How do I persuade my landlord to let me have a dog.

[wrongagain]

We've been in the house nearly six months, about to take on another years contract and will be here for at least 6-7 years. All the furniture is mine, the carpet and doors are the landlords and we already have a dog gate in the kitchen due to climbing three year old. (the kitchen is primarily where a dog would be kept)

The letting agents are coming out on thursday and I will be begging asking then. So far we have;
Offering extra money down as deposit.
Getting a dog crate for the dog.
Replacing anything a dog may chew/scratch/break in anyway.
Monthly visits from landlord to check we are maintaining the house.
One of us is always about, dp works days, I do nights.
Promising to have carpets professionally cleaned when we leave.
Not allowing dog upstairs.

Is there anything else we could say that could possibly sway the landlord?

And the next big question is... Someone tell me all about English springer spaniels! This is the dog we are hoping to get, what would we look for in a puppy and what are they like temperament wise? Anything else I need to know? Any advice will be extremely appreciated!

Committing to a contract of longer than one year, and getting an adult dog that is already house trained and doesn't chew might help.

At the end of the day it depends on the landlord though, and if they have recently refurbed or fitted new carpets they are unlikely to agree. I never take pets for short lets, but I would consider it for reliable tenants on a lease of longer than 3 years.

Massive deposit and possibly redecoration as well. I have dirty marks on the walls that the dogs seem to slide along.
Only English Springer I know is beautifully bonkers and loves covering himself in mud!

Something like this? Shop around, though, that's just the first company that popped up on Google.

A puppy will chew everything, wee and poo everywhere and possibly ruin all the carpets. It wouldnt be happy being on its own in the kitchen if you were all, for example, in the lounge watching tv. Springers will need a LOT of daily exercise, not just an hour or so. I'd consider an adult springer from a breed rescue, but that's just me. I'm always for an easy life!

Try to put yourself in the position of yr landlord and think about what would be a concern to them.

What is the fence like in the garden? You should have a solid 6ft fence and you should consider the effects of a dog peeing (and turning the grass yellow), and digging up holes, trampling plants etc. If hte property does not have such a fence will you be prepared to put one in?

Think about neighbours. Is yr landlord going to get grief because of dog barking, escaping, or having piles of smelly poo? Promise to ensure regular poo patrols in garden and to ensure dog is not a nuisance, doesn't escape. Your dog should be chipped, insured, always wear a collar and ID, and offer to have it neutered/spayed when reaching adulthood (so that you don't end up with a breeding establishment). Undertake also to take pup/dog to regular training classes - really, you are trying to get across that you want to be a responsible pet owner who wishes to minimise the impact of their pet on the house and hte surrounding neighbourhood.

You should be prepared for/offer a higher deposit, offer professional steam cleaning when tenancy ends, and you may need to discuss garden/state of interior walls, though a certain amount of wear and tear is to be expected, especially since they are happy to let you have children in the property.

Much depends on the area (are you rural? Urban? Built up? Close neighbours? ) and yr relationship with yr landlord. If they know you and realise you are steady, responsible tenants who already look after the place well, then they may wish to keep you. The other alternative is to seek accommodation where a dog would be welcome - try placing an ad in Accommodation Wanted in local paper, setting out what you are looking for. We did this and were surprised at the amount of lovely offers we had for us and our three huge dogs!

Whatever you do, do NOT attempt to smuggle a dog in to the house if landlord says no. This never ends well, and you could end up with dog being rehomed, or you in danger of losing yr tenancy. It is also v unfair to any future tenants who may have allergies and could understandably assume the house will be a healthy environment for them.

We have lived in rented accommodation and had permission for a dog and then got permission to have a litter of puppies. Slightly different, I know, but our landlord was 'doggy' anyway and we agreed to pay an extra £1000 deposit and had a few extra checks by the letting agent while the pups were with us to make sure all was kept in good order. ( letting agent was gutted... ) the extra checks were at our expense.

If you are a vigilant owner and crate train, there is no need for any chewing and very few accidents, if any at all on the carpet, even with a puppy, but I agree an older rescue dog may help convince your landlord. This could still be a puppy, just an older one, lots around 10 months end up in rescues. It could also still be a springer.

If you do get a puppy then do be aware any reputable breeder may require written proof from your landlord that you may keep a dog. They're also likely to interrogate you as to your future living plans given the usual life span of a dog.

Thanks for all your replies, definately given me lots to think about! Have looked into the insurance, garden is already extremely secure... We have an escaping three year old that will escape with any chance he's given! I'm sure he's worse than a dog!

When we are the the house dog will be allowed with us but primarily in the kitchen when we go out, although its very rare one of us isn't in or in a situation where we can take a dog with us. Ideally we would want a dog from a puppy as we feel it would be easier to bring it up our way, I'm never too sure on rescue dogs, never met one without issues.

Just keeping my fingers crossed they say yes on Thursday! Thanks for all your help!

Oh if he says no he says no. End of. No dog for us. There's no harm in asking really and would never consider getting a dog without his permission. It would be disappointing but ultimately we would understand. We cannot afford to move, plus this house is perfect for us and the dc's. Would just be nice to be able to add to our family.
I asked for advice in case there was anything else we hadn't thought about that could help sway the landlord. But as I said, if he says no then that's fine, disappointing but fine!

Keeping fingers crossed for Thursday for you. Just wanted to pick up on your comments on rescue dogs. I wish you could meet our beautiful healthy 12 year old dog, who has done his bronze, silver and gold KC awards, is friendly, chilled, affectionate and is adored by (and adores) children. When we did our Gold award last year, of the six dogs in the class, four were rescues, two were PAT dogs.

Ironically, given your post subject, many dogs are given in to rescues for rehoming because their owners have moved to accommodation where they cannot be kept, NOT because of any fault by the dog. I wish more owners were as responsible as you in making sure of this before finding accommodation.

You only have to look at some of the threads on here to see that getting a puppy is no guarantee of behaviour or health. I'm sure there are many rescue dog owners on here who could give similar information.

We have six dogs in our family, of those four are rescues/pound dogs.

One of the two non rescue pups one has no issues, but imo you can't really class her as a dog either. She has no issues because it never occurs to her to actually do anything other sleep, eat and purr like a cat . The other one will and does regularly eat the house. He is banned from entering my house after he ate my door and skirting board. He was only here half an hour Luckily my house is not rented.

My poundie has issues that are being worked on with some success. But pound dogs are not rescues dogs. He had no assesment prior to being rehomed with us. Another of the rescue dogs has issues due to being cruelly treat and untrained before she came to us. However we were warned of these issues prior to taking her and we recieve full back up and support from the rescue including respite breaks and free in-house boarding when go away.

The other two rescue dogs are as near to perfect as you can get. One has seperation anxiety, but that is a common trait with that breed. The other is literally perfect, but like the non rescue pup is as thick as two short planks and it never occurs to him to actually do anything. This one was found straying and we have no history on him at all. The police contacted my Dad (who found him and kept him) to ask if he was happy to keep the dog for good as they had reason to believe he had been deliberately dumped along with three other dogs

We've also had over last year one SBT bitch who was an ex poundie and has no issues and one JRT dog as an emergency foster who was a lovely wee dog but only got on with other dogs, he kept going for my bitches so he had to be fostered elsewhere. He went to a couple with a small child and two cats where I am assured he is doing well and they are considering adopting him.

In short it's down to the individual dog. Raising them from pups does not gurantee there will be no issues and a decent rehoming center will be aware of any issues and will talk you through them and support you fully after you adopt the dog.

This is one of my rescue dogs - not really the savage beast you'd imagine is she? That is how she spends much of her day.

In my experience, 99% of rescue dogs are rehomed due to personality defects.

It's the personality defects of the owners though.

Oh yes I'm sure there's plenty of rescue dogs about that are fantastic I just don't think it's for our family really. Every rescue dog my parents have had has had to go for some reason or another, maybe it's because they didn't have time for them... Although the puppy's my mother has had are still with her now. I'm probably very biased based on that!

Were they rescue dogs or pound dogs wrongagain?

They are two very different things. A pound will not assess the dog or home check the owners and really has no interest in making sure the dog is the right dog for the family so long as you pay the adoption fee. rescues are not for profit organisations and work wholly for the dog and would not give you a dog that was unsuitable for you needs as a family, it's not good for the rescue or the dog if the home breaks down and the dog ends up coming back so they will do their utmost to make sure you get the right dog from the start, unlike most breeders, who like pounds, are only interested in the money.

Just to update, letting agent has been round today... She's happy for us to have a dog, she just needs to email the landlord and put the point across, ultimately it's his decision but it's looking good so far!

Thanks for all your help!

Good luck with the landlord but sounds like good news!

I've said I'd give an update and here it is...
Landlord said yes! From there it has all happened very quickly and 9 week old Charlie has been here for two days now!
He's a springer, bought from a lovely couple who had both mother and father, had kc registered him and are keeping Charlie's sister for themselves. They have offered us the chance to go out and walk him with them when he's had his second injections and would like us to keep him updated on his progress!

So far Charlie spent his first night asleep in the floor of our bedroom, and last night after 15 minutes whining he slept in his crate until 6.40 this morning. He has peed on my carpet plenty of times but is using the paper more times then the carpet and he's been having a treat everytime he does it in the right place!
My 3 year old DS won't leave him alone though! He's very nippy- anyone got any tips on that?
Sooo, any advice for me and Charlie?
He knows "sit" so far, and I've purchased a whistle for more training! Any tips/hints will be gratefully received, and I'm awaiting my copy of the perfect puppy!
Thanks