In the Doghouse — Time for a Change

July 26, 2010

My dogs are barking when I leave them at home and it’s annoying the neighbor.  Although I don’t let them out before 6:30 in the morning, when I am fixing their breakfast at around 6:00, they bark — with the summertime windows open, my neighbors can hear them.  Holmes is at the vet’s being debarked as I type.  Leidy (who can have a very annoying bark) is at the office with me.  Chase and Inca (who has been debarked) are at home.  I love my neighbors and am distraught that we are annoying them.  I really can’t deal with the issues any longer.  Since I intend to grow old with my dogs, it’s time for me to move.

I contacted a client who deals in real estate in outlying areas.  So, hopefully, I can work a trade of my townhouse for a house on an acre in one of the surrounding, dog friendly counties.  I’m hoping for Valencia county which is south of Albuquerque — no canyons to drive through to get to the office.  It will be a half hour to and from work, but otherwise everyone will be more comfortable.  The dogs will have room to really run — and — maybe I can get me a tractor [say this with a cracker barrel accent]!  I also want a BIG garage or barn.  I have only a one car garage at the townhouse which is not enough for all my junk.  I can create an agility field so we can all play, and I can set up a couple of dog runs to separate the critters when they need separating.

More later.


11 Comments

  1. Red Dog Mom says:

    I’m so sorry to hear this. It’s something I worry about all the time too. I’ll cross my fingers you can find the perfect property for you and the baddogs.

  2. c-myste says:

    Yep, you need a bigger garage. An acre sounds like a good size (better than 5) and a 1/2 hour commute isn’t bad.

  3. Lani says:

    Oooh, house hunting! Fun (or it’s fun to watch the show on HGTV, anyway). I’m sure the dogs will appreciate the room to roam.

    Oh, and if you do get a tractor, make sure it’s a John Deere.

  4. Shep says:

    You know, add me to that list of worriers. I never had a single issue, but all of a sudden we have a brand new house right up against our dog run fence. The dogs are quiet most of the day and when they go out if they start barking, they march right back in. But still, I just worry, so we’ve been looking at acreage now.

    That and it would save a lot of money to have my horses at home. 🙂

  5. Le'o says:

    Best of luck in your property search. I don’t envy anyone going through the process of househunting and moving but I’ve always done it with little kids in tow. Now I may complain about maintenance on the house and the weeds but I love having our little piece of land. And even with only a couple of acres you can have enough sheep or ducks for the pups to play with. They help with the weeds too. 🙂

  6. We moved out to three acres just under two years ago. We enjoy it, although 2/3 of it is woods. We are in a rural subdivision, but the lots are very large. We overlook the Mississippi River which is flooding right now, but we are up on the bluff. Kim has a John Deere tractor of course. Kim just broke her wrist quite severely and is casted and couch bound. One word of caution about the country…ask about coyotes and other such animals. We have to be very careful when we take the dogs out in the fenced back yard at night, we shine bright lights. And composting attracts coyotes. Happy house hunting. And we used to live in a condo too.

  7. Kim Smith says:

    OH my, maybe we can put you on the road with Chase. I hope you find a great place real soon.
    Kim and the k9kids in Ohio

  8. Cheryl Kienast says:

    Aahh . . . country life! I love it! That’s why I moved from the Denver area to Tennessee. I could afford acreage! Whoo-hoo! It’s a lot more work than a condo as stuff insists on growing out here. I have about 3 1/2 acres with the back and one side surrounded by woods. The neighbors can hear my dogs when they bark at the sheep or the deer, but are far enough away that they can only hear them if they are outside and not running their lawn tractors–which they do almost daily. I’m only 20-25 minutes from downtown Knoxville where I work so it’s perfect! I set up an agility area — small with just a few jumps and weaves — when I’m training. Right now, though, the sheep and pony have knocked all the bars down, so I’ll have to go set it up again when I’m ready to train. When I was looking at property, I went and talked to the neighbors before putting a bid on anything to ask if they would have an issue with dogs next door. Lots of luck on finding something appropriate!

    Hugs,

    Cheryl

    P.S. If Chase weren’t coming out here to live for a while, I’d be trying for Rosie. What a CUTIE-PIE!

  9. Kathy M. says:

    Wow…pretty exciting! Sounds like a great place for future puppy parties! Good luck finding just the right property!

  10. Tony says:

    Hope it works out for you & the doggys