Pet Size

Friends -

My park came with a 15 lb. pet size restriction. I’ve upped that limit to 20 lbs. to accommodate a few good-quality new tenants. While I understand the need to maintain the ‘no vicious breed’ pet restriction, I do not understand why it is important to keep pet sizes small.

What am I missing? Are 20 lb. animals OK? 25 lb? 40 lb? As long as the pets are not barking/bothering neighbors I do not see a need to keep pets small, but please tell me what I am missing.

Thank you,

–Jefferson-

Some park owners are under the mistaken assumption that larger dogs are more likely to bite. This is not true. It’s a breed and training issue, not size issue.

Anne

I think it is more a “damage and intimidation” factor than anything else. Anne’s right, small dogs often bite but if they do, they too are gone.

Larger dogs just seem to do more damage and often end up on chains outside which makes the park look bad. The larger dogs on chains or even inside fences can deter some tenants who may be more gentile on your property.

Small dogs seem to bring to mind a nice community mindset for people. “Grandma had a little dog just like that one.”

All dogs, and I mean ALL dogs mess on your carpets no matter who trained them. Dogs get sick and have accidents. Larger dogs… well larger “accidents” and they pee higher on the wall.

Tony

We keep the dogs under 20# because we insist that they be inside dogs. Tony is right - most large dogs end up getting chained outside. We also don’t allow fences of any type, so putting them in a pen is not an option.

We had three large dogs when we came here. Two were pit bulls and had to leave, which we blamed on our insurance company. They were both outside all the time. The third was in a pen in the back of the park, and we let that one stay until we were working down there one day and saw it was in terrible shape. We called Animal Control immediately, who came and took it away. They did not give her a citation, which would have meant eviction from the park. Her excuse for the poor shape of the animal was she could not afford to take it to the vet.

Animal control here are policemen, and the main one in charge of animals has become a friend through our church. Jim just spoke with him today about the dogs coming to visit from the next park over, and asked him to monitor the situation, which he will do. It is really tough when park rules don’t allow large dogs or loose dogs and they are running around here anyway!

Big dogs leave big piles of poop - that is a problem. I have a 20# limit /leash law /pooper scooper rules in place - and when someone’s dog escapes the the house and does his business in the neighbors yard - instantly the office phone starts ringing with complaints - it seems to be an issue that iritates good residents more than most anything else.

I have never once had a size restriction on dogs either with my SFRs or my community. Never had a problem but I have gotten some great residents due to allowing big dogs. Anne is correct in that the problem comes with breeding and training. Others are correct in that big dogs leave big messes. OK, get down on the owners. I allow any size, but not breed, into my community. The owners must either build an acceptable looking kennel or stay outside with their dog on a leash. I don’t tolerate dogs that bark and annoy the neighbors. Unpicked up messes get dealt with by me picking it up with a shovel and depositing it at the bottom of their steps. The message gets across really quickly.

As for messes/accidents inside the home, who cares? I don’t own them and all that concerns me is how the outside looks. Rentals, if I had any, might be a different matter yet I never had any serious problems when I rented SFRs.

I’d eliminate any size restrictions but strictly enforce rules regarding leashes and messes. Your applicant base will expand and that’s a really good thing.

Rolf