Prepare your home for pet-phobic visitors
"Whatever you do to try and be more accommodating to pet-phobic visitors, remember that the happiness and well-being of your pet should never be compromised in the process."
IF you are planning on entertaining guests who are not particularly crazy about your pets, there are a few ideas you should consider implementing to ensure everything runs smoothly.
To help prepare your home for people who aren’t animal lovers, RE/MAX of Southern Africa provided the following tips for homeowners with furry inhabitants:
Sticky-roll the furniture
You might be used to being covered in pet hair, but your guests aren’t. Before your guests arrive, wipe down your furniture with a double-sided adhesive roller and be sure to keep your pets out of the room thereafter. Carpets and loose mats should also be thoroughly vacuumed and even washed if possible, as anything fabric-based tends to absorb the scent of your pets more so than other materials. In terms of safeguarding the investment value of your home, it’s advisable to keep your pets out of carpeted rooms in order to avoid the expense of having to replace these when it comes time to sell.
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Minimise the over-excited greeting
To try and minimise the excitement of when your dogs hear the doorbell, spend the morning with them out at the beach or a nearby park. That way they will have released some of their energy by the time your guests arrive. You might also want to ask your guests not to ring the doorbell or knock on the door when they arrive, but rather to send you a text so that you can sneak them in without getting your pet all worked up by the sound of their arrival.
Keep them occupied
Though not impossible, it’s much trickier to bark with a full mouth so it’s a good idea to purchase new chew toys to keep your pet preoccupied when your guests enter the home. Also be sure to feed your pet before you sit down to eat so that they don’t beg around the table. Pet food can have a really strong smell, so you might want to feed them outside or away from whichever room in which you’re entertaining.
Whatever you do to try and be more accommodating to pet-phobic visitors, remember that the happiness and well-being of your pet should never be compromised in the process.
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