Doberman Forum : Doberman Breed Dog Forums banner

Chicago Bully Breed/Trouble finding apartments

2K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  VZ-Doberman 
#1 ·
Hello All!

I'm living in Chicago and am moving in two months and am having trouble finding an apartment. Chicago has a "bully breed" list that most apartments abide by and dobermans are on it. Leasing agents have suggested getting a mix so that the paper would state MIX rather than Doberman however I am much more partial to a purebred.

Does anyone have any suggestions as how to best navigate this tough situation? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
#5 ·
LadyDi is right! I did go through something similar when trying to find housing in New Mexico. @Spaceman, since you said that most apartment complexes in Chicago won't allow dobermans, I'd suggest you try to find a private renter. Try searching for a house or duplex to rent as opposed to an apartment. You may have more success there! Although some renters do have restrictions on pets, most are either size dependent (some renters only allow small dogs less than __lbs in their homes, for instance) or species dependent (cats only, or no cats/dogs). If you use an app like Zillow or something similar, you can set the parameters of type of residence (house, duplex, apartment, condo) and select the type of pet restrictions you'd like included (large dogs allowed, for example). My husband and I were trying to get military housing, but dobermans were on their restricted breed list and we were denied. So we looked into renting a house and found one on Zillow. We were able to speak to the owner, and he had no problem with us having a doberman. :) So if you do go this route, I'd make sure the place you search for allows large dogs, even though you don't own one right now. And just let the owner know that you'll be looking into getting a doberman while in their house so that everything is out in the open and there are no issues after you've moved in. :)

Good luck!
 
#6 ·
It can be helpful to be able to show the landlord evidence that your dog has received special training or socialization...an Obedience or Canine Good Citizen title, for example. If the landlord is receptive to the idea, you can have a meet and greet between him and the dog. (Don't just show up with the dog without asking, however, and...it's rather obvious...don't suggest it if your dog tends to misbehave a bit when he meets new people.)

Sometimes offering to increase the security deposit may help close the deal.
 
#7 ·
Honestly, it can be tough to find rental housing with Dobermans, and it can be tough to find a good breeder who will sell you a puppy if you rent, for this reason exactly. Sometimes the hard call is to wait until you have a more stable housing situation, as hard as that can be.

You might try contacting the DPCA chapter club in your area to see if they have any suggestions. Sometimes people living in the area have leads that you may not have considered. Go to dpca.org and click on chapter clubs to find contact information for your local club.
 
#8 ·
I would highly suggest waiting until you have stable housing that allows Dobermans prior to getting one, you don’t want to be in a situation where you cannot find a place to live. Also, Dobermans usually aren’t a great apartment dog IMO.

With that being said, when I rented, I rented a house from a private owner, she asked what size my dog was and I told her medium, which is directly from the AKC breed standard. She did not ask what breed of dog and I didn’t offer.
 
#9 ·
Re-read the posts by Control Freak and Gamermouse. I agree with both of them if you are looking for house and then getting a Doberman.

I live in a city which has a city wide "bad dog" list. It includes most Bully breeds, Dobermans, Great Danes and German Shepherd Dogs. This list allows any rental manager to evict you and your dog without further ado if it is on the list.

Frankly it was back in the 1970's when I last was able to rent an apartment with a Doberman--when we did that we paid double the damage deposit to rent there.

Today (and most of the time in the past) I rent from private parties--small houses with fenced yards. And even this isn't easy to find. But what you really don't want to do is to try moving into a rental without discussing the matter of having or getting a Doberman after you have rented.

Good luck--and I also agree that Dobes aren't the best of apartment dogs--the one I raised in an apartment in 1971 was made easier by the fact that there were four of us (me, my husband and a couple of kids) so the dog was rarely alone for more than a couple of hours at time.

dobebug
 
#10 ·
I ran into the same problem when I sold my home and moved back to Delaware with Bacchus. Even when I told the woman handling the lease that he was my service dog she said "we don't rent to that breed". I suggested she contact her legal department. I then had to return to Illinois to settle on the house and a couple of days after returning I got a "welcome to the neighborhood" email. If he had not been my service dog I would have contacted rental houses in the area. You also have to be aware that some insurance companies do not insure a residence that has a Doberman on site. Some do.....
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top