Tenants with a dog.

TopCatLandlord

When I was looking for a property to buy I ended up shortlisting two similar, newish, flats in the same block.


The nicer one had also been inhabited by a dog, which I assumed they washed in the bath as it had lots of scratches. The place although clean, smelt of dog.


Result - no sale.

franklee

Interesting thread. I suppose it matters how effectively the property can be cleaned when the tenants and dog vacate.

yorkshire_terrier_owner wrote: »

I go through washing machines and hovers like no-ones business, my carpet cleaner and my steam mop are my best friends and I spend a small fortune on cleaning products.

Any tips of the best way to clean carpets and generally remove doggy smells from a property after the dogs have moved out? Plus if you know of what to look for in choosing a hoover and steam mop for cleaning up after dogs I'd be interested to hear.

cottage_retreatist

i just have to say that i really do love LLs who accept animals - too few of them do, and with more and more people having to rent properties cause we just can't afford them I think competition for pet-approved properties will go up (which could be a bad thing for renters!! - we all know what competition does to rental prices!!)

As someone who has animals and rents I say - offer the property unfurnished (then any damage to furniture is their own) and if you can don't do cream carpets - you're just asking for trouble!!!! Obviously if you have carpets already I think requesting for them to be cleaned is reasonable! I agree though about the doors and scratching - would it be reasonable to say if they repair any damage done to a good state then it is ok?

C-R x

bouncydog1

My dad rented out a new flat to tenants with a dog. When they eventually left, he had to dump all the carpets due to the dog being allowed to defecate there! Floor boards were wet with urine and the garden was a mess!! I accept this was exceptional but would definitely take a larger deposit and ensure that your lease is appropriately worded. That said a very respectable couple who rented late MIL's house allowed their children to go up and down the stairs running wax crayons down the walls, necessitating expensive redecoration !! can't judge everyone based on two experiences but definitely makes one more aware.

sandsni

For the posters who can't understand LLs being more concerned about pets than toddlers - people don't tend to leave their toddlers alone in the house for long periods of time, whereas many do with their pets, leading to bored and lonely animals looking for something to do and somewhere to pee. And toddlers don't tend to shed lots of hair all over the place or dry themselves on the carpet after a bath/rainy walk.


I can't understand people who get dogs and then leave them in the house for 23 hours per day, like our previous tenants (who, incidentally, "forgot" that their dogs weren't lab-crosses but were actually rottweillers, and only remembered the day they got the keys and moved in - lesson learned).


It's not really the pets I have a problem with, it's the owners who think it's fine to let an animal do whatever it likes around the house and never think to clean up the poo from around the yard. And don't realise that pet owners don't smell their own pets so wonder why everyone else screws up their nose as soon as they enter the room.

moneyistooshorttomention

tumbledowngirl wrote: »

Firstly, I live in Wales, like yourself.:beer:
I personally would never leave my dogs in the garden alone for any length of time BUT of course they are allowed to poo in the garden - I let them out and they do the necessary. I also have raised vegetable beds that the dogs and cats, I'm sure, not to mention chickens, poo on. Obviously, I do my best to remove any I find, but it wouldn't stop me eating the produce that grows there.:)

...<gulp>. Ummm....well...errr...you can have some of my surplus garden produce...but...umm..thanks for offering...but I think I'll pass on having any in return:rotfl:

When it comes to how effectively a carpet can be cleaned of doggy smells. I had some pass-on carpet from a house with a dog and it was a clean house and clean dog but I simply couldn't manage to remove the doggy smell from the carpet despite several shampooings. Don't know if some other form of cleaning the carpet would do the trick, but several loads of using carpet shampoo in a row certainly didn't.

Road_Hog

There have been a few posts about doggy smells, so I thought I'd explain why dogs often have a smell.


It's down to a poor diet. If you stop feeding them the tinned stuff from the supermarket, they will stop smelling. Dogs, like humans need a decent diet, by feeding them those well known brands, it is equivalent to feeding your kid permanently on fast food and sweets and wondering why they break out in spouts and have bad breath and bad health.


If you look on the tins of the well known brands, it will says, 'contains 4% meat' and guess what the UK minimum legal meat content is? I think a tin of the well known brands (400g) is about 60p, I buy dog food mince (454g) for 69p, which is 100% meat. Also the trays/tubs of food from the independent shops for around 80p which are about 60% meat.


The same with kibble (dried food),if you feed this, then once again get decent stuff from an independent shop, not a supermarket. For anyone that feeds a well known branded kibble from the supermarkets, read this review:


http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=426&cat=all


If you feed your dog decent food, they won't smell doggy, won't have doggy breath and won't have doggy greasy skin.

ConfusedofYorkshire

sandsni wrote: »

For the posters who can't understand LLs being more concerned about pets than toddlers - people don't tend to leave their toddlers alone in the house for long periods of time, whereas many do with their pets, leading to bored and lonely animals looking for something to do and somewhere to pee. And toddlers don't tend to shed lots of hair all over the place or dry themselves on the carpet after a bath/rainy walk.


I can't understand people who get dogs and then leave them in the house for 23 hours per day, like our previous tenants (who, incidentally, "forgot" that their dogs weren't lab-crosses but were actually rottweillers, and only remembered the day they got the keys and moved in - lesson learned).


It's not really the pets I have a problem with, it's the owners who think it's fine to let an animal do whatever it likes around the house and never think to clean up the poo from around the yard. And don't realise that pet owners don't smell their own pets so wonder why everyone else screws up their nose as soon as they enter the room.

My comparison was cats and toddlers. Toddlers are much more similar to dogs than cats. So if I was a 'LL who wanted a higher deposit for dogs, I'd also want a higher deposit for toddlers. But possibly not cats.

tumbledowngirl

It's very true that a dog owner may well not notice the smell in their own house, but will notice it in a friend's - we recently helped friends prepare their house for a last-minute viewing and the smell of dog in the kitchen was overwhelming! As someone suggested, it was the dog bedding which obviously hadn't been washed or even aired for weeks. The blankets on the sofas were the same.

In our own home, we have hard floors throughout the downstairs, leather sofas and the dogs aren't allowed upstairs. I wash their bedding at very high temperatures every week or less. I also Hoover every day, often twice a day and wash walls, skirtings, kitchen cupboards, doorways, floor mats etc constantly. Having a dog, particularly in Winter, is hard work if you want yo keep your house in a decent state.

yorkshire_terrier_owner

Road_Hog wrote: »

There have been a few posts about doggy smells, so I thought I'd explain why dogs often have a smell.


It's down to a poor diet. If you stop feeding them the tinned stuff from the supermarket, they will stop smelling. Dogs, like humans need a decent diet, by feeding them those well known brands, it is equivalent to feeding your kid permanently on fast food and sweets and wondering why they break out in spouts and have bad breath and bad health.


If you look on the tins of the well known brands, it will says, 'contains 4% meat' and guess what the UK minimum legal meat content is? I think a tin of the well known brands (400g) is about 60p, I buy dog food mince (454g) for 69p, which is 100% meat. Also the trays/tubs of food from the independent shops for around 80p which are about 60% meat.


The same with kibble (dried food),if you feed this, then once again get decent stuff from an independent shop, not a supermarket. For anyone that feeds a well known branded kibble from the supermarkets, read this review:


http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=426&cat=all


If you feed your dog decent food, they won't smell doggy, won't have doggy breath and won't have doggy greasy skin.

Feeding a good diet - yes. However, a dog can have the best diet in the world but if it is not groomed, it will smell. If it's teeth are not cleaned, it will have bad breath. It is not all down to diet.

The link you post is to a well known complete dog food that those of us heavily involved in the dog world actively avoid because of the additives in it. However, an all meat diet does not provide all of the nutrients a dog requires for a good balanced diet. If you just ate meat and nothing else how would it affect you?

Good quality tinned and dry foods contain all the other vitamins and minerals they need for a good diet. Some dogs digestive systems simply cannot cope with an all meat diet. It is not recommended for puppies.

Having owned, trained and bred dogs all my life an all meat or raw diet is only suitable for some dogs and it's not a diet I recommend in its entirety.

Regular grooming and hygiene. Full stop, the end.