Pet Friendly Housing

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     Pups are great companions, both lovable and loving. Unfortunately, housing situations for even the most lovable of pups and their owners can be fairly limited. While some home owners have the ability to have multiple pets in their house, the rest of us are limited by our landlord抯 rules. Apartments, condos, and some homeowners associations enforce pet rules as well. While there is some housing that has that big 揘o dogs allowed?sign in the front, there are a few that allow pets- as long as you abide by the rules.

No means no

Just to start things off- If there is a 揘o dogs allowed?sign up front, don抰 try to sneak little Fluffy in with you. You抣l just end up stressing yourself out or getting mad at Fluffy for doing what they do (bark at that cat in the window), and if (when is more likely) your landlord does find out, the best thing you can hope for is that they抣l make you pay a fine. If you aren抰 that lucky, you抮e gonna be looking for a new home soon- and it抣l be harder to get into a pet friendly location since you抣l have violated your lease terms by having a pet where you weren抰 supposed to.

There are rules?br />
So why are there rules concerning pets? Most dog owners realize the responsibilities of dog ownership, but there are still those that don抰- hence a landlords concern- from cleaning up properly (picking up the puppy poop) to obnoxious barking and chewing, and even jumping up on children or neighbors. In truth, these concerns are valid, since no one wants to be kept up all night by the howling of a lonely pup. Of course, these concerns aren抰 a 搉o?answer, they抮e just a 揹epends on the pup.?br />
Pet deposits and authorization are usually in order for your pet-allowing housing. While deposits may be hard to avoid (especially in an apartment in case of destruction to carpet and furniture) getting the okay is all up to how you present your puppy situation to your landlord. Like a job, a resume can only help your approach. Even letters of recommendation can make that fella with the pen behind the counter do the old 搊kay?head nod.

The resume that says: My pup is a good, well-behaved pup and I抦 a good owner

Veterinarian records are a definite for any pup owner. Landlords love to see that you抮e in the habit of taking care of your pup properly. Shot records and checkups give you a good chance at proving that you know how to ensure you抮e pup抯 health.

If you抮e in the business of flaunting your pup抯 stuff, you may have had the honor of getting a few awards (not just show dogs, but training as well) that can definitely boost your standing with a landlord (even a cranky one). They get the message across that says: I抦 serious about caring for my pup.

We don抰 all send our pups to a professional trainer (school and education records!) but there are other places that your pup might likely frequent where people interact with your pup. The groomer isn抰 a bad place to start looking for a letter of recommendation. They have to handle that rascal when you抮e not around which proves that your pup can handle themselves in your absence. Your former landlord (hopefully you left on good terms) would be one of the best letters of recommendation you can get your hands on. You might even get lucky and they waive the pet deposit.

Finding pet friendly housing is all up to how you approach the situation. With the right words that help authenticate that you are a good and caring pup owner, you can be rest assured that your landlord will be a little more gracious about letting little Fluffy join you in your new humble abode.