"Bored"

So if you haven’t heard, we are probably going to be getting a puppy sometime in the new year. It’s been suggested to my S.O. that doing so would have therapeutic value in her recovery of a long-lasting chronic illness, and something we could take care of as we prepare for having kids someday.

We’ve been offered a puppy from my parents, who are hobby breeders of purebred English Bulldogs, and need some help looking after one of the dogs… and we’ve decided we want to say yes.

However, our biggest obstacle has been the whole “dog in the apartment” issue. When we signed our lease several years ago, one of the details specified was that there would be no pets in our home. Now that the situation is about to change, we now have to weigh our options. After doing some research about Ontario Tenant Rights, it seems the situation on pets-in-apartments is simple.

You can have them.

Maybe.

Here’s the facts:

1. “No pets” clauses, even if you agree to them, are invalid by law.
2. However, the pet has to not “be a problem for anybody,” otherwise the landlord can enforce this rule. The landlord can evict you if the “presence, control or behaviour” of the pet interferes with the “enjoyment” of the apartment complex for all tenants and the landlord, if the pet causes the landlord or other tenants to have an allergic reaction, and if the pet is “inherently dangerous” to the safety of other tenants and the landlord.

So from a legal standpoint, if your dog isn’t bugging anyone else, you can have one… though if your landlord isn’t happy about it, then he can evict you. The truth is, if you’re renting, you probably can’t afford to take this one to court, so unless you decide to start hunting for a pet-friendly apartment, then you probably can’t have one.

In my current situation, I’m hoping that our landlord will at least let us have the dog on a trial basis, to ensure that the pet isn’t a problem for anybody. I’ve been in my apartment for nearly five years, and I like it. The rent is good, and we have a decent relationship with our landlord. We could have simply brought the dog into our house, hoping that he doesn’t notice, and then try to throw the legal argument in his face after the fact — but we didn’t want to be dishonest about the pet’s presence either.

So now we wait to hear our landlord’s verdict in the matter… it’s going to be a hard decision either way, especially after looking at my options on Craigslist and ViewIt.

UPDATE: Our landlord is cool with a trial basis… I’m pleased. Dog, ho!