Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: dogs in community

[Elizabeth Magill (pastorlizm]

We have a few interesting dynamics with the dog policy in our community.

Our rule is that dogs must be leashed, poop must be scooped, and I believe that 
all dog owners are responsible for all poop. (I should probably look that up.) 
And that we'll have a dog run (which we did not build due to financial 
constraints).

We made the policy before move-in and have been in moved in for two years. 
(Join us! We have more homes!) We had one dog at move-in and now have two 
youngsters dogs.

1. Puppies dont know stuff yet. 
Our leashing was in part related to some people having a fear of dogs. And yet, 
dogs on leashes can still jump on you! Kids walking puppies are learning  too! 
This is not a problem that i have heard of any need to address, just want to 
mention that guidelines and their purposes are sometimes thwarted by quite 
innocuous things. Learning takes time.
In my experience, because people know I'm allergic, they make a real effort to 
be sure it is not me they jump on, and would do the same for others who asked 
for it. But mistakes happen.

2. We don't only deal with our own dogs.
The community next door has a policy that says that dogs can be under voice 
control. So they walk their dogs in our community with their dogs under voice 
control. I want us to walk in each other's communities more than I want others 
to follow our dog rules. That way I get to see these folks! And I get to walk 
in their community, sometimes with a loud child (or more often, a loud adult!)
We also have had random dog (two?) appear from "up the street". (We are in an 
ex-urban style community with most homes on 2 or more acres lining rural-like 
paved roads.)

3. When you step in poop, it is too late to ask someone else to clean it up. 
That has been true when I live in community, and when I lived in ignore your 
neighbor suburbia.

4. The definition of voice control varies.
Some people are skilled at voice control, others less so. Some people think it 
means the same thing as leash distance, others think it is within voice range. 
Some people think that it means "don't bother people and come eventually" and 
others thin it means "come instantly". The only people who get to decide what 
it means are the ones who own the dog... and that also depends on their skill 
as a dog owner.

5. The stuff I thought the dogs were eating out of my garden turns out to be 
the work of skunks. My bad.

****
For me, this has been one of the issues we spent a long time on, I'm glad we 
have the policy, but the fine details of it have not mattered a great deal. 
People are trying to respect my needs with their dogs, and it mostly works, and 
that is good enough for me.

-Liz
Elizabeth Magill
Mosaic Commons Cohousing
Berlin, MA 01503
Affordable two and three bedrooms
and market rate four bedrooms available.

On Jun 27, 2011, at 8:54 AM, Joanie Connors wrote:

> 
> Hi Wayne (and all)
> 
> So, your question was based on this assumption - "Dog owners... don't
> seem to have been represented much in the discussion..."
> 
> Sometimes you need rules and consequences to make people be
> responsible. As a last resort, there are usually city/county laws
> against unleashed animals.
> 
> Thank you for your respectful tone and your interest in cohousing!
> 
> Joanie
> Silver City EcoCommunity (a planning group)
> New Mexico
>