Having a horrible day

So I'm working my way through a large bottle of wine tonight. I'm having a horrible day, can't get to sleep, and shouldn't be drinking the wine but hey, why not?

Last month, over a month ago, I made a huge mistake. I didn't close the doggy door when dh and I went to a neighborhood cocktail party. When we got home my 2 big dogs were gone. They had escaped the back fence and traveled to the neighbors. Unfortunately the neighbor is also the landlord and my great dane seemed to think their pet sheep would make a great chew toy. They came as soon as I called them and left poor Felix. I tried to convince them to take poor Felix to the emergency vet and would have paid the charges but they declined. I called the traveling farm vet who came out the next day and fixed the wound to his neck. Sadly there must have been some internal damage and Felix died the next day.

I talked with our neighbors/landlords and told them how horrible and guilty I felt. Everything seemed ok considering the circumstances. We've talked several times since then. Last week she said she wanted to get together to talk with dh and I about the dog. No problem, I understand, let me know. Well, they never came over and talked to us.

Today I got a notice from the property management agency that I have 3 days to remove my 2 large dogs from the property. I am so hurt, mad and upset. I understand them wanting the Great Dane to be re homed, I really do. I do not understand the Rottie who spent 3 weeks last week running around the neighborhood and never touched a hair or feather on any critter they had even though he spent most of his time in their yard or pasture. I don't understand why they didn't talk to me weeks ago and give me more time to deal with this. I don't know what I'm going to do.

It's my fault. I realize that. I just can't believe that they waited over a month and had the management company send me a notice. 3 days. How am I supposed to find a home for my 4yo fearful great dane that has medical issues. The abandoned rottie that I spent 3 weeks catching is now a therapy dog and visits an Alzheimer's care facility every Friday. I'm currently sending emails to the people I know here that I think could possibly help. DH and I are looking at some property but it doesn't have a house, we'd have to build.

Please send me good thoughts on finding a foster home that will allow my poor kids to visit their loved dogs and that this property will work out. I feel so guilty for not closing that doggy door. I'm one of those fanatical people that scans Craigslist and tries to help people keep their dogs instead of rehome them and flags the sh*theads that are selling puppies. I'm a dogtrainer for crying out loud! I can't believe I let my dogs down like this!

Time for more wine. Thanks for listening.

Lora the horrible dog Mom

First off, you are not a horrible mom. Dogs will be dogs, and sometimes their instincts kick in. That having been said, I think your landlord really did you wrong. I understand their concern after the sheep died. But not coming to talk to you first, that could have been handled better. Try talking to a shelter or boarding facility for short term. If you decide to place them, look for a rescue or humane society that could find them homes. I am sure you will find a solution. What are the consequences if the dogs are not removed? Is there any type of court? Maybe petitioning the property mgmt. board for a hearing, at least tell them what happened. I hope it works out.

Looking at it from the landlord's perspective...since they have a management company, even for a property they live so close to, my feeling is that they are trying to limit their liability. It took them so long because they weren't sure what to do. They contacted the management company, since that's what they're there for. The landlords decided to let the management company handle it, because, after all, they are paying for this kind of service, and then there's the potential liability to consider. The MC handled it to the letter of the lease, I'm sure.

(Aside: I can't imagine the size of the doggie door that a Great Dane can fit through!)

Is there not a fence around your house? How did they get out of the fence once they got out of the doggie door?

Can you move, rather than re-home your dogs? Maybe they'll allow you to put up a special pen just for the GD until you can find a place to move.

And, it feels like a horrible day, but get some perspective. The dogs didn't kill anyone and they didn't get killed themselves. It could have been a lot worse.

Karen

I do feel bad for the OP. The landlord/management company should have given more notice to remove the dogs. I also can sympathize with the sheep owners. While the dog didn't kill "anybody," it killed a sheep, and that's pretty serious. If the dog was a pitbull, I'd bet you that there would be an order to put it down. Personally, if I had a child and lived in your neighborhood, I'd be pretty nervous about your dog.

ibcycling, I do hope you find a satisfactory solution for your dogs. Maybe you could foster them while you find a new place to live.

(((((ibcycling)))))

That is awful.

I had a dog that was aggressive with other animals too, so I totally understand your conflicts. (And for anyone who doesn't already know this, dogs DO know the difference between people and animals. We could, and did, put our hands in her mouth to pry her off an animal and be perfectly safe - which was more than you could say for our other dogs who were not animal-aggressive. She was the sweetest thing in the world to humans, never even growled at a human being.)

Is moving a possibility? If so, you do NOT need to do so in three days. That's just the time they give you before they start legal proceedings. It will take much longer - weeks or even months - for an eviction to be finalized. If you have evidence that they declined to get vet help for the sheep, it won't totally absolve you, but it's certainly in your favor.

Wishing you and your family (furry and non) a swift and happy resolution.

Big hugs to you - that situation sucks all around. Do you have a kennel club, or another group who might help you? Worse case, can you board short term?

What does your lease say?

I have a dog who's been bitten (but did not die), and I can sympathize with what it's like to have an animal you love attacked. That said, they didn't even want to take the sheep to the emergency vet, and the OP even had to be the one to get a vet out the next day. They obviously did not love this animal. If it was an issue, they should have said so right away. The woman who's dog bit my dog would walk her dog in front of our house, so I never knew when her vicious dog would be out. I told her right away that I had an issue with it - I didn't wait a month and then put her in a tight situation! This is not about legality, this is about revenge. Revenge for an animal they didn't even care about! I find it disgusting.

I would think you would have some legal recourse here, to buy yourself some more time, but I don't really know. I personally would take this as an eviction notice, and generally you have recourse there. Check your lease and the laws in the city/state that you live in. For me, there's not a snowball's chance I would continue to live there.

Thanks for the thoughts.

Our yard is fenced. Tiger and Cyrus escaped by digging out an area I thought I had fixed. In July I boarded the landlord's 2 Goldens while they were gone and one of them dug out and made a mess of the fence.

I'm trying to find a foster for them right now. I'm also looking at other housing options and getting more info on the property, loans, etc. I don't really know where to start.

My dogs are not a danger to people, just critters that look like really big chew toys. I wouldn't even call them aggressive to other animals. Heck, they live with 4 cats. It was just prey drive kicking in and all dogs have that. If I felt they were a threat to people AT ALL I would have done something right away.

Big hug to you. That sucks.

You could kennel the dogs until you can find a solution; Yes, it might be expensive, but it would give you some time to determine what to do.

that sucks... sorry to hear that... hope you find a solution.:(

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Originally Posted by spokewench

You could kennel the dogs until you can find a solution; Yes, it might be expensive, but it would give you some time to determine what to do.

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Yup, looking into that. We've got a friend who is also a neighbor that has offered to keep them temporarily too.