This article and it’s related links are required reading for all new Texas TLC Goldens puppy applicants that rent their homes.
Golden Retrievers are the best breed on the planet in our humble opinion for property owners but they can present some additional challenges to folks who rent. There are a huge number of people who are successful with Goldens in rental properties, but you should be aware of the challenges so that you go into this fully informed. The purpose of this article is to explain the challenges we are aware of for folks that would like to purchase on of our puppies and raise them in a rental property. Lack of proper potty training and renters that cannot handle large energetic dogs or landlords that don’t like large dogs or complaints from neighbors are the most common reasons dogs end up in shelters or sent back to the breeder (which, contractually is your only option in our case) with no refund.
The following information will sound negative and is designed to be that way. It is all true but it’s also worst case. Anything I mention below (and more) can happen but is not certain. If you are going to bring a Golden Retriever into someone else’s home then you should be prepared for worst case and not assume anything better until proven wrong. Training your very intelligent Golden is critical here.
MANY breeders will not sell puppies to renters. We at Texas TLC Goldens have decided to try and do it since we personally have been successful as renters in the past with multiple large dogs but the coming litter will be a test and we may change that in the future.
They start small but grow BIG
A cute little puppy will come home with you and not take up much space. It is very hard to imagine how fast and how large they will grow. For example: When we got Emma at 4 months old she was 30lbs (a 2 month old puppy will typically be 15lbs or less). At 7.5 months old she was 64.5lbs. River is 82lbs as an adult and Harley is 78lbs; we’ve heard of Goldens that got even bigger. The breed standard says up to 65lbs but that is a very fuzzy rule and only matters to conformation competitions; most Goldens exceed that standard although we are working on parings that should (hopefully) make our puppies a little smaller.
If you live in an apartment or condo that is not on the first floor, you can be fairly certain that as your fur-baby moves around the apartment, the folks downstairs will hear it. If you dog does a lot of jumping, it will be very noticeable and could generate complaints.
Golden Retrievers are VERY energetic. They will get “the rips” (running at a frantic pace in circles or across/through furniture, or you, over and over for up to a minute). This can be very noisy and could knock over furniture and lamps. The rips will usually calm down in adulthood but not always and can be moderated with lots of exercise. Lots of outside time lets them do this in a safer area but I can almost guaranteed it will happen indoors on occasion.
They CHEW
Despite their famous “soft mouth”, Golden Retrievers chew more often than many large breed dogs. If they are not properly managed and trained, they can chew furniture, wall trim, cabinet doors and other things. In our experience their biggest “Bad Chew” targets are things like clothes and shoes (which can also be trained out of them) but we’ve seen River chew a table leg and wall trim before. River (and to a smaller extent, Emma) also chewed holes in carpets until we corrected it with consistent training. Since you do not own this home, activities like this put your deposit at risk.
Apartments/Condos seldom have an attached and fenced back yard
Potty training is an absolute MUST and has to be aggressively trained starting day ONE if you want to maintain sanity and not damage your rental’s floors. The most successful potty training methods all include scooping your puppy up when you catch them in the act and immediately taking them outside. If the grass you will use is down some stairs or an elevator, that can become problematic.
Taking your puppy out on a leash requires a physical commitment on your part and will happen a LOT in the first few months. When we potty trained Emma, we took her to the back yard every hour for the first two weeks during the day and every 3 hours at night. The leash may also take longer as some puppies get a shy bladder when on a leash until they get used to it. Be patient, it can be done but it’s still a thing.
When you take your Golden to a shared area to do their “business”, be sure to take poop bags and pick up after them right away. Yes, you should pick up your own back yard as well but in a shared area there is no excuse for not doing it immediately. It’s just common courtesy and frankly, rude and gross to otherwise.
Without an attached and fenced back yard a leash is required at all times when outside which makes proper exercise challenging. Trips to a dog park are good but cannot start until 2 weeks AFTER their 16 week shots.
Big dogs also bark big
Golden Retrievers typically don’t bark as often as many other breeds but bark they do. As adults, you can be assured that when they do it will be LOUD. This can be a problem in multi-family rentals and generate complaints to the landlord. It is unlikely that you will ever completely train this behavior out of them but you can moderate it to some extent with good training.
Shedding is a thing
Golden Retrievers have beautiful and often long “double” coats. YES, they shed. Rather than me re-doing something I’ve already written, read all about Golden Retriever coats, shedding and why you should NEVER shave them at THIS LINK.
NEVER lie to your landlord
Read your lease agreement carefully and if there are ANY questions, call the landlord for clarification. Many landlords do not allow dogs at all; of the ones that do, many do not allow large dogs. “Large” can mean different things to different landlords so make sure they know you will have a Golden Retriever, not Border Collie. If they have weight limits or limits on the number of dogs, pay attention to that and be honest. Some landlords are more dog friendly than others no matter what they say in the lease. Talk to your neighbors that have dogs and understand their experiences. Never, ever lie about what you have to get around lease restrictions; that is an absolute recipe for disaster and in our experience; never succeeds long term.
Renting with a Golden Retriever as your first dog
You want to enjoy and love your new Golden but if you are not already experienced with large dogs, renting with a Golden (or any other large dog for that matter) is simply a bad idea in most cases; especially in a multi-family building. It’s certainly possible but you will need to carefully research and constantly act on training your Golden and be exceedingly patient while you learn how to live with them; nothing will be automatic at first. Most successful renters with Goldens are experienced dog owners or their Golden is already an adult and trained.
Other good reading
While not mandatory for this article’s purpose, I strongly recommend you read and understand the more general article I wrote some time back entitled “Renting a Home When You have Large Dogs“. That article will be especially important if you ever move from your current home to a new rental home.
Last Word
Thank you for taking the time to read through this. I am absolutely certain there are things I forgot to include but this article should give you a sampling of challenges faced by renters with Golden Retrievers. Again: There are a metric ton of families that successfully rent with Golden Retrievers in the home but the successful ones are experienced and already know the things I said above. Golden Retrievers are a wonderful, kind, smart, beautiful and loving breed but that does not mean there are no challenges.
As part of the puppy waiting list application we require that renters provide contact information for the landlord. Please understand this requirement is based on recommendations from many experienced breeders and is no reflection on you. We will in most cases call or email the landlord to confirm pet policies.
If you have read, carefully considered and understand what I’ve said and still want to apply for a Golden Retriever puppy from us, please do. If not then it may be wiser to move to a smaller breed or no dog at all until you get into a different living situation.
Click THIS LINK to return to Waiting List page or THIS LINK to open the Waiting List Application.