Who Let the Dogs Out...Not! A Carlsbad Tale

sorry- that last comment was me......forgot I logged out! 

Jeff, I went on a house tour a few months ago and one of the houses had a large dog.  The owners new that the house was on the tour that day, and along with leavin the dog they also left a note written as if it was from the dog asking us to change his water while we were there.

I recently showed a listing where the MLS failed to mention that there was a dog. When I unlocked the door the little pug ran right past me and out into the courtyard. Thankfully I was able to grab it before it could make it out to the street!

Jeff, Sadie is a pretty one!  I have a chapter in my book, "Your Family Calls Him Fido, Your Broker Calls Him Fang".  That sort of says it all.  Any dog is any listing - even a sweetie like Sadie - will give lots of agents paws pause.

If it says Fido is home in the MLS thats a big enough red flag for me. No show!!!!

It's the times I get surprised with no warning that the home has a four legged security system that makes me want to choke the listing agent.

THat's why I carry a 357, no no not for the dog, the owner and the other agent. HAHA. I don't show homes with animals unless the owners are there and only if the buyers couldn't find anything ahead of time. Not worth the trouble for any reason. I tell my sellers take the pet somewhere everyday or to work with them ( no exceptions) or I'm not your guy. I'm polite, nice and upfront and I'm ok with that. My favorite word is NEXT.

I've been greeted at the front door by a large barking dog...and shut the door and didn't show the house. Pets need to be safely contained both for their own sake, and for the safety of everyone else as well.

Hi Jeff, Congrats on the feature! Lenn comment should become our gospel. let us each write this down and the Seller's sign that we presented it.

I love looking at different prospectives and here is one. I have a 2.5# miniature Yorkshire ( recently lost my other one to cancer). If I ere selling my home, I would not want her here being barraged with strangers or other  well intended people (children) thinking it is Ok to play , chase, or otherwise torment her.

When you love your little one ( or big ones for that matter) they are usually not accustomed to strangers being around with out you. They don't know what to think. So take them with you and don't leave them alone to face this.

Couple this perspective with what everyone else has offered here and it becomes clear that unless an animal is in a pen ( cruel anyway) they should be taken from the property at all showings. If that is inconvenient, there are dog sitting services for times when that might not be possible. Or it will necessitate that showings can be arranged when the pet is not home, just as the parents aren't.

I (generally) love dogs - But not when I'm showing a house - and I ALWAYS proceed with caution even when I'm dealing with a mini dog - You just never know...  And you can come across them when you least expect it.  My rule - get the dog OUT at showings - I know in this case the seller lost his control (or could care less at this point)... Proceed with Caution - our only protection...

Hi Jeff,

I always have sellers remove the dog during showings but one time my seller forgot I was having a brokers open house, I was serving lunch too. When I arrived to set up the dog was in the bedroom, the bed was un made and the dog left a nice mess. The seller was at work but she called a neighbor to take the dog. Guess who made the bed and cleaned the poop? Fortunately I eneded up selling the place to a couple with a dog.

Did I read this correctly?  The owner is renting "rooms?"  Wow, that is a new one to me.

What a shame, sounds like the listing agent doesn't care, or maybe just feels like the offer will go through. Regardless, this is not good. I had a client once you left her big dog in the back yard. He was really friendly but barked loud. We had a showing and the elderly lady would not get out of the car. Sellers take note.....

I've been fortunate with dogs, but one open house I previewed had a parrot in a cage that hadn't been cleaned in about a year! It was a turn-off.  I never brought my clients to see that home. Pets should be kept clean and kept secure. I have had clients put their dogs in crates, take them with them, or even require a phone call from the showing agent to allow time for someone to put the dogs in a pen. I agree with most...don't show if there is any doubt.

I don't understand how people can just assume that their pet or any pet on the property is going to be okay with strangers.  I literally had to put my self between a very upset growling dog and my client and her child last summer when the dog came out from under a bench on the front porch. It was not a small dog and it was in no way friendly. I had my client return to my car and I had to back up with the dog following every step. Not fun. I've worked with and trained large breed dogs in my youth and have been around aggressive dogs...and this one was a threat! Needless to say the home didn't get shown. What was worse was the cavalier attitude of the listing agent in that they had never had a problem with "Fido" so what was my problem?!?

I actually wanted to be a vet until I found out how much school was required.  So...I decided to become a Realtor instead : )  I went on a listing appointment where a extremely large Bull Mastiff lived.  He literally was trying to lay in my lap and snuggle with me.  Never mind that he weighed 175 lbs.  Could not have been sweeter.  Until...I went back a few weeks later to take pictures and put the sign and lockbox up.  Sellers were not home.  As I was unlocking the glass door, he started barking at me.  As I turned the handle, he got in a crouching position with all of his teeth showing!!!  I very slowly walked away from the house and called the Seller.  She was so surprised!  This goes to show that the friendliest dogs will protect their domain.  I'm just glad I lived to tell about it!!

Wow...you take care when opening closed doors! That's quite the oppposite experience of one showing I went to last week. We looked around the whole place and at the very end noticed a dog cage under the bar. We peeked inside and there was the sweetest poochie just looking at us...not a peep to be heard!

Jeff~ There is NO WAY anyone could ever be sure that the dog that lives there is going to be nice to "strangers" in or around their home.  ALL dogs must go before showings.  Safety is more important than anything else!

I love animals-especially dogs.  But, I agree it is not good to have them loose when you are trying to show a house.  I have had clients who would not go into a home because there was a cat loose and they were afraid of cats  When I was selling my previous home, I would leave work and go pick up my 2 dogs before a showing.  One was always kenneled when we were not there and the other was very old and could barely walk.  But, I knew that many people are afraid of dogs and I also knew having strangers in the house without me was traumatic for the dogs. 

Those dogs have both passed on, but I have 2 other ones now.  One is a large male German Shepherd that I got from a former client.  I was selling his farm and he could not take it with him.  I was the only person who was not scared of him so he asked me if I could take him.  I'm a pushover.  Here they are last Christmas waiting on Santa.

When I got my first listing with a dog, a very wise colleague told me to never put "dog will not bite" in the MLS. 

JoEllen and several others are right when they advise caution, even for "friendly dogs who would never bite".   Dogs, no matter how sweet they are in general, can get very territorial when they think they are protecting their owner's home in their absence.  I absolutely love dogs, but am still very cautious when I enter a house to film it even when the owner or listing agent are there.  I always ask how friendly the dog is before approaching it, and and ask if my large equipment (tripods, lights etc.) will scare or upset it?   When I have been in the role of seller, I always took the dog for a walk or ride while buyers were looking at the house just out of consideration.

Also, as Pam above pointed out, having strangers come in when the family isn't there can be very confusing and stressful to dogs.