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?

It's not a holiday though is it? The OP cannot live at home.

I would not have let to them whether or not they have a dog (and we take 3 dogs at a time) as my insurance would not cover me for renting to people who are not there on holiday.

I can see both sides- owner should have made sure cleaner was aware, cleaner should have texted you, but now this has happened I think the owner will feel they've no choice but to chuck you out given cleaner won't go back. I hope at least you are getting a refund given the owner was clearly advised about the situation?

Well quite - but on the other hand his behaviour is so intimidating that you specifically chose a property with a gate that has a keypad lock and you warned the owner that nobody could set foot on the property while he was there.

She's told the owner the dog bites (then denies here that he doesn't). Why tell the owner that if he doesn't??!!

Then the dog has a fit at the cleaner. The cleaner is employed by the owner. The owner has been told dog bites, cleaner has complained and may be threatening to quit / that she isn't protected in the work place.

Owner now has a problem. (He thinks the dog bites. OP wants us to believe she lied, but why lie if there's no issue?) Owner tells OP to sling hook.

The big problem here is that the OP simulataneously says that one the one hand the dog is such a problem they have to be informed of visitors and have told the owner that the dog bites AND THEN on the other hand wants us to believe that the dog isn't a problem and doesn't really bite and isn't a problem and we should all give her sympathy because the owner told her to piss off even though he has been told the dog bites and the dog has upset him employee. The OP thinks its reasonable to demand that the owner/cleaner does all this leg work to inform them there will be a visit - even though shes only a casual tenant in a holiday let.

Thats bullshit. And an unsustainable position.

Responsible owners don't go round telling people their dog bites. Responsible owners don't rely on HAVING to be called in advance of a visit.

Clearly the OP is a problem guest that the owner has had enough of and is perfectly within their rights to tell the OP to leave on the basis of the information they've been told.

In all honesty, I dont believe the OP. The dog is an issue and they aren't in control of it either way. At best they rely on lying about the dogs behaviour because they can't adequately control it and wonder why that in itself bites them on the bum (pun intended).

Zero sympathy.

Dog doesn’t bite. We told owner he does just to highlight severity of issue.

Why are you being adverse to people's responses? Don't post if you don't like the answers. No matter what anyone says, you're not going to like it.

@Ginmonkeyagain did your parents dogs bark at people when they wandered into the yard/near the house ? or were they silent ?

🤔

Well then surely you can understand that if the air bnb owner believes that, he's not going to want the cleaner to potentially be bitten, is he.

I’m allowed to defend myself. Many people are making up entire posts. Or misunderstanding entirely.

Who has misunderstood?

Perish the thought if a child should accidentally kick a ball into your yard and then go try and retrieve it...

A dead cleaner is of no use to anyone.

@StarlightLime Everyone who couldn’t comprehend the word “doesn’t” when I wrote “the dog doesn’t bite”. Just one example.

I never said aggressive human, maul or potential murderer - those are your words. I said people (for a variety of reasons) can react unexpectedly when scared. If you are too narrow minded to consider what those reasons may be that's on you.

My brother actually has autism and severe learning difficulties and finds meeting strangers unexpectedly scary. He could easily shout at someone who just popped into the garden as this cleaner did and I would be very annoyed if I'd taken the same precautions as OP to ensure this did not happen. It is ridiculous that the cleaner entered unannounced when this was an explicit condition of booking the property for OP and is also a standard Airbnb policy.

And no, in this situation I would not 'take it on the chin' and leave if it happened to my family.

@mydogisthebest Well if the cleaner had given warning of their visit the dog would not have been there would it as OP says she takes it for a walk when the cleaner is there.

Cleaner should not have to tell people - they are there to do a job at the request of their employer (the owner). This owner clearly has come down on the side of the cleaner who he needs to run his Air bnb.

Dogs need to learn how to live amongst people, not people constantly having to adjust their lives to accommodate dogs which have not been socialised properly (p.s. pandemic has been over for a while now - cannot keep using that as an excuse).

Owner assured us cleaner/gardener would always give us a 10 min warning. I don’t work so do not need tonnes of notice on the day the cleaner comes.

We have been in the air BnB for month.

Well that certainly went against you I'd imagine.

Hmm. Chinny Reckon.

Lets sy I give you the benefit of the doubt...

HE believes the dog bites and the cleaner is now unhappy. If thats the case, maybe you shouldn't have lied....

...but you wouldn't have had to lie if there was no problem with the dog and you were a responsible owner. Your own words are 'severity of issue'.

A responsible owner wouldn't be lying. They wouldn't have a severe issue to lie about.

And here you are then trying to garner sympathy by saying it doesn't bite really and the owner is a big meanie. Even though the dogs behaviour is somehow so bad you have to lie to highlight the severity of issue....

Its a circular argument. You are a shit irresponsible owner if you are having to lie to the owner. You are a shit irresponsible owner if you are lying on MN in order to get sympathy and feel better about the big meanie owner.

You are having a fucking laugh here.

But you told the host it did, hence your current situation. Dumb thing to do.

Actually she's not entitled to be there unannounced - it's literally on the Airbnb policy page. Either the owner has messed up or the cleaner has by not letting guest know when she was coming.

The owner is not your PA.

Your expectation of this is unreasonable.

And its proved in practice its not workable and isn't ok with the cleaner.

So the dog doesn't bite but you told someone it does to make it seem more scary, which ironically is what happened - that someone did find the dog scary and threatening, even though you say it isn't, cos that was a lie?!

No she was not entitled to be there.

She was not there to do the regular cleaning, she was getting something out of the shed at the property by letting herself in without consulting with the resident beforehand.

What if the OP and their partner were doing naked yoga or a quickie on the lounge which overlooks the garden? What if you were attacked in the past by someone breaking in? Would people still be happy for the cleaner to let themselves in unannounced in those circumstances?

I live alone (when DD is with her dad), if I was home alone and heard someone letting themselves in then I would be phoning the police as I would assume someone was breaking in as everyone who has a key to my property would always knock/ring the bell/announce themselves in some way before just waltzing in to my private space.

The OP is renting the property and has the right to quiet enjoyment of said property, including the garden, and nobody should be letting themselves in unannounced.

This 100%! Dog owners fail to see the lifelong impact of their dog's actions on people. I feel for the poor cleaner! Must have been terrifying and left her shaken. I'm scared to go the beach or park with my DC because of dogs off leads (after I was the victim of an unprovoked attack from behind as I was walking in a park in 2002. Owner didn't even try to get dog off me or help me. Then wouldn't give their details as "I'm not having you report my dog as dangerous when it's not". My leg was so damaged I had to hop to get help. I didnt walk anywhere for months as I was too scared. Now I have a child I have recurrent nightmares he will be attacked by a dog. It ruined many aspects of my life and changed me from an outgoing, confident person to an anxious and fearful one. But, funnily enough, that doesnt make me aggressive and violent. Yet fear and anxiety are always the excuses used for dog aggression. Dogs are by nature aggressive - they are predators). Even cafes are now a no go because, apparently, the UK values dogs above people, especially children.

Why on earth would you do that?

Ps I think you've left your dogs name in one of the reports