Dog Urination Outside of Apartment Door

[t.bo]

Hello,

I live in Idaho and am currently under a one-year lease at a large apartment complex. Each building has 3 floors with 5 apts on each floor. There is a a concrete stair landing for each of the floors (~5x5 feet wide/deep), so all of the front doors are in one common area. My neighbor who has a puppy and an adult dog has decided she is too lazy to walk down the one set of stairs to our 2nd floor apartments (there are numerous pet relieving areas and grass patches in our complex) and has begun letting her dog urinate on the stair landing where all of our doors are. This has occurred any time her dogs have to pee for the last three weeks. A week and a half ago I alerted the property manager and sent over pictures (I have been documenting everything with photos). She was very apologetic and said the issue would be taken care of and passed the issue down to the leasing staff members who work in an office in the complex. The urination has not stopped, so my fiance went into the office and brought the issue back up. The office worker said that our neighbor "was very nice" and "might have some mobility issues". She also stated the girl was moving out this weekend anyways. The neighbor has not moved out and the peeing has continued/ amped up and now seems to be intentionally happening in front of/ on our door. What do we do? Is this grounds to break the lease and move out? Do we contact local authorities?

We have dozens of photos with timestamps to prove that this has continued after alerting apartment staff members.

 

[adjusterjack]

Try the local board of health or animal control.

If that doesn't work, put your complaint in writing to the building OWNER, not the property manager.

 

[FarmerJ]

If your going to put complaints on real paper then keep a copy stapled to your postal receipts for your records and send it via certificate of mailing ( its simple postal receipt that shows your name and address and the name and address of someone you have sent mail to and your receipt is stamped with the date it was accepted by the post office for delivery. OR I suggest you might want to go to a local hardware store that sells pet repellants that will work outside and treat that area and maybe rover will pee right on the pet owners own doorstep instead if rover doesn't like the smell post treatment of the common area stair.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Hello,

I live in Idaho and am currently under a one-year lease at a large apartment complex. Each building has 3 floors with 5 apts on each floor. There is a a concrete stair landing for each of the floors (~5x5 feet wide/deep), so all of the front doors are in one common area. My neighbor who has a puppy and an adult dog has decided she is too lazy to walk down the one set of stairs to our 2nd floor apartments (there are numerous pet relieving areas and grass patches in our complex) and has begun letting her dog urinate on the stair landing where all of our doors are. This has occurred any time her dogs have to pee for the last three weeks. A week and a half ago I alerted the property manager and sent over pictures (I have been documenting everything with photos). She was very apologetic and said the issue would be taken care of and passed the issue down to the leasing staff members who work in an office in the complex. The urination has not stopped, so my fiance went into the office and brought the issue back up. The office worker said that our neighbor "was very nice" and "might have some mobility issues". She also stated the girl was moving out this weekend anyways. The neighbor has not moved out and the peeing has continued/ amped up and now seems to be intentionally happening in front of/ on our door. What do we do? Is this grounds to break the lease and move out? Do we contact local authorities?

We have dozens of photos with timestamps to prove that this has continued after alerting apartment staff members.

So, what is it? Is she lazy, or does she have mobility issues?

How about you talk to the neighbor with the dogs, tell her you heard that she had mobility issues, and you would like to help with the dogs.

If she tells you, "MYOB, you [insert insult], there's nothing wrong with me. And my dogs have every right to do their thing where they feel like it" - well, you tried.

But what if she really is in sad shape? Some handicaps aren't immediately visible. And while I agree that people should not acquire a puppy if they already can't manage their dog, which is more important: getting rid of dog pee, etc. in common areas, or sticking it to your neighbor?

I have observed that helping someone solve a problem can enrich your life much more that sticking it to them - at the very least, being helpful can help with your blood pressure.

 

[quincy]

Sometimes it is the dog and not the dog owner who has mobility issues. I know a few of the old dogs we have had often could not control their bladders.

 

[FarmerJ]

Our 20 year old beagle cant just jump up on the couch or bed as easily as she used to and yes she sometimes is in such a hurry she poops on the back steps , but no one else regularly but us uses those steps. Contact management in a written on real paper letter or consider treating the area with a pet repellant, even cayenne pepper will repel animals.

 

[quincy]

Our 20 year old beagle cant just jump up on the couch or bed as easily as she used to and yes she sometimes is in such a hurry she poops on the back steps , but no one else regularly but us uses those steps. Contact management in a written on real paper letter or consider treating the area with a pet repellant, even cayenne pepper will repel animals.

While I don't argue that this is something that needs to be addressed with apartment management, my point was that some dogs cannot control their bladder - and no pet repellent is going to stop the dog from urinating.

If it is the dog and not the dog owner who is the problem, a gift to the dog owner of dog diapers could help more than using pet repellents.

 

[LdiJ]

Sometimes it is the dog and not the dog owner who has mobility issues. I know a few of the old dogs we have had often could not control their bladders.

Or handle stairs.

 

[quincy]

Or handle stairs.

Right. Some dogs, just like some people, can have a difficult time with stairs.

This, of course, does not excuse the dog messes but knowing why the dog/dog owner is not making it outside helps in finding solution.

I like Red's suggestions.

 

[286CSO]

Hello,

I live in Idaho and am currently under a one-year lease at a large apartment complex. Each building has 3 floors with 5 apts on each floor. There is a a concrete stair landing for each of the floors (~5x5 feet wide/deep), so all of the front doors are in one common area. My neighbor who has a puppy and an adult dog has decided she is too lazy to walk down the one set of stairs to our 2nd floor apartments (there are numerous pet relieving areas and grass patches in our complex) and has begun letting her dog urinate on the stair landing where all of our doors are. This has occurred any time her dogs have to pee for the last three weeks. A week and a half ago I alerted the property manager and sent over pictures (I have been documenting everything with photos). She was very apologetic and said the issue would be taken care of and passed the issue down to the leasing staff members who work in an office in the complex. The urination has not stopped, so my fiance went into the office and brought the issue back up. The office worker said that our neighbor "was very nice" and "might have some mobility issues". She also stated the girl was moving out this weekend anyways. The neighbor has not moved out and the peeing has continued/ amped up and now seems to be intentionally happening in front of/ on our door. What do we do? Is this grounds to break the lease and move out? Do we contact local authorities?
We have dozens of photos with timestamps to prove that this has continued after alerting apartment staff members.

Maybe she broke her foot in three places and can’t. (Maybe I’m projecting a bit. Maybe.)

Did you try talking nicely to your neighbor first? You know “before holding a grudge, hold a conversation” and all that.