Considering moving to Seattle ish area (Tacoma: apartment, rental market, houses)

[kyliec23]

My fiance and I are considering moving to the Seattle/Tacoma area (probably want to be closer to Seattle) and I have several questions. Mostly pertaining to our dogs as we won't move to a place where we can't take them.
Firstly, we have three big dogs; boxer, heeler mix, husky mix. Where are some neighborhoods that are close to dog parks and is it near impossible to find a rental with a yard that will accept three dogs? All are well behaved, but that doesn't seem to matter to most renters.
What are the leash laws/fines? Are there hiking trails to take dogs?
How far away is the ocean and are dogs allowed with leashed on the beach?
I've head westcoasters are real jerks about dogs, is there any truth in this?
Where are the shelters and no kill animal rescues located? I've only found one on google in Seattle?

[mkarch]

I'll put out there that some neighborhoods have private beaches with no leash laws. Otherwise, I know city of seattle bans dogs on most beaches, with a few exceptions where they've set aside a fenced in area. Finding a rental with 3 dogs will certainly be difficult in an area with dog parks and beaches, but it depends on the price point. If you're willing to pay $2500+/mo I get the feeling the rental market is fairly soft at that level and landlords might be more open to negotiate.

My impression is Seattle is very dog friendly - as long as your dog is well behaved and you pick up after them.

[tobester]

Most landlords probably have no problem renting out their houses to people without dogs, so why bother with people with them? Suggestions - look far from town in country settings, be willing to pay more in rent to show you're serious.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by mkarch

I'll put out there that some neighborhoods have private beaches with no leash laws. Otherwise, I know city of seattle bans dogs on most beaches, with a few exceptions where they've set aside a fenced in area. Finding a rental with 3 dogs will certainly be difficult in an area with dog parks and beaches, but it depends on the price point. If you're willing to pay $2500+/mo I get the feeling the rental market is fairly soft at that level and landlords might be more open to negotiate.

My impression is Seattle is very dog friendly - as long as your dog is well behaved and you pick up after them.

That really depends, the rental market is pretty competitive in a lot of areas in Seattle.



Yes, Seattle can be very dog-friendly, but it's an ugly reality here that its not that easy to find that ideal rental place that will also accept dogs, much less 3 dogs. When you do find a place that does accept dogs, there's usually a high deposit and/or pet rent. I've a couple friends that ended up giving their pet(s) to their parents because the pet rent were ridiculous (one particular apartment expected $350/mo per pet).