[shanice]

My Fiance and I are getting married in July and moving to Chicago from Virginia to attend medical school and law school. We absolutely cannot stand the thought of not taking our two dogs with us, both of which are mixed with some pitbull variation, but we are having an extremely difficult time finding an apartment to rent. We are willing to spend the money to find a good place and are willing to pay extra for our dogs, but we need some serious help. We are kind of running out of time and would really, really appreciate it if anyone on the forum could help direct us to pitbull friendly listings or to apartment buildings/management companies that allow pitbulls.

Both of our dogs have been professionally trained, have never had a single issue of any kind with a person or a dog, both have a letter from a vet saying they are safe, and are taking the Canine Good Citizenship test in a few weeks. One of our dogs is also being certified to be a pet therapy dog to work with Jackie in hospitals. Even with all of this, however, we have had no luck. If you could please help us, we would be incredibly grateful.

[wepoiyub]

Welcome! It is always reassuring that there are folks out there who make an effort to take their dogs along, when they move, so I applaud you and your fiance for that

A couple of suggestions:

1. I'd try to find Pit Bull friendly rescues/shelters in Chicago, and contact them to see if they have listings of Pit Bull friendly rental properties (or their landlords/property management firms).

2. Take a look at our Rescue section, to see if you can find some Chicago area rescue organization there.

3. CraigsList: it has its shortcomings, but can be a good place to find something.

4. The housing offices of the universities you will be attending might be another option?

[shanice]

Great suggestions, I will definitely try contacting the rescue shelters to see if they know of any places...the Universities won't help out much and don't do much housing placement in general but it is a good suggestion for sure.

[RadcliffXX]

I live in Chicago. We had a hell of a time finding an apartment that would allow two pit bulls. The ones that did were in dangerous neighborhoods and we weren't willing to do that especially when I was pregnant at the time. We did have to rehome one of the dogs. Check out Craiglist as Madeline mentioned. Sometimes they are willing to negotiate if you do extra work for the apartment like shoveling snow, landscaping, etc. Or put down an extra deposit.

[shanice]

Thanks for the information. Because you had to rehome one, which I am really sorry to hear about, does that mean you found an apartment that did allow one?

[flnastyax]

I also live in Chicago and my pit mix and Dogo are both listed as something else on the lease.

[shanice]

We thought about doing that but most of the places we have been in contact with asked for pictures and once they saw them, they turned us down.

[RadcliffXX]

Thanks for the information. Because you had to rehome one, which I am really sorry to hear about, does that mean you found an apartment that did allow one?

Yes, we kept Logan. As it was, the apartment we did find was crappy but we had no choice to take it or we would have no dogs. We ended up moving again to a lovely apartment. The landlord didn't care about Logan and said all she is concerned about is that we are clean and we pick up after him.

We tried the apartment complex route (suburbs) but none of them would take bully breeds.

As for listing a dog falsely on a lease, I wouldn't take the chance. All it takes is for one nosy person to complain and everything is lost. I will not lie about what my dog is.

---------- Post added at 12:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:16 PM ----------

We thought about doing that but most of the places we have been in contact with asked for pictures and once they saw them, they turned us down.

That is the reason why I wouldn't lie. Not worth it.

[flnastyax]

As for listing a dog falsely on a lease, I wouldn't take the chance. All it takes is for one nosy person to complain and everything is lost. I will not lie about what my dog is.

That is the reason why I wouldn't lie. Not worth it.

I know it's not a good idea.. But like you, we didn't want to live in a crappy area. My Dogo is listed as an Argentinian Mastiff, which is technically true. Lol And my guy is listed as an American Bulldog mix, which I also think is true.. We just didn't say what the AB was mixed with.

[shanice]

I agree, we aren't going to lie about it because you are right about one nosey person. If you don't mind me asking, is there anyway you could PM me of the apartment building you did up finding that allowed pitbulls? Or of any other apartment buildings you know of that allow them?

---------- Post added at 01:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:28 PM ----------

You really lucked out lol...in my experience, people don't care what they are, they care what they look like. I actually had one apartment tell me, once I told them they were pitbulls, to send pictures to see what they look like and that if they didn't look too much like pitbulls, it wouldn't matter. It made no sense! They were OK with them actually being pitbulls so long as they didn't look like them? Totally irrational.

I know it's not a good idea.. But like you, we didn't want to live in a crappy area. My Dogo is listed as an Argentinian Mastiff, which is technically true. Lol And my guy is listed as an American Bulldog mix, which I also think is true.. We just didn't say what the AB was mixed with.

[flnastyax]

You really lucked out lol...in my experience, people don't care what they are, they care what they look like. I actually had one apartment tell me, once I told them they were pitbulls, to send pictures to see what they look like and that if they didn't look too much like pitbulls, it wouldn't matter. It made no sense! They were OK with them actually being pitbulls so long as they didn't look like them? Totally irrational.

Yea, I really hate people.. We also lucked out here because my landlord lives in Dallas. The neighbors don't know the specifics of the lease. One of the neighbors' dogs would actually attack our dogs if given the chance, so they wouldn't say anything. Another neighbor just doesn't care. At our old building in the West Loop, 2 of our neighbors had pitbulls. Lol

You'll run into a lot of people that have pit bulls but their landlords think otherwise. If you're safe about it, no one will be bothered. The only reason my dog looks like a pit is because of his big head and almond eyes, other than that, he's got longer fur and a lot of extra skin/wrinkles.

I know I'm not a good example of what to do. Sorry.

[shanice]

No its ok! It makes me feel a lot better just knowing people have been successful finding a place...I was beginning to think it was not going to happen.

[wepoiyub]

When you do find a suitable apartment, please make sure that both dogs are written into the lease - do not accept a verbal 'o.k.' to keep your dogs there.

[shanice]

Excellent point! I will be sure to do that.

[DP5Ups8o]

Repeat after me

"My dogs? They are mutts. The mom was a champion showring boxer that got knocked up by who knows what. It is amazing how different the two siblings look!"

[k5wTvu9f]

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[Byxtysaaqwuz]

i think i can help you with an apartment that accepts dogs as i do own an apartment there in Chicago but now i reside in the UK so i have been looking to rent it out.I had my pit with me there for a couple of years before i bought the property.If you are interested then contact me on mynameisjoe33@yahoo.com so we conclude.