What to do about roommate's dog?

Question

I moved in with my sister, and then one of my sister's "friends" came to live with us. This girl is overall nice and not that bad of a roommate, but she's not good either. She doesn't work nearly as much as my sister and I do, so she has a lot of free time and uses it to get drunk every night and high on cocaine at least once a week (not kidding). But I could tolerate this because she sleeps over at a guy's place almost every night and therefore isn't around much.

Then she got a dog.

It was supposed to be my sister who got a dog, since she's been wanting one for a long time now and had been doing a lot of research. But then one day our roommate went out and got a dog all on her own without getting prior permission or even letting us meet the dog first. This dog SUCKS. Now, I love animals. We grew up with a fantastic dog and three hilarious cats, and our parents currently have another dog that I absolutely adore. My roommate's dog, on the other hand, is not fully house trained (I've come home multiple times to find **** on the living room floor, and he's also peed in the apartment right in front of me), whines incessantly whenever somebody leaves, and just generally does not come across as being that intelligent (as far as dogs go). And my roommate is NEVER around in the evenings and early mornings to take care of him. She just thinks he's adorable (he's not), and it's driving me insane.

Talking to her about it has proven useless, so what can I do??

Tee · Accepted Answer

This dog simply HAS NOT been trained and is currently not being trained. He is creating his own norm, which will, in fact, become less and less manageable and more and more annoying and more ingrained in him.

Dogs take a lot of care, attention, training, in order to turn them into the funny, loving creatures we adore. Without these SIMPLE things in their lives, they become a problem. Personally, I don't ever blame the dog. It is the lack of attention and care of the owner that places dogs into this mind set.

This is ALL due to the laziness and irresponsibility of the owner. Unfortunately, for you and sister, it will become worse, but for this poor dog it will be much worse for him. He will likely end up in a kill shelter, a product of owner neglect, with bad behaviors and not be very adoptable.....which will lead to being euthanized. Happens all day long.

Is your landlord ok with pets? If not, she could also get you all evicted. The ones that have signed the lease will be the responsible parties.

This was a very inconsiderate thing for this person to do. Down right selfish. I assume this person is VERY self absorbed. I would tell this egocentric person the dog MUST go back to where it came or find another place to live. PERIOD.

add: another thought : If she is doing drugs, she will be in possession of drugs, if not now, from time to time. She will keep these in YOUR apartment. YOU and SIS will be in as much trouble as she if busted.

add : another thought : ".......Talking to her about it has proven useless....." There is NO reason to discuss this with her, she has NO rights. If you need a bit of intimidation thrown in to get her to believe she has gotten herself into a situation, speak with an attorney and see if they could send her a notice on their nice letterhead.

Anonymous · Answer

What does your sister say?  Assuming that your apartment permits dogs and that all 3 of you are on the lease, then majority rules.

OTOH if the new girl isn't on the lease, she has no rights.  Tell her the dog goes--and honestly, she should go with it.  You do realize, don't you, that if the police find cocaine in your apartment, you ALL will be arrested for possession?  And you ALL will likely be kicked out by the landlord?

If the dog is damaging the floor/carpeting, let your landlord know what is going on.  Be aware that whoever is on the lease will be held responsible for damages.

From now on, all roommates should sign an agreement that NO ONE gets any pets without the written permission from all the other roommates. Wouldn't hurt to put the same type of clause in there about boyfriends sleeping over.

TK · Answer

She has booze and illegal drugs around and you focus on a dog?  
Since she is often high or drunk, she would be clueless if the dog wasn't there one morning.  Contact a rescue group, or several, and get the dog accepted by one to go find a new home.  Say that you just don't have time for him, that you've not had the responsibility of training a dog before and didn't realize how much effort it would take.  Hopefully he is cute and one of the rescues will take pity on him.

Land-shark · Answer

Talk to the letting agent or the owner, it may affect their insurance having a dog and a druggie there.

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What to do about roommate's dog?

4 Answers