Only 11 percent of rental units in the United States allow “big” dogs – but what does that mean? Is a labrador a big dog? How about a pit bull? And why does your landlord care so much, anyway? Inspired by the story of one dog who ran afoul of an HOA rule, Clare tells Teo why so many dogs end up booted from loving homes to shelters and how advocates are trying to stop it. 

We want to answer your questions about how our world works! Click here to submit a question using our online form, or email the team at ControlF@kuow.org

Support the show by supporting our home, KUOW Public Radio in Seattle.

Sources in this episode:
Data on dog weights from Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital
Data analysis on pet restrictions in housing from the Pet Inclusive Housing Initiative, based on Smart Apartment Data
2025 State of Shelter Pet Adoption Report, The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement
Pets & Housing Data 2025 Edition, Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative 
Interview with Dr. Jessica Bell, Veterinarian and professor at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine
Interview with Alexandra Alvarado, American Apartment Owner’s Association
Interview with Ross Barker, lead of the Pet Inclusive Housing Initiative
Interview with Tor Berg, Poochie’s dad

Only 11 percent of rental units in the United States allow &ldquo;big&rdquo; dogs &ndash; but what does that mean? Is a labrador a big dog? How about a pit bull? And why does your landlord care so much, anyway? Inspired by the story of one dog who ran afoul of an HOA rule, Clare tells Teo why so many dogs end up booted from loving homes to shelters and how advocates are trying to stop it.&nbsp;
We want to answer your questions about how our world works!<a href="https://forms.office.com/r/4nGSfCuAML"> Click here</a> to submit a question using our online form, or email the team at ControlF@kuow.org
Support the show by supporting our home,<a href="https://www.kuow.org/donate/control-f-notes"> KUOW Public Radio</a> in Seattle.
Sources in this episode:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Data on dog weights from Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital</li>
<li aria-level="1">Data analysis on pet restrictions in housing from the Pet Inclusive Housing Initiative, based on Smart Apartment Data</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://theaawa.org/hills-2025-shelter-report/">2025 State of Shelter Pet Adoption Report</a>, The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://heyzine.com/flip-book/2025petsandhousingdata.html">Pets &amp; Housing Data 2025 Edition</a>, Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1">Interview with Dr. Jessica Bell, Veterinarian and professor at Washington State University&rsquo;s College of Veterinary Medicine</li>
<li aria-level="1">Interview with Alexandra Alvarado, American Apartment Owner&rsquo;s Association</li>
<li aria-level="1">Interview with Ross Barker, lead of the Pet Inclusive Housing Initiative</li>
<li aria-level="1">Interview with Tor Berg, Poochie&rsquo;s dad</li>
</ul>

Control F is a podcast about data — hard, fuzzy, surprising, and sometimes unreliable data — and all the ways it influences our daily lives. In each episode, we dig deep on a topic and search through research, algorithms, and assumptions to bring you insights on how stuff works. In a world ruled by numbers, Control F reads between the (spreadsheet) lines to find the bigger story.

Control F is a podcast about data &mdash; hard, fuzzy, surprising, and sometimes unreliable data &mdash; and all the ways it influences our daily lives. In each episode, we dig deep on a topic and search through research, algorithms, and assumptions to bring you insights on how stuff works. In a world ruled by numbers, Control F reads between the (spreadsheet) lines to find the bigger story.

Control F is a podcast about data — hard, fuzzy, surprising, and sometimes unreliable data — and all the ways it influences our daily lives. 