Which uni is most dog friendly? What are your experiences as a dog owner and student?

Hello, I will be 18 in a couple of days and live in France. I was raised in Northumberland, quite close to Newcastle, but we moved to Brittany (Bretagne/Breizh in French/Breton) just about 5 years ago and haven't looked back. It's a great place and I probably want to continue to live in France as a working adult, but I'm almost certain that I'd like to attend university in the UK as the French university system is very odd and although I speak French, it's easier for me to do more complex things in English.

I have a Caniche Royal, a full sized poodle, he's groomed in a very practical way and people don't think he's a poodle because they expect poodles to look ridiculous. He's extremely well trained dog, because he's a poodle he doesn't aggravate allergies, and he and I go everywhere together. He could be classified as an emotional support dog because we got him for me on recommendation from the psychologist for my depression nearly 3 years ago, but he isn't on the registry in the UK because I don't live in Britain and he's only been a few times. Anywhere that I move to, he's coming with me, so it's important that whatever university that I attend is dog friendly altogether, not just in halls but especially in halls. If I have my own room that I can lock, he can be left alone for up to 90 minute intervals whilst I go to a lecture but any more and he'll become bored, and if the room is shared I have to take him with me because the only others that I trust to be alone with him are my parents and siblings, he could easily be stolen or abused in someone else's care and I won't allow that to happen.


I can live with my grandad or in the flat under my brother and sister in law's house if I study in Colchester or Edinburgh respectively, and my parents said that they can give me £100-£150 per week for housing if I need to get a flat but I don't know if single flats exist at that price and a share means trusting a stranger to be alone with my dog, and being expected to put the needs of someone that I don't know or care about over the needs of that which I love most. If I can take my dog to class if he's registered as an Emotional Support Dog, that's a different story.

I'm taking a gap year to figure things out and I might not go to university because it might be too much of a hassle and traumatic experience for my dog, and there is a career that I'm very interested in that only requires an apprenticeship, either here or in Britain.


So, what's your experience with bringing your dog to university? What is the most dog friendly university?


Please don't tell me your opinion about how I feel about my dog, it won't change anything. I have to say that because I asked a similar question on Reddit and got called a freak, of course Reddit is mostly Americans so I should know better than to expect politeness or civilised behaviour, but the internet is a mean place and unfortunately many young British people are increasingly Americanised so I feel the need to clarify. Hope your new year is going well thus far and thank you for answering.


P.S. I've no idea how to post photos or I would, sorry

404?

Posted from TSR Mobile

wonkhe.com/blogs/students-bring-your-pets-to-campus/

Worked for me.

Basically, american campus actively encourages pets, provides secure park etc.

Yup just me, it works on the new, but not old, app...

ta.

He's an ESA, not just a pet, I don't want to have a row with my potential university, but when it comes to flats I know that they cannot tell me that I can't have him with me, anymore than they can tell me that I can't have spectacles or a hearing aid. In that sense I'm not worried about finding a flat, especially outside of London (which is a bad place for big dogs anyway IMO, too many dangers for them). Even though I could probably force him into a university by invoking the laws against discriminating against service animals (which, as an ESA, he is) that's something that I'm wary of doing because there is a difference between a place that tolerates a dog because they've a legal obligation and place that's dog friendly, that difference doesn't really matter in a flat where the day to day is under my control since it'd be my house, but at a university with all of those people and things going on, dog unfriendliness will lead to problems that I don't want.

I'm certainly considering an apprenticeship for a certain career, and I would either stay in France or go to Edinburgh to live with my brother and sister in law in that case, and in either situation leaving the dog to go work wouldn't be such a big deal because I trust those people to take care of him while I'm out. I certainly wouldn't want to jeopardise my career, but having a dog is like having a child and I have certain responsibilities, since he's an intelligent living creature who I love dearly.


Btw he doesn't *need* to be seen every 90 minutes, he could potentially go all day without me aside from being walked and fed, but he would be sad and I would be sad, maybe 90 minutes isn't realistic but 2.5-3 hours is the maximum time that he's left without someone responsible (me, my parents, my grandparents, my older brother, my younger sister), any longer and he might have to go to the toilet and I'm not going to make him sit in discomfort and hold in his poo for hours whilst I'm off learning about the poetry of Lord Byron or something you know?

He's an ESA, not just a pet, I don't want to have a row with my potential university, but when it comes to flats I know that they cannot tell me that I can't have him with me, anymore than they can tell me that I can't have spectacles or a hearing aid. In that sense I'm not worried about finding a flat, especially outside of London (which is a bad place for big dogs anyway IMO, too many dangers for them). Even though I could probably force him into a university by invoking the laws against discriminating against service animals (which, as an ESA, he is) that's something that I'm wary of doing because there is a difference between a place that tolerates a dog because they've a legal obligation and place that's dog friendly, that difference doesn't really matter in a flat where the day to day is under my control since it'd be my house, but at a university with all of those people and things going on, dog unfriendliness will lead to problems that I don't want.

I'm certainly considering an apprenticeship for a certain career, and I would either stay in France or go to Edinburgh to live with my brother and sister in law in that case, and in either situation leaving the dog to go work wouldn't be such a big deal because I trust those people to take care of him while I'm out. I certainly wouldn't want to jeopardise my career, but having a dog is like having a child and I have certain responsibilities, since he's an intelligent living creature who I love dearly.


Btw he doesn't *need* to be seen every 90 minutes, he could potentially go all day without me aside from being walked and fed, but he would be sad and I would be sad, maybe 90 minutes isn't realistic but 2.5-3 hours is the maximum time that he's left without someone responsible (me, my parents, my grandparents, my older brother, my younger sister), any longer and he might have to go to the toilet and I'm not going to make him sit in discomfort and hold in his poo for hours whilst I'm off learning about the poetry of Lord Byron or something you know?

You all have the wrong impression of an assistance/ support/emotional support dog/ service dog

Dogs are seen in law as auxiliary aids, that's their title

The UK looks at the person not the title of a dog.

Forget the dogs title
forget registered
forget accredite
Forget being specially trained

If you have a disability and substantially disadvantaged without the use of an aid your dog becomes an assistance dog

Assistance dogs are auxiliary aids

There's no such thing in the UK as a registered assistance dog.

The law on assistance dogs can be found in EHRC guidance business guide on assistance dogs.

Also see ADVANCED-HE