Well, the dogs are very important to me and going through this has been an experience I would never wish on anyone. It sounds so easy... just move out. Get a second job, rent your place out. I wish it were as easy as it sounds. I owe 6,100 on it, bought it for 13,000. It's too old to move and be guaranteed a leak-free reseal upon set up elsewhere because of it's age. I have four kids at home and would actually need a separate job to pay daycare. Daycare here is $19.00 a day x 4 = $76.00 x 5 days = $380.00! Not enough equity in the home to do a home equity loan... work for a bank and have already looked into that. If time were on my side, I could house hunt, unfortunately, it is not. Mike is giving me a couple extra weeks as I told him I wanted to try to sell my dogs instead of give them away to recoup some of the money I've invested in them. I also have another option that has been graciously offered to me by a fellow board user here. I don't know if she wants her name mentioned so I will not mention it, but she has offered to keep my dog for me until I can make other arrangements for housing. I'm seriously considering this as an alternative. I've also suggested to my landlord that he purchase my double-wide and I'd move and get out of his hair.

Oh yeah, the rules state that I can't rent my home out, I have to either sell it or continue to be the renter. Not sure why that is, probably another stupid New York State Law.

David:

Isn't it cold in IL? I think I'll move south!

James... BlackWater, eh? Dangerous Job, brave man! Thank you for your offer to purchase my Training DVDs, etc., but I am going to keep them. Even if things don't work out to my advantage at this point in time, I will own a dog again and the DVDs will be watched again and again. It was kind of you to offer.

Kristina

i know it's hard. i wasn't trying to make it sound easy. it's just that facing the facts is the only thing that can work at this point.

i am really truly sorry you find yourself in this situation. i do empathize. just trying to problem solve with you--not thinking it's "easy" at all!

is there any chance the landlord will buy your unit? that sounds like a good option!

of course, finding a place to live for a family of five and two dogs isn't easy, either...

please do talk your state board of housing, county or city grants office, and see if they have or know of any affordable home ownership programs that could help you.

kristina:

here's a link that might be very helpful to you:

http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/general/affhsg.htm

I think if you have a place for your dogs to stay temporarily, especially with someone you can trust, hooray! That will at least get you some time to figure things out.

Just for a boost in the "I can do this" category, when I was in between places that allowed dogs, I once stayed in a tent for 2 weeks on my parents land with my dog, (they wouldn't let the dog in the house). Of course, the weather was perfect, thank god, but I was filled with a fierce determination to keep my dog. I did find a place (Of course).

I wish you the best. Your situation is a bit different than mine was at the time, obviously, children are top priority. When everything settles, I hope for you a better, "stronger" living situation, for you, children AND dogs. FWIW, I think it sucks that you are not allowed to rent to someone else.

Kristina, I'm glad to hear someone from this board has offered you a place to keep your dogs for now. I think the least your landlord could do would be to agree to buy you out. I still think that you should talk to your sons' doctor about a note regarding the dogs (for the future). I have to say, at least here in California, doctors do see the benefits of canine therapy & are willing to write such notes. Hopefully the doctors in New York are equally educated. Please don't stop posting, I am sure we all want to see you, your kids & dogs all together again asap.

Thank you, Susan. You are all so very wonderful and I won't be a stranger to the boards. I've learned so much from everyone here and have much yet to learn. And yes, I am going to talk to Eric's doctor about the Emotional Support Dog for future future times.

Kristina

I want to thank everyone for there ideas, support and offers of help.

As you all know, this was a very tough situation for me and my family to face. As you know, I did have an offer from a fellow board user to keep my GS and from another that offered to foster both until I could get out from under my present situation. I gave that much consideration and though some stated that they would never give up their dogs, no matter what, I felt that rehoming them permanently was the only fair solution for the dogs. I was able to place them in homes where we will be able to visit whenever we would like. I know that financially, I will not be in a position to take them back in the foreseeable future. The reason we bought a pup instead an adult GS was that I wanted the pup and my children to grow up together. Having someone foster the dogs for me for 6 months to a year would not be fair to the children or to the dogs... at least that is how I preceived it.

Getting the dog or dogs declared emotional support dogs might have worked had I addressed this prior to being told we had to get rid of the dogs, but I can see a lawyer ripping that apart had it come down to that.

I am not discounting any of the advise I have received here. All of your thoughts and ideas were considered and your support means the world to me.

Bella left us last Saturday and is with friends of my parents. Their GS died at 11 in their arms from a blood clot. They brought their photo album with them and it was obvious they loved their dog greatly. I talked to my mother and she said they would be wonderful with her. My kids have all been to see the nurse at their school as she is the niece of the folks who have Bella. She assures them that Bella is doing great. I have also phoned them twice since she left. She is doing wonderfully, but their cat is terrified of her. Bella is still very much a puppy and wants to play with everything. The cat takes off for the basement with it's tail tucked between its legs.

Niko left us yesterday and went to a co-workers home. We took him over so my kids could see where he would be living and Kim (my co-worker) asked Eric how he would like her to take care of Niko. She is going to make a photo album for Eric and we are all welcome to visit whenever we would like. She even told Eric that he could take him for the day now and again if he would like.

Both were tearful goodbyes and they will never be forgotten. My house seems so empty now without them. No barking when someone knocks on the door, no getting up in the middle of the night for potty time, no tug of war, no dogs wrestling in the yard. I feel as if a part of me is missing, but am glad that they are with people that will love them and take care of them and will allow us visitation.

Again, thanks to all of you for being a shoulder when I needed one and an ear to listen to me. I will still be stopping by the boards from time to time and let everyone know how the dogs are doing and to read up on all of your's.

Thank you,

Kristina

Oh I feel your pain but I can tell from your post that you know that you made the right choices for your dogs and that you won't feel guilty about them.

I have just re-homed a rabbit that my son wasn't caring for properly and had to put to sleep my cat of (10) years, as she was going senile and getting sick to boot.

It always feels a bit empty for a while. Good Luck and Stay In Touch!