Notaries & Mobile Professionals: How do you handle clients with pets?
If you have allergies or a fear/dislike of animals, do you ask clients to secure their pets during the appointment or keep them away from the signing area? Whatâs your approach to staying professional and comfortable? Letâs hear your tips below!
Suggestion would be to mention to signers, during confirmation call, to please secure their pets away from signing table (crate, another room, outdoors, etc.) due to your allergies.
Personally, I love those fur babies! As I donât have any pets, I consider them one of the perks of being a mobile notary. I have several allergies, including being allergic to dogs, so I just take my Zyrtec on a regular basis and go on with life.
I generally donât say anything about the pets unless the cats are walking across the table and paperwork, or they are trying to get into my briefcase sitting on the floor. But last Thursday I walked into a home with the owner behind me alerting me to the fact that they had a dog, but it was friendly. I didnât fully understand what he meant by friendly until this over-fed bulldog kept jumping upon me. I kept trying to back away, but he was fairly aggressive and seemed to keep coming at me, to the point that I sustained scratches on my hand and arm. The owner put him outside, but a few minutes later he made his way through his doggie door and headed straight toward me again in an aggressive manner. Then the owners put him into a room. The ownerâs excuse was that the dog saw my briefcase and treated it as if it was luggage. When the pet sees luggage he considers it belongs to the family and that they are getting ready to leave, which means the pet is headed to the doggie hotel. Thus his aggressive behavior. I really didnât care about his explanation. I have an innate fear of dogs because of a childhood incident. And, although the pet had been put away, I was shaken and uncomfortable throughout the signing. I will be insisting that pets are to be secured before my arrival from now on.
Personally I love fur babies , I take treats mini milk bones and cat treats with me in my bag that way big dogs , little dogs and cats are covered and can be given a treat if the owner okays it. I have had a few insistent on my attention during a signing I Pet while I can and still give my attention to the signers and paperwork at hand . I get a lot of comments such as â wow you must be special he normally doesnât sit on anyones lap let alone come out when visitors are hereâ .
In your situation I would simply add it to the ârun downâ in the confirmation call- I will need 2 forms of ID and please make sure pets are secured before my arrival at 3:30â.
This is the response I was looking forward to seeing. I donât trust other peopleâs pet. I send a separate text on expectations for signing day and expect them to secure their pets. Not all pets are loving. Most are territorial and Iâm terrified if one jumps on me.
Several Professional Signing Agents [PSAs] have reported on the Notary Cafe forum of being bitten/attacked, etc. even though theyâre âa dog personâ or âa cat personâ etc. . . .
I guess I just donât mind pets. Aggressive ones are usually locked up. Cats are gonna be cats. Owners usually take care of the mischievous ones. Had a very pushy pygmy pig one time too! This business is in peoplesâ houses and you need to have a little thicker skin. Asking them to wipe off the table is something you have to do. Putting up an animal that is out of order, just something you have to ask for. Patience! It is not all about ME! This will test your people skills for sure. But I do like this job! Side note, Pet peeve: Notaries grabbling low ball offers, enabling signing companies to keep offering them. Figure out your profitability and stick to your pricing! The offers keep coming, but you might start making some money with less work and more profitable signings. I learned!