Fallen in love and coming back to stay.... hubby dogs and all

Hi to all. Graham (my husband) and I have been looking around the world for the ideal place to take an early retirement (he being 52 yrs old and me 48). We visited Penang last month and fell in love with Malaysia. During our visit we spent a couple of days on Langkawi; we decided that rather than the slightly overcrowded metropolis of Penang, we would rather retire to Langkawi where space wasn't an issue. It appeared as though there was little in the way of an expat community which disappointed me so was delighted to find this forum. We plan to return to Langkawi for a couple of weeks in September to find a house to rent and are looking into the pro's and con's of MM2H versus the Visa run. Our own house is up for sale and we would like to make our permenant move in November this year. We have two scruffy mungrel dogs who can not be left (part of the family) so any advice anyone can give on any of the issues above would be welcome. Hubby likes to sail dinghy's and I like to play tennis, any possibilities of these activities on the island? We had difficulties getting our heads around land and property prices and provision and 'malay reserve and the possibility of swapping land titles - our intention long term is to buy a large plot of land and have a bungalow built - my other hobby being gardening! Any information on our long term plan would also be welcome. Are there any problems renting a property if you have pets? Sorry to throw so many questions into the melting pot but having returned and spent some time thinking about going back, I admit that I need some good advice from those that have trodden this path before me!