“Does apartment building X allow dogs?”

“Is residence Y dog-friendly?”

This type of questions pop up every year and merit its own post.

If you’re a new dog owner in town, hopefully this post can give you some pointers on apartment rental (dog owners who rent a house have a lot more flexibility and won’t be covered).

First off, there’s a difference between “dog-friendly” and “dog-tolerable”.

“Dog-friendly” means the place welcomes your dogs, the neighbors and building staff (security guards, cleaners, receptionists, etc.) are nice to you and doggos. These places tend to be on the higher end of the price list. Whether the landlords of the individual apartments in these buildings allow dogs is another matter – you must discuss this upfront with your potential landlords (don’t trust the broker’s words – get the landlord’s approval in writing such as a text message or email).

Some noteworthy apartment buildings with dog-designated area:

• Riverside Serviced Apartment (53 Võ Trường Toản, Thảo Điền). This place has a rarity: a big, fully-fenced lawn for dogs. (One downside is it’s right next to a big international school, ISHCMC, so expect traffic jam during school pick up and drop off hours, 7am and 2.30-3.30pm.)
• The Nassim (30 đường số 11, Thảo Điền) has a small lawn (not fenced) area for dogs at the back of the building.
• Sadora / Sarimi / Sarica Apartments (1 Hoàng Thế Thiện, An Lợi Đông, D2): home to Sala Park, a well-maintained public park, no fenced or designated dog area – but still very nice. Lots of people bring their dogs here to hang out.
• Diamond Island (Đảo Kim Cương, Số 01 Đường số 104, Khu Phố 3, Quận 2) has a fully fenced area for dogs. The streets outside have spacious pavement for walking, but inside the complex, dogs must be muzzled and must not toilet in common area (including walkways) or be fined otherwise.

A note about taking your dogs to grassy parks/areas in HCMC: you must FIRMLY keep your dogs up to date with flea/tick prevention (once a month application of Frontline, Fronil Extra or tablet such as Nexgard, Simparica) as the humid tropical environment here is infested. Blood parasites (transmitted via flea/tick/mosquito bites) are a common occurrence and can be lethal if not discovered and treated in time.

Buildings in Thảo Điền that are generally dog-friendly (doggies may have to use service elevator, separate exit/entrance), but don’t have a designated dog area:

• Glenwood City Resort
• Gateway Thảo Điền
• Tropic Gardens
• The Ascent
• Xi Riverview
• D’Edge
• Thảo Điền Pearl

Buildings in D2 but outside of Thảo Điền:

• The Vista An Phu
• Vista Verde (elevator wait in tower 15 take 15 mins on some days) and Feliz en Vista
• One Verandah (no dog designated area, but nice sidewalk outside)
• Cantavil
• Estella and Estella Heights
• Sunwah Pearl
• City Gardens: if your dogs are not active and don’t need long walks or space, the ground here is nice (albeit small) and there’s a designated area for dogs (but not well maintained and smelly). But if your dogs need long walks and must go outside of the building’s confine, the streets outside are a nightmare: no pavement, heavy traffic, lots of local territorial, free-roaming dogs, lots of stores and street-side food vendors. If you have an active or anxious dog, consider other options.

“Dog-tolerable” means the building allows dogs, or there is no clear rules about banning dogs, but the neighbors and building staff may not be so friendly to doggos (and owners). Dogs may need to muzzle up while walking through the the lobby or hallway, plus using service lift, separate exit/lobby. It’s mostly the size and breed of your dogs that determine how much your neighbors can tolerate. The actual manner/behavior of your dogs does not matter. To many locals in Vietnam, a fluffy teacup, who barks ferociously and shows teeth at other dogs, appears a lot “safer” than a calm 25kg canine. Many locals don’t mind the little bitey terrors roaming off-leash while having no recall, but your calm big doggos will need to be leashed ALL the time, and possibly also muzzled. “Big” can be anything from 7kg / 15 lbs and up. Bully types and “big” black dogs tend to freak out lotta locals.

The below are examples of dog-tolerable places (which may switch overnight to no pets allowed at the landlord’s whim – always check carefully):

• The low-rise apartment buildings that cluster around alley number 188, 204, 215 and 216 on Nguyễn Văn Hưởng street, such as Moonlight Apartment, Vitamin Sea, Solomon, Mai Serviced Apartment, Lily Residence, Kai Tower, Royal Huy, Rose Apartment, Rome Apartment, etc. Some times the landlords allow dogs. At other random times, they feel there are enough dogs on their properties and reject tenants with dogs. Or they only accept dogs up to a certain size. Up to you to find out.
• Imperia (An Phú ward, D2): technically the building doesn’t allow dogs, but the rule is not strictly enforced. If your dog is well-behaved, doesn’t bark in your apartment, and doesn’t bother the neighbors in any ways, then you can have dogs.
• Empire City Thủ Thiêm: dogs must be muzzled in all common area (lobby, elevator, walkway, pavement, etc)
• Palm Heights : some swear that the apartment building is dog-friendly, while my friend (a local) said the residents didn’t like dogs and made nasty comments for her to hear while walking past with her Pomeranian. Don’t confuse this apartment building with the townhouse complex next to it named Palm Residence. Up side is the outside area is super empty (no traffic, no store) for dog walking.

Buildings I don’t know anything about in D2: D’Lusso, Precia, ParcSpring, La Astoria, Petro Landmark.

Buildings I think ban dogs (built by Novaland and Vinhomes): The Sun Avenue, Lexington Residences, Vinhomes Central Park (people still sneak dogs in at the risk of heavy fines), The Manor

Buildings newly completed this year (2024) which purportedly allow dogs: Thảo Điền Green (192 Nguyễn Văn Hưởng) and (Masteri) Lumiere Riverside (259 Võ Nguyên Giáp).

Two places dog owners MUST absolutely avoid:

• Masteri Thảo Điền (next to Vincom Megamall at 161 Võ Nguyên Giáp) – don’t confuse with Masteri An Phú nearby. The residents here hate dogs and successfully implemented a thorough dog ban after a year-long saga. The building’s security guards wear SWAT-team lookalike uniform and will menacingly block anyone walking with a dog from trespassing “their” area. Residents who have had dogs before the ban took effect must register their dogs with management office and gave a 5 million deposit per dog. Each time the dogs violate a rule (such as peeing in area monitored by “swat” team), 1 million fine is automatically deducted from the deposit. The building does not allow any new dog registration at this time of writing (2024).
• Làng Báo Chí area – this is not an apartment building. It’s a cluster of streets notorious for intentional dog poisoning. I personally know 3 dogs who died of poisoning – 2 lived on a street in this area (poison was thrown from outside into the yard) and 1 who just walked by. I heard many more were poisoned and died and it happens every year. The dogs died as soon as 20 mins after ingesting the poison – no time to even get to emergency vet. The dog owners who live here made a group chat for dog poison alert. While the lower rent may look tempting, it’s not worth the life of your dogs. This cluster of streets (no. 1, 2, 4, 5 and Trúc Đường St.) is on the same side as Bonjour cafe and opposite of BIS gate at 101 Thảo Điền street.

And so we’ve come to the end of this article. This is by no mean definitive. All views expressed here and all errors are my own. Some buildings are dog-friendly now but the rules may change in the future. Do your due diligence. Don’t trust the brokers. Get written confirmation from the landlords. Do whatever it takes to keep yourself and doggos under one roof.

Happy apartment hunting!

PS 1: I’m not saying that all teacups misbehave all the time or that all people discriminate – just describing the general public perception and reaction.

PS 2: If you’re looking for a place that welcomes your dogs with open arms, perhaps look into the pricier options such as a house, or better yet, a villa in a gated compound such as BP Compound, Villa Riviera, An Phu Compound, or those on Nguyen Van Huong street.

PS 3: If you let your dogs toilet without cleaning up after, expect to be frowned at everywhere.

PS 4: this is purely anecdotal, but if you’re a petite female dog owner who act nice to everyone, people who hate dogs are a lot more likely to harass you and your dogs (compared to the tough looking dog owner who is 1m9 with tattoos all over his bare arms). I don’t know why, maybe they like to bully on the weak-looking?

PS 5: it’s normal to see dog owners walking their dogs while carrying a stick around here. It’s to ward off the local dogs who are territorial that run from inside their houses or hidden corner to chase after your dogs walking on the street.

PS 6: If you’re coming with your dog from a more developed country, expect life with doggos in HCM to feel like crossing that chaotic street full of inter-weaving bikes and cars – it’s terrifying at first, then eventually you get used to it – one day you even show your visiting friends and family how to cross the street yourself. If you’re not going to live in Vietnam for at least 2-3 years, I’d suggest not bringing your dogs to Vietnam with you, as getting dogs back to your home country can be a huge hassle (Australia is absurbly prohibitively expensive).