housemate has bought a puppy for student house?

So i'm due to be moving out for the first time into a student house that my friend's dad owns in about a month. The only thing is, she just bought a new puppy for the house and i'm not too keen on it. I love dogs don't get me wrong but our family got a puppy last year and i spent my summer looking after him and puppies are alot of work. I

know i won't be responsible for the puppy but the friend is a fulltime university student and she has a part time job of 20+ hours so i don't see how the dog can be left alone for long periods of time unless it is being left with a relative. I just don't want to be dealing with a puppy that pees and barks a lot.

She didn't tell us that she was getting a puppy to live in the house. All my other housemates are excited about it and it's making me feel like a bit of a killjoy. How should i approach this?

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 1

username2676349

17

Does she know how hard it is to care for a puppy? Maybe just share your concerns with her? She sounds like she has a lot on her plate already, adding a puppy to the mix isn’t a good idea. She would probably be relying on you, and the other housemates, to help out which is unfair.

You might just have to say it straight to her, say you’re not keen on the idea and share your concerns with her. Perhaps she’ll change her mind about getting a dog

Reply 2

DrawTheLine

22

Original post by karm.ld123

So i'm due to be moving out for the first time into a student house that my friend's dad owns in about a month. The only thing is, she just bought a new puppy for the house and i'm not too keen on it. I love dogs don't get me wrong but our family got a puppy last year and i spent my summer looking after him and puppies are alot of work. I

know i won't be responsible for the puppy but the friend is a fulltime university student and she has a part time job of 20+ hours so i don't see how the dog can be left alone for long periods of time unless it is being left with a relative. I just don't want to be dealing with a puppy that pees and barks a lot.

She didn't tell us that she was getting a puppy to live in the house, i don't know how fair that is. All my other housemates are excited about it and it's making me feel like a bit of a killjoy. How should i approach this?

Have a chat with her and raise your concerns. Say you're worried about the puppy potentially destroying items in the house because it will be left alone for long periods, and make it clear that you will not care for the puppy as it isn't yours. Hopefully this will talk some sense into her and she will leave the puppy at home instead of bringing it into the houseshare.

Reply 3

username4892758

OP

3

Original post by Paypurr

Does she know how hard it is to care for a puppy? Maybe just share your concerns with her? She sounds like she has a lot on her plate already, adding a puppy to the mix isn’t a good idea. She would probably be relying on you, and the other housemates, to help out which is unfair.

You might just have to say it straight to her, say you’re not keen on the idea and share your concerns with her. Perhaps she’ll change her mind about getting a dog

Unfortunately she already bought the dog and is moving in with it in a few days, her dad is the landlord so I don't feel like i can bring it up with him :frown:

I didn't find out until today, i wish she had told us beforehand.

Reply 4

doodle_333

19

Your friend is an idiot and the poor puppy is gonna have a *****y 6 months and then have to go through rehoming, probably with behaviour problems from crappy training. Voice your concerns, loudly.

Reply 5

ColtTheWolf

16

Original post by karm.ld123

So i'm due to be moving out for the first time into a student house that my friend's dad owns in about a month. The only thing is, she just bought a new puppy for the house and i'm not too keen on it. I love dogs don't get me wrong but our family got a puppy last year and i spent my summer looking after him and puppies are alot of work. I

know i won't be responsible for the puppy but the friend is a fulltime university student and she has a part time job of 20+ hours so i don't see how the dog can be left alone for long periods of time unless it is being left with a relative. I just don't want to be dealing with a puppy that pees and barks a lot.

She didn't tell us that she was getting a puppy to live in the house. All my other housemates are excited about it and it's making me feel like a bit of a killjoy. How should i approach this?

Has she not even consulted anyone else about this?

I mean, from the perspective of someone who loves dogs, this is incredibly selfish for many reasons.

1) Others may not like dogs or want them around the place they live.
2) What if someone is allergic to them?!

If someone has an allergy and the dog is messing with their quality of life - they can complain to the landlord and the dog will have to be moved. There is no way any sane landlord would put the life of a puppy over their tenants, so realistically, the only solution is to give the puppy away. This is awful, as the puppy may already be forming bonds with people.

I don't get people like this. A puppy isn't some fun thing you can put away in the cupboard when you're finished with it - it's another member of the family that needs constant care and attention - something that it can't get when the owner is working so many hours...

Reply 6

londonmyst

19

It sounds like you don't want to live in the same accommodation as an untrained puppy.
Plus you don't want to be involved with watching or interacting with the dog at all.
The only two options are to either 1) make sure that your friend is aware of how you feel to avoid any surprises when you all move in or 2) find alternative pet free accommodation.

As an undergrad, I used to live in a house-share with four other people and two adult dogs.
Each owner worked full time, couldn't bring their pet to work with them and required a housemate to ensure the dogs were kept apart & never left alone.
The dogs were friendly but did not get along, one viewed the bathroom as his favourite place and was unwilling to vacate outside of meal times to suit a human housemate.
Fun times but not to everyone's personal taste.

Reply 7

SarcAndSpark

20

As it's your friend's dad who's the landlord, I think you have limited options here.

Assuming you haven't committed to a contract, can you find alternative accommodation and explain why?

Otherwise, I think you are just going to have to suck this up, but I would also make it very clear that you don't expect your deposit (if you've paid one) to be reduced for any damage due to the puppy. Beyond that, if everyone else is keen on the puppy and you're not, then just don't get involved. Between all of them, I assume they're capable of meeting the puppy's basic welfare needs?

If it turns out the puppy isn't being looked after properly, then I think you do need to escalate things- and in this case most people's parents will be willing to listen to your point of view, I think.