I viewed a wonderful cottage on Saturday morning, in St Kilda. It was heaven, honestly. I’ll post some photos so that you can see why I fell in love with it instantly .. Or .. because I’d need to re-learn that stuff, I’ll re-post the ad ..
Half an hour ago I called the leasing agent to see if the owner had made her choice: Luke told me he was waiting on a call back from her. He also said that he’d read my application and that there might be a problem with my having a cat, as her dog isn’t good with cats. I, unthinking, told him that Boodie is an indoor cat, too precious to be let out where a dog might find him .. And then I did a mental double-take. I sent Luke an SMS, asking “You don’t mean that her dog roams at will in the cottage garden, do you ?” – and he responded in the affirmative !!!
There was a lot of toing and froing by SMS after that: I couldn’t trust myself to speak to him. I told him that even if there being some dog wandering around in the garden of the property wouldn’t scare the shit of out Boodie, I find being asked to pay $300 pw for the dubious pleasure of having the landlord’s dog outside all the time to be outrageous. And that even if I had no cat I wouldn’t proceed because of that.
I cannot indicate how disappointed and unhappy I am. Back to the bloody drawing-board for the umpteenth time .. I’m so tired of it all: so tired of viewings ..
I might just sit down and weep from frustration and unhappiness.
Late addition: here is a screen-grab of the house and the cottage (and the garden):
The ’54’ at the bottom of the main building is what’s now called 54A, and is the cottage, separated from the house by a wall. The separate ‘building’ at the rear of the block is a kind of summerhouse. I’d lay odds, now knowing about the dog’s free run of the garden, that it’s not for the cottage’s tenant but for the owner.
DOWNUNDER WITH BOODZ 
OK, I’m going to say it! If the cottage has pretty much everything else you like, and it does look lovely, and if Boodie is an indoor cat, would a dog wandering outside be a huge problem? Do you hate dogs? How often would the dog be out, and how much would it really bother you once it got used to you. If you ignored it, it’s likely to ignore you and spend most of its time sleeping in the sun. Of course I am a dog person, but unfortunately I have now become allergic to them. I would cope with that situation because I wouldn’t be able to touch the dog. (I was allergic to cats and not dogs when I was a child, but now it has reversed.) Still, it does depend a bit on the dog.
All this said, I am so sorry for you. This is tough.
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I had seen during the viewing a large – very large – dog’s drinking bowl right outside the cottage’s front door. The dog’s name is Kevin. I mean ! I’d also seen some chewed toys lying about on the pathway. I thought all this was to do with the current tenant: it never occurred to me that the landlord, living in the house of which the cottage is the back part and accessed via its own gateway* down the side street, required her tenants to have her bloody dog as part of their lives ! The leasing agent told me by SMS that the dog is always there, except when it’s raining. I find the setup TOTALLY unacceptable. Boodie would go ballistic, yes; but even if Boodie didn’t exist I’d feel the same. It’s taking advantage of her tenants, imo – and I think that even if they didn’t mind ! I expect to be able to “run” my own rented premises in whatever way suits me that harms no-one and nothing; and to have to connect with a large dog whenever I went in or out ? – nup.
*small plan now in my post
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So, are you saying the garden belongs to the cottage and not to the main house? I think if that’s the case the presence of the dog in the tenant’s area should have been made clear in the advertising.
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Yes, that’s right ! – and I ENTIRELY AGREE !! The whole thing was an example of total lack of transparency – why, I can’t understand. Luke says he made an announcement – hang on, I’ll check the SMS .. "Apologies, I did announce it as we walked past the dog kennel on Saturday.” I didn’t hear this at all: I was, in my usual fashion, ahead and possibly already inside the cottage. And what’s more, I never saw the fucking dog kennel !!! I swear that if I had, the penny might have at least begun to drop ..
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That does seem a bit of an ask. Maybe okay for an AirBnB situation but a proper rental? Odd.
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I’m with you, Hev: I told Luke it is the weirdest thing I’ve ever known a landlord to require. But that’s probably not the right word: maybe I meant the most OUTRAGEOUS.
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I feel for you. Looking for a rental property is not easy. Landlords seem to be able to charge what they like and impose all kind of rules and regulations. Have you looked at any social housing aimed at older people? Or moving to a smaller town out of the commuter belt?
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I’ve been on the list of Housing Victoria for quite a while, Jude. But as our triple level of government sees nothing but moolah going OUT in regard to the huge housing problem, there’s a waiting list of years. Housing for older people ? – been there. It was appalling, in my terms – living in a lovely place where not a day went past but they reminded you how your place was actually theirs and you merely a very temporary item. Never again, and that’s not forgetting the mindset in which I found myself. Moving out ? Can’t afford the removal costs: https://wp.me/p6zYMn-5k9.
Doubt anyone could find some aspect of A New Place that I haven’t thought of, honestly ..
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It’s a dilemma. I wouldn’t want to live in a lot of the sheltered housing places, not that there are many available nowadays and most don’t have a manager on site. There are some great retirement villages which come at a huge cost and I don’t see myself in one of those places either. I guess I’m lucky to have a home, but good health and mobility are so essential when you are older. Good luck with the search, there is a place out there for you and I hope you find it soon. xx
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Next time you come out to Oz, Jude, you can visit me in Melbourne instead of Sydney, eh ? – I’ll try not to put on a hostage situation for you, mate. :D
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Haha… that was indeed somewhat surreal! The family are living in Brisbane now. 😊
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and who could blame them ?!
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That is crazy! And you might have to pick up the daily dose of doggie excrement too.
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That had occurred to me too 😱
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Is this the one aspect that HADN’T occurred to me ? [grin]
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Indeed, @HeyJude. Unless they are hyper-vigilant at picking up after their dog.
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..which would mean someone had to be wandering about just outside the cottage several times a day. :(
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🤔
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Why thinking ? – if you’ve seen the little simple plan, you’ll see what I mean ..
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simple little plan?
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At base of original post. Good heavens ! – do you mean to say you don’t re-read the original post (which I annotated) every time you visit ? Why, you must be an—
[grin]
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I have looked twice…. maybe it is not showing on my phone screen.
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It’s because your phone is hanging on to the original version of the post and won’t abandon it for the revised version. You could try emptying your cache ..?
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Pfft… cache smache….
bit tired of emptying the cache
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I have re-checked on the desktop. Yes I see the plan – yes they would have had to walk around the garden to pick up the dogs ‘buziness!’
Thinking emoji—- it is something I rarely do M-R but in this case, I was trying to think of a solution – like a temporary fenced off enclosure inside the garden that would keep the dog out…..and Boodie safe from panic attacks.
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Thinking too deeply, my lamb: the woman who owns the place obviously considers any tenant of the cottage to be lucky to live there, and disports herself about its ‘outside’ as if the tenant doesn’t matter. She’s been able to find dickheads who don’t care about having their privacy taken away. All of which is fair enough AS LONG AS IT IS MADE CLEAR IN ALL ADVERTISING.
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Indeed. She sounds like a waste of your time.
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She was. Utterly. I would kick her in the crotch if I ever met her. [grin]
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Goodness! I didn’t think you would go that far!
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[gasp !] Of course !! How DISGUSTING !!!!!!0
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I think that it is a good decision to not take a place with a dog on the loose in the garden. I just made it through the utter nightmare of having a pit bull next door for a few years; the dog had unlimited access to the yard and barked and charged the fence if it even heard my voice inside the house. If this dog was a barker you would have been pretty unhappy there.
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That is, you might say, Marilyn, putting it mildly ..
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What a shame M-R. The dog wouldn’t bother me much as long as it was quiet, but from the plan I can see the owner would most likely be wandering around that part of the yard and you wouldn’t have much privacy – and that would bother me. It should have been mentioned in the advertisement.
Well, you have a knack of finding places so let’s hope the next one will hit the spot! Nil desperandum! as my grandmother used to say.
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It was my parents who said that, Sue – and there’s a reason for the one-generation-less, I imagine. :D
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I’m disappointed for you, M-R, but the risks were pretty steep. I have a dog and love her to bits, but I don’t think I would expect someone else to live with her. One of these days you’re going to strike gold! It must get very tiring looking, however. :-(
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Yep, I do realize this can’t go on forever; which is what stops me from tearing my hair and screaming, Deb. One of these days, POW ! – right in the kisser .. [TV, don’t recall what]
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