A Friendly Barking Dog

Barking Dogs!

Barking dogs can be a big problem in my business.  Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs and have  volunteered with and supported the Humane Society of Missouri for years.  The first addition to our family was not our twin sons, but a shelter dog adopted from HSMO.

However, a barking dog can be a real deterrent for agents and buyers who are coming to take a look at your home that is on the market for sale.  If I am showing a home to a perspective buyer and we hear a dog inside barking, we pause.  If you have a dog who barks when strangers approach, please keep your dog crated or let the buyer’s agents know that the dog is either friendly but will bark or is crated.  This will help the buyer’s agent warn a cautious buyer so they can relax while viewing the home without fear of being attacked.  It is also always helpful to let the buyer’s agent know the dog’s name before they enter the house.  If you have a public or agent open house, it may be best for the dog to be completely out of the house.

Unfortunately, you have no control over the neighbor’s dogs when you are selling a home.  Some neighborhoods have rules against barking dogs, such as the University Hills neighborhood in University City, MO.  Assuming you have a great relationship with your neighbors (we are in St. Louis after all), it is a good idea if you politely ask them to bring their dogs in during any open houses or on the weekends when there is an increase in showing activity.  Everyone understands that a dog is going to bark, but a dog barking excessively next door will give a buyer pause.