Dogs Obedience Training

November 17th, 2008 by admin

In my experience, as a dog owner, it can be a nightmare to find a rental home that allows dog(s). All you have to do is look in the classifieds under rentals to see why. Probably 95- 100 percent of the ad will state no pets.

The few that will allow dogs sometimes will only allow a small dog. The ad may even state a specific weight like 20 lbs or less. I never understood this. A small dog can be just as destructive as any big dog can. I have also seen many small dogs who were much more vocal than some big dogs. I have even seen little dogs that were extremely aggressive. So what is the benefit to a landlord to allow a small dog but not a large dog. I would love to know the answer to this question because it has never made any sense to me.

Lord help you if you dare to have more than one dog things get even more complicated. Even the type of dog can cause undo problems for a dog owner. I remember when we had 2 dobermans. The landlord was ok with us having 2 dogs in the beginning. After we moved in he stopped by and realized they were dobermans and had all kinds of problems with it. I think part of it was a house insurance issue. Which is a whole other topic I would like to discuss at another time.

However there are things you can do to help persuade a potential landlord. First of all make sure you dog is well behaved. Maybe even put him through the good citizen course. Upon completion he will get a certificate for it. This basically says your dog has passed a test of basic manors and is well behaved. This certificate can be used to show your new landlord that your dogs are well behaved.

Once I called a landlord that had a listing that said absolutely no pets, even though I had 2 dogs and a cat at the time. The place was perfect for us and had all the things we were looking for. I felt like we had nothing to lose so I called them. I asked them if they were willing to meet us and our dogs and see how well behaved they were. When we met with them they saw that the dogs were very well behaved. Seeing us make the extra effort for our dogs may have help sway them also. At that time we also offered a separate cash deposit for the pets. Part of it was to be non refundable and part was refundable after a year. I think a non refundable deposit for a pet is more than reasonable. The landlord should be able to clean carpets and treat for fleas regardless if there are any just for peace of mind for the next tenant.

The other portion was a refundable deposit. We allowed walkthroughs once a month for the 1st three months to ensure them that the dogs were not doing any damage to their property. After one year they walked through again and refunded our deposit although we continued to live there after the first year.

Cash security deposits can be an additional incentive to help convince a landlord to trust you and give your dog(s) a chance. The deposit affords them some protection in the event that damage is caused by the dog(s). Your deposit shows the landlord that you trust your dog not to cause damage. I love when I feel like I have helped convert a landlord to be a pet friendly renters. I hope that anyone given the chance to rent with a dog respects the opportunity they are given. Each time a landlord has a good experience renting to a dog owner the better it is for the next dog owner. All it takes to do this is to be a good dog owner. If your dog does happen to damage something make sure it is repaired before you move out.

References can also be a big help in bolstering your case to a potential landlord. You could even invite you potential landlord to visit you at your current place. This gives your potential landlord a chance to physically see that your dog is not destructive. Be creative you know can sometimes change a landlords mind with a well behaved dog and some incentives. Landlords are just worried that there rental will get destroyed sometimes they just need to be shown that it does not have to be that way.

I would say that the majority of adult dogs are not destructive. I also believe that when it comes to puppies the risk is far less now do to the increasing use of crate training.. Crate training young dogs and puppies drastically reduces the opportunity for a pup to cause damage in the home.

Having done some painting over the years for some landlords I have seen my share of damaged apartments. I am here to tell you that human being do far more damage than any dog I have ever seen. The worst I have seen dog wise most commonly is when the dog owners leave these poor dogs locked up or left behind to defecate all over the place. More realistically the landlord will have to freshen the carpets and maybe plant a little grass seed. I have owned many dogs over the years and honestly any damage that has been done was usually to our stuff not the structure of the house. Examples shoes. remote controls. pillows couches etc. The only damage to any home from any dog I have had has been a few scratches in the wood by the door and maybe some grass missing from wear in the back yard.

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