7 dogs!

[Suey73]

Our church is going to help a church member in need of work on her house.   Going to gut and put new dry wall up in 3 rooms.   We thought we'd do a good thing and offer the house next door for them to live in while their's is  apart.  Probably looking at 2 -3 weeks max.    Just found out she has 7 house dogs!    She currently lives in a house with only 5 or 6 rooms!   We weren't worried about the kids.  But,  we will say no to house dogs.   What could they afford to do for themselves if they only had 1 dog?     It is our personal decision to not have pets in our house.   I wouldn't even allow my son's puppy past the front entryway, during the winter months.     In our early life we had a cat in our house.   I do not miss the cat hairs stuck to everything.   We both said never again.   We will have to deal with the nephew's dashhound after the remodel.   They show up with that thing and it barks at me like I don't belong there.  I have a real desire to kick it across the room.   And they have NEVER asked if they could bring it.  Even when it was Grandpa and Grandma's house.   And because they wanted so much to have their grandchildren visit they never told them no. 

A couple of years ago the cousins put their dogs on the screened in porch for the night.  They tore holes in the screens.  Guess who fixed the screens?   Not the dog's owners.   So I don't think much of allowing dogs in my soon to be house.   All the beds will stay.  We hope to keep the carpeting in 3 rooms. 

I guess my Christian charity has it's limits. 

[Kay/NC]

Wonder what they will do with that many yapping dogs for that long?

I am 100% with you. We used to let our Heelers and the Boxer mix into the house...four pretty big dogs. I insisted that they go to the kennel so we could sleep undisturbed several years ago. I had gotten tired of them tearing ip and tracking in so much dirt since then, and was lobbying to make them outside only.

The final straw with them indoors was when daughter came in and put Winn down, thinking all of them were outside...but two were not. i thought they were going to bite him...not really anyone's fault, but everyone's fault that the incident happened...something strange running into their family's space.

The fright, and my having to run in between and snatch him up was all that needed to be said from there on. Mike took them to the kennel immediately, and not a one has been inside since.

i do NOT miss the mess, and they were all perfectly house-trained.

You are absolutely right that the family could do much more for itself if not for too many pets. You will never get them to see that, though, and the church will very likely find that a LOT of the problems with her house are dog- oriented. Take it from a landlord who knows.

Do not let them guilt you into changing your mind. Stand your ground. f the kids are more important than the dogs to athis woman, she will come and stay with you. if the dogs are more important - and don't be surprised if they are - they will insist on staying somewhere else. Do NOT let anyone make you feel,bad for holding to your conditions.

On the nephew and dachshund, I would make a limit of staying in only rooms with vinyl flooring, and put up a gate to enforce that...at least it won't ruin your rugs. I can understand how dome families treat their dogs like one of the crowd, but guests need to grasp the concept that not every host feels the same way.

BTW, if you are keeping the bedding, I would step to a store and buy some waterproof mattress covers. Cheap protection for an expensive furnishing to replace, should anyone snack in bed or have other problems that might soil the bedding.

Your offer is extremely generous just as it stands. It is warm enough now for dogs to be kept outdoors without any welfare concerns.

[manureseller]

Holy smokes 7 dogs is a lot!  We have 2 dogs and they are in the house (bigger dogs since they are labs) but they are kenneled when we go visit my parents and stay in the garage when we go to Todd's parents if we stay over night there.  I couldn't imagine bringing my dogs to someone elses house without their permission.  I'm sorry but I would ask for a pet deposite even though you are trying to help out.  Strange surroundings will do weird things to animals.  I do have to say though if someone comes INTO my house and complains about the dogs then they don't have to visit again as the dogs were there first.  I do know with us planning on a new house I'm limiting the carpet as much as possible because of the dogs.  I know that when we lived at my in-laws for a few months before moving to our current place (new job, moving, etc) the dogs lived in the basement with us and after we moved out we paid for professional carpet cleaning etc.  Not because the dogs were messy (if we weren't there they were in their kennels) but because it was the right thing to do. 

[Ruby Lou]

Seriously...if you can feed 7 dogs, you can surely take care of yourself!   some people just can't understand that you really need to take care of yourself first.  I am sure they can't buy dog food on welfare. 

[dairy mom]

About the flooring and dogs.  I have scratches in my hardwood flooring (it isn't the most expensive, but fairly good quality) from my son's Basset running on the floors.

[Suey73]

There is only carpet and tile in the house.   I hate hard wood floors so I don't have to worry about that. 

[Kay/NC]

Have you heard anything back about your offer yet? You have GOT to tell us how this turns out!

[Suey73]

She couldn't leave her dogs.  So the house next door remains empty.   More update on the project.   I think the same mastermind of Kay's NC house might have built this "house".    Tom said it looked like they might have used a hatchet to build it.   Once they got out the dry wall  Tom said he knew they had to do something about the outside walls.   He said you could throw a dead cat through the holes.   Now,  I know he was overdoing it  but...     We called a spray on insulation person  found out they could do the job on  Monday.   So several people said they'd donate to make certain the job got done right.    Now this is mainly the kitchen and back entryway.    So the church foamed it.   The foam will help keep it from falling apart too.   They also had to get inventive to keep one wall from falling down.   It involved a 3" x 3" angle iron &  some really big bolts to anchor it back to the floor.      The electrical... Mike would have loved this one Kay.  Our part time minister is a hog farmer and he does the electrical fixing on the farm.   So he knew he could wire a house.   They were trying to decide with a meter if the power was off and  we were really lucky someone was not killed.    Johnny is a tough guy with a guadian angel.   220  where they should have only had 120.   Some real idiot must have tried to wire it before.  There were Live Wires just  left...    The woman and her kids are very appreciative about the help.   And she is volunteering with several activities at the church.   For some volunteer help teaching Sunday School classes we're very helpful!    So hopefully she'll learn the beauty and savings of insulation in part of her house.  

[Kay/NC]

When I read something like this, it just amazes me that some houses aren't just engulfed in flames. That family is lucky to be alive.

Not surprised she couldn't leave the dogs...and, Suey, you are so lucky she would not. There are definitely some mental issues affot inside those walls.

Your church family is made up of some good folks...fortunately some tough ones!

Speaking of exploding houses, I got a call back today, from a little lady in the county neighboring ours on Va. She had left several messages on the machine there, and had even driven a good distance, looking for me there. That was about two weeks ago. She had tried to register the warranty on a water heater, but the manufacturer said it had been registered to someone of my name.

Now, follow the odds on this one: i was registered as the second owner. When she started telling me exactly what had happened to her, I got mad, and started giving her the channels to go, after her plumbing contractor.

He had taken out an LP water heater on August 26th, leaving 5-inch diameter holes from the vent in her ceiling AND roof, as well as several in her floor. When she reached me, the seond week of September, she had just gotten the gas company out, to turn off the LP line he left cocked open inderneath the house.

Fortunately, she smelled the odorant, and got the gas company out to turn it off and prevent a deadly explosion.

Here are the odds i mentioned. How in the world did the fake registration of the water heater lead her to someone who has studied building codes, has a contractor for a son, and who has also beaten a crooked contractor in a six- figure lawsuit?

During her first call, I looked up her ( unlicensed) contractor ln the licensing website, to fidn he wasn't there. i gave her the right hpchain of calls to make, told her how to secure the floor and ceiling to keep out snakes ( her even older roommate was terrified and havign panic attacks), and asked her to call me back when she had made progress.

Today, she was calling to ask me if i would appear on TV, to corroborate her story, if the consumer activist reporter picks up her story. Turned out that she had to pay a second, reputable contractor $3,000 to repair what she had paid the crooked one $750 to " fix".

On top of the failure to turn of the LP, the guy jad wired a 30- amp double pole breaker on wire sufficient for only 20 amps. He had draped that wire over her LP line, and a number of other code violations. It is truly a wonder they are alive.

We talked long enough to reassure me that their safety had been restored. If she has her way, this guy will be out of business. i redirected her to the DPOR, to ask for a fraud investigation of the contractor. I think she will end up in small claims court, since that handles anything under $25,000 in Virginia.

I would keep the building inspector away from your worksite....