Owning a dog and issues with the landlord - Munich

Hello!

Just went through the posts on Toytown about getting a dog in Munich and didn't find anything that would answer my question and thus the post.

We were considering getting a Lab Retriever puppy. In my scanning of our tenancy contract, there was no clause on pets (but then again my German is a bit weak). So I called the landlord to inform them of our intentions and to make sure there were no issues. After about two days, I called them again as we hadn't heard anything back and had an appointment with a breeder. The landlord then said that they are mulling over our request and talking to other tenants in the building as well as checking with advisors (?), and that they will let us know of their decision - in writing. Which, to me, seems to indicate that the contract doesn't outright forbid pets but that the situation still doesn't bode well for us.

1) Are landlords (this one in question owns the entire building) in Germany obliged to check with all tenants before allowing one a pet?
2) The landlord also said that there has never been a dog in the building and so the tenants she had spoken to were very concerned about the noise as well as possibly the dirt and smell. Can the landllord use this as a point on which to object?

One of my husbands German colleague tells us that landlords can not stop us from getting a pet unless it is an oversized dog (but don't specify the dimensions). Does anyone know if there is indeed such a law?

I saw on one of the forums that getting in touch with the Vermietsomething (at $55 p.a.) is a good idea. Is that what we should do? Our relations with the landlord in the past have been pretty good and I would hate unnecessary confrontations but to my puppy-possessed mind, this just doen't seem fair.

Well, they can actually forbid you to get a dog, in German law you are only allowed to keep small pets (birds, mice, hamster...stuff like that) without the landlords approval, anything bigger (cats and dogs) need an approval.

Most landlords in Bavaria dont mind dogs as usually at least one party in the house got them already and that gives you a good chance to get an approval as well.

In your case I guess its a bit tougher as you are the first...maybe it would be good to talk to the others tenants and let them know they dont have anything to worry about...

Cats require approval? Oops. I looked at my contract, which said that small pets are ok, and I assumed my cat would be fine, especially because the person who used to live above me had a cat. Was I really meant to ask for approval first? Both the landlord and his father, who I think owns the place, have seen her, and neither one of them said anything, so I guess they would have approved...

No worries...As I said, if someone in the house already got them, not much to worry about, especially when the landlord has seen them...but yes you would have needed an approval

This is the link you need - Clicky

Don't use the rules..They're not for you..They're for the fools!

God, I am so glad we finally own a house - now we have a cat, I can vacuum on Sundays, we can drill into the wall at 11 pm and blast the music as loud as we want.

OK, so I can't mow the lawn on Sundays, but who cares about that?

But you can open a church, and piss off everybody in the vicinity by banging large bells at 7:30AM on a sunday.

@ don: spot on!

in the last place i lived it did not exclude pets from the conract, but said if we wanted a pet, the landlord had to consult with all parties in the building (so 5 others) to check for objections and had the right to turn down our request. he said, if our neighbor had a terrible allergy to cats or dogs, then well, they could object and he by law would have to too.

i would also like to give my view as your potential neighbor. as much as i do love dogs and cats, a labrador puppy will grow up to be a pretty big dog. they bark and breathe loud and maybe will whimper when you leave it alone. there was a thread recently on this, how a TTer was accused of neglecting its dog! if i, as your neighbor, had to put up with this, i would be very annoyed. we're expected to put up with colicky babies, but not barking canines.

perhaps get a small breed. A lab is a large breed.

Good luck!

@elfenstar

Thanks for sharing that. So I suppose the landlord could very well be within his rights to turn us down based on the feedback from the neighbours. SIGH!! Darn! Darn! Darn!!

With regards to the size, we did think about whether we were doing the right thing for a labrador and decided our apartment - though not as ideal as a house with a yard - was spacious enough for one. We are fortunate to live within walking distance to a small neighbourhood park and reasonably close to the Nymphenburger Schloss and Olympiapark. Since I am a hausfrau, the puppy wouldn't have been left alone, or not for too long even at inevitable times.

Anywho. Let's see what we hear back.

If you really wanna a large breed, take a Golden Retriever instead of a Labrador. They are more easy-going dogs and can adapt well in apartments.

charmed, sorry, but this is not actually quite correct. There is no law actually governing the keeping of pets in rented accommodation, it is purely a matter of contract:

so basically either your contract:
explicitly allows pets (so you have no problems unless your name is Roots and wish to have an elefant as a pet)
forbids pets (then tough titty, no pets unless you are happy with a hamster)
says nothing about them (in which case you are allowed at least to have small animals like the above mentioed hamster, )
requires prior approval of the landlord.

However, you are correct in saying that small animals like hamsters, caged birds, fish etc are always allowed because these fall into the category of "vertragsgemäßen Gebrauch", if it can be assured that no noise or smells etc would come form the pets.