Renting With Your Pit Bull

Finding dog-friendly housing can be tough, especially if your best friend is a pit bull. Rejection hurts, but don’t panic! Instead, be proactive and ready to prove to landlords why you and your dog are the perfect tenants.

ADVICE FROM FELLOW PIT BULL OWNERS

1. When looking for a new home, bring your well trained dog with you to meet the landlords. It’s easy to decline dog owners on the phone, but so much harder when they meet a great applicant and lovely dog in person. Be polite no matter how they respond. Many a landlord has been moved to give applicants a try when they act calm, professional and show a willingness to work to address all of their concerns.

2. Obedience train your spayed or neutered dog and create an eye-catching pet resume that includes cute photos and letters of recommendation from your vet, neighbors and trainer to show how well liked your dog is and responsible you are. Describe any arrangements you make for your pet while you’re at work or away on vacation.
3. Ask your trainer how to help your dog earn his Canine Good Citizen title (CGC). This impressive certification helps show landlords that your pet is able to demonstrate the best manners.
4. Since liability is every property owner’s biggest concern, buy renter’s insurance that will cover your dog. In California, Farmers Insurance will sell a $300,000 liability policy for $200 a year. This is a small price to pay to help
your landlord feel good about renting to you. Note: Nationwide Insurance Company will cover any dog that has its CGC title.
5. Consider offering an additional pet deposit to cover any damages.
6. Never try to hide your dog or sign a lease that doesn’t allow dogs. You’re much safer if you stay honest and if you have the landlord add your dog’s name and breed to the lease. If you decide to hide your dog, you’re at the mercy of ill-informed neighbors who might turn you in! Landlords are more likely to evict dogs when they’re pressured by neighbors or if they’re caught off guard.
7. Be an awesome tenant. Pick up after your dog. Don’t let him bark non-stop or annoy others. Don’t let him run loose. Let willing neighbors meet your well behaved pet so they can support you in your ownership….Consider inviting them over to a BBQ for some enjoyable ‘get to know’ time. Wear a thick skin and be polite to those that are rude or afraid. Make it your mission to help them realize you’re a thoughtful, responsible dog owner with a well loved pet!
8. Be resourceful and persistent. Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) is a great resource for dog friendly housing ads. You may want to consider placing a ‘Housing Wanted’ ad on this same website.
9. It can take many weeks to find a rental that will allow your pet, but patience will pay off. If you’re in a pinch, consider boarding your pet at your vet’s office or boarding facility to keep him safe while you hunt for a pet friendly rental.
For more info, visit BADRAP.org

ANIMALFARMFOUNDATION.org 

Partners in Shelter Services

Weekly Wag: Socializing Your Dog Quiz

1. True or False? Smart Socializing involves setting your dog up for success with only positive dog-dog interactions.

TRUE! – The more positive interaction ANY dog gets with other dogs, the more likely he will develop and maintain ‘dog-tolerant’ behavior for life.

2. True or False? – Dog Parks are a dependable place for positive dog-dog socializing opportunities.

FALSE! – While Dog Parks can be fun, they also bring plenty of NEGATIVE interactions by forcing your pet to come up against dogs that might be overly stimulated, short tempered, outwardly aggressive or otherwise badly managed. Smart Socializing means keeping your friend dog-tolerant, and that involves AVOIDING dicey situations where conflict can spark.

3. True or False? ‘My dog is really good with my brother’s dog. Is it true that he’ll be good with all other dogs?

FALSE! – The friendship your dog has worked out with your brother’s dog will not necessarily translate to other dogs. It would be completely normal for him to be very picky about which dogs he likes.

4. True or False? – I heard it’s okay to go to the dog park until the first fight, then you can quit going with no harm done.

FALSE! – A dog’s first fight is always the one you want to avoid. Why? A bad fight can make a huge impression on your dog and cause him to have a shorter fuse the next time a dog-dog conflict comes up. Dogs learn from their bad experiences just like we do, so it’s best to protect them from conflict.

5. True or False? – A good way to socialize a dog is to let him walk up and greet dogs that he doesn’t know during his walks.

FALSE! – Leash greets can be a very challenging way for any two strange dogs to meet and a sure bet way to set the wrong two personalities up for a loud argument. Also, allowing your dog to do this will encourage him to pull like crazy towards any dog he sees. The tension that builds from the excitement of a rushed greeting can escalate into leash aggression for him and yanked shoulders for you – Not good!

TIP: Protect Your Dog from a Bad Dog-Dog Experience.

Dogs don’t need to ‘prove’ that they can be buddy-buddy with every dog they meet. A good goal is making sure your dog can calmly tolerate and even ignore other dogs when he’s out on-leash. Even better if he also has a small handful of trusted play partners for supervised fun in safe areas.

Note: When taking your dog, especially pit bull, to the dog park please be a responsible owner and KNOW your dog’s personality. Although your pet is not dog-aggressive, there could be a dog-aggressive dog running around in the park. Although a pit bull may not start a confrontation, they will usually not back down from one. Game on. This is part of their “bad rap.” Never introduce your on-leash pit bull nose to nose with another dog! Introduce dogs slowly with the “butt sniff”, nose to butt first and watch your dog’s and the other dog’s body language. START SOCIALIZING YOUR DOG IMMEDIATELY WITH OTHER DOGS AND HUMANS.

From BADRAP.org printable handouts.