Renting a property with my dog

[LividofLondon]

How difficult will I find this? Whenever I look on RightMove I read "no pets" so I get the impression it's not going to be easy. When I eventually sell my house [groan!] I'll be looking at something in or near Birmingham (but pretty flexible on this), and I'm keeping an open mind regarding the type of property. Does anyone have any advice or experience to share please?

Yes it's a nightmare! We sold our house and are renting in the town we're buying in until the right house comes up; we had no idea how difficult it would be with dogs! We managed in the end to persuade the landlords and pay loads extra to have ours....one idea if your selling your house is to show them pictures of your gorgeous unthawed/unhairy rooms.....we did that.

say you wouldn't dream of letting them on furniture or upstairs, that you won't leave dog mess around garden etc etc.

Even if they say no dogs it's worth asking anyway.

But letting agents are pretty dreadful in my experience. You may well have more luck privately/Gumtree/ or house in the countryside rather than city centre.

"Unchewed" not unthawed!

We are renting having recently sold and could find only one property in the area that would accept pets- its a very rural farmhouse. Some will allow pets with double the deposit and a contract that states a professional clean on departure.

I have 2 cats and am renting in the approx area you are looking at.
It was really hard to find somewhere that would take them: not impossible but it does cut down your choice. Eventually found a house with a cat flap and a landlord who was happy to take them.
Do ask, even if it says no pets, because some people or agents put that but will be flexible.

Older houses are a better bet than newer ones, and new flats are pretty much a no-no.

I wouldn't look at anywhere that wasn't a) nice and b) cat-friendly and it was a bit of a nightmare. But the letting agents felt sorry for me in the end and were very helpful about this place.

And the agents said to sell upfront how good the animals were and how you'd be happy to pay more deposit etc. (landlord here didn't ask for any extra though)

Thanks for the replies! Good idea about showing photos of my immaculate house...without all the tumbleweed dog hair clusters At least it's a big area, I'm happy to live out of town (I live in the sticks at the moment), and would be happy to live in anything from a room on a farm to a mobile home. I'll certainly suggest giving a huge deposit too, thanks.

I always say no pets, but have made a few exceptions over the years:

A good reliable tenant in all other aspects (someone older, settled, good job, likely to stay longer - sorry sterotypes)
an owner who is at home during the day
a small well behaved dog (confirmed after meeting it)
not a puppy
not in a house with new carpets
not in a house with a beautiful garden
a large deposit
steam cleaned carpets after
confined to downstairs rooms (pref hard floored rooms)

only if owner at home all day and house with all hard floors, for a dog. Plus full steam clean after including curtains and shit picked up, bagged and binned, not left in the garden.

how do you stop a dog going upstairs or on the furniture?

No cats - made that mistake, carpets wrecked, woodwork clawed, not enough deposit.

"how do you stop a dog going upstairs or on the furniture?"
Baby gate at the bottom of the stairs (I used to do that in my old place to stop my dogs going upstairs), and collapsible plastic crates on the furniture (dogs don't like lying on them - I use this method). Even a broom on the sofa stops my dog getting up there, and when I do let him up I use an old duvet cover to protect the furniture.

My dog is large, but is chilled out, quiet when left, and not destructive. He does shed hair which I can only really remove easily from rugs and carpets by using a rubber curry comb, which is why I'm only want to let a place with hard flooring. I'd have my own rugs, curtains and furniture. I can understand the concern of landlords though as some dogs can be a problem.

Agree with MyBach. I'm renting an older property and found that it was the newer properties that always had no pets in the ad (though saying that I have a friend with a dog who rents a new build).

I was also advised to tell agents upfront that I had a dog as there can often be a mid way bargaining point with the owners - eg getting carpets professionally cleaned when vacating.