Ok, finally getting caught up with the timeline. At long last, I’m in the Munich flat. What a search! I used Mr Lodge, who did a very good job finding something suitable. It turns out that while Munich is very dog friendly, finding a suitable furnished short-term rental that accepts a dog was not easy. Furthermore, the rental market here is very hot. My consultant would send links to properties and they’d be rented before we could even review them. Their website is very complete with details and pictures, so it’s possible to make a decision without really needing to see it in person.

Anticipating that this could take some time, I arrived about a week early to find a property with only one possibility identified. The day I arrived, they had a second possibility so I saw them both with fresh jet lag. The first was a five-floor walk-up to a converted attic apartment – not really ideal. The second unit was perfect. After a personal “interview” with the landlord we were accepted as tenants. He hasn’t rented this flat to pets before but has started renting other units to pet owners and discovered that they make very good renters. Not surprisingly, Germans don’t know the English word for a pug, but when you tell them Ich habe einen Mops they always light up as Möpse are well represented here. I used that trick and some very cute pictures of Enzo with the landlord – of course he couldn’t resist.