Mutual exchange, pets?

t0rt0ise

Anon2213123 wrote: »

t0rt0ise - But "your landlord will first check over your tenancy agreement to see if it matches up with the details in your HomeSwapper application". If tenancy agreement says no pets but advert says pets allowed, then the Homeswapper application doesn't match up with the tenancy agreement.

What they check is that you're not in rent arrears, that you're not a disruptive neighbour and that you have the sort of tenancy that allows swaps. I know this for a fact so do not rely on the sayso of the current tenant.

I doubt you'll get the landlords agreement in writing that you're allowed a dog because they won't know if there's going to be a problem until you've moved in and been there a while but you could try.

sheramber

You say you take over the tenancy conditions of the other tenant. Do you know the other tenant has permission to have a dog?

Going to court would cost you £££s. Do you have that sort of money?

being forced to part with a dog is heartbreaking ,

It is not something I would risk with my dog.

Courts don't work on sympathy or compassion, they follow the rules.

Much safer to establish your right to have a dog than risk the consequences

onwards&upwards

Anon2213123 wrote: »

My pug is completely house trained. With rain though he often won't like going outside and sometimes, especially if I've just mopped the floor and cleaned up, it's easier when I know he needs the toilet to quickly put down a puppy pad, let him go and dispose of said pad right away, instead of him going out and leaving wet mud all over the floor when he comes back in.

I carry him about all the time because of the type of breed. For example, up and down stairs here as he sometimes doesn't like going up and down himself (small legs, chunky body, prone to falling especially when going down). Other times if we are going to a big field 20 minutes away (I don't drive), I carry him in a rucksack style carrier so he doesn't tire himself out before we get there and can enjoy the field.

t0rt0ise - But "your landlord will first check over your tenancy agreement to see if it matches up with the details in your HomeSwapper application". If tenancy agreement says no pets but advert says pets allowed, then the Homeswapper application doesn't match up with the tenancy agreement.

Neither of us know all about it as what's for certain is landlords have to approve an advert and pay the fee. The only person who knows for certain what is checked and what isn't, is the staff member who works for the HA that approves the advert. It could be that nothing is checked against tenancy and just approved without looking, it could be just the name and address is checked or it could be the whole advert is viewed and checked.


Thanks AnotherJoe, I've saved the text you put and will be sending it to them. You think i'm better off sending it direct to a housing officer as the people responding to email just seem to be lacking knowledge apart from very basic support

If your pug is worn out by a 20 minute walk, can I please suggest a trip to a vet to discuss options. He probably needs to lose weight and nearly all pugs have brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome which can be helped with surgery.

There is a very supportive Facebook group here:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/363694887351044/

PasturesNew

The thing is, those words "private garden" - you'd not have access to a private garden, but a communal/shared one.

Anon2213123

onwards&upwards wrote: »

If your pug is worn out by a 20 minute walk, can I please suggest a trip to a vet to discuss options. He probably needs to lose weight and nearly all pugs have brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome which can be helped with surgery.

There is a very supportive Facebook group here:

I was keeping things short as I didn't want to get into an essay about it but here goes....

Firstly it's not as simple as being worn out by a 20 minute walk. My pug, just like many others get's VERY excited when there's any sign of going for a walk. I only have to put my shoes on or even if he hears me upstairs getting ready he's doing laps of the coffee table knowing I'm about to put his harness on him. In this time I might have to do other things, grab mess bags, put my clothes on, even quickly finish my cup of coffee.

I try my best to be quiet so he doesn't know it's nearly walkies time but often he can just sense it. It's a well known term called the "Zoomies" and both french bulldogs and pugs are notorious for it. 10-15 minutes of sprinting at full pace round the coffee table would tire any dog out.

He is on a vet plan and has regular checkups with the vet. His weight is 7.2kg, a great weight for a pug of his age and a while back I paid another vet who specialises in brachycephalic breeds and operating on them to check him. This vet said he doesn't recommend the operation as his airways are far from the worst and surgery wouldn't improve it significantly with limited tissue to remove so it may not be worth the risk of putting the dog through it.

When I say "20 minutes", I was talking about things now at this time of the year with the hot weather. I wait until the coolest part of the day to walk him, but it can still be a bit muggy and combined with the "zoomies" before we go out, he's tired. At cooler times of year it's a lot more walkies.

Anon2213123

sheramber wrote: »

You say you take over the tenancy conditions of the other tenant. Do you know the other tenant has permission to have a dog?

Going to court would cost you £££s. Do you have that sort of money?


Courts don't work on sympathy or compassion, they follow the rules.

Much safer to establish your right to have a dog than risk the consequences

That's what's been causing the confusion. As until I have a response from what I'm going to send the housing officer which AnotherJoe pointed out, I think it's a maybe.

It all comes down to what the tenant has said and what's listed on their Homeswapper advert (Pic's of the dogs in their home and advert says pets allowed). As the info from Homeswapper is when someone creates an advert, it is passed on to their HA to verify the details are correct and approve the advert.

I have done some research on the swap tenant and from what I can see, they have lived in that flat for at least 5 years and have had 2 dogs there the entire time.

If the advert said no dogs allowed, I wouldn't have even looked into it.

On the balance of things, this move is literally a potential matter of life or death for me. The location is perfect and that town has all the services I need access to for my health. Here in this town there are a lack of services, no support and I'm not on good terms with the NHS. This is because I've been fobbed off massively about my health and all trust is gone with the few services that are here. Due to that, I can't bring myself to face another medical professional in the only GP surgery here as there is very little they can do to help. Which will later have serious implications in future when I go for my next ESA assessment as I won't have any up to date medical evidence to supply and that's my life finished.


In regards to the courts. As this is a serious need to swap for my own health, I was only balancing up the risks and what could happen. I.e yes the courts are just there to implement the rules and not offer compassion, if I played it dumb, the court could say I should have read the HA handbook terms on dogs. Equally they might (albeit only a slight chance) say the HA are responsible for approving the homeswapper advert, they approved an advert featuring pictures of dogs in the tenants front room and listed as saying pets allowed.

If I moved in and dogs aren't allowed, then the HA issued a notice saying I had to get rid of my dog or face eviction, maybe mentioning the homeswapper advert THEY approved, might be enough for them to make an exception. Although for that to work I would have to say I don't have a dog on swap forms, then if anything happens say I only got the dog after moving in.

Who knows though. What's for sure is as things stand, I'm likely to lose my ESA award and will eventually end up homeless anyway, so maybe a risk is worth it if there is a slight chance of getting the support to improve my life

Fire_Fox

Housing Associations and management companies of private blocks have these rules because of the potential impact of pets on other residents or on the shared/ common areas (inside or outside) or even on staff.

I appreciate that you have health condition(s) but your rights and your needs do not override those of other residents or staff. You are aware of the Housing Association's policy on pets, it is disingenuous to pretend that you do not.

You might think you are a considerate owner but, as you will know, many are not. Allergies, phobias, noise (barking, whining, 'zoomies'), mess if the pet is unwell, fleas escaping the property ... Carrying a dog through shared/ common areas in your arms or in a soft rucksack does not adequately address the ways a dog might cause problems for other residents or staff. And any promises you might make as to your conduct with your dog would be very difficult to enforce.

onwards&upwards

Anon2213123 wrote: »

I was keeping things short as I didn't want to get into an essay about it but here goes....

Firstly it's not as simple as being worn out by a 20 minute walk. My pug, just like many others get's VERY excited when there's any sign of going for a walk. I only have to put my shoes on or even if he hears me upstairs getting ready he's doing laps of the coffee table knowing I'm about to put his harness on him. In this time I might have to do other things, grab mess bags, put my clothes on, even quickly finish my cup of coffee.

I try my best to be quiet so he doesn't know it's nearly walkies time but often he can just sense it. It's a well known term called the "Zoomies" and both french bulldogs and pugs are notorious for it. 10-15 minutes of sprinting at full pace round the coffee table would tire any dog out.

He is on a vet plan and has regular checkups with the vet. His weight is 7.2kg, a great weight for a pug of his age and a while back I paid another vet who specialises in brachycephalic breeds and operating on them to check him. This vet said he doesn't recommend the operation as his airways are far from the worst and surgery wouldn't improve it significantly with limited tissue to remove so it may not be worth the risk of putting the dog through it.

When I say "20 minutes", I was talking about things now at this time of the year with the hot weather. I wait until the coolest part of the day to walk him, but it can still be a bit muggy and combined with the "zoomies" before we go out, he's tired. At cooler times of year it's a lot more walkies.

Glad you’ve been to a vet and his weight is good.

I would still highly recommend joining that Facebook group.

10-15 minutes of exercise certainly does not tire most dogs out, it tires out dogs who have been compromised by being bred into bodies that don’t function well, sadly.

The group will help you do the best for your dog, loads of people on there dealing with the same problems that human breeders have caused for these lovely little animals.

sheramber

We had a pug at our agility class who spent his day running about the farm following the tractor.

He enjoys far more than 10-15 minutes exercise.

Anon2213123

[QUOTE=onwards&upwards;76222483

10-15 minutes of exercise certainly does not tire most dogs out, it tires out dogs who have been compromised by being bred into bodies that don’t function well, sadly.

The group will help you do the best for your dog, loads of people on there dealing with the same problems that human breeders have caused for these lovely little animals.[/QUOTE]

You should see how fast he goes. But yeah, it is what it is with that breed. In terms of health for a pug, he's rated near the top end for health (When placed on a scale with worst being a pug who cant even go out the front door without collapsing to best being notable sounds but little impact on movement).

Thanks. I will join that group