jellibaby

Hello all pet owners and shippers,

We are shipping charlie the shih tzu with us. We are going in via Sydney and will be spending the first 30 days with family while Charlie is in Eastern Creek. Our problem is RENTING after our 30 days! It seems very difficult to find rented accommodation (we're looking in and around Port Macquarie) where pet's are allowed in doors (or even outdoors!).

Charlie is 13 years old and will not have too much time left bless him. Can't leave him behind as he's been with us for too long, its only fair to him to see out his days with the two people who have cared and looked after him all of this time - so passing him on to friends and family was never an option. We've paid for his shipping and everything so he's ready to go.

Does anyone have any sound advice for how to go about RENTING with Charlie in tow. He is an "inside" dog. He's very well house trained. Has hardly any teeth left (even if he were into chewing carpet or furniture - which he never has been). In fact he seems to sleep for 23 out of any 24 hour day - but he is a social dog and loves to cuddle up and just be "close". I could not leave him outdoors here and will not do it in Aussie either.

So - dog lovers - does anyone have any helpful ideas / suggestions / tried and tested methods???????

Very grateful for any help at this stage with only 55 days to go!

pam0512

Don't blame you bringing him over, he's family too...
We came to Perth with a cat and dog, whilst it seems rentals are a bit scarce if you have pets that's not the case when you get here. We regstered with www.realestate.com and got alerts for all new rentals coming on the market.....If they don't say "no pets" then it's negotiable. If they say "outdoor pets only" then just discuss it with the agent and see what they say. I found a lot more landlords happy to take pets than when I was looking on the internet back in the UK. Make sure you start looking before he comes out of quarantine so that you can have it all sorted when he's released.
Hope this gives you more hope!!
Pam x x

jellibaby

Pam - thank you ever so much for putting my mind at rest about this. The only website I had found which included pets in their search engine was LJ Hooker and their pages take forever to load and then there were no rentals with pets anyway! So we were I must admit, starting to panic!

I'm happier now that I know its less of a hassle on the ground. Even if we have to pay extra it doesn't matter. He's such a clean little fella and we keep him well trimmed and cleaned.

Thanks again Pam - very much appreciated.

Simba

We found finding a rental with a dog and 2 cats OK on the gold coast but we did find the more you are prepared to pay the easier it was to find one.

We were worried about this but like the other poster said it is easier when you are here and actualy visit the property / agents.

quercus

Hello, I'm in the same situation. On another thread the poster suggested taking a reference for the dog from a neighbour, saying the dog is well behaved. The agents are obligated to take references for various things, and it might make it easier for them to run the dog application past the landlord if they have a reference.

It doesn't help me though because I'm telling the neighbours we are only visiting Aus, so the tenants won't realize were not around.

Pomster

not suggesting you do this BUT...
an Aussie girl at work rented with a huge menagerie and every time she had an inspection, she farmed the animals out or put them in cattery/kennels for a couple of nights to clear up beforehand.

....not that I would ever suggest such a devious action.

jellibaby

Thanks for that - its happy thought but I would be unlucky enough to have the first time renters who'd asked their neighbours to keep an eye on the new incomers! Plus - it only spoils things for everyone else when the agents find out and put a total block on renting with pets! Thanks for the comments though - every little helps.

SarahJane2007

You'll find when you get here that you will be able to negotiate with some of the landlords re: pets. Some state absolutely no pets and some Agents just put that on the adverts. Ask about putting in an application to the landlord/lady. Also bring with you as many references as you can ie from your Uk estate agent (verifying the condition of your sold/rented property) and maybe one from your solicitors too..these all help.

jellibaby

That's a really good tip about references - we had never thought of that being "owners" rather than "renters" at the moment. that is certainly something we WILL do regarding the state of our existing home (which is thankfully now SOLD!). Many thanks thanks.

Rachel69

hi,

We brought our cat over and had no problem finding a rental that would allow her.

The agent specified that at the end of our lease we would have to show paperwork to prove that we had got all the carpets de-fleaed and sanitised (even though she was treated for fleas and had none, and carpets were in perfect condition still) but that was fine and we were happy to do that.

Good luck!

Rachel

Hel&Will

We too are getting worried about renting with pets. We are bringing 3 setters over with us at the end of the year and they are indoor dogs. Great idea about getting references from the estate agents as our house sold within 3 days with 3 viewings and having 4 dogs (we are rehoming the oldest) living indoors did not hinder us at all.

Helen

oliverandlisa

we have 2 dogs and had no problems getting a rental. WE were upfront with the agent and she only showed us properties which we could have the dogs in. Picked one up straight awat, it even had a large dog run out the back - fab for when we went out for the day.

Lisa.xx

mollymoo

Hi

We live in Sydney, and our rental is actually someone's home- they have relocated through their employer to the States for 3 years. We have a Weimaraner [large, slightly manic dog...bless him], and the owner of the house had initially advertised it as a strictly 'no dogs' rental, however, we agreed to pay double bond [$8,000.......], but as we knew the dog would not cause any damage, we didn't mind this...and also because the house has wooden floors, we use a baby gate to confine him to the kitchen/family areas.

Generally, finding a rental with a dog did not pose much of a problem for us. I think there is a degree of flexibility in most rentals, as long as contingencies are put in place to protect certain areas of the house, garden etc...................oh, and you are prepared to pay a double bond [which you should get back anyway]

jellibaby

It certainly seems to be less traumatic than we had originally thought. We will have 30 days while Charlie is "locked-up" to find somewhere that will take him, and we're positive - knowing him as we do - that a double bond will be refunded in full when we move out.

Rob12paws

WE had dreadful trouble finding a rental when we first arrived in Perth. Eventually we got one after six weeks, which meant our dog and two cats had to stay in a boarding kennels after coming out of quarantine. We got lucky in the end, and the agents put a clause in the contract saying that the dog (german shepherd) was an *outside* dog and they just said to make sure he actually was outside when they inspected.

We had no damage at all and when we moved to our second rental we got our bond back in full. We're just moving into our third rental, this time with a different agent, and they are equally trusting, although they do have references to go on as well. The other thing is that you will be expected to pay a *pet bond* in addition to your regular bond. The latter is normally the equivalent of four weeks' rent, and our pet bond has always been an extra $100.

Good luck!!