To ask about having a tenant with a staffy

[aboutadog]

Name changed for this but regular poster (cancel the cheque, Mexican house thief etc)

I have a one bed flat I've spent loads of time doing up to make it lovely, reclaimed wooden floorboards, newly painted, nice new furniture, new kitchen bathroom etc and which I rent out. I have a prospective tenant who has a staffy. I know nothing about dogs (I have 2 cats) but I'm worried the dog will wreck everything and whether the flat will smell. I hope I'm not offending anyone but I really don't know anything about having a dog!!

Can anyone tell me their experience of having a staffy? Any problems I should think about? He says it won't be left alone as he takes it to work and it goes everywhere with him. Thanks in advance.

Just FYI I have found that my cats have caused more damage to my house than my dog (hes never chewed a thing but he does moult)

Its very sad. He could be a dad separating, wife doesn't want the dog and the poor guy is desperate to find a place not being able to afford to buy as still paying the family mortgage. His dog might be a sweety, well behaved dog, always with him...

But I have the benefit of the doubt to a family with two dogs. Had strong reservations so only agreed to meet them. Dogs were lovely, quite old, no barking, the people looked well kept, the dogs well looked after.

Sadly it was the biggest mistake we made. The garden got totally destroyed, beautiful trees died from them weeing in them, new carpets ruined after one year, doors all scratched and I had phone calls from neighbours complaining of barking.

The deposit didn't cover the damage and sadly, I would as a result never ever give the benefit of the doubt.

You could look at doubling the deposit and insisting that he deep cleans the house when he leaves

You're unlikely to be able to double the deposit. It's capped at 5 weeks of rent.

I wouldn’t let my place to someone with a dog.
Yes, dogs do smell. Yes, they can ruin things.

We had a tenant who introduced a large dog without permission. When we visited at the end of the lease, he claimed the dog had only been there a week. The postman told a different story.
The dog had eaten so much of the front door it had to be replaced,
‘No, Mr Tenant, a bit of Polyfilla will not fix it.”
The Deposit people agreed that the door needed replacing and the area redecorating , a £1500 debt in their deposit.

Another perspective is the next tenant. We nearly rejected a house because there had been a dog in it. When we viewed all we could smell was dog. We took the house on the agreement that dog smell would be gone - moved into dog smell that lingered a few more weeks despite carpet cleaning.

And landlady had to redo the garden following the holes the dog made on the lawn.

Plus, one of the first things that occurs to me is... you've been clear on the ad that it's no pets, and this guy is already trying to get you to move your clearly stated boundaries? Pushy and entitled then?

FizzyGreenWater, I think that's a little unfair. When my relationship with my ex broke down a few years ago we had to sell our house and I was left with the dog. I then had to try and find a rental place, which was difficult as most LLs say "no dogs" on the adverts. So out of desperation I'd ask the letting agents to double check if the LL would be willing to reconsider, and that I was happy to pay a massive deposit to cover any potential damage (not that my dog was at all destructive). I had 2 LLs who went from "no dogs" to OK. If you don't ask you don't get and, for me at least, it was nothing to do with disrespecting boundaries, or being entitled or pushy. I desperately needed to find a place to live and I wasn't prepared to abandon my dog in the process. When I left my rental place I got all of my deposit back BTW (dog did zero damage).

No pets means no pets. Keep looking for another tenant

Plenty of lettings agents will automatically list a property as no pets without actually asking the landlord and in my case, listed it as no pets despite me actually having said yes, pets ok with conditions.

SO no, I don't think its at all pushy or entitled to check if the no pets thing is serious!