renting a room in Leon WITH A DOG

[lola]

I'd prefer to do a homestay with my dog but I know this is not likely.

So I'd like to know about renting a room with private bath in which I'm allowed to take my dog??  How hard would this be?  I need a safe place.  I was thinking some sort of room that is attached to someone's house might be good.  A kitchen would be nice, but not necessary.

I will be there one year thereabouts.

[Randall Wood]

Hi Lola,

What kind of dog is it?  A fluffy little Maltese or a Doberman? 

Out in the countryside, lots of Nicas have dogs, but they are typically underfed "guard dogs."  The concept of letting the dog in the house the way we do in the States or Canada isn't completely alien to Nicaraguans (my wife's family has always had little dogs in the house) but it's going to be strange to some.

I don't know of a single option offhand, but I also can't say it's going to be a problem.  You're probably going to have to show up with the dog and investigate your options from there, as they are going to want to see the dog when they make their decision.

What will you be up to during the year?  If it's school, does your school have homestay options for you?  If so, perhaps you could contact them in advance?

[lola]

Thanks Randall!

My dog is a medium sized mixed dog.  She is about 40 pounds and skinny- basically looks like every street dog the world over except that she has really big pointy ears like a German Shepherd.  She's extremely friendly, well-trained, quiet and a little on the timid side.  Anyone who likes dogs will know right away that she is a good, calm, friendly dog, but I know that in Central America people have a completely different concept of what dogs are like.  I'm not expecting for her to be embraced.  But I don't know what else to do except pass on the opportunity to spend the year there.  Getting rid of her is not an option.

Yes I'm coming to study Spanish.  I have someone to watch my dog for the first couple of months, so I figured that would give me enough time to look around and settle into classes and a room/apartment and then ship the dog over or maybe drive her down.  She will be coming from Houston, so a drive down the Pan American highway might be fun.  Otherwise it is a quick flight.

What I'm most worried about is the daily dog walk.  If the street dogs and local dogs there are easily scared away, then I can just carry a big stick.  But if they are particularly aggressive, my dog and I will have a miserable time.  I don't want to be attacked everyday we walk down the road.  What do you think?  I know most people there don't keep pets the way we do in the US/Canada, but there must be a few people who leash walk their dogs.  Does your wife's family ever walk their dogs?  What are their experiences?

The schools I'm looking at all have a homestay option which I would love to continue for an entire year because it would be cheaper and give me more chances to speak Spanish.  But I know they are unlikely to want a dog!  What I was hoping is that I could stay with a family for the dog-free beginning while I look for a permanent place to move to.  Then I was hoping to arrange to have my meals with a family so that I wouldn't have to cook and keep a stocked kitchen all year long.  I figure some family who normally does homestays would be willing to take some money to let me have the three meals a day without me taking up a bedroom.  What do you think?  So that would just leave me to find a room to rent in downtown.  Do you think this will be hard?

I'm not 100% settled on Leon yet.  To be perfectly honest, I'm not even 100% settled on Nicaragua.  I will be heading that way in January so I have some time to sort it all out.