Tips for convincing a landlord to accept our dog

Vancity

Hi all,

My fiance and I are moving back to Dublin from Canada shortly with our dog. We are hoping to buy a house within a year or so but until then will need to rent and I'm trying to figure out the best way to find a landlord whom I can convince to let to us with a dog. We've had her here for a year and will have a doggy reference from our current landlords for her but in Vancouver that's pretty standard as most places allow dogs so I'm not sure how useful that will be.

I've been checking DAFT with ticking the "Pets allowed" box and there are so few places that specify this and most in areas that won't work for us commuting wise. I am also contacting places that don't specify either way and hoping we can convince them once they've met her and see how clean and well behaved she is.

Any other ideas? We're looking for a house as I know most apartment complexes don't allow pets at all. Has anyone any experience of finding a pet friendly house to rent in Dublin? Money isn't a huge issue - we have a budget of up to 2,000euro per month which we're hoping to get a 2 bed house for. We will also offer to pay an additional pet damage deposit.

Thanks

AryaStark

Offering to pay an extra deposit and having a reference is a very good start.

If you are going to be working, it would be a good idea to put the dog in day care and ensure the landlord that the dog won't be left home alone during the day.

Vancity

AryaStark wrote: »

Offering to pay an extra deposit and having a reference is a very good start.

If you are going to be working, it would be a good idea to put the dog in day care and ensure the landlord that the dog won't be left home alone during the day.

Yes, daycare is on the list of things to find. I did notice that a few of the daycares in Dublin don't recommend any more than 2/3 days per week though (that's what she does at the moment, 2 days per week) so there would be days where she is home alone although we are also on the lookout for a dog walker for these days. I think I will put together a little memo outlining all the positive things we will offer in return for renting to us with a dog

VonVix

A friend of mine had a similar issue. What worked for her was looking for places she liked that mentioned nothing about pets on the advert, went to view them, waited for a callback that they were interested on taking her on as a tenant and she then brought up the fact she has a dog and went from there.

kylith

A friend of mine recommended having your deposit money in your hand before mentioning the dog. Apparently the sight of a wodge of cash makes landlords more amenable.

Milly33

I think a lot of places say no animals but really just want to deter people with lots or people who arent really interested..

I wouldnt mention anything like paying extra just ask can you have it written in the lease that ye will repair any damage caused by the animal.. ye should be grand, our landlord said the same no animals and a lot of places we went to. Once we mentioned the breed and explained that she isnt exactly high maintenace they were fine

Vancity

Thanks folks that's helpful. I am hoping the breed will put them at ease as well - she's a miniature schnauzer, 14lbs and non shedding so that might help. Fingers crossed we get someplace nice

ShaShaBear

I definitely find the promise of an extra deposit, even non-refundable, will sway most landlords. Just ensure that if a landlord does agree to this, that it is written into the contract that you sign so that they can't pretend later on that they never agreed to the dog.
References do also help but agreed that a Canadian one might not be of much use
Also, don't limit yourself to places that specify "pets allowed". Plenty of people don't think to put that in their advert, or might actually type it in the description. Some just leave it out knowing that only super determined pet owners will chase the advert, and they are usually the ones who are responsible with their animals

Diane Selwyn

ShaShaBear wrote: »

Also, don't limit yourself to places that specify "pets allowed". Plenty of people don't think to put that in their advert, or might actually type it in the description. Some just leave it out knowing that only super determined pet owners will chase the advert, and they are usually the ones who are responsible with their animals

I'd agree with this - the last place I rented which was a flat in a converted Georgian house (so all flats had the same landlord) specified no pets in the lease but there were definitely a couple of dogs in the place and at least one cat and the landlord's agent lived in the house so it was not done on the sly but by request. Maybe mention that you are thinking of showing your dog in competitions (hopefully they might think it's extra well groomed/trained)?!

Vancity

Thanks folks - have been in touch with a few places and one especially seems promising - apparently landlord has a soft spot for dogs So my sister is going to view it for me as I won't be back in time so fingers crossed!!

Vancity

Just an update folks - we found a place in Milltown in Dublin 6 where doggy is welcome It's a house as well with a garden so she'll have a great time. We offered to pay an additional pet deposit but landlord said it wasn't necessary. So after all of the stress, we were pleasantly surprised at how easy it ended up being!