Recently we lost our old dog of 14 years. She was the light of our life and very much part of our family. My husband and I are not just dog lovers, we are considered extreme dog lovers by our family and friends. Often times we have a foster dog in our home but had taken a break in the last few years due to our old dog getting up in years and her health issues. I fully admit we are out of practice and very far removed from the puppy stages. After we lost our old dog, our other dog was lonely so we decided it was time to foster again. So we brought home a Doberman mix from a local rescue. He not yet fixed, (but will be in two weeks), with an unknown past and about a year old with no training. In the last few days we have invested in a new carpet cleaner, a training collar for the barking and are now looking into putting him in organized training with a professional. He needs work but is super friendly and wants to please. However because he is a Doberman people seem terrified of him. The poor Century Link Tech called my cell yesterday to tell me he could not work on the box near my house because it was located under a window and he was sure that this dog was going to bust through the window to attack him. I explained that he would never do that and if he did he would be attacked by licks, however I had to reschedule that appointment regardless. Last Friday, our monthly house cleaner had the shock of her life the other day when she came in because she came face to face with our new foster and I forgot to mention we had him. Although she is also an avid dog lover so she told me they became quick friends after her heartbeat settled down.
I'm not really sure why but all of this got me thinking about sellers and their furry friends.
What do sellers do with their pets when they know that they need to show their homes? I have been to multiple open houses where the dogs are left outside in the yard and depending on the potential buyers they will either go back to look at the yard regardless of the dog or just glance through a window. Yet after only five days of fostering a Doberman I realized that not all dogs are judged the same. When you give advice to your sellers do you take the breed into consideration or is every dog treated equally? What do you suggest to your sellers?
This also got me thinking about cats. We do not own any but because we love animals if we looked at a home with cats it wouldn’t be a huge deal. However after speaking with some of my clients the fact that the home has “cats” is actually a huge red flag to some potential buyers. I never realized how turned off people can be to homes with pets. Some of my clients said they saw a litter box and that was enough to have them look elsewhere. So, although I have many questions, my main question is more out of curiosity than anything else…
What do you tell your sellers to do with their animals during a showing or an open house?
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