4 dogs and a house

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GalloJD

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I live in the D.C. area. I have four dogs (chihuahua/pug mix, mini pin mix, lab mix, and rottie/pit mix) and want to rent a house with a fenced backyard. I have exhausted my search for a place that fits my budget. Anyone have suggestions on where I can look further?

Many :ty:s!
 
Perhaps, you would find a farm town a sort of if that works for you. I see that you live in D.C. Just look at the Google's map to get the idea where you would find some area a sort of outside of the city. Hope that helps.
 
Most landlords require a deposit on pets. With 4 dogs....you're gonna be paying out a lot of $$ for pet(s) deposit..

And I agree, a place out in the Country is best for someone with 4 Dogs....they would have a place to run.....
 
have you check southeast in dc very close to the lincoln park? im sure that you already know that lincoln park is full of dogs. However that was my time before 2001. I don tknow if they still have dog park for the lincoin park and leash free?

check out there but north VA and MD near the metro dc have more room for doggies.
 
rockin'robin said:
Most landlords require a deposit on pets. With 4 dogs....you're gonna be paying out a lot of $$ for pet(s) deposit..

And I agree, a place out in the Country is best for someone with 4 Dogs....they would have a place to run.....
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And some landlord only allow you have a small dog no bigger than 25 lbs. It looks like some dogs are bigger than 25 lbs.
 
Your two large dogs are going to be the problem. In my neighborhood, (NoVA, near Metro), the Homeowner's Association has a limit of two dogs and/or two cats per house.

Honestly I think it's going to be very, very tough to find anything near Metro with space for 4 dogs. Maybe you could try looking out the Orange line corridor, near Ballston or Courthouse. But a lot of that real estate is quite expensive and is more likely to be town houses than fenced-yard type properties.

You could also look near the end of the Yellow line by Huntington. There is a neighborhood of small houses built in the 1950's near there, plus some new luxury housing. The luxury housing is town houses or else houses so close to each other they might as well be town houses, but the older homes sometimes have chain-link or board fences.

I don't know what your budget is, but I'm guessing it will be very, very difficult to find a house for less than about $1800 or so.
 
thats why your other option is to buy a house instead of trying to find a needle in a haystack.

I own a pit and that's a big HUGE no-no in this area no one is willing to deal with a "dangerous" breed. So I'm looking for a house to buy and when I move into a different area, I can simply rent it out until it's sold.
 
Even buying a house can be problematic, though, especially as HOAs proliferate. You could not live in my neighborhood with four dogs, for instance, either as a renter or an owner.

It's not so much the rent vs. buy part of the equation; it's "where is housing available with a large enough, fenced, backyard that permits that many animals?" It's going to be hard to find in any of the close-in suburbs. And certainly once you talk about "near Metro," it's really hard. A lot of the housing near the Metro stations is condos and townhomes, and those usually aren't good options for the number and size of dogs being discussed here.
 
Beach girl said:
Even buying a house can be problematic, though, especially as HOAs proliferate. You could not live in my neighborhood with four dogs, for instance, either as a renter or an owner.

It's not so much the rent vs. buy part of the equation; it's "where is housing available with a large enough, fenced, backyard that permits that many animals?" It's going to be hard to find in any of the close-in suburbs. And certainly once you talk about "near Metro," it's really hard. A lot of the housing near the Metro stations is condos and townhomes, and those usually aren't good options for the number and size of dogs being discussed here.
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I have a 110 pound newfie/lab mix as well- hyper until he gets his 2 hour full run at the dog park in. I don't even dare to bring my pit into the dog park, she was a stray I recently adopted last spring and is terrible with other dogs if not know them at all.

, so yeah large dogs need a good sized yard to run but its not the same as EXCERISING them daily, take them out for walks, or at the dog parks, or dog runs is basically the golden rule when living anywhere. I'm near Chicago and theres alot city dwellers that got XL-L sized dogs in apartments, I'm saying its all about the exercise, not the size of the yard. I see too many fat goldens in huge fancy houses just because their owners think a huge yard doesnt mean having to excerise them daily.

From what you say about 4 dogs, I have had 3 for the last 6 years (there was about a 6 month in between the lab and the pit) until recently when I put down my beagle (14) due to age-related cancer and a lab (15 years old) before that that was 90 pounds. All 3 (lab/beagle/newfie) went to the dog park and that was godsend. I had the beagle who was very slow, the lab that was medium paced and the hyper big dog that had to be going 50mph everywhere and fly as much as he could get away with if that's the issue with walking your 4 dogs. Been there done that its horrible! Though they were wonderful and didn't cause problems with other dogs. I don't know about your dogs personalities if you can get away with that type of excerise with a smaller-sized yard if there is such a thing in your area you're looking for. Maybe that would be a peace of mind when looking at places.

For HOA issue there are ways to get around it if you own the house. I seriously don't consider the small dogs a dog though. They should be considered in the same category as a cat. Maybe.... put down those smaller 2 dogs as cats, perfecto!
 
I have Rotties and we're looking for a house. When we first started looking we had 3, but my dear Lab went to the Bridge this year at 13. We also sometimes watch another Rottie person's dogs. Out Lab was the smallest of our dogs. I understand your housing dilemma, Kai. One of the first things we investigate before we even look at the description of the house, price, etc. on the realtor listing - can we build a fence <on Google satellite - can we see other places with fences in the neighborhood?>
Is there a HOA or is it listed as an obvious subdivision, if so, then, it's out. We can't pretend to have smaller dogs or hide the girls and I wouldn't want to have an issue later of irate neighbors "finding out" and using that as fuel for something else, especially as we do have a lot of BSL here. Then we also wonder if the area is Rottie and Pittie-friendly. We actually made an offer on a property this Summer after going through the house and area, seeing other dogs living in the neighborhood and talking with people there who had Newf's.

we also purposely found a dog-friendly agent; his wife competes in agility and conformation with Collies and they've moved with dogs
Maybe that's a possibility for you in your area, Kai? I just typed in my area and "dog-friendly realtor" or something very similar.

we don't do walks in my neighborhood as too many loose/stray/dogs running out of yards, and dog parks - too many unknown factors including people who aren't dog-knowledgable and dogs who really shouldn't be at the park, no separation for big and smaller dogs etc.
we have agility stuff in the backyard, which is another reason why we need a large yard.

Good Luck with your search!
 
In my town, there are two large fences on the town property. One fence is for large dogs and another fence is for small dogs. Does your town have two fences for the dog groups?

Actually, there is another town property in my town that has a new shadow swimming pool only for the dogs. I forgot all about it. It opened this past summer. I didn't tell my dogs about the swimming pool otherwise they will bite me for sure. ;)
 
not sure if you're asking me or Kai or BG, but, if me -

fences?
we have lotta dog parks and one of them -may- have separate areas for small and large dogs, but I have concerns with dog parks in general that I just avoid them.

the swimming pool :) here we have an indoor canine swim center and training facility, owned and run by two business partners, male and female. You pay a fee for use of the swimming pool and one of the owners goes in with the dog. But I haven't taken my dogs there as one is dog-reactive and the younger one is shy of men.

no "public" outdoor swimming pools for dogs, though
 
Beach girl said:
Even buying a house can be problematic, though, especially as HOAs proliferate. You could not live in my neighborhood with four dogs, for instance, either as a renter or an owner....
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Same in my neighborhood. Our HOA allows only two dogs or cats (although they don't go checking door-to-door; usually only a problem if someone makes a formal complaint). Our town also has pet limits. People who want more animals usually move to the unincorporated county areas.

Also, as a homeowner, be forewarned that some insurance companies won't cover pit bulls.
 
State Farm and Farmer's are Pit and Rottie friendly. Before we got our first Rottie we contacted our agent.
others companies, not much.
 
dogmom said:
not sure if you're asking me or Kai or BG, but, if me -

fences?
we have lotta dog parks and one of them -may- have separate areas for small and large dogs, but I have concerns with dog parks in general that I just avoid them.

the swimming pool :) here we have an indoor canine swim center and training facility, owned and run by two business partners, male and female. You pay a fee for use of the swimming pool and one of the owners goes in with the dog. But I haven't taken my dogs there as one is dog-reactive and the younger one is shy of men.

no "public" outdoor swimming pools for dogs, though
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That is interesting. Hmm. Oh yeah, about the unknown factors, we will need be careful where we go.

In the woods, I always think about the other dogs that don't look aggressive toward me in case they are growl or not at the very being. Sometimes, my dogs run in different direction because they like to chase the squirrels and at the same time when I see the other dogs toward me.

I want to carry a mace gun with me, but I'm concerned about being sued if their dog get injured from the mace. I wanted to protect myself - you know my dogs are supposed to protect me because (I wish that) they should know that I am deaf. Oh well.

What do you think about these two different new maces? Is that a good idea? Here are two links:

(1) Mace Pepper Gun Midnight Blue
(2) Home Page (JPX is not cheap.)
 
I forgot to add one more thing. My sister thinks that I should get a mace gun because it does not require to get a license. I told her no because I believe that all states require anyone who want to get a mace that must carry a mace license. Even, a mace company is wrong that it says that the license is not required. I guess that it is all about profit in the business.
 
:wave:webexplorer

:ty:for the links, but I don't know enough about mace give you a really good, useful answer, just couple thoughts come to mind.... I know that in some places in the U.S. mace is illegal, or there are certain specific requirements for use of it. Also - wind - in the "heat" of the moment, remember to take into consideration the wind - no mace blowing back at you....
If you use mace to defend yourself against an attacking dog and that dog is injured, there is a possibility that the owner could attempt to make you liable for the dog's vet care but whether or not that would stand up in court- don't know. sally lou would probably be better able to answer more than me.

there are many good and humane, up-to-date resources for learning about dog body language, that may help out walking as you describe, if you would like any links, please let me know.
 
Agree with Reba. Moving to an area outside the city limits is your best option. Then, you can do anything you want.
 
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