Should there be a dog size limit in your condo?
By: Shamontiel L. Vaughn
Tags: Dogs, Property Management, Apartments, Landlords, Pets

So you’ve talked your condo association board into allowing pets? Congratulations. But now comes the next big discussion: Should there be a size requirement for pets? Apartment building landlords, property managers and condo boards often include a size requirement in leases and bylaws. However, these size requirements too often come from people who don’t particularly know the ways of dog breeds — and how every dog has his or her own individual personality.

I’ve boarded several dogs in my condominium. One was a Louisiana Catahoula Leopard/Beagle mix. Another was a Rhodesian Ridgeback/Pit mix. The third was a Brittney Spaniel. The only people who knew these dogs were here for almost a week were neighbors who happened to see me outside for the occasional potty break or passersby who noticed eyes looking at them in the window. Other than that, all of the dogs were stone-cold quiet. Can they bark? Absolutely. Loudly. And all are somewhere between 50 to 60 pounds. If they run or bark, the whole building would hear them. But they had no desire to do so inside.

Meanwhile a Chihuahua Mix and a Shih Tzu barked or growled every single time someone walked by the lobby door or entrance door. At one point, the Shih Tzu tilted his head back so far I thought it was going to fall right off his body, howling away. If I was trying to sneak dogs in the building, these two would’ve gotten me busted.

This howling Shih Tzu would rear his head back so far I thought it would fall off. (Photo credit: Shamontiel L. Vaughn)

Too often, property managers assume that bigger dogs mean bigger problems. Dog owners know better; it’s all about whether the dog is trained. The Louisiana Catahoula Leopard/Beagle mix and the Chihuahua mix tie as my favorite dogs; but the Chihuahua has “grumpy old man” tendencies, according to his owners. Every blue moon, it showed up when he didn’t feel like walking. The Rhodesian Ridgeback/Pit was a primary example of why people should never do too much assuming about Pit bulls. Out of 80 dogs, she is the most easygoing of them all — until there is prey around. Then all bets are off. (She is so sneaky that she caught a skunk and a bird in mid-air. A house mouse would not stand a chance against a dog as fast as this pit is.)

Meanwhile the Shih Tzu was terrified of a printer being cleaned and needed anxiety medication just to be able to deal with me going to the bathroom. Separation anxiety was the reason he needed a dog boarder in the first place.

So between these four dogs, who do you think would be more likely to be the biggest noisemaker? If your answer was the smaller dogs, you’d be correct. And if your answer was the bigger dogs, you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong there either. Over the past year, I’ve dogsat enough other dogs to see them flying through apartments, condos and houses. When big dogs run, it can sound like a treadmill for residents on the floor underneath. But when big dogs are trained and used to being in smaller spaces, it is obvious from first glance — even when they enter a new space. In my case, the bigger dogs in my own condo usually just trotted or walked pretty much all of the time.

Instead of condo boards and apartment landlords insisting on a particular pet size, they may want to approach a pet friendly environment the same way pet adoption agencies do — require that all pets must get their annual (and immediate) recommended vaccinations and require new pet owners to take their pets in for some form of training. (While some property managers will insist on spaying or neutering, that is often to avoid unwanted puppies or menstrual cycles. According to veterans in an Insider interview, this procedure does not really change the dog’s personality.)

If pet owners refuse to show proof of vaccinations and/or training — and the pets become problematic for other residents — set a specific number of days that the pet(s) must be removed from the facility. As long as the condo owners are legally tied to the condo bylaws and tenants are tied to the lease beforehand, those pet agreements will be much easier to follow and enforce as needed.