Why don’t landlords allow dogs but they say ‘yes’ to kids?

THERE’S often a “no pets allowed” box on rental agreements but puppies aren’t always the most destructive additional residents.

Woman relaxing with a dog in her home.

WHEN you do a rental search on realestate.com.au for the Greater Hobart region, you get back 227 properties.

If you add the “pets only’’ filter, that number dwindles to 18.

It’s a similar story across the nation.

As an owner of two dogs who lie on my bed all day, this irks me.

Having a coffee recently with a friend, we discussed this and she said: “I’d much rather rent to someone with dogs than someone with toddlers — dogs don’t draw crayon trees on walls or climb up them.”

Children, it seems, are always welcomed by the law, so my friend would be in a bunch of trouble if she were a landlord.

Dogs won’t paint the walls.

When it comes to pets it’s a different story. Fido and Whiskers need to be in your lease agreement, says Ben Bartl from the Tenants Union of Tasmania, with service animals being the exception.

“If a tenant moves into the property with a pet and does not have permission, they can be forced to either give up the pet or be evicted from the property,’’ Ben says. “If the pet will be kept outside or is unlikely to cause any damage, such as a goldfish, snake or bird, you should talk to your landlord or real estate agent as there will probably be an opportunity to negotiate.’’

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There are a bunch of tricks by seasoned pet owners that means they don’t have to hide their pets in the freezer during their inspection, such as: seek out advertisements that don’t specifically ban pets; make a “resume’’ for your dogs, including references from vets and minders; or turn up at the viewing with your adorable pooches and have them do tricks.

Also, it may be worth making a case directly to your landlord, who doesn’t know how adorable your pooch or cat friends are compared with the crazy dog they grew up next door to.

Says Kat, a temporary landlord: “We rented out our house when we moved for a year, stipulating no pets for no good reason except personal bias. We ended up renting it to a professional couple with a medium-sized dog. Best decision ever. They looked after the yard so the dog could enjoy it, and looked after the house very well with their house-trained pet.”

Originally published as Why don’t landlords allow dogs but they say ‘yes’ to kids?