Usually when a landlord story goes viral, it’s for all the wrong reasons. For example, this landlord, who thought a hand grenade qualified as home decor. Or this unscrupulous property owner who evicted a tenant without notice, changing the locks and throwing all of her belongings in the trash.
Well, one animal-loving landlord has won hearts all over the internet, after going the extra mile to make a tenant’s dog happy.
Posting to Reddit‘s r/aww forum, user Ultronomy shared a snap of their dog Basil enjoying their new purpose-built staircase.
As their rented house doesn’t have a back door, the landlord, who is also a contractor, installed a mini staircase that allows the tenant’s dogs to climb outdoors through a ground floor window—literally taking doggy doors to the next level.
Redditors loved the landlord’s ingenuity, with the post receiving almost 44,000 upvotes and nearly 600 comments in less than 24 hours.
TheYanjunian commented: “Your dog looks ridiculously pleased with his new staircase.”
NicoTheFileClerk said: “Your pup looks so cute and happy!”
While SilkyPublisher78 joked: “She’s on top of the world.”
Some Redditors were concerned about the safety implications of the micro-staircase, as well as the property lacking a back door. In the comments, Ultronomy explained their rented home’s unusual layout, and why the window-turned-doggy door was necessary.
They wrote: “Our backyard is technically a side yard with a side gate, this is on the wall opposite the front door. In the actual back of the house we have plenty of exits to choose from.
“My landlord is [a] construction contractor and works a lot with building codes. We are also training her on the stairs and she is not allowed on unsupervised. We do plan to make additional safety adjustments!
“And yes she goes into the backyard, it’s a less than a foot drop to the ground. Video coming soon!”
According to the National Association of Realtors, renters are willing to pay additional fees for a pet-friendly property—an average of $400 more annually. While homeowners are also happy to splash out for their furry friends, with 43 percent of households surveyed willing to move house for their pets.
Some 68 percent of respondents said that their pet influenced their decision to rent or buy a property in a specific community, with gardens, outdoor spaces and easy access to a vet commonly cited requirements.
However, a survey by Avail of 4,000 American landlords found that only 55 percent allowed pets, which makes finding an animal-friendly home difficult for many households. Some renters choose to hide their animals from their landlords, like this woman, who disguised her Pomeranian pooch as a vase during a recent inspection.
Reddit users praised the landlord for going above and beyond for Basil and her brother Indy.
SashaWoodson suggested: “Give your landlord all the belly scritches!”
Grayson102110 commented: “That’s so cool especially these days when good landlords are hard to find.”
SpindleBearing wrote: “That is a wildly kind and thoughtful thing to do for tenants. The level of consideration is kind of blowing my mind. Very cool.”
Newsweek has reached out to Ultronomy for comment.
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