The only downside of having a dog...

[stephanieburgis]

I think everybody who knows me knows this: I am dog crazy. When I was in undergrad and couldn't keep a dog in my dorm, I walked dogs as a volunteer at the local shelter, just so I could get that fix of canine sweetness.* Much more embarrassingly - oh, this almost hurts to admit out loud - occasionally? When I went on long walks at night through the

Comments

[charmingbillie]

I didn't get a dog until I owned a home so I've never had to go through the hunt for a rental place while a dog owner.

I did have someone refuse to sell their house to me because I wanted to put up a fence, but since that turned out to be the best thing ever (since I found an even better house for less money), I don't hold it against them.

Good luck with the house hunting!

[stephanieburgis]

Wow. I'd never thought of fences as being a provocative decision...glad you found a better house in the end! And thanks for the good luck wishes - we definitely appreciate them. :)

[greenbeantq]

Yep, we had to deal with that too. We're in an apartment now, but trying to find one that allowed medium dogs was hard (she's 30 lbs and most only go up to 25) Now we're wanting to rent a house, and we're running into the same problems. What really frustrates me is that our dog is hypoallergenic and doesn't shed, so she won't even leave pet fur! I want to yell at every place I look at or call "Don't you know pets are good for your health? Have you never known a dog's love?" but they'd probably think I was even more crazy than I already am :)
Good luck with the house hunting!! Sending good thoughts your way!

[stephanieburgis]

Oh, that weight limit is killer - our dog is 35lbs so would never make it with those rules! And I know exactly what you mean - it's so hard not to just yell "Do you not know how crazy this is??? House-trained dogs are NOT a problem!" Sigh....

Thanks for the good luck wishes, and good luck with your own househunt!

[reneesweet]

Aw, poor Maya (and you!). We also didn't get a dog until we owned a home for that exact reason. When we were trying to rent it was almost impossible to find a place that would allow big dogs (I wanted a Boxer. Okay, I wanted a dozen Boxers. LOL).

Good luck! Keep us posted.

[stephanieburgis]

Ohhhh, I am so fantasizing about being able to buy instead of rent...it's the only thing that draws us to moving to America (but then we'd end up paying so much in private health insurance fees it wouldn't be worth it). Sigh.

And hee. That doesn't look like a boxer in your icon... ;) I always planned to have at least 2 German shepherds, back before I met my first border collie mix and fell head over heels forever!

Thanks for the good luck wishes!

[reneesweet]

Long story short, I settled for 2 boxers instead of a dozen (ha ha) but we lost both to cancer, which is very common in the breed. I decided I couldn't go through the heartache again, even though the boxer personality is a perfect dog-match for me. We looked for a mutt for our next dog, since they tend to take on the healthiest traits of their genetic contributors rather than the genetic diseases, etc.

Logan's a terrier mix (in case the beard didn't give it away!) and we <3 <3 <3 him. :)

[stephanieburgis]

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Like you, we've specifically decided to always have mixed breeds because of the health issues. It's just so heartbreaking to go through a loss like that, much less having to do it twice. :( *hugs*

Logan is adorable, AND so cultured! I've loved his interviews. :)

[jamiam]

Is this a British thing? We have had no problems looking for houses in Tucson and Phoenix. (It helps that the ads usually specify pets or no pets.)

[stephanieburgis]

Nope, it was just as hard in Pittsburgh - maybe Arizona's just a better place for dogs?

[jamiam]

Man, I'm sorry. That just sucks.

[ex_triciasu]

Oh, gosh. I need to write you e-mail. Meant to ask you about the move ages ago.

Is it possible to go rural? We are in a rural area and if the landlord is a farmer there's a good chance you'd be OK. Downside of this is that a lot of times the rural properties aren't advertised, they go by word of mouth. That's how we got the place we are now.

I need to e-mail you! I don't want to clutter up your blog with all my questions and stuff.

[stephanieburgis]

Right now we're trying for a neighborhood that's urban enough for me (so I can walk with MrD to coffeeshops and bookstores!) but with a park for Maya (because she needs grass and somewhere to run). If we don't have any luck, though, we will definitely have to broaden our search...