Topic: Brainstorming Pet Friendly Ideas!

I think being "pet friendly" can go way beyond just having a high weight limit. If you were to create the ultimate pet paradise at your community, what things would you include?

I'll start with the first idea: Dog walking and pet sitting services! Either contract with a third party or have it done internally, but I think this would be invaluable since we inevitably don't have doggy doors for our units.

There are some really cool "playground for pets" type items out there now. Turn your Bark Park into an obstacle course for dogs as opposed to just an open space!

Can you tell me what pet equipment you have found for the pet parks to be an obstical course verses just an open area? Have been looking and all very expensive.

We had our maintenance team build an agility ramp and beam for the dogs to use then we added buckets with toys for them to share. We also are selling spots on the fence to the local businesses for advertisement in which we will be using the funds to add more doggie stations and playground equipment.

We also held a Pet Adoption day with the local Humane Society who has a mobile adoption service which was advertised through them as well.

Great stuff everybody! I love the idea of working with the local Humane Society! Maybe waive the pet deposit for those that adopt a rescue?!

Also, what about a craft day making custom collars?

We have also celebrated pet's birthdays with holding birthday parties at the pet park also. Residents love it. :cheer:

At one of my communities, I am able to offer Obedience Training classes for pet owners at no cost to the property. Pet Owners who adopt puppies are strongly encouraged to make use of these classes. The instructor is a cerified dog trainer and highly qualified. She is also able to offer new owners tips and tricks for problematic situations, such as separation anxiety, barking, and potty training.

I actually work with an animal rescue. One of the things our communities do is offer the local shelters a list of our communities that are pet friendly. Many animals are being given up because housing situations are changing. This way someone who may be giving up their pet because they can't find a rental that will allow their companion, can be given a list of communities who can help them. We also reduce the pet fee for those who rescue their pets as well as those who are spayed/neutered.

My building in inclosed with carpeted hallways. In the beginning the owners did not want to allow pets for fear of stains and pet allergy issues. We compromised and now we allow pets up to 25lb, however they must be in a pet stroller while in common areas. You should see the parade of residents pushing strollers in the evening. It's so cute!

I love the idea of bark parks with agility courses, as well as the training. We have done pet fashion shows which are a blast! We always include pet names when sending out greeting cards. We also host adoption events here on site. It's a great way to help the shelters and draw traffic to your community. Not to mention the residents love it!

My property is a proud pet friendly community. Our buildings are in a urban environment so we don't have a large amount of grassy space for our dogs. Luckily, we are across the street from a state run museum that allows our residents to use their property as a dog park. They even provided the pet stations! The rules are as long as our residents are respectful and clean up after their pet .. then we will be allowed to use the space.

In order for our residents and their pets to get to this grassy area they have to walk directly in front of our office. We keep treats in the office so residents often stop on their way back to get a treat .. we learned the hard way not to stop them before their potty break! The dogs start to catch on to this pretty quickly. We practically have them trained to head straight to the office on their way back into their apartment. I even had a resident tell me he had to pick up his dog on their way back home because she was firmly planted in front of our office expecting a treat. The problem was .. it was 11:30 PM and we weren't open! This has been great for our resident retention .. because we are able to have small talk with our resident while playing with their pet.

We are currently using a program called "Resident of the Week" (ROW). We send balloons and a gift bag with candy and property marketing materials (cups, water bottles, pens, coffee mugs, matches .. etc) to their work or up to their apartment. If the ROW has a pet we also send a few dog treats as well!

We are currently in talks on how to use being "pet friendly" to our advantage when it comes to marketing to our prospects. We played with the idea of "Pet of the Week" ..but I think we will end up doing a bulletin board in our leasing office with pictures of pets and their owners who call my property home.

We currently have a Facebook photo album entitled "Our Four Legged Residents" that we started a couple months ago. We need to collect more pictures for this album .. right now we only have 8 pets on our page.

Someone also mentioned dog walking services. We currently have resident who is a 24/hour dog walker and is employed by many of our residents. He charges $8 per walk and will walk them up to 18 blocks or so.. depending on their size and the conditions outside. Lets just say when the dogs get home from trampling around the city they are exhausted! We give out his information any chance we get. It's a great perk for our residents at no cost to the property!

(Your community's name) is a Pawtistic pet friendly community!

That is one of the one's I use. If I find more I will send it your way.