New apartment complex doesn't allow "viscous breeds." Help!?

Question

I'm about to be moving to Tyler, TX and will be moving into an apartment. My problem is that I have two dogs...pit bulls to be exact and all decent apartments and property managment companies say no pit bulls, rotweillers, dobermans, etc. I thought maybe it was a city ordinance and checked into it; however, it is not. These animals are not mean. Infact they are nothing, but the biggest babies and are probably treated better than some children. Sarge, my male, has passed numerous obedience test and is a certified therapy dog. We go visit nursing homes and hospitals with him. My other dog, Dixie, is in training to become a therapy dog also! Despite all there certifications and my dogs great temperment sall property managments companies say no. Has anyone ever been in this situation and does anyone have any advice to how I may sway managment to allow me to keep Dixie and Sarge?

I'm renting because I will only be in Tyler for about a year. I own a home in my current location and will be moving back after the year is over.

To PSF11:
You should also do your research before putting down pit bulls or any other breed that ignorant uninformed people call viscous or dangerous. Did you know Pit bulls were rescue dogs after 9/11? Did you know they are a promininet breed in therapy because of their sweet dispostion and willingness to learn and obey thier owner/handler? I promise if you treated a Golden Retreiver the way some ignorant uneducated people unfortanetly treat their pitts, rotts, and dobermans, the Golden Retriever would act just like these abused animials you classify my dogs with. How would you act if someone beat you all the time, didn't feed you adequatly, left you on a chain your entire life, never gave you proper attention, and fed you gunpowder to make you crazy? I doubt you would have a very good temperment or personality either!

Answer 1

well, here is are some tips on how to move your dogs to their new home:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?dept_id=0&siteid=12&acatid=205&aid=184
and here is an article about finding a cat friendly apartment (has tips that might help with your dogs):
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?dept_id=0&siteid=1&acatid=391&aid=671
after reading both these articles, I would suggest that you:
1-provide all medical records (vaccinations, spay/neuter documentation)
2-provide a letter from your current landlord regarding the dog's behavior
3-offer to pay extra each month
4-provide proof or documentation that the dogs are certified therapy dogs
5-provide a letter from the dog's most recent trainer/handler regarding their temperament
6-and most importantly: introduce your dogs to the apartment manager...make sure they are well groomed and on their best behavior for this event (maybe give them a bath so they smell good and walk them so they are tired before the introductions are made)
there are no guarantees that you'll be able to change your landlord's mind HOWEVER my father is a landlord and I've known plenty of people to change his mind regarding a dog or cat over the years (I've even known people who lived in apartment buildings which say "no pets at all" yet the landlord might allow a well mannered cat if they like a certain tenant)
good luck!

Answer 2

Landlords often have little or no choice in the matter since they have to carry insurance and their insurance companies won't allow for them to have breeds that are considered, rightly or wrongly, as vicious. Regardless of what breed was at ground zero (as if that made any difference) the Bullie breeds, Rottweilers and Dobermans are among those listed by insurance carriers as 'vicious'. I myself could not get homeowners insurance in Texas because I own 'vicious' dogs -- no, none have ever had any bite incidents and none are actually vicious but they are listed by insurance carriers as such. It is public perception and it isn't entirely without basis because of high profile incidents where people have been injured or killed by these breeds. Regardless of the fact that hundreds of thousands never do bite or injure, the one or more that do make the headlines and people are fearful. You saying your dogs have 'great temperaments' means little or nothing since you have no real basis to say that -- every bite incident dog owner I have taken care of the victim of in the ER has said the same exact thing. If you plan on owning dogs with the reputations that place them on these vicious dog lists, then you will find that you will rarely run into a landlord that can and will allow them. They do exist but they are rare and you will either have to do more work at discovering where you can get a place to live that will allow them or not have them, unfortunately. I have been able to travel extensively and locate properties that allow for my listed dogs but it isn't easy. All the stuff you are saying about the dogs is meaningless as this isn't the issue. I know that in some states there are insurance providers that will allow for these breeds if they have a CGC but not sure if Texas is one since I still haven't located a homeowners carrier that will insure with my dogs. If you do own a home in Texas you might want to discuss it with your insurance carrier and maybe pay an exhorbidant rate for a ryder that will cover you in a rental situation in Tyler and see if that will allow for you to rent there. Doubt you will get an apartment unless it is at a private residence though but you might be able to rent a house if you can convince a private landlord and can carry the insurance rider. Good luck.

Answer 3

You might find a legal 'loop hole' due to the fact they are (or will be) CERTIFIED therapy dogs. You also need to be VERY careful in the way you approach the issue with the prop.mgmt. companies.

****If you have friends in Tyler, have them visit the offices and try to find a contact there that has--- a dog as a screen saver!!! (They would probably be extremely sympathetic to your cause or else they'd never have that particular screen saver in the first place.) I have personally done this (kinda sneaky, but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do..), when I was up against a lot of 'deaf ears' regarding a dog issue. I went directly to the source, noticed the secretary's screen saver of her dog, engaged her in 'dog lover talk' for about 15 minutes, and lo and behold---her 'unavailable', 'out of town', 'no available appointments' Boss,---magically appeared and suddenly had tons of time available and gave me the rest of the day to 'help my cause'. Helps sometimes to have someone in the 'enemy' camp! And they could be a wealth of information on which direction you should go....****

Other than that; I'm sure somewhere on some dog blog or perhaps here, the issue and hopefully a solution has been addressed before. Good luck! Woof.

BTW: Dixie is a great name for a dog movin to Texas!


PS: To PSF11, do some research and pull up the article about the pom who mauled a baby to death.....its NOT breed, believe me, pits just happen to be 'handy' and an instant 'news maker',---that cute little pom dog was on the bed with the baby and the parents left the room for only a short while. When they returned their BABY was ripped apart and dead! Sorry to be graphic but discrimination IN ANY FORM really pushes my buttons! GRRR, WOOF!

Answer 4

If there is no city ordinance or state law covering the situation, than the property owner is free to make such determinations. It's private property, after all. Find another apartment complex or buy a house.

Dog breeds are not a protected minority; the courts will laugh at you. Your dogs sound great; I'm very familiar with Certified Therapy Dogs. This just proves that ignorance reins supreme.

All you can possibly do is contact the actual owner of the property; the ones you're talking to in the office are just doing what they're told; you'll get nowhere with them.

Answer 5

I am sorry you have to go through this. As someone who rents with German shepherds I have some idea what you're going through. The best advice I can give you is to keep at it. Large management companies generally aren't very flexible in their policies because of the sheer number of properties that they manage. Your best bet would be a small company or a private owner renting out their home (be it a house or apartment) as these landlords have a lot more freedom to bend their policies for circumstances such as yours. Get letters of recommendation from your vet, the nursing homes you visit, and your dog trainer to attest to how well behaved and trained your dogs are. If you are currently renting, be sure to get a letter from your current landlord that says something positive about how you and your dogs have been as tenants.

Answer 6

I've faced a similar problem with my Great Dane, she is 125 lbs and very intimidating, but the sweetest dog in the world. When I was looking for an apartment, many places said no to dogs in general, especially one as large as mine. What I had to do was convince the landlord that she was indeed very well trained and would not cause any problems. Try steering away from the real big apartment buildings owned by large companies, they have much stricter policies and are very much less willing to make compromises. Explain to them that your pit bulls are your children and even go as far as to offer the landlord a chance to meet them, offer it to them as a sort of test.

The large companies will more than likely dismiss the concept, but keep an eye open for a duplex or a smaller bu idling with a more local and down to earth owner.

Its tough to move when you have dogs, especially large ones, or ones that fall into certain categories, but the key is to keep looking. That's the pain of owning man's best friend. Hopefully you find an apartment building owned by some sweet old lady who loves dogs. Tyler is a pretty big city, just keep looking.
Best of luck

Answer 7

There have been too many recent cases of pit bulls that seemed fine, with loving families, who just snapped and attacked some kid (often in their own family).

I do not think you have any hope of swaying management if they've already made that decision. It would be a waste of time trying.

Your best bet is to look for a small, privately owned rental. Either a small house (better for the dogs anyway) or a condo apartment. With the real estate market so depressed, a lot of private homeowners are renting instead of selling.

Answer 8

There really isn't much you can do. Renting a single family home is the only thing I can think of. It's getting harder everyday to have a "Viscous Breed". What's funny is my wife's Yorkie is 100 time more aggressive than my pit.


PSF11 you clearly have no idea what you're talking about.


PSF11 I will not argue with those facts. Numbers don't lie but when you consider the fact that many people get pitbulls as guard dogs. These dogs sit chained in a yard with no affection, no training and are rarely socialized with other people or animals. I have been around many Pitbulls and every single one that I've come across that was raised in a good loving home, trained properly and socialized show no sings of aggression. Now I'm not trying to convince you to get a pitbull but please make sure you really know what you’re talking about. Unless you truly have first hand experience with the breed you can't really lecture about the breed.


Come to think of it PSF11 you're kind of sounding a little aggresive yourself.

Answer 9

does the lease say vicious dogs or does it list specific breeds?

this is for psf11 -
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/10/09/pomeranian.kills.ap/

here is a list of dog breeds that are banned somewhere in the USA. is YOUR dogs breed on here somewhere
http://www.dogpolitics.com/my_weblog/2007/05/list_of_banned_.html

psf - you asked someone else to show you where a yorkie has killed or maimed, i gave you an example of just such a case. to show that even little dogs can be killers. you say you know so much (from one article no less) but as far as i can see your the only one on here that has no clue as to what you are saying. go get your fix and finish smoking your pipe. you say you don't like being surrounded by ignorance and your the most ignorant about this topic. if you don't like apbts then don't answer questions about them just to try and get people all worked up. you want stats ill give you stats. you mentioned cars, well a hell of a lot more people die of car accidents than dog bites so lets ban cars. lets ban alcohol because that is a major cause of people dying also. lets just ban everything that kills, then see how far we can go. why blame and take it out on the many wonderful dogs just because a few abused and ill treated dogs snap. lets kill and destroy all the abused women and children that have lashed out at their abusers and either killed or maimed them. doesnt sound so glorious now does it?

Answer 10

If they make an exception for you why not everyone else? Yours maybe lovable, but some may not be.

Is there any chance you could buy somewhere that allows this type of dog? That would be your best bet. When you rent you have to follow landlords rules. Unfortunetly a few very bad owners and dogs have got your breed labled as bad so unfortunetly it rubs off on them all. It's not fair, but unfortunetly that's the way it is.