Will, please don't kick me out for this. I just had to comment.

What if your dog is suffering some sort of emotional and/or psycological impairment? Say, for instance, Stockholm Syndrome.

Then would the dog have to have a note saying that his/her owner is companion owner? Or, would owner need a note for caretaker, or would.....

Oh, forget it.

I'll go sit on the naughty stool now.

Nora,
No problem, I remember that joke from the past thread.

And I don't go ballistic too often, but when people are suggesting something that just isn't ethical, that's when I see red.
And Ed will be reviewing this thread also, and I'm betting he won't be happy that something like that has been posted here.

Jeff explained to my via polite PM ( Thanks, Jeff! ) that apparently in California there is some "companion dog" type clause to allow people to have pets in places that otherwise wouldn't be allowed for their soothing quailites or the like.

So his advice is California specific, hopefully it'll just stay in the wacky liberal states and not spread to the more common-sense oriented areas of this country.

I sure would not want to be a Landlord in California, you know how bad this will be abused to the detriment of good pet owners.
And I am amazed that the legal rights of property ownership of landlords can be taken by a stroke of a politican's pen.

Will people abuse the service/assistance dog thing all over the place. Here, people take their rabid little yappers into grocery stores, wal mart, the mall. All they say is "this is a service animal." I have seen people take a into a store claiming it was a service animal. The cat is yowling and pissed off and nobody says a word. Dogs that urinate on things, a small mixed breed that bit another customer... someone took an iguana into a grocery store I was at.

People take animals all over the place and simply state they are service or assistance animals. Landlords here charge up to 500$ per pet for deposit and a 25-100 a month extra because people have "service animals" that tear the property up. So saying you have an assitance animal just gets a dramatic eyeroll.

Ok back on topic hah.

For renting and whatnot with animals it really benefits you and your dog to have a CGC or some sort of temperament evaluation or certification. It may not really mean anything at all, the dog may be a nutcase but for some places going through petsmart "pet training classes" means the difference between yes and no or how much your deposit will be.

Smaller dogs or dogs of certain breeds also make a difference. I see a lot of "pets under 20 pounds" or "breed restrictions apply." Ah, barking is an issue. Look for a dog that isn't very sharp or shows little tendency to bark or vocalize. Pick an energy level that matches you life style and the space you are going to have available.

I had a gigantic rottie (160+pounds, extremely oversized lug) in a 820 sqft upstairs apartment in Portland. Bad neighborhood, the landlords actually encouraged large dogs. Needless to say he got a lot of exercise and that began my love affair with treadmills for dogs. I second the recommendation for greyhounds they are GREAT dogs and rescued greyhounds tend to be very used to small spaces.

Finding them mayu be difficult, I would just call around, ask what the policies are on pets and then you know what places to avoid based on what company the property is through, etc. Also - try craigslist.

I've been recently forced to look for another place to live and may have to give up my dog, Brenna, because of all the breed specific ban laws in the apartments around my kids' schools.

The only way around these laws are if the dog is a service dog.

The fear of pitbulls has hurt every other large breed dog.

For those of you who know me or Brenna and are interested in her, I've asked Ed for permission to post our situation here and he said it was ok.

I've gone thru a list of apartments that's probably 20+ and only one allowed dogs up to 70lbs and it still had a breed ban which included GSDs.

Mike,

Sorry to hear that!!!!

Would it be possible to rent a house, apartment IN a house, or townhouse instead of an apartment?

Maybe you can move to Ontario. It is illegal to have a "no pets" clause here. (unless the pet is causing damage or "interfering with reasonable enjoyment of neighbors" ie making noise).

That's so tough.. I hope everything works out and you can keep her, she's beautiful.

A doctors note wouldn't work with me. My Dutchies have absolutely no SOOTHING qualities!!

I can't imagine being in your shoes. I just cannot think of a scerio that I would give up my dogs

I've seen it mentioned a few times already, but http://www.craigslist.com is a great website. I found my place through there. Sometimes you can find a roommate type situation in a house (which is what I found) on there as well. You can also try http://www.roommate.com or http://www.roomster.com depending on where you live. I think craigslist has a link for canada, but I think the others are pretty much usa based. As for a dog that will do well in that situation, I think most breeds can work, as long as you are working them daily and getting plenty of exercise. If you are looking into a rescue, make sure you ask lots of questions first, and maybe try to foster first to see how it goes. You can also try finding a breeder who sells older dogs as well.

Mike,
Craigslist is a great place to find a apartment. You may even get a house with a yard for what you pay in rent....

Possible other option? Start Tracking training for service work?

Meet with the apartment manager and offer a larger payment and or deposit, with a special contract stating the dog will not be left alone un-crated.


It may be more of an insurance thing for the apartment than anything else. As long as they are not violating their insurance contract they may not care.
Be humble and ask question there may be still other solutions.