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Dog park vs. neighbor: Round 2389798234747
(XP from the Pets board)
I've heard snippets here and there about a guy who lives next to the dog park and has become a royal pain-in-the-butt. (His backyard backs up to the park.) Apparently he steals water bowls, tennis balls, chairs, and even chains the gate locked sometimes!!! He was paranoid that people were looking into his house from the park so he had the city make a berm and plant trees along the top of it! ($$$) (Don't flatter yourself buddy, we really don't care about you enough to spy. And you can't even really see much unless you're standing in one certain spot where no one ever stands.) AND, the city moved the whole entrance gate ($$$) so it wasn't so close to his yard. He's a major piece of work I guess.
The latest drama is that a lot of the regulars are having a "Dog park cleanup day" on Saturday and some of them want to build a concrete watering hole but are afraid the guy will come steal it or report it to the city (it would be built without a permit apparently...) The other park in our city has a light and water fountain but this park has nuthin and the regulars think it is because this guy calls the city all.the.time to cause a ruckus. It's really sad that one person has taken it upon himself to sabotage the dog park, especially since he has a dog himself!! All of his shenanigans just make people pizzzzed off. And we all still come to the park anyway so what good is he really doing? I imagine he is just a miserable human being. :-( I can't be there Saturday but I'm curious to hear what goes down! RUMBLE!! :-)
Re: Dog park vs. neighbor: Round 2389798234747
What I can't believe is that the city is appeasing him. I'm guessing that the dog park went in more recently than this guy purchased his home. Even though I love dogs, I might be a little ticked off if a dog park was put up basically in my back yard, too. The noise and smell (because let's face it, not everyone is responsible enough to clean up after their pup) undoubtedly detract from his property value.
Either way, it's a bummer that he's being a pain. Stealing stuff from the park? Is he kidding??
Yeah this guy is a piece of work. I've heard stories about him. But that said, I'm not thrilled with the idea of a bunch of residents taking matters into their own hands and putting in a huge concrete structure with no permit. That could very well ruin it for a lot of people if the city decides that it is unacceptable.
Am I the only person who brings our own water container to a dog park? I hate those disgusting dirty bowls I see over there. We just prefer to bring a travel bottle that has a flip-out bowl attached and let her drink out of that.
To be fair, the dog park does not smell. I always pick up poop I see even if it's not my own dog's #2 and I know many others that do too. It's not some mine field of dog droppings, it's actually quite clean as far as dog parks go. The only disturbance it might cause is noise from occasional barking.
I would be thrilled if a dog park was built in my back yard, but I am biased :-) I liken his situation to someone building a playground behind my house where kids ran around screeching all day. I would be ticked but I certainly wouldn't go steal their sand box!
I find the whole situation to be almost laughable. People are taking it way too seriously from both sides. I just hope no one takes it too far and the park gets shut down.
Is Finley the one who got away from the car and had to be chased the other night? If so it might have been my DH who helped. If not, then nevermind :-)
ETA: Actually I think it was Colby... So nevermind :-)
Oh, I'm sure you're right. I'm more just saying that someone who is looking for something to complain about will undoubtedly conveniently *just so happen* to catch a whiff of one errant dog dropping and make a huge fat deal over it.
The guy's a douche. I feel bad that he's terrorizing your park, and I hope it all blow over, somehow.
Hmm, I am guessing this may be my dog park too. I have heard a few things about this guy in the past, but I hadn't heard anything lately. Someone yelled out their window at the dog park a few Saturday's ago to "Shut up your dog" when there was a a dog barking, maybe him?
In semi-unrelated news, at the dog park there were a couple ladies having a picnic/party in the early evening this week. It seemed pretty strange: food, booze, etc. I thought that was interesting.
I really like the dog park (not this particular one - I've never been to it) but I hadn't realized how controversial dog parks can be. The proposed MLK park in Mpls is another example of people not wanting one, but that situation does seem to be different than this one.
I do think building their own water tank is a dumb idea - the city would remove it and be less willing to work with the dog park patrons because they violated the rules..
My own tangent: We used to go to the Bloomington & the Mpls Airport parks frequently, but Chloe kept getting sick with Kennel Cough, despite having the vaccine for it. Our vet said that in his previous time in California as a vet, he said that dogs started getting KC despite the vaccine, because of the whole herd immunity/non-vaccination thing. If there are people at the park that haven't immunized their dogs, the various bugs adapt & become like a super-bug. Chloe has been really sick with KC 3 times in the time we've had her (since late April, so 5-6 months) so we've decided that maybe she just can't go to the dog park anymore.
It was a lifesaver as far as burning off her energy, but it's not worth her getting sick anymore. I don't know if my dog is the only dog that has a crappy immune system that feels this way or not...
I might try playgroups at more organized places - like the AHS - that require vaccines, and see if Chloe still gets sick. Anyone have any other thoughts/ suggestions?
jack | born 9.13.12 at 40w4d | 9 lbs 12 oz | 23 in
my puppy loves - chloe & jenson
pregnancy blog | chart
I think you're right - there are grumpuses everywhere! :-)
I can totally see how a non-dog person would get annoyed but some people take things just waaay too far in how they deal with their annoyance.
Evil neighbor or no, I'm sure we'll be spending tons of time at the dog park in the future. If we don't we won't have any shoes left since Renzo gets bored and antsy when he can't release his energy :-)
We find dog play groups through meetup.com, and so far it has worked well. I like the dog park, but we have a pug and she likes playing with similar sized dogs, so meetups are a good option. Those groups don't have vaccine rules, but we've also gone to Canine Coach playtime which does.
Ugh, that is such a bummer :-( I wouldn't risk it either if my dog got seriously sick that often.
So far the only thing we've dealt with was a one inch cut in Renzo's thigh that needed staples. We think he got it when he ran through the brush at the park. :-(
Have you looked into doggy daycare? That is a GREAT way to release energy but it's $$$ to do all the time.
Doggy daycare is $$$ - and maybe it's bad of me to say it, but I don't want to pay $40+ a day for my dog to play. I don't spend that much on myself to play daily!!
We have looked into doggy daycare for the random and very occasional days that we both have too much going on - but thankfully my parents live close so they don't mind taking Chloe to their house if we have things going on that prevent us from being home. This has only happened once since we've had Chloe, so it's not a huge deal.
She is just a wild puppy with lots of energy - which is what we expected - but she is like any other dog - left alone or not fully exercised, she gets into things that we don't want her to get into. She doesn't destroy shoes (except my haflinger clogs!!) - she just gums them until soggy - but she does destroy books, magazines, mail, toilet paper... she's into fiber, I guess! We walk most nights, but on the rare night that we can't, we try to exhaust her in the backyard with a frisbee, ball, and a laser pointer.
Once her next level of obedience training starts later this month, that'll help, because it'll give her an event out of the house, with other dogs.
jack | born 9.13.12 at 40w4d | 9 lbs 12 oz | 23 in
my puppy loves - chloe & jenson
pregnancy blog | chart
Thanks for the meetup.com tip! I'll check into that..
jack | born 9.13.12 at 40w4d | 9 lbs 12 oz | 23 in
my puppy loves - chloe & jenson
pregnancy blog | chart