I imagine having a dog would rule out many apartment options, so if anyone has any advice for how to quickly find/target dog-friendly places in the Geneva area, it'd be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Any advice if I am looking for a 3-month apartment rental in the Geneva area (starting Feb 2011) and am trying to also bring my [tame/lazy, non-barking] 74-lb Greyhound?
Camel Tongue it is a good job you are tackling this early. Don't want to worry you but finding a flat in Geneva is VERY difficult. Finding one for a short let is extremely difficult - and finding one for a short let with a large dog ............
Will you have a car so you can travel further out- and will you have someone with you to look after said pooch when you are at work?
Hope someone here can give you good advice. Bonne chance.
Thanks for the warning, Odile.
I won't have a car. I have heard it's difficult to find a place in Geneva (which I don't really understand).
I would be open to any commutable cities via train, if that's a reasonable idea... (?) In which case, if anyone has ideas about more dog-friendly-apartment cities that are commutable to Geneva by train, I would gladly welcome those ideas, also.
The dog probably comes second in your list of problems - finding somewhere for such a short period is going to be difficult. Managed service apartments are a possibility but these are very expensive and generally don't allow dogs. Consider bringing a car so that you can try out in the villages?
Well, it's very easy to understand : no enough building flats, too many people coming here to work and live.
With as result : it has become quite expensive.
Even if you want to buy something, it's very expansive.
Geneva's living what we call in French a "bulle immobiliè€re" a real estate buble.
Anyway, good luck in your seek. Try to look outside the town, somewhere which is served by public transportations.
Hey, these are all great bits of advice to hear. I will definitely branch out my search to nearby villages that have public transportation to Geneva.
Thanks a lot!
Hi - Geneva has always had an accommodation shortage - but since the arrival of a couple of big UK firms in last few years, things have been much worse. Swiss rentals are usually on a lease for a fixed period, and short rentals are extremely difficult to find. What would you do with the dog all day if you commute from outside? Is there any chance you could find a host family for your dog in UK for the duration? I sincerely hope you'll find something suitable for both of you. Bonne chance.
Thank you, Odile.
My assumption would be that I could find/hire a dog-walker to just come by once in the middle of the day to take the dog out--but perhaps this is not a good assumption to make in the Geneva area (I don't know how common this is).
I'm really just at the investigation stage right now--trying to learn what's possible and what's not possible. If in the end, all the research is screaming "there's no way for you to bring your dog here," then I agree about finding someone in my country to care for the dog while I'm there...but that is a very last resort for me, as there is a slight possibility that I might actually end up staying longer than 3 months (so many unknowns right now).
Arrghhh - we have an elderly dog who is extremely jealous - otherwise I'd happily offer to have your dog during the week for you. Perhaps there is somebody here who lives in GE who can offer to take your dog out. Great thing that you are planning very early though- this way you do stand a chance. Would your future work not help you with the search? Bertrand, do you have any good ideas???
Apartment hunting with a dog can be very difficult, or only slightly difficult - it depends in large measure on the dog's breed. As a general rule, smaller breeds (chihuahuas, spaniels, lhasa apsos) tend to be much better at sniffing out available apartments than their goat- or pony-sized cousins.
One conspicuous exception to this rule, of course, is the Rennwegler Sennenhund. This rather unprepossessing breed, with approximately the size and physique of a potbellied pig, a nondescript brown or grey coat (development of a white variant was once attempted but had to be abandoned following a series of disastrous mix-ups in the courtyard of the local Metzgerei) and an unfortunate tendency to slalorrhea, is the prized product of three centuries' intensive and single-minded caniculture in the secret lanes and courtyards of Zurich's Old Town.
Its very existence a carefully guarded secret until less than forty years ago, the "Rennweglerli" as it is affectionately known (to those few who can abide its malodorous breath and sloppy kisses long enough to conceive any affection for the breed) is the longheld secret weapon of the First Families of Zurich in defence of their customary lodgings. Not for them the dreary quotidian trawl through Homegate, the tedium of signing up and making ten posts elsewhere on the Internet, the humiliation of letting one's acquaintances know that one is, as it were, on the hunt for suitable new digs for one's adolescent offspring.
No - when the fledglings begin to flutter ever further from the nest, when the young begin to assert their independence and the parental heart begins to long for the nearly forgotten pleasures of the Schlager LP and the Sunday lie-in - then one of the household domestics is dispatched to fetch, with all possible haste, the Trainer.
His muddy boots, unfashionable clothing and his odd tuneless whistle, unwelcome in these rarefied surroundings under any other circumstances, tonight are hailed with delight and anticipation. Once the proper and customary greetings are exchanged with the head of the household, the Trainer turns to the callow youngster and - his rustic accent interpreted by one of the housemaids known to have spent some time "i d'Schwiiz" - elicits details of the size and style of accommodation to be hunted.
The chase through the streets and lanes of Zurich does not begin until 10:35pm - late enough to ensure it can be conducted in suitable privacy ('suitable' both for avoiding undesired publicity, and because the padding, snuffling and occasional grunting of the hounds has been known to frighten chambermaids, as well as any nouveaux riche neighbors not privy to the breed's existence, into a dead faint.) In the meantime, the Trainer is richly feted at the dining room table, while his potbellied charges are carefully administered their scientific rations in the inner courtyard by a cook with a Klaemmerli on her nose.
When all is in readiness, the young ladies of the household come forward to crown the Trainer (who, it must be understood, is also the strain's Breeder) with a wreath of Nuesslisalat, that potent fertility symbol, while a more immediately relevant token in the form of roasted chestnuts, symbolic as they are of the understated exterior and toothsome interior of his anticipated quarry, is tucked into the pockets of his great orange overcoat. This donned, the Trainer whistles up his dogs, bids farewell with all rustic propriety to the lady of the house, and sets out.
It is perhaps best not to describe the ensuing hunt - perhaps best, and certainly easiest - so I shall attempt to set down here only my last impression before returning indoors with the family, to await the Trainer's triumphant return: that of a stocky and unconventionally dressed figure, reflective of an unearthly hue, being dragged down Sankt-Augustiner-Gasse by a trio of enthusiastic and muddy beasts, stopping only to grunt and snuffle at every doorway. The beasts, that is. Er, that is to say, I think the grunting and snuffling were coming from the beasts, but it is hard to be sure at such times.
Anyway, if the hunt is successful, the family receives what they will describe next day as an anonymous tip-off to 'simply the loveliest little flat - really a gem - and the location , my dear! Pure luck we even heard about it at all, really.' Of course it is the Trainer and his trusty Rennweglerli who have unearthed this truffle of an apartment - but mustn't give the game away!
I'm afraid all that's of relatively little help to you though as - even if you could somehow arrange to borrow one for the night (and let me assure you they are not loaned lightly) - all transport of Rennwegler Sennenhunde is currently interdicted by the SBB. Something to do with genetics, I believe - apparently the fine print on the Hund-GA specifies that the animal in question must indeed be 100% bona fide "Hund", genetically speaking, and there is seemingly some dispute about this in case of the Rennweglerli. No doubt merely the nasty, unfounded gossip of small minds, but nevertheless... for propriety's sake, and especially considering the animal's unfortunate physiognomy... well, one understands the SBB's position.
Perhaps you could make some discreet enquiries in Geneva, find out if the breed has a local analogue?
Here's your answer.
You don't have a 74lb dog, you have an overfed rodent and they don't count as pets.
I knew I shouldn't have bought those dictionaries...
I know a good joke about two guys which went deer hunting together every
Year .One year one of them brought a dog.Uhh sh$t you hunting apartment this is a other topic
I have always been surprised at how many people have dogs in appts (although they do usually have "Yorkies").
You can always try Glocals which is Geneva based - maybe someone will let you have their place for a while whilst they are away.
(I note that you have a greyhound - my god daughter has just given a home to a retired greyhound - she is one of the most gentle, lovely dogs that I have ever come across. I was unaware that greyhounds are renowned for being so calm & gentle.- they really make fantastic members of the family and has bought her so much happiness.)
Good luck, the Swiss love animals as long as they don't live in their buildings.