My dogs (3 lb chihuahua, 90 lb American Bulldog) are put away in my teenage daughter's room with her during interviews. If they were out at their arrival, they would bark and that's not the welcome I want potential clients to have. I talk about them during the interview, how they're only allowed around the DCKs in limited amounts and with direct supervision, but it honestly depends on my group. Right now, the group is young and I have no interest in bothering with it. They do come out into the yard with us, but my 2 teens are basically on charge of looking after thm while I watch the kids, unless I need an extra hand.

If I feel like the interview is going well, I'll have my daughter let them out and they'll come to the gate to say hi at the end, but by then they've had time to calm down and get used to the idea of visitors being present so I don't have the barking I would at the beginning of the interview. If I don't like the interviewees and don't think it's going to be a good fit, I don't bother. If the ones who aren't a good fit asked to see the dogs, I would make an excuse and not worry about how they felt because I don't want to work with them anyway.

If someone asked early on in the interview to see them, I would let them know they're put away for now so that they don't bark, but I'll get them out at the end once they've had time to calm down. Never had that happen.

If a family is at all uncomfortable with the fact that I own dogs, we're just not a good fit. I generally have 1 ad or profile picture with our big girl and I together, so that sorts out a lot of the issues ahead of time 😊

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