"German Shepard" Friendly Rentals (Colorado Springs: apartment complex, condo, mortgage)

[airventure]

We'll be moving to Colorado Springs in a few months and we're looking for dog friendly rentals in the area. I'd prefer a house, townhome, or condo. Our dog is a shelter rescue and was described as a "lab mix." Veterinarians usually describe him as a "Belgian Malinois." As you can see below he can pass as a German Shepard. He has zero temperament issues and has lived in an apartment in the past.

I've already come across a few "No Dangerous Breeds" listings that usually include German Shepards. How is this usually verified? Are there any pet-friendly rentals in the area?

[Mike from back east]

I'm sure there are pet friendly rentals; best I can do is point you towards padmapper.com and use the filters or also look at ppar.com which has a rental search.

[tmlowe]

What kind of budget are you looking in? I am in the same boat because I currently have a great dane and a rescue that's listed as a boxer, but could definitely pass for pit bull. I'll go back through my notes and see what's some dog friendly rentals that you may be able to look through.

[airventure]

Originally Posted by tmlowe

What kind of budget are you looking in? I am in the same boat because I currently have a great dane and a rescue that's listed as a boxer, but could definitely pass for pit bull. I'll go back through my notes and see what's some dog friendly rentals that you may be able to look through.

Thanks for that! My budget will probably top out around $1200/month. I'm looking at something with a lease for a year or less. The rental will really be to facilitate a long distance move while house hunting.

[tmlowe]

My searches so far have been exclusive to apartments because I'm not moving for another 4 or 5 months. Check out (message me for the website) and they have a listing of all the apartments they manage. Quite a few of their apartments have great pet policies if it comes down to finding an apartment for the short term.

[allprolab]

First off, great looking dog. Obviously mostly GSD or Belgian. I have a couple of GSD mixes myself.

We own, so I can't give you first hand advice, but I wanted to tell you that this is a very dog friendly town and if you keep looking I'm sure you'll find someone willing to allow your dog. I suggest putting your situation on craigslist and see if that gets any replies.

I also applaud you for making your dog a priority instead of thinking of them as disposable.

[NerdyNurse]

Your dog is super cute! We are in a similar boat with a rescue who is a mix that looks like she has shepherd in her. We call her a "beagle mix" at our current apartment, and they let it fly. If you find an apartment complex that has a good pet policy, please update us or send me a private message. Thanks.

[cjmeck]

I wonder if the humane society will have a list of breed specific apartment complexes? Most all will ban them, along with a lengthy list of other breeds. Your best option will be to rent from a private owner. Try militarybyowner or other sites like craigslist. Beautiful shepherd!

[ncf987]

We have a German Shepherd and could not find any rentals that would let us have her and our two cats (there was either a 2 pet limit, a 25 lb dog limit, or our dog was on a "dangerous breeds" list). It was actually very shocking because we had heard that Colorado is such a dog friendly area - but according to my realtor, while dog friendly, there are so many irresponsible pet owners that most homeowners who rent their houses out aren't willing to risk it. I guess with a large pet-owning population comes an increase in the irresponsible ones that make it hard on the rest of us. This is in high contrast to the last place we lived - not a huge pet place, but our house we were renting did not restrict pets whatsoever - both in number and in breed. We ended up buying a house here though because giving up our pets is not an option and we did not want to resort to lying to the landlord and risk eviction.

If I were you I would just say what the shelter labeled him as, and say he is a lab mix. As long as you have papers to back that up, since he definitely looks like a GSD and not a lab at all.

btw our mortgage payments are just under your $1200 budget so you might want to consider buying. We are military and know it is a risk but it is wonderful for us to be able to own our own home. Ours was also a long distance move - I had to make a trip out here without my husband for the sole purpose of house hunting. It was stressful, but we found a wonderful house in a great location, and are confident we will be able to resell fairly easily since most of the houses in our neighborhood are going under contract after less than 30 days on the market.

[Scarlett O'Hara]

I haven't any advice, but just wanted to say how beautiful your pets are and I also applaud you for going to the extent to find dog-friendly apartments instead of giving them up like so many people do. I hate that with a passion. We also are pet people, moving long-distance to CO soon, and currently struggling with apartment hunting in Springs for something decent yet affordable that allows cats.

I also like someone else's suggestion above, to juggle the breed name to sound a bit better; "Malinois..." is something most people don't recognize right off the top of their head.

Good luck to you!!