Unfortunately, there have been many instances where Notaries have been bitten or attacked by the Owner’s Pet during Loan signing and Notary appointments. How do you all handle the “Pets” situation? As for me, it took about 1 whole week of dogs jumping all over me and leaving their hair all over my clothes to decide I had enough of that. So, now I ask during our confirmation phone call if they have pets; if they do, I kindly request they have them put up during the entire appointment.
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That’s the way to handle things.
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Agree with you, @notaryties and @RiverpointeTax - I love animals but do speak with the signers in advance about securing them before I get there. Of course, I’m a sucker for animals though, and if I see them caged I usually end up asking signers to let them out so I can visit with them…lol
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I had one lady tell me she had puppies… They were huge, big as me!!! one of them got under me and stood up
I was riding a “horse” for about 10 seconds. Ya’ll put your dogs away! 
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Oh wow! Whether they were huge puppies (lol) or not, they should have been put up.
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I concur with you. I just had a signing where 2 large dogs were allowed to sniff, lick, and rub against me as I entered the home. I was so uncomfortable and felt violated. I too will be requesting that they be put away during the appointment.
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Last week I had a cat jump up on the table walk over to my briefcase and lay down in it. After the owner took it out I had to close it the rest of the signing. Good thing cats have nine lives.lol
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Thats a good way. Im an animal lover so i dont mind a well behaved pet. Often the dog sleeps on my feet, but if they are distracting, like the cat walking on the table, i ask for them to be put up. I think disruptive kids are worse and i had 4.
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I do not mind the animals at all, I take dog treats with me. My biggest complaint is going to someones home that is filthy and has roaches. I had one today the roaches was crawling across the papers and the smell was aweful from all the cats. Needless to say hurried and did the signing checked my bag for roaches rushed home scanned the docs took a shower again, cleaned my bag.
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Yeah its a great idea.
Yeah, unfortunately we have to deal with unwanted critters too. I was at a Signing one time and I felt a roach or 2 crawl across my foot. I just had to keep moving my feet around at that point. I cant ask for those to be put up l. Lol.
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I normally don’t mind dogs hanging around as long as they aren’t disruptive during the signing. I won’t allow them to get near the documents, for example. Other than that, I’m fine with them. Sometimes the signer will lock them way before the signing starts and other times they’ll ask me if I’m okay with dogs. Very rarely will they impose a disruptive animal on the signing. This is, after all, THEIR money we’re dealing with!
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I don’t mind the animals at all. I take treats and love on them. I dislike very disruptive kids. I sometimes wish I could ask the parents to put them up and keep the animals out. LOL
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i have zero issue animals at the signings. I do notice that owners of dogs who get yippy tend to put them away ahead of time…
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I love the kids and the animals. I don’t usually pet a dog unless I have the owners permission. In 10 years I’ve only had three dogs that didn’t like me and they all happened to be Rhodesian ridgebacks. There was no issue they put the dog away and we went on with our business.
I did have a Great Dane slobber on my paperwork once. I’ve had a couple cats come lay on my paperwork. I’ve had a chinchilla and a ferret run across my feet. I find it a wonderful perk to be able to be around the kids and animals.
I realize not everyone feels this way and is entitled to have what they want and need during a signing. But if you’re not willing to put up with anything, sign in strange locations or jump up and fly by the seat of your pants to do a job, it’s probably not a good match for you.
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Being a Notary Signing Agent most definitely has been and still is great fit for me (personally). It is most certainly only for the strong and ones with flexibility.
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The pets really don’t bother me, so much. And, in the one case where the pet was confirmed as a danger by the owner’s own admission, it was put out of reach before I even entered the house.
The greater concern for me are homeowners who smoke right in front of you. I can’t stand that! And, yet, I find it difficult even asking them to not smoke, much less insisting they don’t. It’s their house, after all. And smoking is one of those things people feel they need to do, especially when dealing with a bunch of complicated financial documents over 1-2 hours time.
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The animals arent as bad to me as the potential to be in a dirty environment with roaches!! I plan to bring lawn chairs and I have clipboards because theres no way im entering a home that smells terrible and has roaches crawling on me!!! I’m a noobie and these types of stories is what makes me nervous to get started 
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Yes, it is best to have an extra chair or 2 and clip boards not just for indoor but for outdoor signings as well.
I hate kids at the signing table…especially at mealtime. Or the parents are disrupted by them while trying to sign documents which causes delays while they try to shift them from one arm to the other so they can sign. Even worse when they give the kids the pen to doodle on their own papers. You have to watch that the kids don’t decide to doodle on the Deed of Trust instead. I’ll take animals over kids anytime. On the rare occurrence where they become disruptive, the owner will just lock them in another room. They won’t do that with kids. You just have to grin and bear it.