Ettiquette question part II

Diana's post got me thinking because she's a pet person and has a cute little dog that's very much apart of the family.

For the pet owners.

Now what should you do when you're expecting company for the weekend and they do not do dogs or cats. Could be anything from allergies to just being plan scared of them. Whats the proper why of handling this?

Re: Ettiquette question part II

sorry, but they will have to find somewhere else to stay!

ETA: idk what would posses someone afraid of dogs or allergic to dogs to agree to stay at my house

Message edited 6/2/2011 2:14:11 PM.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

Re: Ettiquette question part II

Tell them, "If you don't like it, LEAVE!"

I kid, I kid.

I would try and vacuum the room well, and put an air purifier in there if I had one.

I would probably also put the dog outside or in another room while they were in the living room, and certainly in the kitchen.

I am not an animal person and I don't expect anyone to cater to me. I don't think that people should expect much on this front, but any little thing the host does would be appreciated.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

As a guest, I wouldn't stay if it was an allergy issue, or I'd take benedryl (and be grumpy because it doesnt' work well & puts me to sleep).

As a host, I'd preface any offer with "We have <insert pet> but you're welcome to stay if you're ok with it."

Re: Ettiquette question part II

Nothing...it's my pet.

If he bothers you - google a hotel.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

Re: Ettiquette question part II

one of my sisters doesn't care for cats (how we're related, idk).

she lives OOS and stayed at my house a few weeks ago. she just avoided the cat, and cat did same. i wasn't about to ship the cat out or lock her in a room because of it.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

Re: Ettiquette question part II

Quite honestly, if you're terrified of dogs or allergic, I don't know why you'd want to stay at my place. It's not big to begin with and no way I'm locking up my dog until you're gone - not that that'd help with allergies anyway.

If someone just didn't like having the dog all up on them etc., I'd make sure to keep my dog away for the first hour or so after arrival when she's really excited to see company. As a host, I don't have a problem with that.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

The entire upstairs of our house is dedicated to our cat's food, water, toys, blankets, etc.. They stay upstairs when we have allergic people over, or if we are having a big barbecue and the door will be opening constantly, we will let them stay up there as well, since I don't want them running out of the house.

If allergic people were coming to visit for a short amount of time (like a night), we would do the same and clean the house thoroughly. However, we couldn't accommodate them for longer than that because while our cats have tons of food, water, and toys upstairs, they miss us and like to snuggle, cuddle, and hang out. If people simply do not like cats...I feel like that isn't my problem, and they will have to deal with it. Maybe that's not very nice of me, but we all have to deal with things we don't like sometimes.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

Nothing out of the ordinary..

Re: Ettiquette question part II

If you want to stay with me, you will have to understand that I have cats.
If you can't deal with them for any reason- be it physical or psychological, then there are plenty of nice hotels in the area.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

Re: Ettiquette question part II

hope they would take allergy medication.

I can't rearrange for my 2 cats to stay somewhere else. They live here and they stay.

I'm not about to put their food and litter box in my bedroom and lock them in there the whole time either.

The guests would have to find another place to stay if they couldn't handle my pets. That's really my take on it.

I would however, clean a lot.. but this is for any company... allergic or not. Make sure all floors are mopped and vacuumed... all surfaces are wiped down, etc. also make sure no lingering cat hair is hanging around the place.

We normally clean about once a week at least (vacuuming everyday or every other day and kitchen is daily cleaning).... but if there were company coming over we would clean for sure the night before or the day of. we don't like company to see our place looking messy.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

Re: Ettiquette question part II

Re: Ettiquette question part II

I would just do my best for my guest and my pet to avoid each other....if someone was deathly afraid of cats, I would pop the cat outside or find a comfy place for the cat to spend some time.

When a certain friend of mine comes to visit, I always pop the cat outside in the daytime. Or the guest.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

My dog is not very good with strangers, so if there were people who I really wanted to stay with me who didn't like dogs, I would probably drop them off with my in-laws or my parents for a few days.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

if they were coming over for dinner, I'd put the dogs in the basement so they are out of the way. I usually do that with a big group anyway since my dogs are big and think they are lap dogs. But if they were staying with us, they'd have to get used to it... or if it really came down to it and they had nowhere else to go, I'd have them stay in the basement and keep the dogs on the 2nd floor (which is actually the main floor of the house) with me or vice versa.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

I would be the non pet person guest. If I know your animlas, I would make my decision based on that--I wouldn't expect anything special--but I might choose not to stay there ( especially if you ahve dogs who liek to lick teh new people )

Also, if you have more than one cat--DH can't stay there--it's more than his allergy medicine can handle.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

We tell them we have a cat and dog and if they're allergic its going to be hard to get away from the hair and dander.

Unfortunately the guest will have to stay some where else because its more of a hassle to find a place for my animals to stay than for them to find accommodations.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

if there were children who were going to be at my home and were afraid of our pets - i would certainly remove the pets, or keep them away from a child for the day. They are my guest, whom I invited and it is my job to make them comfortable. As for allergies, there isnt anything I can do about that. Even if you remove the animals, dander, hair, etc will always be around, even if you clean. My DHs aunt has a few cats at her house. and DS is allergic, she could kick the cats out of the house and it wouldnt make a difference, so we just have to decline going there.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

Its either you or my pet and chances are my pet trumps you! I'd do my best to make it somewhat livable since they are my guest but, as we all know you can only do so much.

Re: Ettiquette question part II

Anyone who knows me at all would know that my dogs are a part of my family and just as I wouldn't lock a child away or send them somewhere when there's company, it's not happening with the dogs either. Would that be easier? Sure. But we never expected easy when we got our first dog, or our second.

However, we do take great pains to ensure the dogs are well behaved and not a nuisance. They must behave in our home as well as my work office, since they are here with me 2x a week. Sure, there are some training challenges from time to time but I enlist the help of my guests to thwart them. Such as not giving them food, because it will encourage them to nag and beg.

I'm really not looking to make comparisons between children and dogs but the compromises I have made around the children of friends and family are expected in return around my dogs. If I don't receive that consideration, you're most likely not going to be visiting me very often.