Going to a dog friendly holiday let. It's going to stink isn't it?

[Batmanisaplaceinturkey]

Shall I take a nose peg?

I've stayed in several dog friendly places, they've been very clean, no smell and no fleas!

I don't have a dog or spend any time around them, so I think I could tell if there was a smell in a property, and last year I went on holiday with my sister who does have a dog, to a dog friendly property, and I didn't think it smelled. Owners were that kind of posh who are quite doggy and outdoorsy as well (they lived in another property on the grounds).

We cleaned it really thoroughly before we left as well.

We have a dog so stay in pet friendly places. Most have so many rules about where dogs can go, ie not allowed in bedrooms or on furniture, most have wooden flooring and yes, are far better cleaned than the places we have stayed previously that don’t allow pets. Some do go a bit overboard with plug in air fresheners virtually in every room.

No.

Yes! Take your own bedding as well. (We accidentally stayed in a dog friendly hotel last year. The hairs on the cushions on the bed…..🤮).

People with dogs don't notice the smell associated with them.

Lots of holiday cottages are branded as "dog friendly" but that doesn't mean that everyone who uses them has a dog. We were in a cottage earlier in the summer which accepted dogs, probably because it was a bungalow and in a part of Scotland well-known for being outdoorsy and marketed to active families. The "dog friendly" things we noticed were minimal, there was a couple of feeding bowls in the kitchen cupboard and that was about it.

We didn't have a dog with us and I wasn't particularly aware of any smell. I suppose it depends how the place is advertised - whether DOG FRIENDLY is the main selling point and mentioned multiple times, or whether it's just a "oh, you can bring a single well-behaved dog" at the end of the description.

Most have so many rules about where dogs can go, ie not allowed in bedrooms or on furniture

There was a thread on this a month or so ago; the overwhelming consensus from dog owners was that they ignore these rules and let their dogs have free rein over the house.

Sometimes the cottage you want, with the views/facilities you need happen to be designated dog friendly. That is why people without dogs book them.

I only book if I am desperate!

We stayed in a cottage in Scotland and hadn't ever really thought about whether anywhere was pet friendly or not as we don't have a dog. Well, it was awful, it stank and there was dog hair everywhere and now we actively try to avoid booking pet friendly, but it's so bloody hard, especially in outdoorsy locations. I get that businesses are struggling, which I guess is why they do it.

I really don’t understand why you started this thread?

Was it perhaps to start a bunfight between pro-dog and anti-dog?

my dog sends his love

You laugh, but I caught fleas from my office and then they infested my home. I had to flea bomb it twice and we had to get the office cleared too. It was disgusting and horrible

I made this mistake just a couple of weeks ago. Booked a last minute caravan which happened to be dog friendly. The smell was strong and our clothes stank and I was highly aware of the kids lying/playing around on the sofa, cushions and carpet where dogs had been on. Air freshener did nothing. I got used to the smell, but won’t be doing that again.

I unfortunately stayed in one over Christmas, it was the only decent place left. Wardrobe in the main bedroom reeked of piss 🤮

Of course it won't stink, don't be daft.

Are you relying on the old chestnut that dog owners houses all stink and they don't know it (even though most of us have honest friends and family that we can specifically ask about this)?
Because if you are, have you considered the fact that becoming immune to the sweaty smell of one unclean human doesn't blind you to the sweaty smell of other humans. The same must hold for dogs: even the doggiest clients and property owners will smell odours of dogs that are strange to them.

Anyway, it is daft to imagine that dog-friendly holiday property could even exist as a business model if the 'stink' was ineradicable

Yes, we've found this too

We went to a dog friendly Airbnb and I wasn’t prepared for the absolute stink of it.
Thankfully it was just for one night.
Never, ever again.

(also the floor mat was full of dog hair 😞 and we had a crawling baby with us 😱)

Awww. Mucky sweetheart. At least it is mud. Not fox poo or dead badger.

We rented a couple of dog friendly cottages with Sykes and they didn't smell at all. Even our dog wasn't incessantly sniffing so I think they were cleaned to a very high standard. Also cleanable surfaces (flagstone floors etc) and a 'no dogs upstairs' policy.

Why book a dog friendly cottage.

Friends of ours have a place that they let out over the summer. They were advised to allow dogs as 40% of people want to bring a dog, so you are excluding a lot of people. I've been there several times & there is no dog smell at all.

We always stay dog friendly in case we need to take a dog, and it really depends on the standard of accommodation. Scruffy places with old carpets and old fabric sofas are going to smell bad, but something that looks as though it's maintained and cleaned properly won't. You pay extra to take a dog, which covers extra cleaning.

Our holiday lets are dog-friendly and they definitely do not stink. If they're cleaned properly and you don't have a lot of carpet then they should be fine.

We stayed in a luxury level cottage via Sykes, the smell hit me as soon as I opened the door. I’d never book dog friendly accommodation again and actively seek out dog free places now.

OP I think it will be fine, over the past two years we've taken our dog to countless dog-friendly properties including hotels and cottages through AirBnB all around England and Wales and they've never had these smells! Pretty sure we're not nose blind either as we have a tiny maltipoo who luckily doesn't smell at all 😂

Our holiday cottage earlier in the summer was dog friendly, didn't smell at all. But the weather was cold, which may have helped...