Apartments full of puppy love

In most apartments around Sydney, pets are their owners' dirty little secret - hidden from view and possible banishment by prying neighbours.

Not in Jacksons Landing, where 200 dogs proudly call the one apartment block home - one for every four units.

Here, humans mix with dalmations, fox terriers, poodles, miniature bulldogs and shitzus.

Residents have formed a group called Pyrmont Pooch Party which meets daily in Cadi Park - a popular spot for dog walking.

The waterfront development includes four parks complete with "doggy-do" bins, with another park still to be created.

The rush for "pet friendly" buildings began about five years ago when a string of new developments, including Jacksons Landing, Darling Island and Interciti at North Arncliffe, began to market themselves as such.

Jacksons Landing project director Rob Deck said while dogs living in apartments was common in Europe and America, it was still rare in Australia.

"But people are becoming more demanding in terms of their purchasing decisions and this demographic is only growing," he said.

"It's all about the way it's set up - it's very hard to take an existing apartment building and change it from being averse to pets to being pet-friendly. You really have to do it from day one."

Mr Deck said the key target group for the development was people  downsizing from large homes in the suburbs who were looking for a lifestyle change.

"Many of those people have pets and they don't want to move and lose one of the members of their family, " he said.

"They come to a new community and meet other dog owners - the dogs socialise and so do the people."

PPP co-ordinator Gaye McLean moved to Jacksons Landing five years ago after her husband passed away. "I had my dog Rose and I wanted somewhere I could take her, " she said.

But neighbours and pets do not always co-exist so happily.

Community Justice Centres, which provide a mediation service for neighbourhood disputes, were referred nearly 500 cases of noise complaints last year.

"We have had complaints of all sorts from mice right through to bats as well as dogs," a spokeswoman said.

Original article: www.news.com.au

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