OP asks if they’re being U and when lots of people come on and say yeah you are a bit, they don’t want to hear it and get really defensive. Why ask if other people think you’re being U? You don’t want to be told you are.

Maybe cleaner was ok with arrangement and then they saw your dog and realised it was a huge massive bitey thing?

I’m allowed to respond. I certainly have to accept blame to a certain extent. I’m not faultless.

I think it's one of those situations where some people don't understand the situation fully. She explained to the owner the situation and he hasn't followed instructions happy to take money but don't want to give notice too much hassle.

I clean and manage air BnBs and I agree with you! I assume you are on more than a short break let term and therefore the property doesn't need cleaning on a regular basis as you are I presume cleaning and doing laundry as if it were your own home? We are always informed of any unusual situations and make arrangements to liaise with guests to avoid any unnecessary situations. The cleaner should have been aware of a dog in the garden and most dogs bark if someone unknown comes into their area.If we kicked guests out every time a dog has barked at me we would have no customers left! 🤣🤣

It's important to always get things in writing or email when you want certain things done for health and safety reasons. God forbid what if you was walking around naked in the garden what would her reaction be then?

Is this to me? I didn't say ALL of MN were dog haters but there are a very large number that are. That's just a fact. This thread is a perfect example of that. Sometimes with reactive dogs all the training in the world won't help so you have no choice but to manage their behaviour instead to keep the dog and anyone he/she comes into contact with safe.

@fuzzystar Thanks for your post. Dh works in London 3/4 days a week. So I feel bad leaving thie training issue solely to him.

We really will make a concerted effort to pick up desensitising dog again. He was making massive strides even with only 5 sessions. I hate how he looks like a demon to strangers.

He’s my pride and joy. I would have had many laughless days if it were not for him.

Ah I get that. I had a doggo that a swear saved my life during a depressive episode. Keep on at it with the training. DH can do his share when he's not in London.

I could not abandon dog. It may sound crazy but with our routine and protons he is not that difficult.

We welcomed him into our home the week after deciding we could not continue with IVF. He’s my rock.

Your dog is a total menace and needs to learn how to behave. Honestly, some folk. The poor cleaner.

He neeeds work. 100%

Your brother having autism bears no relevance to this scenario and people would understand if he shouted at them in those circumstances. For the 3rd time, dogs are not people so stop drawing false comparisons. Just as you cannot prepare or control for every eventuality with things that may cause your brother anxiety, the same is the case with this dog. Sooner or later a more serious incident will happen. The airbnb owner is right not to want that liability. (And btw I worked for years in LD so I know what I'm talking about!).

Just out of interest how should a dog react when a stranger comes into their space unannounced?

Most dogs will bark or make some sort of fuss, regardless of breed or training, which is all that happened. The cleaner came in unannounced, the dog barked at them and then was removed ... None of this is in any way dangerous or unusual behaviour for a dog. It's no different to an adult getting startled and yelling at an unannounced visitor for just letting themselves in.

Try this https://fb.watch/oh1annpBYz/. it sorted my dog in no time.

Get also another behaviourist, the one you have is giving you a run for your money.