To expect pet friendly to mean a dog can go everywhere

[Fluffyelephant]

We arrived yesterday in a holiday house for a family trip that was booked because the place described itself as pet friendly. On arrival though we were presented with very intense written rules regarding dogs - they were in bold and used terms like ‘under absolutely no circumstances with no exception can your dog…’

If we had been told these rules in advance we would never have paid to stay here as they absolutely won’t work for our dog and we know that. The main rule causing issue is that he’s only actually allowed in the living room and part of the hall so 75% of the house is off limits including the stairs. He’s well behaved and good natured and is a breed that doesn’t shed hair. But he’s a clingy breed and follows us around and always sleeps on the floor by our bed otherwise he gets very distressed.

The owners know a dog was coming because we told them and we paid an extra £50. But none of these rules were mentioned. If he caused damage then of course I would pay (as I would if it was caused by a child or adult) but this seems to be rules to preemptively prevent any damage from occurring in the first place.

Last night in an attempt to follow the rules I tried sleeping on the two seat sofa in the living room next to dog but this was horrendous so we just came upstairs. My partner says it’s impossible to relax so we’ll just have to drive gone today!

I feel like places say ‘pet friendly’ to get your money when they actually aren’t at all! AIBU?

You really don’t know anything about dogs do you? 🤣

I mean we had dogs. They knew not to go on sofas and didn’t need to come up stairs unless for a bath. No dog ever needed to sleep on or at the bottom of my bed and we had five dogs raised from puppies.

That's extremely well put, exactly this!

You are a very rare but very good dog owner.

CLOUDTIME you really don't understand what it is to be a human & what it means to be a dog do you.

Yes, this. When we stay overnight with DSD and our dog sleeps in the guestroom with us (in his own bed), he gets confused when we usher him upstairs at bedtime. He tries to go into the bathroom as he thinks he's getting a bath. That's the only reason he's allowed upstairs at home. It took at least 3/4 overnight stays for him to get used to being allowed to sleep upstairs in DSD's house.

Says who? Mad that you think you get final say in what makes a good dog or owner.

I find the cognitive dissonance on this fascinating.

“urgh dog on bed - disgusting”

Yet every time you stay in a bed that isn’t your own there will be traces of all types of human effluence - including vomit, blood, dementia and likely faeces.

”but dog hair”

But pubic hair.

“But fleas”

but all types of communicable diseases.

I mean if you think about it too deeply I don’t think you’d ever sleep in any bed other than your own.

Ah well. They’ve given you two contradictory rules… choose which one you follow!!
Ignore the rules… in-fact you never read the letter!
Just enjoy and don’t feel guilty… they’re the ones who didn’t disclose the rules and mislead you!

There is nothing intrinsically 'better' about not allowing your dog upstairs. Or the opposite.

Dogs need boundaries and training, but as an.owner you decide which you prefer, and what boundaries you put in place. Then you train your dog and maintain that boundary consistently.

But upstairs/downstairs is just a matter of personal preference

We had this at a cottage in north Norfolk, I'd paid the fee for 3 dogs, they are well behaved and don't moult. I ignored the rules and the owner was no wiser.

Exactly. My dogs sleep upstairs. Not because they are horrendously spoiled but because it suits the layout of our house and is more practical for us

These dogs aren't allowed in the kitchen, but mu previous dog slept in the kitchen

Dogs just have different training for different lives and routines

I completely agree that any rules need to be transparent before booking

I would ignore the rules on the basis that you booked and paid for a pet to have use of the house, and write a review that highlights the issue. Dog owners will seek out properties where they can let their pets enjoy holidays too and if something is advertised (and charged) as pet friendly then that's what it should be.
I do understand not everyone wants to allow pets and that's fine but they shouldn't welcome them then pull the rug afterwards.

Exactly.

I have no problems with pets being banned, or allowed in tightly restricted areas.

But don't say 'pet friendly' to get the custom and take the money when you don't actually want pets.

It's about honesty.

They are plenty of people - as shown on this thread - who want pet-free holiday accommodation. Go with that market.

This is normal, we’ve been taking our dogs on holiday for over 30 years, and this standard. But to be fair stuff happens. My greyhound who never went on the furniture at home snuck on the settee in one rental quite often.🤷🏼‍♀️

I have had massively furry dogs for 25 years and have stayed in a lot of properties and restrictions like this are fairly common. One property in Ireland said dog was only allowed in the kitchen!

We just ignored that - how unreasonable - and nothing happened. I always clean up thoroughly before we leave and I choose properties without carpet where possible.

So after the interest and debate sparked by this post I couldn’t not share this update 😂😱Haven’t actually told this to anyone yet as I didn’t want to ruin the rest of the family’s holiday!

So we stayed at the holiday cottage for the week doing what we planned, no issues, nothing to report…

Today we went to stay at the second holiday cottage for our two week stay with family. I was more involved with selecting this cottage and it is definitely more ‘dog friendly’! No rules here.

BUT here’s the bit that will horrify so many of you on this thread… it’s a beautiful place but within 60 seconds of arriving I found a small dog poo next to the sofa. I’m pretty horrified myself tbh. At first I panicked and thought it could have been my dog (even though he has NEVER done that since he was a tiny puppy!) but he hadn’t gone to that area and it was old… place seems to have been recently cleaned so I’m not sure how it’s been missed.

Haven’t told anyone as my mum would be horrified and may find it difficult to believe it wasn’t my dog! It would literally ruin the whole week for her. So I’ll keep this one to myself.. but it has been an eye opener about ‘dog friendly’ places!

I'll go first! This is why dogs should be kept outside & left at home!! Disgusting 🤮

Yikes! I'm betting the cleaners brought their dog with them and didn't realise what happened.

Oh dear
Custing 😂

Blimey, I bet the cleaners just missed it….though how nobody smelt it I have no idea. I’ve stayed in holiday cottages before where stuff has been missed, ie it’s obvious that they’ve hoovered the main “square” of the room but not the gap between the wall and the sofa because I’ve found a Percy pig or similar…but not a stinky poo!

Yeah we once stayed in a ‘dog friendly’ place and it was disgusting. Had to complain 3 times, no excuse really….
firstly the bathroom stunk of urine and we had to get a cleaner up to bleach it… it was vile… then the sofas and carpet were dirty, so someone came up and hoovered (supposedly for a second time!)… and then they said that they’d supply us with throws for the sofas to cover the stains!… it really was a filthy place. We’ve stopped taking dogs away with us because I can’t cope with the filth of dog friendly places

I’m afraid I just ignore those rules. I know my dog, and frankly, he is less messy than I am. He doesn’t moult, drool, or chew furniture. If he gets muddy, he gets cleaned before he comes in. He is impeccably house trained (not by me). So if he wants to sleep on the bed with me in a holiday cottage where I’ve paid a fee for him, he can.

In 10 years time when all the lockdown dogs are gone I’m sure things will revert back to not being so ‘dog friendly’

Good God, I hope so. Fucking dogs everywhere. People can't even go out for a meal without taking their stinking pets with them.

One restaurant we went to recently even had a menu for dogs. We didn't stay. It's one thing having them farting under the tables, quite another to have to witness them slobbering in dog bowls... 🤢🤢🤮