Pit Bulls and Apartments...

Disclaimer: The below is not meant as legal advise. Please consult a lawyer for legal advise.

Sorry, had to cover my @ss:

Yes, it has been my experience that a court would deem this as discrimination unless one of the following is true:

• Building/tenants are not part of condo or co-op.
• BSL has not reached your city (although there is a Federal law against BSL)
• Animal does not have a recorded history of aggression.
• You did not agree in writing and is not against your lease agreement(although this is also disputable as many things can be written in leases that would not hold in court).
• If a portion of the tenants claim and testify in court your "pet" (which is already in the apartment) contitutes a nuisance and no other tenants testify otherwise.

Basically, going back to a previous post, if there are pets in your building (meaning you are already a tenant), then, you should be able to keep domesticated pets of any kind continguent they do not have human aggression.

In many states, if you have a dog openly living in your apartment for more than 3 months, it will void any previous written agreement or the like.

I hope this helps someone save a dog from a shelter.

 

Tell them its hal AmStaff half ab thats what my cousin did. And what do you know neighbors and manger love his dog. However i notice when i take mine out there the kinda get scared and give me looks.Reason is that they know (supposedly my dog is pure bred pit bull).

 

Sure is...that's why it says "JMO" at the end = "Just My Opinion"...but dont get all butt-hurt cuz I said that and you happen to live in an apartment doesn't mean you are a bad owner or negligent. Just means you either work that extra mile to get your dog the exercise and whatnot that he needs, or that your dog COULD be getting better opportunity in a yard environment.

 

I think the dog should have 2 walks each 1 houer every day....thats enough...if you have more time...FINE....At home my dogs sleep most of the time, so for that I think they dont need a big house or garden...only my opinion...

 

A yes I forgod...tell he is a boxer lab mix or a pointer boxer mix or so...you and your will have no problems.....and thats the only important thing!

 

You just gotta be slick with it. My wife got the lease in her name so that way the apt staff don't know who me or my dog is when they see us. I know I'm lucky that my dog is a solid color and many people around here expext pits to be huge, with cropped ears and a few markings. My neighbor has two dogs, one is a blue(which is massive) and the other is a pit bull. The blue can only be taken out at night because someone complained that he had this oversized pit bull(not really a pit bull). The complex told him he can keep it because he got it registered as a mastiff mix with the spca. Most complexes wont even allow AmStaffs, so be careful. As far as conditioning, it's possible depending on the owner of the dog. I take well care of my baby. Pics in gallery! I work 8hrs a day and when I'm home I'm with her outside or on the patio working the flirtpole.

 

you can groom your dog to be a good citizen.. do a resume on him/her.. make it very official looking.. have friends of yours who know your dog write a referral on the dog. have your vet do the same as well. if you present your dog in a positive, well behaved light, your chances of getting into an apt will increase.. if you can, take the akc cgc test, which can be found at www.akc.org and search under cgc.. a well behaved dog is a model dog citizen, and people will look twice when your dog is behaving while you and your dog are being interviewed for an apt.

also, dont ever lie about your breed, if someone recognizes the dog as a pit bull or amstaff they could get you thrown out of the apt then you will be homeless

 

Lets not exaggerate. You will not be thrown out. Technically speaking they will just charge you fines some say $100 up front and then maybe $10/day. They will want you to get rid of your dog. I told one complex I lived in that I got rid of her and when they came to check she was in her cage quiet as a mouse in the closet and when they left she was free again and her cage was back beside my bed. I wouldn't try building up a presentation for your dog. I applied to a complex and like usual they asked if I had a dog and before I could answer she said if so then I couldn't own what they considered aggressive breeds, of course pit bulls were on that list as well as Amstaffs. I asked(already knowing) why they believe all these dogs are aggressive and she replied because of some people who handle these dogs. She said she owns a few pit bulls and even kept pics of them with her of her dogs and her horses. My point is that some of these leasing consultants may even own bully breeds but it it their job to discriminate and they want their job.

 

The only problem I ever had, was when I moved here to this house. The lady in the next house started complaining because, she had small children. I told her to shut up, she was making more noise than my dogs would. Then, I brought out my niece & nephew. Showed her how the dog played with the kids, and not rough. Changed her mind. When she moved, she came & said sorry. I told her, lil' to late. And next time when you see an owner with it's dog(Pit), don't label. Just smile & go your own way.

 

If your apartment complex or rental house has it in their lease that they ban certain breeds of dogs, & you lie about your dog's breed, & they see the dog & determine it to be one of the banned breeds, then you better bet your ass you will be evicted. And they won't give you a month to get out either. Don't think for one minute that the landlord will choose the breed name you chose over what his uneducated eyes are telling him he sees. And not only did you lie on the contract & disobey the lease, but you possibly put the complex in trouble with their own insurance company.

BSL sucks. Their is no reason for BSL. We KNOW that. But to blantantly lie & possibly be evicted not only puts you in a bad situation, but puts your dog in a worse one.

I've been evicted for my dogs. I learned my lesson. And we've also been dropped (instantly) from home owner's insurance, not from lieing about the dog's breed, but b/c we did not tell them & they found out. As much as we preach about honesty in breeders, we need to preach it in owners as well.

My opinion is this: if you are not in a situation where you cannot legally & safely own & provide for a "pit bull", then do NOT get one. Wait until you have a place that allows them or your own home vs. possibly having to dump yet another beloved family member at the shelter. If it's worth that much, then it's worth the wait.

 

try introducing your pet to the landlord it is what i did and she loved him and it was just fine.

 

I am lucky. When I moved into my apartment I had my senior german shepherd with me and everyone in the building saw how well behaved and trained she was. My landlord fell in love with her. I had many discussions with my landlord about pit bulls. He never waivered from his beleif that pit bulls can be nice dogs, but they 'turn', and that he didn't trust them.
Well when my GSD bitch bloated and I had her put down, I brought said to my landlord that I had found a dog, and she was an apbt. He let me bring her home, and loves her and feeds her treats all the time. Everyone likes her, and we educate everyone about the breed and such.
But, having a high energy dog in an apartment is quite a chore. We excercise a lot daily, and this doesn't just mean walking. Biking, rollerblading, taking her out on a 20 foot long line and running around like an idiot in the park, lots of tug o war, everyday. Plus multiple walks. I don't particularily like coming home at midnight after working all night to excercise the dog, but it has to be done. You can't take a days break and just send the dog out in the backyard to do its business. If its nasty weather, you still have to trudge out with the dog and excercise. Either that or prepare to have your dog running circles and getting into everything. Wednesday's really good about not destroying things that aren't hers, but if I don't excercise her she gets really hyper and won't stay still, which is a pain in my ass lol.
I am lucky, in ontario there is a fluffy law or something that says that you cannot be denied or evicted from a place if you own pets. Now if someone is making complaints about a dangerous dog, then yes, you can be evicted. But even if it says in the lease you cannot own pets, once you are in, it is void. Thats how I moved out of my parents the first time. In the lease it said no pets, but the people I was moving in with agreed to the pets, and when my landlord came over after I moved in and saw 2 huge german shepherds and a cat, he wasn't too pleased but there wasn't anything he could do. They weren't bothering anybody, I walked them everytime they went out (sometimes I tied my female to the front porch for some air, but thats it. My male would charge anyone that came to close ) and they did no damage to the house.
Good luck.

 

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Listen, many of you may think I am talking out of my @ss. It is a fact that I have gone to court and won many cases (pro se) versus the landlord's lawyers. One of those cases was b/c I refused to get rid of my dog (remember I am THE tenant advocate that has forced the landlord to make large building-wide improvements via building inspectors and Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR)).

PS It is tax season, so, I would like to mention that I have been an "Income Tax Advisor" with the VITA program which is ran by the IRS and local governments for the benefit of the community. I have worked under the capacity of "site supervisor" for 4 years. Thus, if you have any questions relating income taxes (for low to mid-income households only the others have enough to pay )you may want to start a new thread under "miscellanous" and I will try to answer it as completely as possible.

Your friend, Rocky's Human

 

Real, I know what you are saying that there is no way to prove a dog's breed (mostly amont the bully breeds), HOWEVER, that same comment will backlash upon you as you cannot prove that your dog is NOT a "pit bull". I promise you, you will have 30 days to either throw the dog out or get out. He's not going to be an naive idiot who believes everyone with "pit bulls" really own "boxer mixes". Ultimately, it's not your decision on whether you get to remain in your rented dwelling if you violate the lease.

& again, this is a huge reason why this breed is also facing extermination. Because people act on the spur of the moment or put themselves first & then find themselves in a situation of homelessnes vs. chunk dog in shelter. If you are not stable enough to legally, safely, & properly provide shelter for & care for a "pit bull" then for goodness sakes, do NOT get one!

 

iverson's you posted it wouldnt work well it does for me ok look at my dogs and right now im in a 1 bedroom apt. and fulltime work.

 

i tell them my 2 pits are American Staffordshire Terrier... it always works for me.... good luck.... :-)