What would you do?

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 12:33 am

Dh & I are looking to move house & are really interested in a new developement that has lots of dog friendly trails, pavements to walk on & even a OLA. We took Millie & Alf up to 'road test' the place & were rather put off by a sign saying pitbulls were banned from the OLA. The rules of the dog park were similar to most others I've seen in the King county / Seattle area with regard to removing aggressive dogs, having a leash for each dog in there, dogs under owners control etc etc. So why practise bred discrimination? To me, it's not much of a stretch to see chows banned as well.... or am I being paranoid? DH was wondering if this is even legal?

Would you buy & move in & potentially not be able to use the OLA you live by or move on from the developement??? Just needing some perpective really

Dogdad · Post by **Dogdad** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 3:11 am

Could you contact them and ask why the have a ban and ask them if other dogs are undesireable. I would do some research before buying

David

Chow Chow Mama · Post by **Chow Chow Mama** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 5:58 am

It is possible that even if Chows aren't banned right now, if you bought a house and someone saw you walking Alf and Millie and thinks all Chows are the devil and complains, they could add to the ban and then you'd be out of your house.

vicster605 · Post by **vicster605** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:14 am

I agree with Dogdad and Chow Chow Mama, I would do some investigating first.....who made the rules(breed ban) and why...and if they decide to change them then what.....to me those are reasonable questions to ask.....it would suck to buy and then have them change the rules on you and make some of the reasons you decided to buy there, the very reasons you don't like it there later and have to move

TJordan · Post by **TJordan** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:14 am

I agree with everyone else. I would certainly do some serious checking. I would hate to get stuck in that situation if they decided your babies weren't accepted. Perhaps linger and see what kind of people and dogas are about. See what peoples reactions to them are.

coleywoley · Post by **coleywoley** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:42 am

If you already lived there with your chowkids and a ban was placed would you not be grandfathered in? I agree with the others that you need to do some research with whoever is doing the development before you start thinking of buying. In the very least I would get it written that you have the chows moving in and then the developer is aware of that fact in case something comes up later.

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 10:47 am

These were exactly my thoughts. It's not much of a stretch to see the ban extended & chows being on the list

I'm going to a couple of open houses there today & I'm going to find out the person to approach about this. I want to know if it's based on a fight in the OLA, a 'dangerous dog' list or pure predudice. That should give an indication of what I'm dealing with.

The people in the OLA on Friday were nice, mainly concerned it was so muddy & Millie would get dirty

JAYGOW1 · Post by **JAYGOW1** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 5:42 pm

Always keepin mind that dog trails/parks can be filled with MANY doggie diseases. Lots of viruses, etc , are passed between canines in these environments.

PS. I highly doubt that if they would decide to ban Chows, that you would be "grandfathered" in. Most likely, they would give you a notice, with a time frame for compliance.

A simple call to a lawyer would be in order before a sizely investment is made.

Good luck !!

Post by **Auddymay** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 5:49 pm

What is an OLA?

Jeff&Peks · Post by **Jeff&Peks** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 6:01 pm

If the dog park is part of the new development and you move in I would think you would be part of saying what goes on with the community dog park. I don't like Dog Parks even though I did bring Pekoe to them for years but the community seeing your Chows around the neighborhood should give the local Chow haters a differant opinion of Chows.

Every dog park basically discriminates against breeds even though they don't specify a breed, Chow's and Pitts are what they are talking about when they say No dogs considered viscous are allowed. The word Considered means, Chow, Pitts, Dobermans, GSD's, Rotts, what ever the insurance list says.

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 6:45 pm

Auddymay wrote:What is an OLA?

Off Leash Area Auddy

Well, I've found a realtor.... The one with the chow & chow mix of course. Had a lovely time chatting about chows, doing the picture swap etc. Not sure about the house though LOL! She also lives on the developement & is getting all the relevant documentation together for me to look at. FIL is a lawer so will ask him about it.....

I generally only take M&A to OLA when they are quiet but it's the principle to be honest

TJordan · Post by **TJordan** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:18 pm

Realtors, now that is a breed that might need to be banned LOL, Just kidding , sort of!!

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:26 pm

TJordan wrote:Realtors, now that is a breed that might need to be banned LOL, Just kidding , sort of!!

No, I'm with you. They are just SO agressive

chow fancier · Post by **chow fancier** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:31 pm

I think they may be overpopulated, which leads to aggression as they compete for limited resources.

Rowlee · Post by **Rowlee** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:33 pm

Oh Layla, that sucks. Be very, very careful and investigate this place thoroughly before investing. I am with DH, is it even legal to ban a certain type of breed from a dog park?

KathrynH · Post by **KathrynH** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:42 pm

Certain things can be included/negotiated in a contract, couldn't you negotiate in the contract (when buying the house) that if such a time were to come that hey might ban Chows, that you would be excluded/ granfathered in?

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:01 pm

@ chow fancier

The contract negotiations are a good point but the thing is, i'm not really interested in being grandfathered to be honest. It's discrimination in general that annoys me. I could ignore the pitbull thing but, to me that is wrong as well. I'm a firm believer in this message of this poem

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

chow fancier · Post by **chow fancier** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:03 pm

Amen Layla

Jeff&Peks · Post by **Jeff&Peks** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:49 pm

Layla wrote: @ chow fancier

The contract negotiations are a good point but the thing is, i'm not really interested in being grandfathered to be honest. It's discrimination in general that annoys me. I could ignore the pitbull thing but, to me that is wrong as well. I'm a firm believer in this message of this poem

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

I like that also but as once was said "It takes action to get action" (Melcom X I believe) If your going by principle and not moving into the community you have done nothing to solve the problem, basically you avoided the problem. Someone is going to buy the house no matter what so the dog park and views will go on as is. If you move in to the community you are in a position to do something about it.

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:53 pm

I agree Jeff. If we don't buy there it will not be because of that I think. I'll be doing something about it whether we buy or not.

Igor · Post by **Igor** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 9:23 pm

Yes, make your decision based on how do you like place and house. Dog park issue will be resolved I'm sure. Anyway Seattle and vicinity is one of the best place for our dogs one can imagine.
Just curiousity, where is this development?

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 9:36 pm

Igor wrote:Just curiousity, where is this development?

Issaquah Highland Igor. We live on Mercer Island at the moment & have wanted to move to a bigger community. DH works for Microsoft in Redmond so will not live there. Issy was the next option. It's got a lot going for it apart from this

Jeff&Peks · Post by **Jeff&Peks** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 9:43 pm

Igor wrote:Yes, make your decision based on how do you like place and house. Dog park issue will be resolved I'm sure. Anyway Seattle and vicinity is one of the best place for our dogs one can imagine.
Just curiousity, where is this development?

Somewhere in the archives I posted an article with the top ten dog friendly cities in the US, Seattle and San Francisco were in the top 5 I think they were the top two If I remember right.

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 10:12 pm

Seattle generally is Jeff. I think thay maybe one of the reasons I was shocked to see this....

Igor · Post by **Igor** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 10:25 pm

I like Issaquah, have some friends living there. There are a lot of god trails around to walk your dogs, run and bike.
I love Mercer Island too, may be there is not as much open space there as to the east.
As you can imagine I work for Microsoft too. So we can organize chow lovers club at Microsoft. We live in the part of Redmond which is called Education Hill. I see a lot of new constructions around us. You can also take a look at north part of Redmond.
God luck in your house hunt.