Now that is a face you have got to love !!

OK for those of us who have dogs that aren’t perfect … hmmmm… what to do when you have just had it.  The following article was provided to us from Nan Arthur from Whole Dog Training.  Her entire article can be found on her website:  http://www.wholedogtraining.com/articles.html

I only included the top 6 but there are 27 other behaviors you can use as more tools in your toolbox …

Rather than react and regret; respond and relax:

The following are 27 quick things you can do or plan for in response to your dog’s behaviors when you are not really in the mood, or lack the patience to deal with him. These are a few ideas that will hopefully prevent reactions; instead, help you respond to the problem at hand with creative ways that relieve your own frustration and ultimately help your dog in the process.

1. Take a few slow, deep breaths! Not only will it help you relax, it will also show your dog that you are calm as you lead by example. This will also take some pressure off of you and your pooch and give you some clear thinking about how to handle the circumstances.

2. Visit the Kong website and learn how to make lots of different Kongs that would be truly amazing for your dog, and would keep him busy for awhile: http://www.kongcompany.com If you make several magnificent Kongs ahead of time, you can freeze them and have them when you don’t have time to make them from scratch.

3. Buy yourself some sanity— purchase baby gates, exercise pens, a crate, or other things that can help manage your dog’s unwanted behaviors until you can train something better.

4. Step back for a moment and try to see things from your dog’s point of view. Animals do what they do for good reasons (at least in their minds).  There is a pay-off for doing what they do; it could be for safety, pleasure, attention, appetitive in nature, or just plan fun. Understand that dogs are not evil or revengeful, in fact, for the most part they try very hard to live in harmony with humans. When a dog misbehaves, it’s his way of telling you he doesn’t know the correct answer.

5. Buy yourself an hour of dog walking from a professional dog walker, or have a friend or family member take your dog out for a long walk or ride in the car.

6. Take 2 minutes, a few times each day to teach your dog a cute trick using lots of treats- not only will you be giving your dog some mental exercise, it’s hard to stay angry at a dog that is offering his paw, sitting pretty, or rolling over!

So try a couple of these to keep the peace !!

Nate’s Point Off Leash Dog Park
2500 Balboa Drive
San Diego CA
Telephone: (619) 325-5620

Open for breakfast and lunch, this Point Loma gem is the perfect place to enjoy breakfast, lunch or brunch on the patio with your best friend(s). Focusing on seasonal, local and sustainable ingredients, they have something for every craving!

To The Point Cafe
4161 Voltaire St
San Diego, CA 92107
Phone: (619) 226-6222

This website is designed to connect residents and landlords/property managers with the mutual understanding that a pet is part of the family and non-negotiable.

This site is specifically geared towards renters and landlords dealing with dog(s) larger than 25 pounds and/or dog(s) subject to the numerous breed restrictions found at many rental properties.

How to Use the Pet Friendly Communities Website

Renters

1) Create a Renter Profile

Post a Renter Profile on what what type of accommodation you are looking for. Our form will guide you on what information to include, and make sure to upload a picture of your pet(s) – please, no humans included. Any photos containing images of persons will be promptly removed from the site.

2) Search Available Pet Friendly Apartments and Rental Units

Visit our Home Page and enter your rental criteria to begin your search. Once you’ve found a property that is a match, simply contact the landlord using the information they’ve included.

Landlords/Property Managers

1) Create a Property Listing

Post an available property for rent using our Pet Friendly Rental Property Submission Form. The form will guide you on what information to include, and you will have the ability to upload photos of your property.

2) Search Available Renter Profiles

Visit our Renters Page to look for available renters that would be a good fit for your property. Once you’ve found a good fit, initiate contact using the information they’ve submitted.

Be sure to check back often as listings are frequently changing and we are always adding new articles to the site.

Renting to tenants with pets can be very profitable.  And yes, renting to tenants with pets can be very risky.  And finally, renting to the pet lover can be very rewarding.  So how does one maneuver the laws, regulations, and human/pet behavior to get to the profitable and rewarding side of this equation?  In this article, we will delve into the benefits of renting to tenants with pets.  Every profit opportunity also has a risk profile.  So a solid understanding of the risks associated with renting to the pet lover is needed.  Equally important, we will discuss a few of the strategies you can implement to mitigate risks.

We have all heard this story before.  Renting to the pet lover provides increased profitability by longer retention rates and shorter vacancy periods.  But how much longer and how much shorter is the question? My current average tenancy is 19 months and that portfolio includes A, B and C graded properties.  Before this period of economic turmoil, my average tenancy was well over two years.  Most of my residents move out due to the purchase of a home, relocation or as a result of cost-cutting measures (moving in with relatives to reduce living expenses). The vacancy period is shorter which alleviates the time a unit sits vacant and unproductive.  The shortest time frame in the past year has been 2 days for an A property turnover.  The longest time frame has been 4 weeks (C property).

When you do it right, the tenant profile is stellar. Caring and responsible individuals are grateful to have a home to share with their pet and do not want to lose that privilege.  They are professionale, educated, well-paid.  They will gladly pay the additional fees and/or security deposit. One of the most intangible benefits for offering a pet friendly apartment is the sense of community and camaraderie built amongst the tenants.  They watch each other’s backs and often pet sit for one another, which, in turn, contribute to higher retention rates and referrals.  I have had a few residents refer friends once they learned of a vacancy or even call to find out if there were any.

Now the fun side of this article – let’s talk about risk.  There have been some changes on the horizon – changes as recent as March 15^th.  The standard “No Pets Allowed” policy can now get you into trouble with the courts and federal housing statutes.  The  US Department of Justice recently implemented stricter guidelines for service animals.  When a tenant makes a request to accommodate their service animal, both federal and California laws require the landlord to take this request seriously.  Yet a landlord cannot ask whether the person is disabled, what kind of disability he/ she has or the severity of the disability, according to California Government Code § 12955 (b). The tricky part here is that there is a growing segment of service animal known as the psychiatric service dog.  Estimated to be as high as 10,000 and growing according to the Psychiatric Service Dog Society, this service animal is dedicated to those individuals diagnosed with post-traumatic stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar, and major depression.

The category of service animal is taking on additional significance as our society continues to age, evolve and return from combat.  In addition, the landlord may not assess any additional fees such as pet rent nor require an additional security deposit or pet deposit. So, yes, your standard “no pet” policy can cost you time and money in the court system.

Other components of risk include these top three factors:

1. Perceived liability
2. Higher Cost of Insurance
3. Damages to the unit itself

Perceived liability

Let’s first discuss liability.  There is a concern that dogs can cause bodily injury to others which may result in a potential lawsuit and/or insurance claim.  According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are an estimated 4.7 million bites a year.  Each year 800,000 Americans seek medical attention for dog bites and approximately half of this number is children. However, in the Los Angeles area (based on research conducted by the National Canine Research Council), the number of dog bites decreased from 40,000 incidences in the mid-70s to fewer than 6,000 in the last few years.  There were no current statistics specifically for San Diego County available.  According to the Insurance Information Institute, the average insurance claim is $24,840; a cost that could easily be covered by renter’s insurance.  The minimum liability coverage on a renter’s insurance policy is $50,000 and can be increased to $500,000.  The average renter’s insurance policy can cost a tenant approximately $175 – $300 annually.

Higher Cost of Insurance

Often times, landlords are concerned that certain dog breeds or the size of a dog can result in higher insurance premiums; this is another common reason to support “no pet” policy.  Although many insurance companies do have dog exclusions or charge a premium, there are carriers open to all dogs regardless of breed or size.  Not all insurance firms are created equally.   Dori Einhorn (owner of Einhorn Insurance) specializes in helping tenants, landlords and homeowners find policies that cover all dog breeds.  She states, “I don’t see a significant price difference between policies that breed discriminate and those that cover all dog breeds.  My Landlord policy estimates are usually comparable to the existing insurance policy.  The tenant’s dog is typically not the determining factor in the cost of insurance policy. “

Damages to the unit itself

Thirdly, landlords have concerns about the property damage pets can cause.  Ironically, I found that cats can do as much damage as dogs, even though most landlords will gladly accept a cat over a dog. Cat spraying and clawing can lead to replacing damaged carpet and drywall.  Interestingly enough, I recently had the worst move ever; the damages included holes in walls and doors, clawed banister railing, a chewed doorframe, and broken glass/beer bottles in the bench seat storage.  The security deposit covered all this and requiring an additional pet deposit is within the limits of what landlords can charge.  We are allotted up to two times the rent.  Typically, I found that an additional $500 pet deposit more than covers my liability.  This move out illustrates the point of the dog owners’ accountability.  The dog clearly did not punch holes in the walls or doors nor leave broken glass in the storage.  Be proactive and interview the prospective tenant (and pet owner) to get an idea of how the tenant will respect your unit.

A common myth is that small dogs are easier to manage than your larger breeds, thus the 25-pound weight limit.  In the past decade, my worst experience was with a 5 pound Chihuahua named Edmund, while my best experience was with a 175 pound Rottweiler named Mookie, which goes to show you never judge a book by its cover and that extends to the dog world.  When seeing the results of temperament tests, pit bulls rank higher in tolerance tests than Daschunds and Chihuahuas; in fact, the Pit Bull was far more tolerant by 27 points.

There are strategies that you can utilize to manage a pet friendly property.  Training is at the heart of it all.  Many dogs are kennel trained which means that a dog will not be left unsupervised or unattended while the owners are out.  This minimizes damage because the dog is not left to boredom and freedom simultaneously.  There are also many great training regimens like the Canine Good Citizen program or clicker training used to train the performing animals at such places as Sea World.  Here are a few other key practices:

• Look at each tenant as a pet owner – don’t judge the breed.
• Interview the tenant by asking specific questions about their pet’s behavior, previous and current training patterns and their experience with pets.
• Require renter’s insurance and dictate the liability amount
• Create a pet policy that will address both human and pet behaviors
• When in doubt, require tenants to attend a formal training program

If you are looking to improve your retention rates while shortening your vacancy period, permitting pets is a great way to achieve better profit margins without compromising liability, cost of insurance, and damages.

Published in the May 2011 edition of the San Diego County Apartment Association monthly magazine:  http://www.sdcaa.com/May2011.pdf

About the Author:

Luciana Villanueva is owner of Pet Friendly Communities for over 11 years.  Her firm specializes in designing, developing and managing properties for the pet lover in mind.

Contact number: 619-201-5363

Website: www.petfriendlycommunities.com

Email: petfriendlycommunities@yahoo.com