Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: dogs in community

[Norman Gauss (normangauss]

David:

Are the front yards and fenced back yards owned by the individual unit
owners?

Norm Gauss
Oak Creek Commons
Paso Robles, CA

-----Original Message-----
From: David Bygott [mailto:davidbygott [at] yahoo.com] 
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2011 6:43 AM
To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ dogs in community


Our community is also getting to grips with the Dog Issue after 8 years. Our
current policy has grown out of numerous meetings and a community-wide
survey of opinions about various options.


Only 8 out of 28 of our households have dogs - several more came with dogs
and didn't replace them when they died. We have a central lawn and unfenced
front yards which are mostly managed by the community, private back yards
mostly fenced, and no dog park within easy walking distance. Originally a
community dog park was planned, but most of the community's land is fairly
inhospitable (stony, hot, unshaded and full of cacti) and nothing can match
our central lawn with shaded sitting areas! Local city laws prohibit dogs
off-leash in any public area or unfenced private area, but this reality
seems not to concern some owners.

Currently we require dogs to be on leash in all public areas, except our
'nature preserve', a large area of natural desert scrub, where they may take
their chances with the coyotes. An exception we are considering is that
during specific hours in the afternoon, dogs may play free on the lawn,
closely supervised by their owners. 

Dogs have never been allowed in our common house, and everyone respects
that.

All dog owners are expected and encouraged to pick up poop in public areas
and most are very conscientious about this, even to the extent of picking up
other dogs' poop when they find it. Naturally, this is more effective when
dogs are on leash and owners can see everything their dog does.

As yet our rules have no 'teeth' other than social pressure. Individuals who
object to unsupervised dogs entering their yards are expected to talk to the
owners directly, and owners are expected to be considerate to neighbors'
feelings on this. On each of our main entry gates we have a sign showing a
picture of a dog on a leash - no words - and most visitors get the idea. 

My take is that involving the whole community in constructive brainstorming
to reach the present compromise has been a healthy process and has fostered
tolerance between the dog-owners and the dogless. We too will be interested
to hear what works in other communities.

David Bygott
Milagro Cohousing

________________________________

Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:03:44 -0600
From: Mary McKeever <mckeever7868 [at] gmail.com>

...I'm interested in hearing how different communities deal with dogs in
their communities -what are the policies/agreements regarding dogs and how
are issues addressed and/or 'enforced'.  For example:

   - can dogs be off-leash in any parts of the community and if so, under
   what circumstances
   - can dogs be in the common house and if so, under what circumstances
   - how does the community deal with dog poop in common areas
   - how are issues handled when practices are not adhered to by residents
   and/or visitors....
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