Apt/condo dwellers with dogs...help me understand.

[two fingers]

OK. So I try to keep an open mind and see things from both sides. It doesn't always work, but I try. So I'm gonna throw out what I see and you guys let me have it. These will be general observations and I am fully aware that not ALL dogs/dog owners fall into these categories.

Dogs are noisy. They bark at stuff. People who live near you might not keep the same hours as you. So your dog is probably bothering the hell out of somebody. If you live above somone, TRUST ME, it sounds like a herd of elephants when they run across the floor. God forbid that you PLAY with your dog in your unit while people are below you. It sounds like thunder.

Dogs have to pee and poop. Even if they live in an apt/condo. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY should have to deal with your dog's....stuff. My condo complex has brown spots on all of the bushes and in all of the grassy areas from dogs. The pet owners don't seem to care. It gets brought up in EVERY home owners meeting. It's gets put into EVERY news letter for our complex. There are signs everywhere telling pet owners to clean up after their pets (and the signs look like crap too) Still, there's S##T everywhere and all the plants look like hell from dog pee. There's an empty field about 50 yards from our complex. NOONE takes a dog over there to handle their business.

Dogs ruin stuff. Almost every home I've ever been in where there are pets, there's damage to the furniture, door facings, and floors. A lot of them smell. I help a friend sometimes with remodeling rental property. I can't fathom how people live in these homes with chewed up EVERYTHING! I'm talking floors ripped up, moulding chewed all up, doors scratched all to hell.

Lastly, I know several people who don't have the money to get their CAR fixed, but they will spend $2,000 on hip surgery for a dog. They are broke 3 weeks into the month but somehow find the money to buy dog food, clothes and toys.


So here's my question(s). How does the love of an animal make to forget the concerns of other humans? Why do you feel that other people should have to put up with your dog's noise and waste? How does it make you overlook all the crap that goes along with owning them, all the destroyed stuff, having to find a sitter when you leave for more than 12 hours? What's the deal? Help me understand!!! I don't hate dog people. I just don't get them!

[bassteban]

If one is not taught- early on- to consider others, one will not.

[tplyons]

First a disclaimer: I live in neither a condo nor an apartment, nor do I have a dog of my own. However, I've grown up around dogs, and with dogs. I've raised several from puppies and a lot has to do with training.

The problem here is people, not pets. People often get pets not suited for the environment they will be dwelling in. A labrador in an apartment is akin to putting a six year old in a car for an eternity. Some dogs are simply active animals and need more room than an apartment will allow, but the owners simply don't care what's best for the dog, and make up for it by spoiling them with toys.

Likewise, improper training causes dogs to be loud. My dogs have been trained to only bark outdoors and sit in the window watching traffic, people, and children go by. Barking is uncommon here, because of how the dogs have been raised.

If the house is destroyed, it's a matter of the dog either not being trained, or not having what they need to be comfortable. In this house, there are no scratches on doors, no chewed up moulding. The only way you can tell there's a dog here is the dog hair on one cushion on the couch.

Blame the owners, not the dogs. They don't care what's best for the dog. They don't care what's best for their neighbors. People you speak of are self-centered, inconsiderate, and unfortunately ignorant to the needs of animals and the concerns of people around them.

[two fingers]

Oh I agree TP! I never put it on the dog. That's why I wanted to hear from the people. Thanks for the input.

[two fingers]

Funny that I should bring up this topic last night. My upstairs neighbor has a dog. His brother has two dogs. The brother came to visit this weekend. Those dogs chased each other around the condo ALL FREAKIN NIGHT! I said something to him about 10:30 pm. He said that the dogs "never get too see each other" and were having too much fun to stop them. He weighs about 300lbs and was drunk so I didn't push the issue. I have a 4 month old baby! He cared more about keeping the dogs happy than my freakin HUMAN baby! So now I have to decide if I should take the high road, or use my Ampeg stack to "get even". They work some nights so I could do what I needed to during day light. I'm 38 years old! Who has time for these stupid games????

[warwick.hoy]

My wife and I live in an apartment. We want a dog. We are waiting till we move into a house to get a dog, and it will be obedience trained...end of story.

Simply put, any dog worth having* needs to live in a house not an apartment. Any human worth having will put the dog's needs before their (the human's) wants.

*Note any dog worth having is a dog you can take hiking with you. Sure little shivering ankle biters are cute, but they are fashion accessories,...not dogs.

[guy n. cognito]

Originally Posted by two fingers

Funny that I should bring up this topic last night. My upstairs neighbor has a dog. His brother has two dogs. The brother came to visit this weekend. Those dogs chased each other around the condo ALL FREAKIN NIGHT! I said something to him about 10:30 pm. He said that the dogs "never get too see each other" and were having too much fun to stop them. He weighs about 300lbs and was drunk so I didn't push the issue. I have a 4 month old baby! He cared more about keeping the dogs happy than my freakin HUMAN baby! So now I have to decide if I should take the high road, or use my Ampeg stack to "get even". They work some nights so I could do what I needed to during day light. I'm 38 years old! Who has time for these stupid games????

No one. Buy a house.

Dude upstairs probably gets upset every time he hears you baby cry at 2am........

[Unrepresented]

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

My wife and I live in an apartment. We want a dog. We are waiting till we move into a house to get a dog, and it will be obedience trained...end of story.

Simply put, any dog worth having* needs to live in a house not an apartment. Any human worth having will put the dog's needs before their (the human's) wants.

*Note any dog worth having is a dog you can take hiking with you. Sure little shivering ankle biters are cute, but they are fashion accessories,...not dogs.

With you on this 100%. We have a cat. We'd love to have more animals, but seeing as I'm never home and we have a cramped apartment, it wouldn't be fair to the animal (or neighbors) to be stuck alone all day. Yes, we'll eventually get someplace bigger, but by then it's much harder to "untrain" an unruly pet than it would be to wait and do it right the first time.

[CrispyDelicious]

Originally Posted by guy n. cognito

No one. Buy a house.

Dude upstairs probably gets upset every time he hears you baby cry at 2am........

^^ yup.

IMO, apartments, condos, multiple unit houses, etc are only for people able to maintain silence after 10/11p.m. you want a dog, child, or any other noisemaking creature, you get a house.

[Unrepresented]

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

^^ yup.

IMO, apartments, condos, multiple unit houses, etc are only for people able to maintain silence after 10/11p.m. you want a dog, child, or any other noisemaking creature, you get a house.

Yeah, that should in theory include my upstairs neighbors who throw screaming and door slamming fights on average once a week; usually around 1am.

[CrispyDelicious]

Originally Posted by Unrepresented

Yeah, that should in theory include my upstairs neighbors who throw screaming and door slamming fights on average once a week; usually around 1am.

I've had neighbours like that. They stopped when the cops started showing up.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by two fingers

So here's my question(s). How does the love of an animal make to forget the concerns of other humans?

Heck, that's easy.
People suck, dogs rule!

Present company excepted of course.

My dog has never:
Cranked up a lawn mower at 7 am on Sunday
Run a chainsaw at 11:30 PM
Tuned his car stereo up to warp 10 and sat in my neighbors driveway for 30 minutes.
Stolen from me
Been drunk and obnoxious
Requested Brown Eyed Girl
Yelled "Skynyrd!" from the back of the room.

[L-A]

Mind you, my upstairs neighbor does about everything you say their dog does.

[bassguppy]

People in cities and burbs should not have dogs.



Mom & Dad leave for work in the morning around 8:00AM.

By 8:05AM dog starts to bark because he misses Mom & Dad.

Dog barks all day until Mom & Dad get home.

Dog stops barking and is happy to see Mom & Dad.



Neighbor goes to complain to Mom & Dad about dog barking but they don't understand because the dog never barks and is good.

[anyonefortennis]

I live in a condo with 2 dogs. I own the condo. Trying to comment on the issues you have brought up.

We live on the third floor and the floor below us is a business so we don't bother anyone below us at night when the dogs are up and playing. all units are pretty isolated so noise is usually not a problem with neighbors. My dogs don't bark too much anyway - maybe at the occasional door slam in the halway but that's about it.

I do have a high energy dog (BC) that most people wouldn't dare have in a place without a yard but agility, fly ball, frisbee training keeps her in check.

We take our dogs to a public area to go to the bathroom that is covered in woodchips so it's easy to pick up and we don't stain grass.

Agreed on the money part - but that has nothing to do with living on a house or condo/apt. People in all living arrangement are broke and should't have pets. There is also people in good financial situations that should't have pets.

Some people that don't have kids care for their pets as family. You are annoyed at people with dogs. Some of your neighbors may be annoyed if your baby wakes up in the middle of the night crying and hearing you get up to tend to him/her.

To your neighbor THEIR dog may be more important than YOUR baby. Should it be that way? Probably not but if you are an unknown neighbor it probably is.

Sitters and kennels? People with kids need to pay a high schooler $30 so they can go out and have dinner with their spouse alone.

At the end of the day, it's on people and how they train and tend to their pets and how respectful they are of other people.

[anyonefortennis]

Originally Posted by bassguppy

People in cities and burbs should not have dogs.

Maybe people who don't like dogs should move out of the cities and burbs?

[PaulNYC]

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

IMO, apartments, condos, multiple unit houses, etc are only for people able to maintain silence after 10/11p.m. you want a dog, child, or any other noisemaking creature, you get a house.

Well municipal noise regulations in the vast majority of municipalities do not support your opinion with respect to children. Laws recognize the difference between people, animals and hobbies. Noise regs do not apply to children because of child abuse problems. Animals can be trained, because they learn faster/earlier than humans, and noise regs say there noise should be controlled. Hobbies/work can also be done during appropriate hours or quietly.

The main thing is that adults are responsible for controlling noise, and the noise regulations recognize that some things like babies, can not be controlled that much.

[jazzy grille]

Originally Posted by bassguppy

People in cities and burbs should not have dogs.



Mom & Dad leave for work in the morning around 8:00AM.

By 8:05AM dog starts to bark because he misses Mom & Dad.

Dog barks all day until Mom & Dad get home.

Dog stops barking and is happy to see Mom & Dad.



Neighbor goes to complain to Mom & Dad about dog barking but they don't understand because the dog never barks and is good.

Classic.

The person that was living above me was the same way.

they just could not fathom that their precious snowflake would yelp/scream/bark whenever they were gone.

[two fingers]

Originally Posted by guy n. cognito

No one. Buy a house.

Dude upstairs probably gets upset every time he hears you baby cry at 2am........

1st of all, my baby is a PERSON! 2nd, were very lucky that she sleeps through the night. 3rd, our bedrooms are not above and below each other so I doubt they hear my baby crying under their living room.

[two fingers]

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

My wife and I live in an apartment. We want a dog. We are waiting till we move into a house to get a dog, and it will be obedience trained...end of story.

Simply put, any dog worth having* needs to live in a house not an apartment. Any human worth having will put the dog's needs before their (the human's) wants.

*Note any dog worth having is a dog you can take hiking with you. Sure little shivering ankle biters are cute, but they are fashion accessories,...not dogs.

Very well put! YOU get me. I've had dogs at houses. And I agree with you on a dog you can take to the woods as well.