Relocating with dh job and having a massive dog dilemma!

[NorwichMummy]

In a nutshell dh has to move with work from Norwich to York. We have a 3 1/2 yo GSD who we all adore but we are going to have to spend the next 6-12 months in rented accomodation whilst we suss out the areas we want to live, buy a house etc.... from talking to letting agents it looks 99.9% certain that we won't be able to have our dog in rented accomodation

So we have two options

1. Give him to my friends permenantly who adore him and look after him when we are away. They have never had children, but dogs instead and they would have him a an indoor pet dog as he currently is with us. They would also continue taking him to the local GSD club and doing trials with him as I do (he is a semi-working dog, but don't have that much time as we have a toddler!)

2. Let him stay at my parents house which is about an hour away from York. It would mean we would see him regularly and would have him back once we have bought a place. They also have two GSD's so he would have company. However my folks dogs are oudoor dogs and rarely come into the house. They have a massive orchard which is their area plus mum walks them daily in teh fields around the house. However they are not part of the family like our dog currently is.

So this is my dilema - do we give him to a loving home but not have him as our dog anymore or let him stay at my folks for 12 months in which time he'll be living outdoors and not having the same interaction with the family? Would it be fair on him for us to be visiting regularly and never taking him with us. And finally would it be terrible if we did rehome him permenantly and then decided to get a new dog once we have settled in York?

Dogs they are even more of a worry than children sometimes!! Any thoughts would be great

I think I'd go with option 1

could your friends not take him temporarily?

oh god what a dilemma.
I think that both are viable options, so really I am stumped as to what you should do.
Actually just re read and I have decided that I would do option 2.
You still see him
He will end up back with you eventually
He will have company of other dogs
Living outside it NOT A BAD THING

(that comes from someone whose labrador lies on the settee with her )

I can only imagine how painfull this is for you, I would be gutted If i had to leave my dog, in fact i would not do it

When my parentsmovedfrom coventry to somerset they had dogsandcats and found a rental property.

They offered a larger damage deposit.

Please don't rule out finding somewhere he can be with you.

What Matnanplus says.
Additionally, if you are renting short term (as you suggest) and your dog does not have any problem habits, no one would know if you rented your house from a letting agent. Seriously.

yeah i rent and im allowed a pet.....jst find somewhere that u can keep the pet or jst take him and dnt tel them, landlords dont come round every week to check on u

Private landlords do - letting agents don't. They come round every 6 months at the absolute most and write to tell you when they are coming.

I know it is driving me mad. I don't mind the fact dogs living outside, have always grown up with dogs outside, but I suppose it is more the thought that the dogs are by themselves pretty much 24/7 and don't get much in the way of attention. God that sounds awful, I don't mean it in a neglectful sort of way but rather that they really are not house dogs at all.

Problem with our friends is that they really love our dog and so feel that if we were to leave him with them it would have to be on a permenant basis as they are so attached to him.

Regarding finding somewhere to rent with the dog. I have spoken to I believe every estate agents/letting agents in York and they are all very firm about not having anything suitable that would allow us to have a dog. The problem we have got is that he is a long haired GSD so landlords as a rule are not very tolerent about having him in a rented place. The agents I spoke to who said there might be a few places that would take a dog changed their tune immediately they realised quite how big he is!

I know all this sounds really negative but it looks very likely that we have exhausted our options from a rental perspective and so it is a case of which alternative accomodation set up would be best.

Thanks for all your thoughts, I really do apprectiate them

OK.
Put it like this

a)99.9% chance properties rented via agencies are NOT going to find out you have a dog if you don;t tell them yourselves.
b)what's the worst thing that could happen if they did?

Both my sisters had this dilemma when they moved into rented, but with a bit of perserverence both successfully found nice houses that did allow dogs.

I am in exactlt the same position but we rang round the lettings agents and houses do let you have dogs especially when relocating

so if anyone knows of a 4 bedroom in fouroaks !!!!!!!

I think the problem we have got is thaht we are looking at York which has a high demand for rental accomodation. I Hav been in touch with every agent I can find listed plus some specialist relocation agencies and they are all firm that they have nothing in the areas we are looking at that will allow a dog, especially a dog as large as ours. I think that is part of the problem, if we had something small, like a Jack Russell or a Westie for example, then some landlords might be a bit more tolerent. In fact a couple of letting agents have actually gone as far as to tell us that. However because we have a large breed there is a definate no from the outset.

I know there is the arguement that we could just have him there and not tell, but I just think I would feel really guilty and worried in case the letting agent found out. Blme my Catholic guilt complex for kicking in on this one

Could you not but a cheap house instead (hence no wasting money on rented) - look around for somewhere to live that's nicer in the meantime and move again relatively quickly?

Is this a dim suggestion?

It would mean you get to keep your dog.

Have you considered a mobile home until you find somewhere?

If you're serious about keeping him this could work.

There must also be a lot of holiday lets round there, I'd bet you could find a long-term holiday let that would let you have your dog there. Have you thought about that one. Could be a consideration.

Oh if you can't find a rented place that takes dogs then give him to your parents. At least you can still see him all the time and then take him back when you buy your house. I've got a GSD the same age and I couldn't bear to give him up, even with hoovering the house 1000 times a day.

We did have a rented place with him for a while and just put in writing that we would pay extra cleaning costs on leaving and they were ok with it.

I hope you find a solution that suits, they're such lovely lovely dogs.

Good luck

Ohhh, I've just got a dog myself so can understand your dilema, I think I would go for option 2, so what if it lived outside, you would still see it regularly and interact with it and at the end of the day whats 6 - 12 months out of your dogs life.. nothing! You'll have it back and it would be like its never been away!

I would go for option one-I think it would be slightly cruel to make an indoor doog change into an outdoor dog-even temporarily-it could change his behaviour forever.

If your friends truly love him and treat him as you would then you are lucky to find such a lovely home for him.

have you tried carter jonas ? they are upmarket but my friend rented a house through them and she was allowed to keep every type of livestock imaginable ,also they might find you something in a village which isnt palatial but reasonable

You might manage to make property owners change their minds if you indicated that you would be prepared to replace any carpets that were adverseley affected by the dog being there (or any other damange that the dog might do eg scratch doors/skirting boards) - they have to take account of normal wear and tear, but some dogs do cause a lot extra (my parents had tennants who got a dog and it completely ruined all the carpets - they agreed to let it stay only on the basis that the tennants paid substantially towards getting re carpeted) - if it were my dog, I think that I would be prepared for this expense as I'm very soft that way!

I'm really surprised there are no agents in York who allow large dogs. I'd try agencies in wetherby or northallerton - who may well have properties on their books in the york area but may be more likely to have some rural/animal friendly houses - the yorkshire post on sat (and Yorkshire evening post on friday eve)have lots of houses for rent and some of them include land/stables etc so there must be some that would take dogs. good luck

I think the major problem we are facing, and it is something I should have mentioned at the beginning, is that dh doesn't drive and so need a property that is fairly city based, rather than soemthing with a more rural location which he would find imporrible to get to work from. To be fair when I have talked to the various agents they have offered up suggestions of places that could have animals, but they are all very rural and so no good to us.

Thanks for the tip about the YP Loshad, my folks live in near Sheffield and they are sending us the YP each week to look at the property pages

How about trying to buy somewhere temporary in eg Doncaster? 20/25 mins by train from York & much cheaper house prices.

I've just realised that this is last month's thread so have you found a solution yet?

By the way, local paper is York Evening Press (not Post) - www.yorkpress.co.uk.