Pet Friendly Apartments and Re-Homing Your Dog

In today’s world, people are moving around and changing jobs far more than ever before. The days of settling down with your new spouse and faithful dog Robbie in your mid-twenties and working up the career ladder in one steady job for your whole life are gone. In the past, jobs were about stability. Today, they’re about personal fulfillment. As a result, you may find that you and Robbie are moving around quite a bit more, and aren’t yet settled into one place or lifestyle yet. The problem that arises when you do this is that not all buildings are necessarily dog friendly. The landlord has the choice of whether he wants to allow pets or not, and he can even discriminate between types of pets if he wants, allowing cats but not dogs or vice versa (though the former is usually more common, unfortunately for dog lovers).

So what happens when you find the apartment of your dreams, but the landlord says no to Robbie? This is obviously a difficult situation. In some locations, good apartments aren’t easy to come by, and it may have taken a long time to even find something decent, regardless of pet policy. Additionally, there may be an extra security deposit required for pet friendly places. When faced with this decision, some pet owners think that they have no choice available to them but to re-home their dog. You might think it won’t be so bad if Robbie can live with a friend, somewhere you’ll be able to see and visit him often.

With Life Comes Options

But re-homing is a lot harder than most people realize, for both you and Robbie. Robbie may not be your family member by blood, but he probably feels just as attached to you as you do to your own mother or father. Imagine if your parents gave you away as a child just because some crazy landlord had a baby-free policy! Robbie has learned to live with you, obey you, comfort and protect you. That bond doesn’t disappear overnight. The separation will probably hit you harder than you imagine it will as well. When you don’t have that little warm body and soft heartbeat nearby you when you go to sleep at night, you might wish that you had looked a little harder for a different apartment.

The thing is, the perfect apartment isn’t the perfect apartment if it’s not Robbie friendly. Robbie is a part of your family, and his ability to live with you in your new apartment should be one of your top priorities. It may be a bit harder to find the right place, but you will be able to find it.

One of the best things to do when you start searching is to not even consider a place that isn’t pet friendly. Just as you have a maximum budget you can afford and wouldn’t consider looking at a place that was three times that amount (because what’s the point?), you shouldn’t be considering any places that would cause you to have to re-home Robbie.

If you’re worried about what it would be like to give Robbie away, even a bit, it’s a sign that you aren’t ready to do it. Getting a dog is a serious commitment, and not one that can be erased at the prospect of a new apartment. It may be a good idea to hire a realtor to help if you’re having that much difficulty. But the fact of the matter is with time and patience, you will be able to find something that works for both you and Robbie. Keep looking!