Be it your feline friend or canine companion, pets are part of the family. While advertising your residence as pet-friendly can help offer some peace of mind to prospective residents, ensuring that pets and their owners feel comfortable in your apartment community requires a few extra steps. Below, we outline a few different ways to help you make your apartment community more pet-friendly, keeping pets and their owners happy and healthy, and ultimately increasing resident retention.
Keep it Clean
A pet-friendly property shouldn’t mean that residents have to watch where they walk. Make it easy for owners to pick up after their pets by creating stations with doggy clean-up bags and waste baskets. This will remove the hassle of having to bring the appropriate pet clean-up supplies from your residents and it will serve as a reminder that keeping a clean community is a requirement–not a suggestion. Make it convenient, and put these stations along the paths that residents use when walking to the on-site dog park or the nearest trail. Don’t forget to include signs near entrances and pet stations that offer reminders to keep your community clean.
Bonus: Go beyond keeping clean paths for dogs and their owners. Take a look at the landscape and be sure there are no twigs, leaves, rocks, or other objects that might pose a danger to a pup’s paws. Keep these areas well-manicured, and communicate these efforts to your residents. Be it a quick mention in the resident newsletter or just casual conversation at the front desk, make sure residents know that they can count on you and your staff to keep the grounds safe for them and their pets.
Help with Hydration
Dog owners know the importance of taking dogs for walks and getting their pet to exercise, but often this can leave dogs drained of energy and fluids. Rather than making pets wait to get water until they’re back at their residence, put out water dishes and water fountains in accessible spots for the dogs on the move. Place a couple water dishes near entrances to your building, and include a few more near any popular exercise areas or dog parks on-site. This will help pets stay healthy and hydrated, and also remind residents that they’re taken care of.
Treats!
The best way to a dog’s heart is through its stomach, so the old adage goes. Make your community more pet-friendly by making them part of it all. Welcome pets into the building with treats, and offer dog treats at each pet station to keep pets healthy and happy as they walk around your property. By periodically rewarding pets with treats as they enter or exit the building, you’re ensuring that both the pets and their owners feel safe and healthy within your apartment community.
Include Pets on Your Event Calendar
Don’t make pets an afterthought. If you have a pet-friendly apartment community, make this well-known by including pets in your monthly event calendars. This can be as simple as adding a puppy-playdate on the first Saturday of each month, or a community dog walk near a local trail. Take this one step further and have your staff take photos of pet events and nominate a “pet of the month” in your resident communications. Residents will beam with pride as their pet takes home the accolades for the building, and it will build a safe and happy home for pets and pet owners alike.
For more ideas on making your apartment community pet friendly, contact us today!
