AIBU to find pet-friendly cottages impractical if dogs cannot use furniture?

[Butterflyfluff]

I’ve been looking at ‘pet friendly’ holiday cottages in the UK to take our dog and pretty much all of them say dogs are not allowed on furniture or in bedrooms.

I don’t think I know anyone who’s dogs don’t jump on the sofa so how are you supposed to mange this - take loads of covers or just stay at home?

I have never stayed in holiday accommodation that stated a cage be used.

I used to have an Airbnb on the South Coast. It was actually my home that I rented out in summer. I was very pet friendly, but the details said no pets on furniture or upstairs. In truth I minded not a jot, it was to reassure the non-dog owners. My dog owner guests were generally much cleaner than the non-dog owners.

if you take throws or your own bedding (which I always do - and the Dyson) there really isn’t much the owner can complain about.

How will they know whether your dog has been on the furniture or not? A dog who sheds leaves hair everywhere and that hair can be found anywhere in the vicinity. Even on furniture they haven’t been on. I know a couple of dogs who have been trained not to get on the furniture and who lie on the floor or their pet beds. Some places are more pet friendly than others. If you have friends with dogs, maybe they can suggest places to stay.

I would do the same.

Bye.

There actually isn’t that much nowadays, at least in Scotland. I dislike dogs, but more to the point, I’m super allergic and my daughter more seriously so. It’s not always a matter of preference.

Yes I would call that dog accepting but to really be dog friendly they'd be allowed on sofas, beds etc.

Same, we take a load of new cheap throws and clean thoroughly afterwards, have stayed all over the UK and Europe with 2 Labs and consistently have great reviews in air bnb. We take care of our holiday accommodation as if it were our own and leave it spotless.

Keep it outside in a cage…what a revolting thing to say.

Humans are disgustingly. I’ve seen people allowing their children to sit naked on furniture. A lot of people don’t wash their hands anywhere near enough. Have a really hard think about people. Dogs are the least of your worries.

I do not believe people haven’t had dogs accidentally or otherwise get onto the sofas dogs are crafty especially if they’re used to lying on furniture at home. Mine isn’t allowed on furniture at home. Does your dog not sleep in his bed? We always take our dog’s bed away with us. Just tell him off if he tries to jump on sofa if that’s doesn’t work then put a throw on.

I accept that in a holiday cottage the dog can’t get on the sofas. She doesn’t like it but accepts it. She does however sleep in our room. She wouldn’t settle otherwise as she’s always slept in the same room as us. We always take her bed with us and we always hoover daily. We did stay in one place earlier this year that sold itself as dog friendly but expected the dog to sleep in the boot room at the far end of the house well away from their people. I’m pretty sure that the sort of folk who are taking their dog away with them aren’t the sort to be leaving them locked away far from them. There was also the place that were very upset that our dog was large. Nothing was said in Airbnb about acceptable sizes, but it did in the house rules brochure - was a bit late by then.

Reminds me of when a friend stayed at ours with her dog … we were watching a film and the dog was sprawled over our sofa. I didn’t mind this as he was on a throw.

Then DD arrived home and joined us … friend was quite happy to see her sitting on the floor 😳. Errr no the dog needs to move!

It’s definitely not a new thing to allow dogs on furniture. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t allow it. It’s their house too

So if you took the dog to a friend or relative’s house you just let him up on the furniture?!

Oh the whole point of dogs is to have a head on your lap every day!
I do agree about holiday lets though. On holiday though ours learn to stay on the floor. Takes a bit of training but they soon learn.

Extremely hard, if they are allowed on the furniture at home! They don't understand why the rules have suddenly changed, or if those new rules apply to this chair as well as that one, as well as the bed, if it's not okay for now and will be okay later...

My previous dogs who weren't allowed on the sofa would have been fine. Then I got a small rescue dog who had had a rough few months of life and felt safer higher up and he's now king of the sofas and if I were to try to keep him off them now we would be locked in endless hours of battle. Believe me or not he's a brilliantly well behaved dog, he's just very used to being high-rise.

If an Air B&B says no dogs on furniture, I look elsewhere. If it's perfect other than that or there's nothing else in the area, I have occasionally messaged the host and explained and said that I would bring throws for every piece of furniture and bedlinen too if that would help. I've never yet had a host turn me down, and I genuinely do cover every inch of furniture whether or not dogs are allowed on furniture anyway, and I leave the place spotless - lots of my reviews have said as much.

I would either take a throw that he could sit on the sofa with me on, or he would stay on a lead and sit on my lap for the duration.

Usually my friends want him on their lap or on their chair with them!

If my friend or relative objected, I wouldn't take him.

I don't think this is the thread for you.

My dog isn't allowed on the furniture. I dislike dogs on furniture. He was trained as a puppy and was told off every time he got on the furniture and put back on his bed and praised there.

He has the run of the house while I'm out but there's never any evidence of him being on the beds or sofa. He likes sleeping on the landing which is often furry but there's never any hairs on the sofa or beds and the bedding and sofa cushions are never disturbed.

Of course it is. A thread about minging dogs on furniture is perfect for me.

I have a large holiday let (sleeps 12) and generally my guests are multigenerational families. I allow dogs and do say they’re not allowed on beds or sofas - but if the dog disagrees with this to please use the throws I provide.

This is to hopefully stop wet muddy dogs jumping everywhere and seems to work. In seven years dogs have never really caused a problem - the odd poo in the garden (only twice) and a bit of hair, but really nothing to complain about. If I didn’t allow dogs I think I would be restricting my bookings as with big families at least one member has a dog.

This. I know I’m going to sound like an old fogey but I do think increasingly there are an awful more people with dogs, who don’t train them properly / think they should be allowed to go anywhere and everywhere (maybe in a similar vein to the whole gentle parenting thing?!). I absolutely love dogs, but no I don’t think they should be allowed on beds or furniture, and for example if off lead, they should be walking to heal unless running round in a field but with good recall (I’m looking at all the people round us whose dogs are off lead and go running into our front garden, to do their business….).

We visited one this summer and the rule was you had to crate the dog if left. They provided an extremely large crate. Presumably you could also bring your own crate that your dog preferred. I do not have a dog and only stay in properties that allow dogs if there are strict rules. People saying they must ignore these rules really annoy me.
Airbnb owners may not want dogs but really they have to make a living.

BIL lets his dog sit up on public furniture while they are eating (benches, picnic tables, indoor furniture where it is large enough) it’s a huge golden retriever so not a lap dog.

I find it completely inappropriate, inconsiderate to other people, and disgusting. What you do in your own home might be vile but it is your business, if you’re out and about, the dog should be on the floor.

You seem to be quite preoccupied with people shagging in holiday accommodation. Maybe you need a hobby 😄