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America’s pet friendly rental markets

Posted on May 7, 2015 | Leave a comment

Finding rental housing when you own a dog (or two, or more) is a big issue here in Christchurch. Our housing market has done some very weird things since the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 with sky-rocketing property prices and escalated rental costs (people getting their homes repaired move to temporary accommodation – paid by their homeowners insurance, adding to the competition for rental properties).

Those people who did not own their homes pre-quakes and were dog owners have been some of the most severely affected by the increases.

And so this article from Forbes Magazine caught my eye. It’s about renting housing in the USA when you are a dog owner; the largest 25 property rental markets are compared.

Three factors were used to rank the rental markets:

a) the percentage of landlords willing to allow pets (counted by reading the ads for rental properties)

b) the least expensive pet fees. That’s a fee that you pay on top of any deposit because you own a pet. Most fees are refunded when you leave the property in good condition. Others are simply higher rents for pet owners that are non-refundable. In Christchurch, pet fees, particularly in terms of higher deposits, suddenly appeared on many properties where there were none before.

c) and my favorite criteria: a high concentration of pet stores and services.

The western cities of San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Oakland and Portland topped the list.

Sadly for dog lovers, the survey revealed that landlords are much more tolerant of cats than they are of dogs. And the larger the dog, the harder time you have when renting. Only 4% of landlords were prepared to allow large breed dogs like a St Bernard.

What this information reinforces is that dog ownership costs money. If you are considering adding a dog to your pack, spend some time considering your income and life situation before making the commitment.

Source: The Forbes article cited used data from this Trulia Trends report

Kathleen Crisley, specialist in dog massage, rehabilitation and nutrition/food therapy, The Balanced Dog Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand

It’s a sunny day at the (rented) White House

Posted on August 30, 2013 | 2 comments

The White House’s latest edition, Sunny, appears to be settling in well as the nation’s Second Dog (the title of First Dog belongs to Bo).

Official White House photo by Pete Souza, taken 19 August 2013

When interviewed about the new addition, President Obama said that he and his wife are seeing less of their daughters now that they are growing up with active lives of their own. “I think there is an element for Michelle and me of, you know, we see what’s coming and we need to make sure that we got somebody who greets us at the door when we get home.”

Sunny, who is a year old, is a Portuguese water dog like Bo and will be a companion for the First Dog, who is also feeling the need for company since Malia (15) and Sasha (12) are busier. President Obama said, “Bo was getting a little down in the dumps inside the house.”

But what I really liked about the interview, and this will resonate with Christchurch dog owners who are really suffering from high rentals and pet bonds (see A mixed news week for dogs in Christchurch), was President Obama’s admission that Sunny had had a few accidents.

“We live in rental housing. We didn’t have to put down a deposit, but we are making sure that it gets cleaned up for the next occupant.”

Congratulations to the Obamas for becoming another well-adjusted multiple dog household!

(And in case you missed it, here’s the official White House video announcing Sunny’s arrival)