Why only small dogs allowed? (San Diego: rentals, lawyers, construction)

[1AngryTaxPayer]

I had to rip out my front lawn due to dogs peeing on it. I was told it's because squatting dogs dump all in one spot and that much nitrogen in one spot burns it, unlike dogs that raise a leg on bush or tree. Regardless, dog poop is one thing but that was 750 bucks worth of sod.

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by Dale Cooper

Just yesterday I got yelled at when my girl squatted to pee.

Really glad I know this thread is talking about dogs. Otherwise, yikes!

[sdjimbob]

Originally Posted by mandasand

My points are valid...and we live in a free country. I have every right to walk my dog. Unless there is a city ordinance that says my dog is not allow to relieve herself in specific places, I'm not doing anything wrong. All up and down my street there are signs that say "Pick up after your pet. Poop pick up station." And there are bags and trash cans available for that. I pick up her poop but I don't clean up her pee. And honestly I probably won't dilute it. Of course it's gross when people don't pick up the poop and I certainly wouldn't want a dog lifting their leg on my front door. But you are raising your voice in a city that PROMOTES animals...poop pick up stations everywhere, dog beaches, dogs allowed at restaurants...if you're not an animal lover then you will probably be really unhappy every time you go outside because there's dogs everywhere. You would hate my neighborhood...so many poop stations and hundreds of dogs walking up and down the street. Just saying.

Here's SD's ordinance:

Sec. 62.670. COMMITTING NUISANCE. No person shall allow a dog in his/her custody to defecate or to urinate on any property other than that of the owner or person having control of the dog. It shall be the duty of all persons having control of a dog to curb such dog and to immediately remove any feces to a proper receptacle. Disabled persons while relying on a seeing eye, hearing, or service dog shall be exempt from this section.

Pretty clear that if you let your dog relieve itself on someone else's property, you're violating the ordinance.

[mandasand]

But if it occurs, if you immediately remove the feces and dispose in a proper receptacle (poop station), I read that as not violating the ordinance.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by mandasand

But if it occurs, if you immediately remove the feces and dispose in a proper receptacle (poop station), I read that as not violating the ordinance.

How would you "remove urine?"

[rgb123]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

How would you "remove urine?"

many areas are public or not owned by a person. If there is a "poop station" I'm pretty sure that means the owner of the property (say, an apartment complex) is encouraging that to be the pet area, where urine is not generally removed (but the public owner or landlord) cares for the property on a regular basis, yet expecting owners to remove feces at a minimum. Until they start erecting "pee stations" I think we can assume this is the generally expected behavior.

If a dog is peeing on someone's lawn (a private owner) that is a different story, though many right of ways are public.

I think this is pretty common all over...

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by rgb123

many areas are public or not owned by a person. If there is a "poop station" I'm pretty sure that means the owner of the property (say, an apartment complex) is encouraging that to be the pet area, where urine is not generally removed (but the public owner or landlord) cares for the property on a regular basis, yet expecting owners to remove feces at a minimum. Until they start erecting "pee stations" I think we can assume this is the generally expected behavior.

If a dog is peeing on someone's lawn (a private owner) that is a different story, though many right of ways are public.

I think this is pretty common all over...

Sec. 62.670. COMMITTING NUISANCE. No person shall allow a dog in his/her custody to defecate or to urinate on any property other than that of the owner or person having control of the dog.

It may be "common" but still a violation. If an area is set aside for people to let their dogs do their thing great, but not "common areas" where kids play or people picnic etc. Private or Public doesn't appear to matter. If I maintain my public right of way in front of my house and someone destroys it I am 100 percent sure I can get them ticketed because I've already had to deal with a woman that thinks her "public right of way lawn" is for her to sunbathe on while mine is for her dog to use as a toilet.

[chelzzzz]

It upsets me to see the back and forth on this thread, both because I wish some non-dog owners would have a little more compassion and understanding for dog owners and because I wish that some dog owners would be more responsible and respectful of others' space, whether public or private. As a dog owner, I do everything possible to keep my pup from going to the bathroom where he shouldn't, including keeping poop bags attached to his leash at all times and keeping him off others' lawns. Despite my best efforts, he is still a dog, and therefore I can't control if he decides to suddenly squat and start to poop in the middle of the street while I'm on a run (yes, this has actually happened - and yes, I cleaned it up) or squats with EXTREME URGENCY at the edge of a grassy spot as I try valiantly to get him to hold it JUST A LITTLE FURTHER until we get to a more suitable place for him to go. Accidents do happen, even though most decent human beings try to amend for them as best we can. In terms of picking up pee... that's a little bit ridiculous. I understand not wanting people to deliberately allow their dogs to pee in your grass, and I don't support that, but I do think it would be nice for people to also sometimes give people the benefit of the doubt and realize that we humans don't always have ultimate control over our animals' bodily functions.

OP, my boyfriend and I moved to San Diego this past November with our growing goldendoodle pup - he's now 9 months and 70lbs. I understand how tough it is to find a place, and I am so happy to see that rehoming your dog isn't an option at all despite the lack of housing options. Despite the fact that my pup is both big AND young, he is extremely mellow, has never chewed a single thing that's not his (while he's crate trained, since moving here we've left him free in the house, and we have total confidence he'll never touch anything of ours destructively), and is low-shedding (like some posters, I, too, have allergies and asthma, but my pup is low dander and doesn't bother me). It's so upsetting that so many irresponsible people have ruined the housing options available to dog lovers, and I see it reflected in the number of Craigslist ads people post for their dogs that they're "rehoming" because they're moving and "can't" take their dogs with them. To me, it would never be an option to move if I couldn't bring my dog, and I'm glad to see you feel the same way.

One last thing - in the whole big dog/little dog argument that was going on earlier in the thread... My family dogs were miniature schnauzers. They did and do tend to pick fights with bigger dogs, though they are awesome with us. Also, they are MUCH noisier and more yappy (but still not like many of the smaller dogs I've seen here) than most bigger dogs I've encountered. My big dog now is goofy, submissive, outgoing, and extremely friendly, and he only barks a couple of times if he hears someone outside of our house. I know this obviously isn't a blanket statement, but it's my experience. In addition, I take my big dog to the beach with me a lot, and we never get big dogs running up aggressively or barking at us; however, every single time we've gone anywhere where a smaller dog is present, the smaller dogs have either barked incessantly, charged, or, in a couple of cases, even run up and bitten my big, submissive, friendly pup. I think the issue here is that many people with smaller dogs don't think it necessary to take preventive measures when their dog exhibits aggressive or obnoxious behavior because, like some of you, they think that a smaller dog isn't going to do any harm. Alternatively, many owners with larger dogs take more care to make sure any aggression is prevented early on in life because a big dog exhibiting those behaviors could spell trouble. This leads to a lot of bites and other aggressive behaviors in little dogs that people don't realize are much of a problem until they escalate. Our own small family dog actually bit a kid running by him once (the kid was fine, but it was traumatic for all of us), but my big pup would absolutely never do something like that. Again, obviously there will be exceptions to the rule, but I do A LOT of stuff with dogs, and this has been my general experience.

Sorry for the long post, just had a lot to say! I'm hoping for the best for OP in finding a great place to live with her pup

[mandasand]

Thank you chelzzzz

This is the thing...I am also very responsible. I am also a homeowner...we have a house in NorCal. This is the first time I have rented since 1999. I can also sympathize with homeowners that have issues with animals using their front yard as a bathroom. I would be upset too.

I want to say something else that has REALLY been bothering me. And this will probably be my last post on this forum because of this. There are more rude people on this forum than helpful ones. In my posts over the last year, I have been called selfish for wanting to have children while my husband goes to law school. I have been called selfish for having a dog that goes to the bathroom next to a poop station. I have been told that my views, ideas and opinions are not valid.I will tell you people, this is very hurtful and NOT accurate. My husband and I sacrifice every day. He sacrifices way more than me, but I'd like to think that I am the one maintaining a home and a life while he is deployed. My husband is active duty military. He has been deployed 16 times, and I am not talking moving from base to base...I mean WAR zones. And I am being called selfish? I think anyone that calls a spouse of a veteran selfish should look at themselves in the mirror long and hard. I would challenge them to look at where they live, how much money they make, the car they drive, the children they have that go to school and are safe - and consider that these "things" would not be possible if it weren't for the men and women that sacrifice every day for our freedom. I am sacrificing alongside my husband. It's really sad that people come to these forums to hide under a cloak of invisibility and find pleasure in calling people names and being hurtful. I will have no part in it. And since these people will never go away, the best option is to remove myself.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Wow, you are wayyyyyyyy over thinking this dog thing. Good luck. I didn't see anyone on this thread doing anything more than pointing out the obvious.