Moving with large dogs.... (Seattle, Tacoma: real estate, 2009, apartments)

[hellorai]

Hey there. I will be moving to the Seattle/Tacoma area around the end of Dec. I have 2 large Staffordshire terriers and I was wondering what the law was on these dogs. And also if anyone knows of an ok area to live, Im more than willing to commute. I'm of course on a budget, but would like a house...small is fine. if anyone has any info, I would be MUCH appreciative of anything.

[Topaz]

Just be prepared to be persistent. It took my husband and I approximately 70 telephone calls to find a landlord who would rent a house to us after they heard that we had two medium sized dogs. We were looking for something fairly central (Queen Anne, Ballard, Wallingford, etc.)...I'm not sure if perhaps landlords farther out from the city would be more tolerant.

[allforcats]

Where your job is will determine where you live, since commuting by either public bus or by car during commuting times can leave you with very little life. The shorter the distance between home and job, the happier you will be.

Seattle and Tacoma are quite some distance from each other, especially for commuting which would be fairly crazy. So again, where your job is should be near where you want to live.

Where are you moving from? If you're coming from anywhere east, I do hope you plan to take southern routes since there's already plenty of snow in the passes in the Rockies, along with wind, ice and snowstorms, and they have just begun in the Cascade passes. See the "Travel" forum here on City-Data for several threads about winter driving.

Here are some rental resources.
This is the combined classifieds in and around Seattle. Click on the little map to drill down to smaller areas. Click again for neighborhoods.
NWapartments: Seattle apartment rentals, house rental listings, rental classifieds and other property rentals in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and other Washington areas, cities and neighborhoods
For the Tacoma area:
Tacoma and Pierce County Local News | News Tribune | Tacoma, University Place, Gig Harbor, Puyallup, Lakewood, Fife, Fircrest, Bonney Lake, DuPont, Eatonville, Edgewood, Milton, Orting, Parkland, Roy, Spanaway, Steilacoom, Sumner, Yelm

For Seattle, there's also: SeattleWeekly.com and TheStranger.com
For both, there's also craigslist.

I just Googled for a photo of a Staffordshire Terrier. Beautiful. I'd recommend that throughout your trip you keep their papers handy -- either their breeder's certificates identifying them by breed name, or their veterinarian's papers also identifying them by breed name. In some folks' minds there will likely be a visual similarity to Pit Bulls, which have had many instances of bad history in western Washington during several recent years, thanks to immature and irresponsible owners.

[LMB]

I've been checking Craigslist this week for the availability of dog-friendly rental houses in the Seattle area. Our son & his wife will be moving up here from Orlando in early 2009 with their two dogs--one is a small dog, but the other is a Great Pyrenees! Truth be told, the Great Pyrenees is far easier to live with than the little neurotic guy.

I was pleasantly surprised to see so many rental houses now allow pets (of course with a pet deposit, usually non-refundable). Some house/apt rentals have size or breed restrictions, but many don't have restrictions at all. Possibly the reason so many places are allowing pets now is because there are more rentals homes on the market (more houses for rent due to slow real estate sales) and there is real competition to attract renters.

Lynn

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by LMB

I've been checking Craigslist this week for the availability of dog-friendly rental houses in the Seattle area. Our son & his wife will be moving up here from Orlando in early 2009 with their two dogs--one is a small dog, but the other is a Great Pyrenees! Truth be told, the Great Pyrenees is far easier to live with than the little neurotic guy.

I was pleasantly surprised to see so many rental houses now allow pets (of course with a pet deposit, usually non-refundable). Some house/apt rentals have size or breed restrictions, but many don't have restrictions at all. Possibly the reason so many places are allowing pets now is because there are more rentals homes on the market (more houses for rent due to slow real estate sales) and there is real competition to attract renters.

Lynn

That's great! If I were a landlord, the first thing I would do is remove all carpet from a house and put in some type of flooring that is pet proof. Then I would definitely allow tenants with dogs because I think they are likely to be the best type of tenants.

[hellorai]

Originally Posted by LMB

I've been checking Craigslist this week for the availability of dog-friendly rental houses in the Seattle area. Our son & his wife will be moving up here from Orlando in early 2009 with their two dogs--one is a small dog, but the other is a Great Pyrenees! Truth be told, the Great Pyrenees is far easier to live with than the little neurotic guy.

I was pleasantly surprised to see so many rental houses now allow pets (of course with a pet deposit, usually non-refundable). Some house/apt rentals have size or breed restrictions, but many don't have restrictions at all. Possibly the reason so many places are allowing pets now is because there are more rentals homes on the market (more houses for rent due to slow real estate sales) and there is real competition to attract renters.

Lynn

Yeah, Im moving from Gainesville in FL as well. I wont know if I have the job until the beginning or mid Dec. Ive been looking on craigslist, but really cant actively pursue any leads til Im for sure. Thanks everyone for all your info!! I really appreciate it. If you guys here of anything cheap in the middle of the Univeristy area and Point Defiance Zoo....let me know!!

[hellorai]

Originally Posted by allforcats

Where your job is will determine where you live, since commuting by either public bus or by car during commuting times can leave you with very little life. The shorter the distance between home and job, the happier you will be.

Seattle and Tacoma are quite some distance from each other, especially for commuting which would be fairly crazy. So again, where your job is should be near where you want to live.

Where are you moving from? If you're coming from anywhere east, I do hope you plan to take southern routes since there's already plenty of snow in the passes in the Rockies, along with wind, ice and snowstorms, and they have just begun in the Cascade passes. See the "Travel" forum here on City-Data for several threads about winter driving.

Here are some rental resources.
This is the combined classifieds in and around Seattle. Click on the little map to drill down to smaller areas. Click again for neighborhoods.
NWapartments: Seattle apartment rentals, house rental listings, rental classifieds and other property rentals in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and other Washington areas, cities and neighborhoods
For the Tacoma area:
Tacoma and Pierce County Local News | News Tribune | Tacoma, University Place, Gig Harbor, Puyallup, Lakewood, Fife, Fircrest, Bonney Lake, DuPont, Eatonville, Edgewood, Milton, Orting, Parkland, Roy, Spanaway, Steilacoom, Sumner, Yelm

For Seattle, there's also: SeattleWeekly.com and TheStranger.com
For both, there's also craigslist.

I just Googled for a photo of a Staffordshire Terrier. Beautiful. I'd recommend that throughout your trip you keep their papers handy -- either their breeder's certificates identifying them by breed name, or their veterinarian's papers also identifying them by breed name. In some folks' minds there will likely be a visual similarity to Pit Bulls, which have had many instances of bad history in western Washington during several recent years, thanks to immature and irresponsible owners.

Wow...thank you so much for all your help. I wont know until the middle of Dec whether my move is official or not...so we will see. My jobs are off University and near Point Defiance Zoo...so I was looking for something in between...I will check out your links and suggestions for sure. Thanks so much!!

[SummerShi]

hellorai, I will be moving from Gville too, tried to send you a private email but I think it only sent as a request for one.... I am moving with 4 large dogs too and have been checking out Craigslist alot. What I have found is that the rural areas are more flexible on the animals. I have concentrated lately on kitsap county bcs I don't have to commute to work. Have you lived in Seattle before?

Summer

[spiritbear928]

I have a black lab and not great credit. Any idea who might rent to me?

[newtoseattle2008]

I am also relocating to Seattle this month, and we have a 65 lb german shepherd mix. We are looking for something in Seattle proper and have been pleased with how many landlords are dog friendly, compared to renting in California. Just a quick tip- I have contacted landlords who say "No dogs" and found that they are flexible on this pet policy in some circumstances, probably depending on how eager they are to rent the place out. There's no harm in asking.