If you ever decide to get a dog other than a Lab, due to the fact that you rent, be aware of breed restrictions for apartments, some lists include Dalmatians - pure and/or mixes. I realize you are just window shopping, but still something to keep in the back of your mind.
Oh believe me... I read the fine print on any apartment/lease I look at. Around here it's less about breed restrictions and more about size... the most common being "must be under 30 lbs"... which is just ridiculous in my opinion. That's the stipulation in my current lease... however if I was on the first floor, they would allow me to have a larger dog.
The two nonsense reasons they cite:
#1: Smaller dogs are allowed on the upper floors if they are "litter trained"
#2: Large dogs aren't allowed on the upper floors cause something about the person under you hearing the dog walk around or something.
Umm... #1 you can train ANY dog to poop/pee in a litter box (though why you'd want to I have no idea... and in fact, smaller dogs DO take way longer to potty train than larger dogs so there is more opportunity for accidents in the apartment/hallway) #2 Uh... do they discriminate against heavier people? no... and I'm pretty sure I weigh more and definitely make a helluvah lot more noise walking around in heels than even the largest dog breed.
The crappy part is the apartment manager knows me and obviously knows Ender and how great Ender is (as an apartment dog) and by extension, how good of a dog owner I am (seeing me pick up after Ender outside... something the small dog owners in my apartment do NOT do most of the time, and how well behaved Ender is... "does he ever bark?" was the comment he kept making)
But he doesn't make the rules...
