Frequent PCS moves affect every member of the family – including those of the furry, feathered or scaley variety. Renting with a pet can make finding military housing quite challenging. However, since they offer military families much-needed love and support while PCSing, pets are well worth the effort.
It is every military pet owner’s responsibility to give their pet the opportunity to be a good tenant as well. To build the environment your military pet needs to thrive, while keeping your landlord happy, review these nine expert tips!
1. PCS Military Pet Plan
Build your pet into your PCS military plan. This will help you show up to moving day with a plan of action that will ensure your pet’s move is as stress-free as possible. We can’t explain to our pets the “why” and “where,” but we can take steps to establish a calm transition. Instead of throwing away your pet’s bed or crate, move it with you so they can self-identify your new house as “home.”
More Like This: Find the Best Military Housing for you and your pet through AHRN, a site dedicated to connecting military members with housing solutions.
2. Prioritize Training
Prioritizing training your pet before you move to your next military housing rental. You can prevent behaviors such as digging, chewing, scratching and jumping with basic obedience training. By doing this, you’ll lessen the chances of the rental becoming damaged by your pet. A well-behaved animal will also leave a better impression on your neighbors, landlord and/or property manager.
3. Preventative Vet Care
From fleas to stomach problems, there are a number of pet health conditions that can also impact your rental. Fleas can lay eggs, leaving a pest problem for your landlord and neighbors to have to deal with. Furthermore, pets who are sick may make messes that stain or leave a lasting foul scent throughout the home.
Before you move, take your pet to the vet to receive any preventative care that is recommended. This will help you have a great start in your new home. A thorough history of care and a reference from your vet can also be wonderful tools if your landlord is reluctant to rent to pet owners.
4. Keep It Clean
The impact of your pet on the cleanliness of your home depends on the pet’s level of training and your diligence. You will never go wrong with making cleanliness a priority in the training and care of your pet. Ensuring cats have easy access to their litter box and dogs are completely housebroken can save your security deposit and your home’s floors!
Hot Tip: Avoid unnecessary move-out charges by knowing ahead of time what a landlord can charge for when you move out.
5. Meet Your Pet’s Needs
Set yourself up for success by knowing what your pet needs to be happy and healthy. When pets are well taken care of, they are less likely to act out with property-destructing behavior. Stressed cats may scratch or urinate where they’re not supposed to. Likewise, dogs who are over-stimulated without space to run are known for causing damage to furniture and well-manicured yards.
Does your hyper dog need a yard where it can burn some energy? Would your cat thrive better if it had its own room? Although it can make the home search a little more challenging, finding the right military housing will keep your pet and landlord satisfied.
6. Proactive Management
Being proactive in the management of your home will save time and money when it’s time to move to your new installation. To effectively maintain a rental, here are the tasks and chores you can schedule into your routine:
- Shampoo carpets every 6 months
- Vacuum carpets 1-2 times a week
- Trim pet nails 2-3 times a month
- Brush pets with long hair once a day
- Use pet gates where needed
- Provide scratching posts
Conducting regular home inspections is also a good practice for households with pets. This will help you quickly identify any damage that may be occurring and put it to an end as soon as possible. By addressing your pet’s impact on the home frequently, you will have less to clean and repair when you move.
7. Open Communication
Take the time to introduce yourself and your pet to your neighbors and foster a positive impression. Those surrounding your home are the people most likely to complain about your pet. Keeping open lines of communication makes it more likely that they will address any concerns directly with you instead of your landlord.
8. Back-Up Support
Hire an on-call backup pet sitter for instances where you’ll be away from home for an extended amount of time. Make sure this pet sitter can also be counted on if you can’t make it home on time for potty breaks or feedings.
Many of the most damage-producing situations involving pets happen when we can’t get to them on time for some reason or another. Services such as Fort Cavazos’ Ease My Mind keep a key on file and offer same-day service, meaning your pet will be cared for even when life gets in the way.
9. Military Tenant Obligations
As a military tenant, you have a special obligation to leave your rental in the same condition as it was when you moved in. Not only are military members looked up to for their organization and discipline, but the military itself has expectations that service members are nothing short of ideal tenants.
The worst way for your landlord to find out about pet damage is by accident or surprise. Be upfront with your landlord about your pet and any damage they may have caused. Moreover, be prepared to pay any resulting security or damage deposits. By being honest and transparent, you will ensure your landlord still has a positive perception of you as a renter.
The Best Military Housing
Review our Home Search Checklist: Find the Best Military Housing for more tips on how to pick the right home for you and your pet. Then, you can sign up on AHRN to begin searching for military housing near your new installations.
Be prepared for your pet-friendly home search by building a pet resume. Put together training certificates, recommendations from vets, testimonials from past landlords and even images of your pet. This will help you prove to your new property manager or military landlord that your pet is a good tenant, too!