NOT dog friendly! (Portland, Tualatin: to rent, home, tenants)

[lac098]

never heard of a pet resume before. never had to use one. Can't believe you would have to do that to live there. I'll pass on the resume, but just curious...what do you list on it?

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by lac098

never heard of a pet resume before. never had to use one. Can't believe you would have to do that to live there. I'll pass on the resume, but just curious...what do you list on it?

You show proof that you are a responsible pet owner by giving your prospective landlord copies of your pet's immunization records and that your pet is spayed or neutered. It's also helpful to have your vet say a good word or two about you.

You have previous landlords and former neighbors verify your pet did not do any damage to the apartments you rented from them nor did they bother the anyone by loud barking, meowing, chirping; whatever.

It is not at all uncommon to be asked for this information. You would be making points by offering it.

[oldtintype]

I just put a photograph of my dogs (I had two then, one has since died of old age), information about the fact that both had been obedience trained, one had a CGC, described their previous living conditions (i.e. that they had been successfully living in an apartment in the city since pups), that they were friendly with cats, other dogs, kids and strangers, we took them to the park regularly for exercise, they were housetrained, up to date on vaccines, spayed/neutered, etc. It was just a one page document with a photograph at the top and included the phone number of my vet and previous landlord. It was purely to make it clear that they were well taken care of and trained, and that I wasn't going to have them harassing everyone and destroying the unit. I made it clear that I had invested and continued to invest, the time into making them well behaved and pleasant to be around. I've done this resume three times and all three times my dogs were in without a problem and the owner/manager commented on how helpful it was. Of course, it only works if your animals are actually well trained. I also offered to have a pet meet first if that would help, though when I originally moved here from 700 miles away that was a bit impossible so what I said was I was willing to have them meet the animals as soon as we got here so they could see for themselves how nice they were. Obviously you don't HAVE to do a resume but if you're having trouble finding a unit I can't understand why you'd have a problem with it. I'll add that I did this in Portland as well as San Francisco and got the idea from the SF SPCA who recommended potential tenants start doing this. It's not something that is only done in Portland--it's just a pretty smart thing to do when you're renting if you want options.

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by karlsch

and lunging, and biting, and steaming piles of feces, and slobber and mucus...........

That would be a minority of pet owners. Unfortunately it's the few bad apples as usual who ruin it for others. I've lived in apartments in downtown parts of two cities with Border Collies, who go to the park daily and are social, happy, well behaved and trained. They don't do any of that, well apart from pooping but then I pick that up.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Gee, I've never considered Portland a pet unfriendly area at all.

Perhaps it's all the pit bulls. People cram them into condos and apartments calling them "service pets" and being a highly litigeous city they end up getting their way.

But we have lots of parks, green areas... I would still think it a great place for dogs.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by oldtintype

That would be a minority of pet owners. Unfortunately it's the few bad apples as usual who ruin it for others. I've lived in apartments in downtown parts of two cities with Border Collies, who go to the park daily and are social, happy, well behaved and trained. They don't do any of that, well apart from pooping but then I pick that up.

I mentioned those because there are legitimate reasons why apartments are not rented to dog owners. It's not because the apartment owners are irrational dog haters, it is because of their experiences. I'm sure they are constantly being told that "my dogs are well behaved, it's everybody else's dogs that are bad, so it's ok to rent to me."

I forgot to mention urine soaked carpets.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

[GB1]

Originally Posted by karlsch

and lunging, and biting, and steaming piles of feces, and slobber and mucus...........

This is a thread about dogs, not about children.

[lac098]

Thanks everyone for the input. Like I said, I have lived in 5 other states, 3 being on the west coast and have never had a problem finding a dog friendly place right from the get go...and lots of options too. I will consider a pet resume if we come across a place that we really like that is not willing or uncertain about accepting a dog. As for the the few other dog friendly complexes that we have found, they haven't asked for one. Good luck to you Geminirn...hope you find a place that will take your 3 pets

[Leisesturm]

We have a cat and finding a 'pet' friendly apartment in NYC takes work. It can be done, however, and is done all the time. A very good friend of mine allowed her tenant to get a small dog for her little girl. They had to be evicted after six months because of the smell and damage to baseboards and other woodwork. The apartment is and will be uninhabitable for some time until all the damage is repaired. This was a small dog and it only took six months to completely destroy a one bedroom apartment. The dog owners in my neighborhood are extremely inconsiderate and I have to admit a bias against dogs vs. cats and if I were a dog owner I might be frustrated by this bias but I wouldn't I don't think have the complete lack of awareness that dogs can and do cause considerable annoyance and destruction if their owners are irresponsible. To not be aware of this is simply not possible. I've found a ton more pet friendly apartments in Portland than I've ever found in NYC and NYC has about a billion more available (or not) units than Portland. To someone in the PNW looking for a pet friendly rental it may seem like it's not that pet friendly a place. Trust me, its very relative.

H