Apartments and Chows

[baxberria]

First off, please direct me to the correct forum if this is not it.

I have had the most gorgeous Chow for about a year now. While I won't get into great detail about how I acquired her, my family rescued her from a neglectful home. She has since made us incredibly happy. She has the spunkiest personality I've ever seen in an animal while still being well behaved and obedient.

Our dog is a huge part of our life. We are planning on moving into an apartment within the next two months, and while I'm looking online, I'm having a tough time finding apartment complexes that allow dogs over 40-50 pounds. A few properties even list themselves as having "strict breed restrictions." Our dog is around 60 pounds, and while she is the sweetest ball of fur ever, I know that some people who are uneducated or have had a bad experience with a Chow are incredibly weary, and because of that, Chows have a less-than-desirable reputation.

For those of you who have moved into an apartment with your pup, did you encounter any of these problems? How did you handle them, and do you have any advice for me? I've never rented an apartment before. I'm moving with my mom, but I'd like to help her out by doing as much of the research as I can.

[ccyang]

hi there...
we have a chow chow puppy who's turning 9months in 5days he also weights 61lbs....and we live in an apartment too. When we moved in, we didnt have Pong yet...and the owner clearly told us no pets accepted. Fortunately, when we decided to get Pong, the owner accepted as long as we take into consideration the neighbors (dont wanna disturb them). Well, we have....and we were lucky to get the best dog ever ...he runs in the apartment rarely, only when he gets super excited when we have guests at home. We always take him outside to spend his energy.....and we also try to bring him as much as possible to our parents place, which have a big backyard for him to go crazy. lol.....He doesn't bark either....I dunno if it's because we told him not to when he was still a baby....or it's a chow chow thingy. As for ppl who think chows are bad dogs...well we meet those ppl everyday. It pisses me off when they start saying what a bad dog he is, but by the time we continue our walk, well....we helped change one more person's opinion towards a chow. I love my Pong so much, and I'm always so proud of him when he is outside.....such a great dog! Anyways, my only tips for you are that you walk your dog as much as you can....coz it sucks that we dont have a backyard for them to play outside. And also...socialize him a lot....helps the dog..and the ppl around him.

[Tsunami22]

Good luck with your apartment search!!

It was also REALLY hard on us to find a place to rent to! We lost a couple of apartment because other people had different kinds of dogs less known for being "vicious." We even moved into one place after the landlord say yes to having a dog of that size. But then 3 days later, remembered to ask for a breed, we told him chow, he asked some friends about chows, got bad info, and decided to say no. So we were a little homeless for 2 weeks. (Don't worry, we just slept on my mom's couch. not REALLY homeless. but it felt like it some times).

A lot of places WILL have a no pets above 25 or 40 lbs depending, and even then a LOT of places will restrict against rottweilers, pit bulls, chow chows, and the like. "Bad rep dogs" is what I call them.

But you have to stay strong and remember how much you REALLY love your dog. If someone offered me a million dollars to give up my chow to an uncertain future I'd definitely say no!

Here's SOME advice though:

- Make a dog resume. It tells a little bit about them, give the cleanest and cutest picture, and tell the owners all that you do to maintain your pup!
- If possible take some classes and try to get a "canine good citizen" diploma or whatever they're called. It's a test given by the AKC (I think) and basically means that the dog passed the test and it's some menace or threat.
- Make sure your dog is in tip top shape: Clean, perfect, and awesome looking. This shows to a landlord that you don't have some dirty, dingy dog and that you take care of it. While this isn't true 100% of the time, it's easy to assume that a dog well taken care of will be a well behaved dog.
- Talk to any prospective landlords or managers about the situation. Tell them that you don't want to and aren't going to give up your dog, but see if they're negotiable.

We assured our landlords that we walked an dwell excercised Penelope so she wouldn't be destructive in the apartment. WE give her ample toys so she doesn't ever chew walls. She isn't a puppy and is well house trained. We work hard to keep her relatively well socialized (I admit, we aren't 100% successful. She just doesn't like strangers!) But we do this to assure she isn't agressive, won't attack people, won't attack other dogs, and won't be a liability to them. If possible, also try to educate them on a real chow vs. the mythical viscuous chow with a notorious reputation. Let them know all that breeders and chow owners do to disprove this, and what you do on a personal level with your chow. You can even refer them to teh forum or ask for reference letters from other dog owners, friends, home owners, and chow lovers.

At first, it may feel like you'll NEVER find a plac.e. It's easy to lose hope. But like I said, remain strong! It's worth it! You'll find a place that will keep your family together.

[Sinniebunnie]

Since the economy sucks now some apartments allow bigger dogs. call around and see. i know most places have restrictions on chows and pit bulls. try getting references including a vet. your dog looks like mine =)

[Kurosbuddy]

Tsunami22 has some great suggestions. I would also make sure that you have renter's insurance which covers dog-bite incidents. So many people have negative views of chows, especially landlords, who are potentially liable for any incident that occurs on their property. Even if your chow is the sweetest thing, it might put a prospective landlord at ease to know that you take liablity issues seriously.

I have rented apartments in both the US and the UK with my chow. I have found it helps to bring him along to viewings always super-clean, brushed and looking like he is heading into the show ring. I make sure to do a little showing off by casually asking him to sit, stay, or lie down to highlight how obedient he is. I think sometimes landlords just want to see that you are the type of dog owner who takes their responsibilities seriously. I have known many landlords who have been burned by bad tenants and out-of-control dogs. A little bit of effort to show you're not that type of tenant/dog owner can go a long way!!

Good luck!

Katie

[pobowen]

I just posted on this and then saw your thread. I am in Texas, and none of the apartment complexes we want to live in will allow chows. If your complexes say they have "strict breed restrictions" then chow is almost certainly included as it was on the 5-10 complexes we checked, along with the other "bad" dogs. One leasing lady even tried to still make the sale, and suggested I have the dog stay with someone else!!! I hung up on her.

My best advice to you if you keep running into problems with the complexes is to look for residential leases that are actually listed with real estate agents (includes apartments, condos, townhomes). This way, pet policies are at the discretion of the individual landlord rather than some arbitrary apartment policy passed down by some CEO in another state. You are more likely to convince a landlord than a complex. (Any licensed real estate agent can get you a list of those and let you inside them, and it's a free service to you because the landlords pay a commission to the agents. You can find some great deals this way! That's what we're doing, and turns out we will most likely be living in a more desirable area for less money, WITH our chow chow.)