There are two sides to a story. I have rented out my house and found as a landlord I am asked if I will accept children, pets or smokers. Smokers is a no I am afraid. Children are ok and to not accept pets would make me a hypocrite. Most of my tenants have been grateful for the acceptance of pets (the letting agent tells me). The contract states that the property should be left in the state it was when occupied and that any damage be rectified.

The other side of the coin is that one potential tenant refused the property as she suspected there had been a dog there previously, even when I explained that ALL the carpets were new and EVERY room had been redecorated. Apparently her sister had fleas; presumably from a rental property.

It's not just husky misconceptions....

Friends who were trying to rent with 2 Boxers faced similar queries and questions!

LOL !!

But seriously ... so what (unless they were human fleas, they are BAD I am told). With cat or dog fleas you just buy a can of that household flea spray (the massive one in the pink aerosol), shut all the windows, liberally spray the room, carpets etc., shut the doors and leave for as long as you can. Repeat everywhere ... and the job's done. You may need to repeat, but it is brilliant stuff.

Some people don't half make a fuss about a natural event. They need something really serious to worry about in my opinion!!

ah right !! Well now, with boxers I can quite understand !! Bloody destructive creatures !!

(Gnasher ducks and flees as every boxer owner descends upon her!!)

Only joking

You can imagine what I was like on the phone!! I saw red, a thick blanket of red. My poor OH was the first one that I ranted about it all too!

Did she expect me to turn round and say, "hmm, yeah you're right, they are a bit big and they are so loud that they should be living outside, what I'll do is leave them behind and move out without them"

To be quite honest, my oldest boy, Byron, would quite happily live outside (especially with all this snow) but being the responsible dog owner that I like to think I am - I won't let him! And he sure as hell isn't going to be allowed to sleep outside as I know he'd dig a little hole to curl up and sleep in!!

Yup, they are fighting dogs, aggressive to every known man or beast, they eat furniture, slobber everywhere and can't control their bowels...

These are honestly some of the things my friend got told about her breed from prospective landlords!

So another breed expert then? I'm sure this landlord knows all about Sibes, Collies, Viszlas, you name it!!

I saw somewhere about an insurance cover you can get that is specifically to cover people moving into rented properties with pets. The idea is that landlords are more likely to allow it if they know that any damage will be covered. It paid out for things like scratched/chewed furniture etc

Can't remember where I saw the advert, will let you know if I find it!

That's just awful.... I feel so sorry for you in the face of that ignorance.

I guess I am very lucky with my landlady - although I officially go through a letting agency, I have also met her, and she is fine about animals here. In fact one of her previous tenants had two dogs and kept birds of prey & ferrets in the back garden!

I've been here 5 years and there's no reason why I shouldn't be here another 5. Neither she nor the letting agency knew about my dog when I got him (technically a breach of contract) but as they hadn't done a house inspection for 2 years (breach of contract on their part) I didn't see it would be an issue.

I did KCGC with him to Silver and beyond, which I knew from the start would more or less prove he was well trained if/when I do move and have to find another rented place; he is going to be referred to as a Collie-cross (which he is, although he doesn't look it) as of course all Border Collies are incredibly well behaved...

LOL, sometimes people's ignorance of dog breeds can work for you rather than agin.

I found it quite hard to be polite to this person tbh they arrived during the decoration, carpet laying and installation a new bathroom and had nothing good to say. I would have had to turn her down anyway as my insurance would not cover the unemployed!