The New Intimacy

Roommates and their pets

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Contributor: wrecklesswords wrecklesswords
I searched and saw that there are a few discussions about living with roommates and whatnot, but I didn't really see anything about roommates and their pets.

Does anyone here live with roommates that have pets? I mean bigger pets that might be let out of the cage or are out of the cage (like a dog or cat) that aren't exactly trained well?

I did have two roommates, but one just recently moved out. However, the other one has a dog he adopted off the streets a long time ago. Her name is Annie. She's a boxer. Now, I love dogs. Hell, I love animals. I've had everything from fish, to aquatic frogs, to hamsters, to birds, to guinea pigs, to reptiles, to dogs, and cats. I'm an animal person. But this dog makes me want to go on a murdering spree. She's destructive and wants attention 24/7. If you're not paying attention to her then you will suffer from her either whining incessantly, her licking you all over, her climbing up in your face.

Now, the worst part is that she honest to the gods doesn't understand what no means. You tell her no and whack her on the nose like you would another dog and she thinks you're playing with her. That's how desperate for attention she is. And she gets hours of attention a day. I'm the one that's home more since he's at school or work or studying and that's not enough.

I've tried to talk to him about her, and our old roommate did a lot, too, even my girlfriend who doesn't even live here has tried to talk to him about her. She tears things up, climbs all over the couch and us and our things, thinks that just because you make eye contact you are playing with her. I could set aside an hour or so of my day to try to train her, I've had dogs since I was two years old (23 now), but I know that me training her won't do any good if he's not willing to do the same things with her. Plus, it's HIS dog, HE should be the one training her, right?

I'm not sure what to do in this situation. She has a kennel that she is very good about going into when we tell her to either to get her out of the way while cleaning/when someone is over, or when we leave the house. But other than that, it's like nothing translates to her. I don't want to be mean about it because he really, really loves this dog, but I'm on the side of thinking she's just a really stupid dog and doesn't get it. But then I think of the fact that she's still only about a year or two old, so she's still got that puppy mentality.
10/05/2011
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Contributor: Ansley Ansley
I would make it clear that he either care for the animal as he should or I would rehome her to someone who could devote that much time and effort to her needs and give her the room to run and get all of that energy out. It's a hard conversation to have, especially if he's somehow emotionally attached to the period of his life she represents. She's at the perfect stage to learn to focus on commands. I agree that it's kind of pointless to teach her if he won't do the same things with her.
10/05/2011
Contributor: wrecklesswords wrecklesswords
Quote:
Originally posted by Ansley
I would make it clear that he either care for the animal as he should or I would rehome her to someone who could devote that much time and effort to her needs and give her the room to run and get all of that energy out. It's a hard conversation ... more
She goes out in the backyard frequently to run around in circles and bask in the sunlight.

It's only gotten worse, though, since our other roommate moved out and she doesn't have the other dogs to play with. I suggested finding a way to get my dog down here from NE because they could be playmates, but he seems to just shut off the idea of me bring my dog here that I had to give up against my will when I moved into my apartment last year.

Right now she's sitting on the couch going between whining at him (asleep on the ouch) and whining at me for attention.
10/05/2011
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
Quote:
Originally posted by wrecklesswords
She goes out in the backyard frequently to run around in circles and bask in the sunlight.

It's only gotten worse, though, since our other roommate moved out and she doesn't have the other dogs to play with. I suggested finding a way ... more
I'm a hardass when it comes to dogs that interrupt normal everyday life, so my answer stands that I would rehome the dog or rehome myself if I could. It's extremely inconsiderate of her owner to make you deal with this. Depending on where I was in my level of frustration with the situation, I would shake him out of a dead sleep and demand he take care of her or at least get her out of my face. I love animals with all of my heart, but I won't tolerate an animal that can't be controlled. As she gets older, there's a potential for aggression to replace that whining and she's probably going to be a very large dog. It's best to nip it in the bud now before it gets really out of hand and she can't be controlled at all.
10/05/2011
Contributor: wrecklesswords wrecklesswords
Quote:
Originally posted by Ansley
I'm a hardass when it comes to dogs that interrupt normal everyday life, so my answer stands that I would rehome the dog or rehome myself if I could. It's extremely inconsiderate of her owner to make you deal with this. Depending on where I ... more
You have a very good point. She's finally asleep, draped across the arm of the couch hanging over his face. Once he wakes up I'm going to ask him if he's ever thought about enrolling her in a training course. If he says no, then I will find info for him and give it to him.
10/05/2011
Contributor: GravyCakes GravyCakes
i had a room mate last yr who, in the middle of the yr, decided to get a chiuaua. i can't stand small dogs. i love big & some medium dogs, but small dogs annoy the shit out of me. i told her this before she got one, too. this thing use to bark at EVERY f**** thing. it had a cage that he had to stay in while my room mate was gone. it was not allowed out of it's cage if she was not home, that was our rule. i told her before she got a dog, that if she did, i would not help her take care of it. this meant that if she went home one weekend, the dog had to go w/ her. if she wasn't home to walk him or feed him, tough cookies, it was going to starve & have to pee in it's cage. i told her that if she got the dog, it would be HER responsibility to take care of it, not mine & my other room mate's. she agreed to that, & never asked us to help out w/ the dog. but he would climb up next to me & try to get attention a lot, & i would ignore it & sometimes push it off the couch (not in a mean way, i would just nudge it towards the edge till it jumped off). the thing annoyed me to no end, & i was so so happy when she finally moved out & took that damn rat dog w/ her.
10/05/2011
Contributor: wrecklesswords wrecklesswords
Quote:
Originally posted by GravyCakes
i had a room mate last yr who, in the middle of the yr, decided to get a chiuaua. i can't stand small dogs. i love big & some medium dogs, but small dogs annoy the shit out of me. i told her this before she got one, too. this thing use to ... more
My previous roommate before I moved down here was like that in a way. I gave up MY DOG in order to move into the apartment because I couldn't afford the pet deposit. But she wanted to get a dog. I told her not only was that unfair to me, but it was unfair to my parents who had to take in my dog (in another state!) and that I would not at all help her with the dog. She had to potty train it, she had to feed it, she had to pay for everything that came along with it.

And even after her seeing me cry almost every night for the first week after giving up my dog, she still had the gall to say that it was unfair of me to tell her she couldn't get a dog unless she helped me get my dog back.
10/05/2011