Renting with dogs

tigger23

Why is it so blooming impossible?! :mad:

We are relocating from Derbyshire to Hereford/Gloucester, planning to rent our house out and find somewhere to rent down there. Problem is, none of the estate agents we have spoken to will even entertain the idea of allowing dogs - most won't even ask their landlord to consider it!

I know several people with dogs, they all have 1 very large, boisterous dog and they have all found somewhere with little problems. We have 3 teeny tiny dogs, but estate agents just run a mile when we say there are 3 of them. I nearly got into an arguement with an EA yesterday when enquiring about the possiblity of having dogs at 1 house (a 2 bedroom, with a garden) when she said "I think that 3 dogs in a small garden would be too much" - !!!!!!?! We have a small Westie, a westie cross (smaller) and a shih-tzu cross (smallest - cat size!) They take up less room than any of the big dogs I know, have less energy and need less space. They get walked morning and night and are no touble when we're out (neighbours have said they never hear a peep!)

We have offered to pay a higher deposit, keep them crated whilst we're out (they are most of the time we're out here anyway) and have the place professionally cleaned. We're looking at unfurnished properties (so dogs on settees wouldn't be an issue) and un-carpetted places too in case of accidents.

What else can we do?
(Please dont' suggest rehoming them - not an option because 1) we wouldn't do it and 2) there is nobody to have them)

LydiaJ

This is one of the problems with renting. It was a restriction for us when we were looking for rented places while our dog was still alive. I know one house we rented (can't remember if it was this one or a previous one) was listed as "no pets" but when we asked the agent to ask the LL, the answer came back "yes".

In your situation, I would probably take a photo of the dogs so that it is obvious how small they are, and possibly another photo of them happily inside their crates. I would take the photo(s) into the letting agent (both hard copy and on a memory stick), and say politely but firmly,

"I'm not asking you to make a decision about my dogs; I am just asking you to pass on my request to the LL for consideration."

Good luck

PasturesNew

The Sun newspaper, local classifieds, has a pets section on the left where you can filter to see places that do allow dogs.

52 within 25 miles of Gloucester that allow dogs: http://apartments.local.thesun.co.uk/gloucester-gls-en/pets_allowed_dogs/?q=house&sc=housing%2Frent&inbs=1&r=25

Although it doesn't seem to separate holiday homes from actual homes.

Ah, now it does: http://apartments.local.thesun.co.uk/gloucester-gls-en/homes-for-rent/pets_allowed_dogs/?q=house&sc=housing%2Frent&inbs=1&r=25

8 of them... although the dog option seems to have gone missing.

So, needs some fiddling about with really.

honeyD

Ive recently moved with 2 dogs, some properties wouldnt take pets and I think its a bit of a search to find somewhere that does. I just had to sign something to say that I will rectify any problems caused by the dogs on moving out or something like that. I was willing to pay a higher deposit if needed though it wasnt. Keep looking, something will pop up.

TaxPayingMug

tigger23 wrote: »

Why is it so blooming impossible?! :mad:

We are relocating from Derbyshire to Hereford/Gloucester, planning to rent our house out and find somewhere to rent down there. Problem is, none of the estate agents we have spoken to will even entertain the idea of allowing dogs - most won't even ask their landlord to consider it!

I know several people with dogs, they all have 1 very large, boisterous dog and they have all found somewhere with little problems. We have 3 teeny tiny dogs, but estate agents just run a mile when we say there are 3 of them. I nearly got into an arguement with an EA yesterday when enquiring about the possiblity of having dogs at 1 house (a 2 bedroom, with a garden) when she said "I think that 3 dogs in a small garden would be too much" - !!!!!!?! We have a small Westie, a westie cross (smaller) and a shih-tzu cross (smallest - cat size!) They take up less room than any of the big dogs I know, have less energy and need less space. They get walked morning and night and are no touble when we're out (neighbours have said they never hear a peep!)

We have offered to pay a higher deposit, keep them crated whilst we're out (they are most of the time we're out here anyway) and have the place professionally cleaned. We're looking at unfurnished properties (so dogs on settees wouldn't be an issue) and un-carpetted places too in case of accidents.

What else can we do?
(Please dont' suggest rehoming them - not an option because 1) we wouldn't do it and 2) there is nobody to have them)

I rent two houses out and never ever let tenants with dogs live in my properties.
Regardless of what the owners may say dogs DO smell.

Even after having the carpets professionally cleaned, that stale dog smell still lingers for ages.

parallax_20

I rented our property to a couple who has a little dog with added clauses to the agreement to rectify any problems which may be caused by the pet. In reflection I don't think it was a wise move. After they moved out our garden didn't look the same and the house smelt of animal. There may have been other damage to the laminate flooring and furniture too or fleas in the house. We were planning on selling it anyway so didn't mind too much. But if I was planning on moving back into the property after renting it out for a period, I would definitely say no to pets to preserve its condition.

I have nothing against pets though! Especially goldfish ;-)

puddy

op i feel for you. i havent ever rented and that is one of the main reasons why, i have (had) 2 cats, one died this weekend and we also have a dog which my partners daughter couldnt take with her because she was in rented. i am not a natural dog owner and have felt guilty after my cats death this weekend that maybe it was the stress of living with a dog in her old age for the past year.

so now, out of grief i think, im already looking at rehoming another cat, to keep my other cat company and its heartbreaking seeing all the dumped pets because their 'owner moved and couldnt take fluffy with them'. i feel so angry at the owners for moving where they cant take their animals but at the same time understand that you are coming up against obstacles like this.

have you looked via private landlords, newspapers like PN says, etc?

i cannot understand this outlook from landlords, its like someone saying to you 'no you cant bring your elderly parent to live here, she might smell a bit'. Pets are part of the family, they are family members and should not have to be dumped when you move.

Flearoy

Hi, do keep looking. I didn't have much luck, until I went into the agents in person. I got the feeling that once the agents had seen that I wasn't a scruffy so-and-so, they were more inclined to ask prospective landlords about having dogs. In my case, I only have my dogs some of time (the odd weekend, occasional full weeks), but I found a house, fully furnished and quite nice, where the landlords were ok with it. I didn't pay a higher deposit, but do have to have the carpets professionally cleaned when I leave, and in the contract I have a clause to say I can have the dogs on an occasional basis, and must not allow them to be a nuisance to neighbours etc. Pretty fair to be honest. At the end of this lease, I'm moving into another rented property that my friend owns who'd be happy for me to have a wolf so long as I kept the place nice!

cardinalbiggles

TaxPayingMug wrote: »

I rent two houses out and never ever let tenants with dogs live in my properties.
Regardless of what the owners may say dogs DO smell.

Even after having the carpets professionally cleaned, that stale dog smell still lingers for ages.

Your 100% correct. To non-dog owners they smell and they smell bad no matter what the owners say.

I just bought a new house (stilll got the old one to sell but that's another story) and its amazing how much you can be put off a house you are looking at just by the smell of dogs having been there.

I am not criticising dog owners as thats your right if you want to keep them but they are quite antisocial to non dog owning people.

redlady_1

See, LLs are missing out in this respect because us pet owners tend to stay put for some time. I rented a house for 4 years in Wilts and I know how difficult it is to rent when you have pets. I would tend to see whether you can find a farmers property as they are more understanding. I had a clause in my lease stating that any problems would be rectified. I now own my house but my neighbour has a dog - who has his own reference! Carpets have to be cleaned when you leave anyway.

My little cottage was fab and I was free to do pretty much as I liked once I had proven myself for the first 3 months. As a result I had a great relationship with my LL and he knew he could rely on me for payment of rent. There will come a time when I have to rent my home out and when I do I will definitely have someone with pets in there with all the clauses and protection possible.

Now, would I rent to someone with kids - might have to think about that in case they smell, spill things on the carpet and draw on the wall paper!

cardinalbiggles

redlady_1 wrote: »

Now, would I rent to someone with kids - might have to think about that in case they smell, spill things on the carpet and draw on the wall paper!

I'm affraid you lost all credibility with that one, animals are not humans.

I'm a veggie as well so more caring than your average meat eater when it comes to animals, I do however recognise they are smelly brutes and wouldnt want them in my house (animals, well in particular dogs, not children)