Paws Welcome: The Ultimate Guide to Preparing Your Home for Dog Guests
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In 2024, a study was released showing that 37% of dog owners choose to travel with their furry friends. This means that if you want to increase your chances of a visit from your dog-owning friends and family members, you may need to start preparing your home for dog guests as well.
I know this can be intimidating for people who don’t have pets and even long-time dog owners. How can you safely have someone else’s animals in your house without risking damage to your home or your relationship with the dog’s owner?
As a dog lover who travels frequently with their pups and who opens her home to houseguests and their four-legged friends, I can tell you the best way to get your house ready for future canine visitors.
Preparing Your Home for Dog Guests
When you invite dog owners to stay with you, you may wonder what’s the best way to get your home ready for your incoming furry visitors. Like any guest, you want the visiting pups to be safe and comfortable during their stay. To make it as easy as possible here are 8 simple steps that will set your visitors up for success:
- Successful visits start with clear communication! Before you agree to host your family member or friend (and their dogs) you both need to know what to expect. Clearly go over your house rules and expectations so they can decide if it’s worth bringing their pups to stay with you.
- Bring up any concerns about having new animals in your house before they arrive. Don’t forget to find out what their concerns are and what they may need or expect. This includes any medical or behavioral information that will help you set up a safe environment for them. This way you both will be on the same page.
- Dedicate a safe space for the visiting dog. Ideally, this area will be in a quiet, calm, and out-of-the-way place. This should be where they can go if they get overwhelmed or need to decompress. This could be a guest room, an office, or a basement. If you have limited space, this could also be the kitchen or part of the living room.
- Before your guests arrive, put away all decorations and items that aren’t dog-safe or look like potential dog toys. This includes putting all toxic plants out of reach.
- Remove all pest repellents and poisons from in and around your home. This includes anything that emits high frequencies to keep animals away. The sounds they make can be very stressful to pets.
- If you use incense or diffusers in your home, check that all scents are dog-safe. Many popular essential oils like peppermint and eucalyptus are toxic to dogs.
- Keep tables and counters clear of food and other items you don’t want the dogs to grab. Remember that dogs tend to be opportunistic. If they see a chance to get something they want, they will probably take it.
- Once your guests arrive, go over the house and yard with the dog parents to see if they see anything that may need to be adjusted to keep their dogs safe. Don’t forget to tell them about wildlife in the area and any neighborhood animals that share a fenceline or run loose.
Making your Home Extra Dog-friendly for Visitors
If you want to take your doggy hosting skills to the next level, here are a few extra things you can provide for your houseguests. These things will show your visitors that your place is dog-friendly, not just dog-tolerant.
- If possible, provide a dog crate, dog bed, water bowl, and sound machine/TV for the room they will be staying in. The sound machine will help to keep the new dog from barking at every noise in the house. Having items like this available is much appreciated by traveling dog owners because it means they won’t have to try to fit them in their vehicles for the trip.
- Provide appropriate cleaning supplies like poop bags, paper towels, and dog-safe cleaners. Even the best-behaved pup may have an accident in a new environment. Providing cleaning supplies will show the human guests that you understand if an incident occurs. This also means that any mess can be picked up immediately.
- Provide some dog treats or toys for them to play with. Having items on hand to reward good behavior in your canine guests and to help keep them entertained is always a huge win in my book!
- Have several dog-friendly options for activities and restaurants as well as a few non-dog-friendly suggestions. This way your house guests can decide what to do based on how comfortable they and their dogs are.
- Offer to dog-sit so they can explore the city on their own. We allow our human guests to leave their pets in the house to explore the city and we always go over what their owners are comfortable with. For example, we find out if they want their dogs left in the crate/guest room or if they are allowed outside and in the common areas of the house if their parents aren’t home.
Our guest room is set up with a dog bed, water bowl, sound machine, TV, and record player. We also set up dog gates at each door to prevent any and all animals in the house from unplanned introductions and extra crates of all sizes if needed. (We foster so we keep a wide selection).
How to Make Your Home Extra Safe for Visiting Dogs
A pet owner’s biggest fear is their pup going missing or becoming sick or injured when traveling. To help your favorite dog parent out, here are a few extra steps you can take to keep everyone safe during their visit.
- Have baby/dog gates available to help keep dogs safe. These gates can be used as a barrier between animals that don’t get along, keep dogs out of areas that haven’t been doggy-proofed, or give pets a break from small children.
- Set up a secondary barricade to prevent dogs from running outside. This is especially important if the dog is an escape artist, or the people in the house aren’t used to dogs. All outside doors that do not lead to our fenced-in yard are blocked by another gate system to prevent dogs from running away.
- If you have small children in the house, you should always closely supervise the kids when they are around the dogs. Children are the most common victims of dog bites. so it’s important to pay close attention to the dog’s body-language. During the times when you can’t closely watch the dogs and kids make sure you child-proof the area that the dogs will be in.
- Provide local veterinarian information in case of emergencies.
Extra Tips to Help You Prepare for Dog Guests
We have covered all the basics when preparing for four-legged houseguests. But I still have a few extra tips that can help you be a good host even if things aren’t going exactly as planned.
- If you are worried about keeping your furniture safe from dog hair and nails, cover your chairs and couches with a cover or sheet. This trick works great for us when we stay at vacation rentals with our pups!
- If your doggie guest has frequent bathroom accidents in your home, encourage the use of dog diapers to prevent future messes. These are available at pet stores and online. You can also surround your furniture with cardboard “skirts” in a pinch.
- If your house turns into a “Westside Story” remake (your dogs and theirs aren’t getting along) you can take turns on which dogs are allowed in the main part of the house or outside. This means that each group of animals will still get exercise and socialization without the risk of dog fights
Most importantly, it’s okay to let your human friends know that you aren’t able to accommodate their pooch during their visit, even if they’ve brought their pets before. It may be harder to plan a visit, but ultimately it is what is best to keep all animals safe and the human relationships intact.
We have had to say no to furry house guests because of our pet’s health issues, personality conflicts with visiting dogs, and construction. We have also been told “no” to bringing our dogs to stay with friends and family for different reasons like lack of space or because they weren’t comfortable around dogs.
Creating a Home Away From Home for Your Furry Houseguests
Preparing your home for dog guests is more than just crossing things off a checklist. It’s about creating a safe, welcoming environment for both visiting pups and owners. Doing this doesn’t have to be stressful and time-consuming- it just takes a little thoughtful preparation to turn a simple visit into a memorable experience.
With these proactive steps and open communication between you and the pup’s owner, you can dog-proof your space and make the upcoming visit smooth and enjoyable for everyone. Remember, every dog is unique—what works for one may not work for another, so stay flexible and patient. With a little effort and planning, you’ll be able to see your pup-parent friends and family more often!
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Great ideas for welcoming a guest and their dog into your home. Communication is definitely a good idea so everyone knows what you expect, what’s ok, and what’s not acceptable. I remember one of my dear friends had her son show up for a long visit with his dog. He didn’t give a notice and she asked that the pup not be on her very high-end bed. Nope that request wasn’t adhered to and the pup peed on the bed and her pricey bedding. She told him never to come back with a pet. Respect is key. I also suggest making sure all bags (plastic and otherwise) are put up because it’s very easy for a pup to suffocate. Great post! I’m sharing with my dog parents.
Thank you! And that sounds horrible for your friend. It is super important to respect the rules on both sides. (and yes, pick up all the things like plastic bags).
What a fantastic, comprehensive guide! It’s obvious you’re a great hostess, and I can imagine how much people and their dogs love staying with you. I’m going to your house on my next vacation with the dog…sounds like paradise!
Thanks! I love being able to open my doors to my friends and their pets like people have opened their homes for me. It means that I get to see people more which is the best!
Fantastic tips and so true, if they are comfortable when visiting someone you can also really relax and not have to worry, love the ideas and will keep them in mind if Nili ever goes to friends with me. Thanks and Merry Christmas
Happy holidays!
This is a really comprehensive guide and I hope it helps dog owners who are at their wits end to cope with visitors. I think covers are a great idea, and doing hoeowkr about what dogs like and where they can go at home. I would definitely lay my own ground rules for strange dogs in my home!
Sharing your ground rules before guest arrive def cuts down on issues during visits 🙂
Excellent information! We didn’t travel, but did have family and friends come to our house. Whenever we had guests to our house with our five Siberian Huskies, we’d put up a gate by the doorway so they couldn’t escape. It allowed visitors to come into our home without worrying about them dashing out, as Huskies are runners! And, it also let visitors and my Sibes greet each other excitedly with a safe gate between them, then we would open up the gate and let them mingle! Sharing with our readers! Happy Howlidays!
Thanks! Yes, around the holidays I always see a ton of lost dog posts from dogs escaping during visits with family and friends. Extra barriers can help a lot!
I Love this post! I have always wanted to welcome the pets of our family or friends but I’m afraid they might not get along – using pet gates is a great idea, and so is timing the dogs having access to common areas. These are such good suggestions.
Thanks! Since we finally have our own house, it was super important to me to open our doors to our visitors pets too. We get to see them way more often this way!