Most pet owners consider their pet animals part of their family and would not even consider renting a property that does not allow them to enter. When you think about how many people are looking for a rental property that allows pets, it may be worth it to welcome tenants with their four-legged furry creatures. You may be more worried about the damage that pets can cause to your property, especially when you have a swimming pool inside your rental home.

Pros and cons of allowing pets to your rental property.

As summer arrives, more people have started looking to rent homes with swimming pools to enjoy a private swimming experience. However, people with pets stay a little hesitant as it is harder to find rental properties that allow their pets. Therefore, renting out your property to tenants with pets has pros and cons. Have a look.

Pros to allowing pets.

**Higher rental charges.

By allowing pets at your property, especially dogs and cats, you can charge a higher rent from your tenants, especially when there are no or fewer properties nearby that are pet-friendly. This can give you a competitive edge with the properties that do not allow pets, depending on the current market value. Also, when you decide to allow pets on your rental property, you would build your house features accordingly. Therefore, it is natural to demand higher rents because of your careful planning and making your space, especially the swimming pool, a pet-friendly one.

**Longer tenure.

Since you will make your place pet-friendly by implementing all the safety measures around your swimming pool, your tenants with pets would love to stay at your home for a longer tenure. If the tenants have rented your pool or house with a pool for a vacation, then they are most likely to revisit the following year, renewing their lease.

**A large number of applicants.

Already property owners with a swimming pool in their houses have more applicants than properties without a pool. If you make your house a pet-friendly one, just imagine how the tenancy applications would skyrocket within no time. This would also give you an edge to choose the tenant who would best fit your requirements.

Cons to allowing pets.

**Property damage.

There are certain animal behaviors that property owners can associate with causing damage to their property, especially swimming pools. Talking about pet cats and dogs, they can cause pool damages like scratched walls, messed up vinyl pool liners, filter clogs with shedding fur and dirt in the pool water, urinating inside the water, destring the surrounding landscape, etc.

**Injuries.

It is a risk of allowing pets on your rental property with a swimming pool because pets can cause injuries, not to themselves alone, but to other tenants as most animals, especially dogs, get aggressive around water, resulting in biting people.

What about making your swimming pool pet safe?

If you want to make your house pet-friendly, you have some additional responsibilities to keep your pool area safe and secure for pet animals like dogs and cats as a pool property owner. The pool area must be kept pet-safe, and the visitors need to be monitored to avoid accidents. Accidents can happen even if the pool is not in use. For example, your tenant's pet might wander around the water and slip when no one is watching. Here are a few safety precautions you can take to make your swimming pool safe for tenants with pets.

Pool Fence.

To safeguard pet animals around the swimming pool area, consider building a pool fence. This method has been used for the past few years, but complete safety is not guaranteed because the fence gate that gives access to the pool may be its weakest point. For example, it takes less than a second for your tenants to leave the fence gate opened, and your pet might enter when no one is around. Failing to lock the gate at all times makes the fence's purpose useless. However, you should warn your tenants to keep the fence gate closed at all times when the pool is not in use.

Pool covers.

Building a fence around the swimming pool would not look appealing for modern rental houses, thus being not popular anymore. This is the reason why property owners with pools have started looking for alternatives, out of which one is a pool cover. These pool covers prevent the pool water from evaporating as low water can risk the pets as they would be unable to get out of the swimming pool. However, you must keep in mind that not all pool covers are meant to provide safety for pet animals. For example, a thermal blanket is designed to maintain pool water temperature and not pet safety. Similarly, loose pool covers are not meant for security either, as the pet might dive in the water and get stuck beneath the pool cover, resulting in drowning. Therefore, after viewing the following characteristics, pool owners should invest in a pool cover for their tenant's pets.

• The cover must not entangle or trap.
• The cover must not allow the pets any kind of access to the water.
• The cover firmly locks with an animal-proof mechanism.
• The cover must hold the weight of different animals like dogs and cats.
• The cover must be made with robust and durable material.
• The cover must be able to retain water, reducing maximum evaporation.

Pool stairs or ramps for pet dogs.

The majority of people have pets that are mostly dogs. It is essential to know that not all dogs are born swimmers. Therefore, it is necessary to take necessary pool safety measures to allow pets at your property. If someone's dog accidentally falls inside the water, then there should be some exit point in your pool to avoid consequences, such as drowning. Consider building a swimming pool with zero-depth entry, underwater stairs, or an entry ramp. These options would serve as a safe exit point for the dogs and save a pet's life.

Pool alarms.

Building pet-friendly pools mean swimming pools that would precisely cater to your tenant's needs, with all the safety concerns that they might have regarding their pets. A great example of the latter is a water disturbance alarm. This tool will alert your tenants if it notices any motion in the pool water while the pool is not in use by the tenants. Unfortunately, these water alarms are not ideal as the swimming pool is situated outdoors, and the notice would even notify if it detects water motion caused by wind or leaves. This would add one more protection layer for pet animals.

Life jackets.

Life jackets come in handy with pets like dogs or cats. You can buy some life jackets and encourage your tenants to make their pet dogs or cats those jackets before taking them inside the water.

Tips on pet pool safety.

Here are a few points to consider if you are a pool property owner and want to allow tenants with pets at your rental property.

• Not only safety inside the pool is vital, but make sure that the material you choose to build the surrounding area of your pool must be non-slippery to prevent accidental happenings.
• The material of choice to build decks must be a weak conductor of energy and should not get very hot in the summer season. Most humans wear shoes or slippers and do not know how hot the deck might get baking under the sun all day. The pet animals would not be wearing slippers; choose wisely.
• Provide a shaded and well-ventilated space for animals around the swimming pool.
• Construct your pool according to a pet's point of view. For example, if you have some hidden water features installed inside your pool, your tenant's pet dog would not be able to identify that, thus increasing the risk of its injury.
• Ask your tenants to switch off the cleaning equipment in the pool when they take their pets for a swim inside the water.
• If your pool has a hot tub installed, encourage your tenants to keep it closed at all times when not in use. The animals might not be able to tolerate the heat and die.

Other Important things to remember.

**Include pet policy in your lease.

If you have decided to make your property pet-friendly, you should add a pet-related clause to your addendum and ensure every tenant reads it carefully and signs it. The policy should be clear about your expectations from your tenants with pets, and if they violate those rules, it would be considered a breach of contract.

**Check your insurance coverage.

To make your rental property a pet-friendly space, you should check your insurance policy and what kind of coverage it provides, and the amount of insurance coverage your policy has. Talk to a professional insurance agent and ask if there are any exclusions or limitations to your insurance coverage. For example, you could ask your insurance company to provide you with a list of dog breeds you should allow at your property and what breeds your insurance policy does not cover.

The final words.

Remember, it is totally your decision to make your property, especially a house with a swimming pool, pet-friendly or not. With some significant pros that pets bring to the table, there are also some unavoidable cons related to them. Therefore, it is essential to weigh all these good and bad points before finalizing your decision. However, all you invest in making your pool a pet-friendly space is a single-time investment that can be fruitful for years and years. More and more people these days own pets and look for properties that would allow their four-legged friends inside, with all the safety measures implemented.