Large Dogs & Rental (to live in, pitbulls, rating)

[RoamingWolves]

BTW love the pictures of your beautiful mutts.

[denisejoy1210]

first...welcome!
as a 13 year military person i can tell you....you will be fine...i recently pcs'd to Lackland....and while the doggie friendly folks are not as plenty as denver (where i came from)....they are here....just gotta put up with a lot of ignorant folks...but you will find plenty of available places...i used a property manager this time...and alamo heights is VERY dog friendly...they are having their pooch parade next week...i'm a very happy new resident...well..me and my pup...toby are! the residential shaded neighborhoods are much more walk/run friendly (we were over by lackland..last year...no trees...not very walk/run friendly...at least that was our experience. but also joined a GREAT dog/hike group called Nature Hounds...FUN ...doggie centered group who usually hike once or twice on the weekends....great group!
good luck...and hang in there....you will find a great place...just gotta put in alot of effort!! ~denise

[hixpectations]

OP how did it turn out? I am in a similar situation(apart from the fact that I am not relocating internationally) and will be moving to San Antonio between May and June. I'm very nervous that we will not be able to find a house that will allow our dogs.

[RoamingWolves]

you gotta tell us the breeds.

[GlorifiedMalcontent]

i don't have any of my own personal advice to give; our landlord is my father in law so pets have not been a problem, though i do dread if we would ever have to move and rent (90lb german shepherd dog).

however, when my husband was looking for an apartment years ago, he had a beglian shepherd and was looking for places that would accept a large dog. he used a rental agent, and i think that will be your best tool for finding rental property with your specific needs.

i also read that contacting pet rescue organizations might help. i don't know this for sure, but i would assume that some might have information for pet owners regarding places that typically accept pets.

finding a place that accepts pets isn't necessarily as hard as it seems; most of the folks i know live in complexes that allow pets. it's that pesky weight/breed restriction that will getcha. once he found a place that accepted a dog over 50lbs, the breed restrictions held him back. my husband was told by the rental agent to fudge the dog's breed. you tend to get shut down when you mention buzzwords like "shepherd" or "bull" in any part of the name. so instead of calling him a belgian shepherd, he used the fancy name geoenendael. instead of "pit bull", american staffordshire terrier. and if it's a mystery mutt, you're best guess at the most "benign" breeds (lab seems to do the trick. everything is a lab mix.) it sounds a little dishonest, but it's the only real workaround for the arbitrary blacklist.

things that will also help in the long run: see about getting your pets certified as a canine good citizen. you can say how good your dog is until you're blue in the face, but being certified with documentation (and even references from doctors, groomers, boarders, etc) can go a long way.

i can't confirm this, but perhaps you can look at rentals that are close to established dog parks. i would think that a neighborhood that already has a strong presents of pets might be more forgiving to residence with pets.

[poopycat]

If you want to live in a traditional apartment complex, you could try Haven at Blanco, on Blanco Road a couple miles south of 1604.

The Haven at Blanco - petpolicy | Apartments - San Antonio, TX (http://www.havenblanco.com/petpolicy.asp - broken link)

They have the "aggressive breed" clause but they accept up to three pets of any size with no weight restrictions. It was the only place I could find that could take my three cats. I have seen big dogs around here, but they all seem to be well-behaved. I hardly notice them.

The apartments are nice. Maybe a tad expensive, but modern and rather quiet. There's also a Haven at RIM (the RIM is a shopping center on the northwest side of SA); I would assume they have the same policy. The buildings look just the same.

[Boarding_Chick]

Hi! I understand your dillema (I am a fan of large dogs as well). I recently moved here and the apartments that I chose allow large dogs. I am not positive if they enforce breed restrictions, but I know that boxers are allowed. Not sure about Dobermans though. But to show how understanding this community is, they even allow Great Danes. The apartments are called Vantage at Schertz (Schertz is pretty much at the North East corner of San Antonio).
These apartments are standard attached apartments though and there is no set garden area (alot of people use their patios to make their own). If you are interested their website is vantagecommunities.com

Good luck in your search!!

[fsufan70]

My wife and I recently moved to Cibolo TX. I also just got out of the military. We used a service called Housing 1 Source. They were able to find us our new place and we have a full grown Boxer (80 pounds). Look them up on the web and see if they can help you alsowww.housing1source.com

[raveesor]

Hey I am also moving to SA in June from Manhattan. I will be working at BAMC and looking for a place close by in downtown. I have a 50lb lab mix, and have so far been going through centro properties. They have steered me to King Williams area. Not sure what its like, but I know the area around the Valencia was pretty cool. I am a guy and my GF is staying in Manhattan for a bit for work, so Im gonna need an area with entertainment (bars/restaurants/place to run the dog). I liked the looks of the Vistana but have heard bad things, from thin walls to issues with maintenance. Anybody have ideas on a nice apt building about 10-15 min from BAMC in a nice happening area?

[hixpectations]

Thanks, I'm staying hopeful. I'm mainly worried because this is my first move out the state, so I don't have a clue of what I'm doing.