I totally understand what you are going through.
This town is not very pet friendly for renters--I suppose it's all of the students. Many of them just say no dogs too.
When my husband and I moved in together, we knew we wanted to get a dog. We looked for a while for a place we could have a dog--we finally found one, and paid an extra $15 a month pet fee--there was no pet deposit. The ladies in the office fell in love with Kito too!!!!

Good luck on the apartment hunting