Whoof, whoof

Early on in my career, I had driven out to a hillside property to meet some clients. Before I could get out of my car, two Dobermans came out of the side yard and started to bark, loudly, at the car. My clients arrived a couple of minutes later and found themselves also trapped inside their car.  I called the owners on my cell phone, to no answer.  They hadn’t answered their phone earlier and there was no mention of the dogs in the listing.  After about 5 minutes, that seemed more like an hour, one of the owners came strolling down the front steps and herded up the dogs. My clients barely looked at that house, they bought another. It was a cute house, priced right, but after 9 months on the market it failed to sell.

Several years later, I was showing property to a young woman who had been a floor call the day before. She was a daddy’s girl with enough money to pay cash for her house. Accompanying her was a friend who was 7 months pregnant. The companion had a long scar down one cheek she had received as a girl when she was attacked and almost killed by a dog.  None of the homes we were to view mentioned any pets.  The third house on our tour was the only house where I had been unable to get a hold of either the agent or the owners, but it was a knock and show.  We went in and my client went bouncing off to look at the bedrooms. I slowly made my way through the living room followed by the companion. I turned and found my self in a kitchen, beyond which was a small family room. As I approached the family room I noticed two statutes of dogs. Huh oh, I thought to myself. Where there are pictures and statutes of dogs, there are usually the real thing. One of them was a very shiny depiction of a pug-nosed; the other was almost as tall as me: a hound sitting on his hind legs. I walked to the end of the family room, looked out the window for the view, turned around to approach the pregnant woman a few steps in front of me, and that’s when our eyes locked – the hound was no statue.

I looked forward, to the pregnant woman, with visions of a premature labor, and continued walking at the same slow, steady pace. When I reached the woman I took her by the arm, said, quietly, “We are leaving now”, and marched her out of the room. When we entered the living room, my client came bounding out of the hallway to the bedrooms.  I took her with my other arm, said, quietly, “We are leaving, now”, and marched them both out the front door.  I let go of the women, turn, quickly closed and locked the front door, turned back around and said, “dog”.  My client shrugged her shoulders, turned, and went skipping to the car. I caught the pregnant woman, who was now shaking, and steadied her back to the vehicle.

Putting information about your pets on a listing shows respect for those animals. Show your pride in these beloved family members – mention them on the listing form.