Owners' pets

[Copperhead]

My take as a dog owner.... well 2 dogs since my DD moved back home:
I will start off with what I was afraid of doing - marketing that we have dogs! Add it to your website. Put a family pic - innkeepers with the security pups! Or something like that. DH has a couple spots where he mentions what our dog does to help out.
When we first got our dog I was just like you. I was afraid of what it would do to our business. When the 2nd dog came to stay, we thought temporary BUTT..... , that was when the barking started.
The barking was tapered by using the barking collar but he still does bark when someone comes to the door. We make a joke that it is our 2nd doorbell.
Since we started marketing with the dogs, 90+% of the people are dog lovers. I have people now asking for the dogs to come out during breakfast. Of course that is not going to happen. I do not want to encourage that.
Guests call, email & FB msg asking about the dogs before they discuss availability or other reasons for the communication, if any!
You'll figure it out but as I say use them in your marketing. That's the best advice I can give.

 

[bmcheurung]

My take as a dog owner.... well 2 dogs since my DD moved back home:
I will start off with what I was afraid of doing - marketing that we have dogs! Add it to your website. Put a family pic - innkeepers with the security pups! Or something like that. DH has a couple spots where he mentions what our dog does to help out.
When we first got our dog I was just like you. I was afraid of what it would do to our business. When the 2nd dog came to stay, we thought temporary BUTT..... , that was when the barking started.
The barking was tapered by using the barking collar but he still does bark when someone comes to the door. We make a joke that it is our 2nd doorbell.
Since we started marketing with the dogs, 90+% of the people are dog lovers. I have people now asking for the dogs to come out during breakfast. Of course that is not going to happen. I do not want to encourage that.
Guests call, email & FB msg asking about the dogs before they discuss availability or other reasons for the communication, if any!
You'll figure it out but as I say use them in your marketing. That's the best advice I can give..

Thank you so much. My collars should be here today and I have a friend who has the name of an animal behaviorist for me, just in case. The last B&B we stayed at in the same town told us the same thing about their dog. She said people remember his name and ask to see him when they get there. I should be so lucky! I am going to take this one day at a time. The home we are buying won't be ready to open until the fall, so I do have some training time. Thank you so much for your advice.

 

[TheBeachHouse]

I raised dogs for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. This is how we were taught to train it out of them. Very easy way, cost nothing, but lots of work. It is easier with a friend or family member, but can be done by yourself. Have the dog near you and create a situation that makes the dog bark. Firmly grasp under the chin and bring it up to look at you and in a quiet but firm voice say,. "No! Bad Language!" It will startle the dog so it will stop barking to see what is going on. Then praise it for being quiet while you stroke its fur. It will soon learn that barking isn't the thing to do. My dogs would run to the picture window to check up on who just drove in. Then come running to tell me with a shove of the nose that we had company as it raced back to the door to welcome the people to his home. Except for the clicking of nails on the floor, everything was quiet and many a UPS delivery person had been surprised to see a nose and beaded little eyes staring up at them when the door opened..

I love, "bad language."

 

[JBloggs]

My take as a dog owner.... well 2 dogs since my DD moved back home:
I will start off with what I was afraid of doing - marketing that we have dogs! Add it to your website. Put a family pic - innkeepers with the security pups! Or something like that. DH has a couple spots where he mentions what our dog does to help out.
When we first got our dog I was just like you. I was afraid of what it would do to our business. When the 2nd dog came to stay, we thought temporary BUTT..... , that was when the barking started.
The barking was tapered by using the barking collar but he still does bark when someone comes to the door. We make a joke that it is our 2nd doorbell.
Since we started marketing with the dogs, 90+% of the people are dog lovers. I have people now asking for the dogs to come out during breakfast. Of course that is not going to happen. I do not want to encourage that.
Guests call, email & FB msg asking about the dogs before they discuss availability or other reasons for the communication, if any!
You'll figure it out but as I say use them in your marketing. That's the best advice I can give..

My take as a dog owner.... well 2 dogs since my DD moved back home:
I will start off with what I was afraid of doing - marketing that we have dogs! Add it to your website. Put a family pic - innkeepers with the security pups! Or something like that. DH has a couple spots where he mentions what our dog does to help out.
When we first got our dog I was just like you. I was afraid of what it would do to our business. When the 2nd dog came to stay, we thought temporary BUTT..... , that was when the barking started.
The barking was tapered by using the barking collar but he still does bark when someone comes to the door. We make a joke that it is our 2nd doorbell.
Since we started marketing with the dogs, 90+% of the people are dog lovers. I have people now asking for the dogs to come out during breakfast. Of course that is not going to happen. I do not want to encourage that.
Guests call, email & FB msg asking about the dogs before they discuss availability or other reasons for the communication, if any!
You'll figure it out but as I say use them in your marketing. That's the best advice I can give.

And they are awesome.
I agree, put it up front and no surprises. Forget about the whole "they are hairless and hypo-allergetic" you don't want any people there who are dog haters, period. Here's an innkeeper I know taking two dogs for a walk in the neighborhood.

 

[TheBeachHouse]

The innkeeper down the street from us has a dog.
It's pretty normal for people to have pets. Keep them contained. Build them a run.

 

[OnTheShore]

Exercise, exercise, exercise. As the saying goes, "A tired dog is a happy owner."

 

[Figurehead]

I raised dogs for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. This is how we were taught to train it out of them. Very easy way, cost nothing, but lots of work. It is easier with a friend or family member, but can be done by yourself. Have the dog near you and create a situation that makes the dog bark. Firmly grasp under the chin and bring it up to look at you and in a quiet but firm voice say,. "No! Bad Language!" It will startle the dog so it will stop barking to see what is going on. Then praise it for being quiet while you stroke its fur. It will soon learn that barking isn't the thing to do. My dogs would run to the picture window to check up on who just drove in. Then come running to tell me with a shove of the nose that we had company as it raced back to the door to welcome the people to his home. Except for the clicking of nails on the floor, everything was quiet and many a UPS delivery person had been surprised to see a nose and beaded little eyes staring up at them when the door opened..

I remember when you were training puppies! Does this work for any breed to stop barking? And what if you want it to be a little protective but not obnoxious? How did you stop it from jumping up on people and only greet them?
I'm not a dog person, but my grandchildren that live nearby, now have two and they bark and jump. Makes me not want to visit very often. So, if I had some constructive ideas or suggestions for training hopefully they would do it, and I would be forever grateful to you.
Thank you, Duff2014!

 

[Lee2014]

I raised dogs for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. This is how we were taught to train it out of them. Very easy way, cost nothing, but lots of work. It is easier with a friend or family member, but can be done by yourself. Have the dog near you and create a situation that makes the dog bark. Firmly grasp under the chin and bring it up to look at you and in a quiet but firm voice say,. "No! Bad Language!" It will startle the dog so it will stop barking to see what is going on. Then praise it for being quiet while you stroke its fur. It will soon learn that barking isn't the thing to do. My dogs would run to the picture window to check up on who just drove in. Then come running to tell me with a shove of the nose that we had company as it raced back to the door to welcome the people to his home. Except for the clicking of nails on the floor, everything was quiet and many a UPS delivery person had been surprised to see a nose and beaded little eyes staring up at them when the door opened..

I remember when you were training puppies! Does this work for any breed to stop barking? And what if you want it to be a little protective but not obnoxious? How did you stop it from jumping up on people and only greet them?
I'm not a dog person, but my grandchildren that live nearby, now have two and they bark and jump. Makes me not want to visit very often. So, if I had some constructive ideas or suggestions for training hopefully they would do it, and I would be forever grateful to you.
Thank you, Duff2014!
.

I remember when you were training puppies! Does this work for any breed to stop barking? And what if you want it to be a little protective but not obnoxious? How did you stop it from jumping up on people and only greet them?
I'm not a dog person, but my grandchildren that live nearby, now have two and they bark and jump. Makes me not want to visit very often. So, if I had some constructive ideas or suggestions for training hopefully they would do it, and I would be forever grateful to you.
Thank you, Duff2014!

As the dog leap up, bring your knee up like you are going up the stairs. (The dog's stomach will come into contact with your knee so make sure you are steady on the other foot.) A smart dog won't jump up on you again even if he continues to jump on other people. Praise and pet the dog when it comes up to you and doesn't jump. All they want is attention and love.

 

[Figurehead]

I raised dogs for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. This is how we were taught to train it out of them. Very easy way, cost nothing, but lots of work. It is easier with a friend or family member, but can be done by yourself. Have the dog near you and create a situation that makes the dog bark. Firmly grasp under the chin and bring it up to look at you and in a quiet but firm voice say,. "No! Bad Language!" It will startle the dog so it will stop barking to see what is going on. Then praise it for being quiet while you stroke its fur. It will soon learn that barking isn't the thing to do. My dogs would run to the picture window to check up on who just drove in. Then come running to tell me with a shove of the nose that we had company as it raced back to the door to welcome the people to his home. Except for the clicking of nails on the floor, everything was quiet and many a UPS delivery person had been surprised to see a nose and beaded little eyes staring up at them when the door opened..

I remember when you were training puppies! Does this work for any breed to stop barking? And what if you want it to be a little protective but not obnoxious? How did you stop it from jumping up on people and only greet them?
I'm not a dog person, but my grandchildren that live nearby, now have two and they bark and jump. Makes me not want to visit very often. So, if I had some constructive ideas or suggestions for training hopefully they would do it, and I would be forever grateful to you.
Thank you, Duff2014!
.

I remember when you were training puppies! Does this work for any breed to stop barking? And what if you want it to be a little protective but not obnoxious? How did you stop it from jumping up on people and only greet them?
I'm not a dog person, but my grandchildren that live nearby, now have two and they bark and jump. Makes me not want to visit very often. So, if I had some constructive ideas or suggestions for training hopefully they would do it, and I would be forever grateful to you.
Thank you, Duff2014!

As the dog leap up, bring your knee up like you are going up the stairs. (The dog's stomach will come into contact with your knee so make sure you are steady on the other foot.) A smart dog won't jump up on you again even if he continues to jump on other people. Praise and pet the dog when it comes up to you and doesn't jump. All they want is attention and love.
.

Thank you! I will try that for myself and knowing it might work for me, though not necessarily for others, encourages me to try. I will then praise and pet when it doesn't greet me with a jump. I guess it boils down to training me (or the owner)!
Have a great day!

 

[Camge]

We have a dog friendly B and B and have our own dog Molly as well. Molly gets more reviews than. Do. Everyonebloves her even non dog people. She is a standard poodle and is a certified therapy dog. Since. Started the B and B she has not worked at sr., assisted living facilities, but seems to think she needs to greet every guest and let them pet her. In real life she is pretty fiesty and jumpy, but when she is work ing she is so low key and actually works the guests tomget them to come to her.. I guess she likes this job. Getting your dogs lots of training is the best idea. By the way our guest dogs have been lovely. Molly loves to greet them and has some lovely play sessions with them. By the waay, Molly was a rescue and for the first two years would not let anyone, husband included touch her. Who would have guessed she needed a job?

 

[JBloggs]

We have a dog friendly B and B and have our own dog Molly as well. Molly gets more reviews than. Do. Everyonebloves her even non dog people. She is a standard poodle and is a certified therapy dog. Since. Started the B and B she has not worked at sr., assisted living facilities, but seems to think she needs to greet every guest and let them pet her. In real life she is pretty fiesty and jumpy, but when she is work ing she is so low key and actually works the guests tomget them to come to her.. I guess she likes this job. Getting your dogs lots of training is the best idea. By the way our guest dogs have been lovely. Molly loves to greet them and has some lovely play sessions with them. By the waay, Molly was a rescue and for the first two years would not let anyone, husband included touch her. Who would have guessed she needed a job?.

We have a dog friendly B and B and have our own dog Molly as well. Molly gets more reviews than. Do. Everyonebloves her even non dog people. She is a standard poodle and is a certified therapy dog. Since. Started the B and B she has not worked at sr., assisted living facilities, but seems to think she needs to greet every guest and let them pet her. In real life she is pretty fiesty and jumpy, but when she is work ing she is so low key and actually works the guests tomget them to come to her.. I guess she likes this job. Getting your dogs lots of training is the best idea. By the way our guest dogs have been lovely. Molly loves to greet them and has some lovely play sessions with them. By the waay, Molly was a rescue and for the first two years would not let anyone, husband included touch her. Who would have guessed she needed a job?

I knew I liked you Camge! That is wonderful.
Everyone needs encouragement and a job to do well.

 

[TheBeachHouse]

I deliberately put a picture of the cats on our website gallery in case anyone has cat issues, so they would be forewarned.
Today, we got our first email saying he saw the picture and is allergic. We assured him the cats do not go into the inn. We'll take his cancellation if he decides he needs it.

 

[Ice]

My take as a dog owner.... well 2 dogs since my DD moved back home:
I will start off with what I was afraid of doing - marketing that we have dogs! Add it to your website. Put a family pic - innkeepers with the security pups! Or something like that. DH has a couple spots where he mentions what our dog does to help out.
When we first got our dog I was just like you. I was afraid of what it would do to our business. When the 2nd dog came to stay, we thought temporary BUTT..... , that was when the barking started.
The barking was tapered by using the barking collar but he still does bark when someone comes to the door. We make a joke that it is our 2nd doorbell.
Since we started marketing with the dogs, 90+% of the people are dog lovers. I have people now asking for the dogs to come out during breakfast. Of course that is not going to happen. I do not want to encourage that.
Guests call, email & FB msg asking about the dogs before they discuss availability or other reasons for the communication, if any!
You'll figure it out but as I say use them in your marketing. That's the best advice I can give..

My take as a dog owner.... well 2 dogs since my DD moved back home:
I will start off with what I was afraid of doing - marketing that we have dogs! Add it to your website. Put a family pic - innkeepers with the security pups! Or something like that. DH has a couple spots where he mentions what our dog does to help out.
When we first got our dog I was just like you. I was afraid of what it would do to our business. When the 2nd dog came to stay, we thought temporary BUTT..... , that was when the barking started.
The barking was tapered by using the barking collar but he still does bark when someone comes to the door. We make a joke that it is our 2nd doorbell.
Since we started marketing with the dogs, 90+% of the people are dog lovers. I have people now asking for the dogs to come out during breakfast. Of course that is not going to happen. I do not want to encourage that.
Guests call, email & FB msg asking about the dogs before they discuss availability or other reasons for the communication, if any!
You'll figure it out but as I say use them in your marketing. That's the best advice I can give.

And they are awesome.
I agree, put it up front and no surprises. Forget about the whole "they are hairless and hypo-allergetic" you don't want any people there who are dog haters, period. Here's an innkeeper I know taking two dogs for a walk in the neighborhood.

.

Here's an innkeeper I know taking two dogs for a walk in the neighborhood.

[/quote]
What an awesome trip it was too. Someone needed a dog fix!

 

[MtnKeeper]

Training will help but if you have a barker and you aren't there it may become a problem. We have two wonderful labs and they never bark when guests are checking in or here in the building so long as we are home. We found out, however, that when we'd go out they would hear a guest in the building and start howling as they wanted someone to come play with them. Guests started telling us that they were in their howling for over an hour and they wanted to break into our side of the house and let them out! We've also come home to find them doing this, we can hear them outside. No one would have ever thought this knowing these two quiet dogs. The problem is now fixed because we built our house next-door and if we're not in the B&B the dogs are left over in our house.
So after you do your training I would recommend setting up a recording device and go out with guests in the house and see what happens. It's the only way you'll know if they are driving guests nuts if you aren't there. We were very cautious leaving them alone before the new house once we found out they were driving guests crazy. (The good news is, everyone loves them so much that no one ever wrote a bad review and they still come back to see the dogs.) Good luck.