I should start this by saying that you will seldom meet someone who loves animals more than I do. I would have 100's of dogs, cats, horses, goats and cows if I could.
HOWEVER.....pets have their place and in a home on the market....well, that is just not one of them. I review with every client the liability exposure that they could have and encourage them to take Fido with them during showings or have the dog(s) in kennels. Opening your home to potential buyers also opens up the possibility that someone can be injured and removing a dog can help greatly with a 911 call. It is not always the large dogs or the agressive breeds....even a small dog can do damage to buyer or a buyer's child.
Dogs don't always react with strangers the same way they will act with their owners. I know firsthand. I was showing a property that had just come on the market and it just so happened that belong to an agent. He had in the listing that the appointments were to be scheduled him, direct which I did, and we proceeded the his home. He given me the alarm code, which I now know was not neccessary for protection, and also to let me know that he had a friendly dog in the house.
We arrived at the house and my clients were thrilled with the lake view and the neighborhood. From the description the house fit all of their needs. I did tell them that there was an alarm and I would need to enter first to make sure that I could locate and disarm.....I normally allow the buyer to walk in first to get the "WOW" effect instead of the view of my behind. As I opened the door I was face to face with the "friendly" dog....which was not friendly. Rufus (I think that was his name) charged me like a bull and leaped for my face. I threw up my arm just in time to feel his bite come down on my wrist and in the same motion I kicked Rufus so hard that he flipped backwards and slipped across the hardwood floors. I slammed the door shut, with us all on the outside, just as Rufus was charging the door once again. I looked down at my arm and discovered that I had a small puncture on my forearm and a broken crystal on my watch. Let's face it.....the wound woul heal but that was a nice watch and the tooth mark was not a novelty statement.
I called the homeowner/agent and informed him about the attack. He seemed to be surprised and said that I was the first agent to show the house so maybe the dog would not do well with strangers. DAH.....Ya think. He was very lucky that it was not a potential homeowner. The whole situtation had "LAWSUIT" written all over it, instead I just got a new watch.
When you are not absolutely sure that your pet is the perfect angel then you should never take the risk. If listing agents explain upfront what problems can arise then we can take a "bite" out of more issues as agents that we are forced to deal with.
This was a serious matter at the time and the fact that an agent was so confident that his dog was "friendly" it could have been much worse.
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