Room for One More (and Their Dog)

For some older homeowners, the question is not only about the spare room. It is about the dog who expects a walk at seven, the cat who has never lived with anyone else, or the acreage out back that has gone mostly to grass. For some home seekers, the hard part is finding a room that allows their dog.

If animals or land are meaningful to you, they can be one way to find a compatible match. For example, a person who has been looking for ground to grow on may bring energy to a garden that has been waiting. Each person brings something the other may value, and neither is there to rescue the other.

This is one possible basis for a match, not a requirement. Some people who love animals would rather not share theirs, and some landowners would rather keep their land to themselves. Those are fine answers.

Why this matters

Pets can be a meaningful part of daily life, and a real cost. In a 2025 national poll, 31% of pet owners ages 50 to 80 said having a pet strains their budget, up from 18% in 2018¹. A person who shares your home may share some of the walks, the vet runs, or the costs, which may make pet ownership easier to sustain. That depends on the match and on what you agree to in writing.

What it can look like

Here is an illustrative example, not a real match. A retired veterinary technician in her 70s has two older dogs and a half acre. Her match is a man in his 20s who works nights at a warehouse and grew up with dogs. He takes the late walk, she takes the morning one, and they split the dog food bill. He pays the rent they agreed on through the program.

Land can be part of a match, too, handled separately from the room. Farmland ownership is aging: the average landowner who rents out farmland and does not farm it is now over 69².

A second illustrative example: a widower in his 80s owns 20 acres he no longer works. A beginning farmer shares the house under an ordinary home sharing agreement and pays rent for her room. Separately, she leases two acres under a written land-use agreement that a qualified advisor reviewed. She is not working his fields in exchange for housing, and he is not her employer. He gets to see his fields in use again, and they both get someone at the kitchen table who wants to talk about soil.

Ask your local program whether it can help with a match that involves land, and what it can do.

What to know first

Put the pets in the agreement. Write down whose animals live in the home, who feeds and walks them, who pays for food and vet care, what happens if an animal causes damage, and whether the home seeker may bring a pet. Talk about allergies before anyone moves in.

Pet rules and assistance animals are different questions. If a home seeker has an assistance animal related to a disability, different rules may apply than for ordinary pets. The answer depends on your situation and where you live, so ask your program or a local fair housing organization before you decide.

Keep land use and work separate from the room. Home sharing is housing. It is not caregiving, case management, counseling, or treatment. The cleaner model is home sharing plus a separately documented land-use agreement. Any work arrangement, such as help with animals or crops, is separate from housing. Trading help around the house or the land for lower rent, or paying someone for help, can create employment, tax, and insurance obligations whether or not anyone intended it, and the rules that apply depend on your state. Ask: Would this count as employment? Do I need workers' compensation coverage? What does my insurance cover? Ask legal aid, your insurance agent, or your state labor department.

Call your insurance agent. Ask: Does my policy cover another adult's pet in my home? What if someone is hurt on the property? Does leasing land or keeping livestock change my coverage?

Describe the home, and ask before you describe the person. A listing can say "home with two friendly dogs and chickens on five acres." Hoping for a particular kind of person can raise fair housing questions, and a preference is not necessarily lawful just because it is shared privately rather than in a listing. Before you describe the person you hope to share with, read our post "Choosing who lives with you, fairly" and talk with your program or a local fair housing organization.

How to get started

1. Find a program. Call the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 to find your Area Agency on Aging.
2. Spread the word through your networks. Your extension office, grange, farmers market, 4-H club, or breed club can let people know a program is matching in your area.
3. Ask the program good questions. Do you make pet-friendly matches? How do you structure any service exchange? Does your agreement template have room for animals? Can a match sit alongside a separate land-use agreement?
4. Talk with your insurance agent and a qualified advisor before any land use or work begins.

Conversation starters

If you are an adult child or friend raising home sharing with an older adult:

• "You always say Buster needs more company than he gets. Would you want to look into sharing with someone who loves dogs?"
• "Your garden meant a lot to you. Would you want to see someone bring it back, on your terms?"
• "If you look into it and would rather keep the place to yourself, that is a fine answer."

If you are an older adult talking with family or caregivers:

• "I would like to keep the dogs and the house. Sharing might help with both, if we find the right person."
• "Any use of the land would be in a separate written agreement, not traded for the room."
• "We will put everything in writing, including who walks the dogs and who pays the vet."

A shared love of animals or land can be a good place to start. The details still belong in writing.

Home sharing and older adults

Home sharing works at any age. Older adults are one of the fastest-growing groups sharing a home with someone who is not family³.

Last reviewed September 25, 2026