Restricted breeds lists and the problems they cause..

[SophieGSD]

Anyone ever had problems finding somewhere to live because of a "restricted breeds list"? We were having a LOT of trouble trying to find a house to rent in Pensacola, FL because peoples' "insurances said German Shepherds are a dangerous risk to neighbors, their children, and their pets."

We were VERY lucky to find a house for rent that was owned by a military couple that don't care what we have.

But APPARENTLY.. If you have a dog that has at some point been thought of as an aggressive breed, it's put on a black list that makes it nearly impossible to find somewhere to live. Oh yeah, and did I mention these policies are usually state-wide? Yeah. And did you know that, even though they says "Dogs okay, on case-by-case basis", that they really mean "Dogs okay as long as it's under 20lbs and you can pick it up if it's being mean"? Yeah.

Apparently this is actually a nation-wide thing that you just have to get really lucky with, and hope you find that one private renter that doesn't require you to insure the place you're renting.

[Wild Wolf]

I have yet to encounter such a disgraceful list, and when I do the highest people in the company are going to receive extremely... informative letters.

[mycobraracr]

I am/was having the same problem. So stupid! My dog would only be dangerous if her tongue was a knife.

[AbbyK9]

hope you find that one private renter that doesn't require you to insure the place you're renting.

For what it is worth, I have found that it's much easier to rent with large ("aggressive" breed) dogs if you can show potential landlords that you do carry renter's insurance and that your policy specifically covers your dogs under the liability clause.

Our renter's insurance is through USAA and the liability clause that covers our dogs is a "shadow" policy, meaning it's good anywhere we and our dog are. So if my dog injures someone at a local dog event, that would be covered. Not only if she is on the property we are renting.

It also helps immensely if you can show a potential landlord that your dog is well-trained and well-behaved. You can show stuff like your CGC certificate or other obedience titles, or offer to give the potential landlord references such as your current landlord, your veterinarian, your dog trainer, etc.

We made our last move within about two weeks as our landlord sold the property where we were living and needed us to move out, and didn't have any trouble finding a place that would let us have our animals.

[KZoppa]

Basically what Abby said. I completely understand your frustration though! We had so many problems and occassionally still do. We choose base housing right now because they accept GSDs and we couldnt afford to buy a house out in town to not have to deal with the hassel of fighting to get my dogs in and keeping them in.

We had trouble with one landlord "losing" our pet deposit and tried to make us pay another one. When we moved, we had to pay pet rent (which is ridiculous BTW!) and then our dogs had to be grandfathered in when new management showed up and changed everything and that required all kinds of testing that we had to pay for.

I honestly think restricted lists are stupid but alot of times, its really the insurance company thats to blame. I wish you luck. The search can really bite the big one!

[MustLoveGSDs]

Yep, but these "dangerous"(loving, affectionate, loyal, and intelligent) breeds are more than worth the hassle, at least in my opinion.

[Tiffseagles]

I do landlord checks for potential adopters all the time. These lists are extremely common. And you would not believe how many people do not check with their landlord regarding restrictions before they start looking for an animal!

[shepherdmom]

Originally Posted by Wild Wolf

I have yet to encounter such a disgraceful list, and when I do the highest people in the company are going to receive extremely... informative letters.

It is because of insurance companies. I own my house but it is very common in Northern Nevada.

[kennajo]

I know I will have a move in the future and I worry about this! I will look into the renter's insurance idea.

[martemchik]

I didn't have any issues. We had more than 5 choices to rent from large apartment complexes just in the southern Milwaukee suburbs. If we would've broadened our search we would've easily had more. That being said, most lists include any dog that looks like a Pit, Rotts, Akitas, and Dobermans (including our current apartment complex). It's not hard to convince a private owner to allow a dog, especially if you have your own insurance, but the larger complexes have no choice. They have insurance policies against it and no amount of informative letter will change it. There's no use getting angry at the manager/complex owner, they aren't the ones making these rules. Older complexes are more likely to have "grandfathered" in dog policies, as its pretty difficult to stop allowing something if some residents already have it.