I have mentioned in previous posts that I have a dog. His name is Takoma and from here on out I am going to refer to him more often, and always by his name. I mean, why shouldn't I... he is my best friend - and most of the time you don't start off a story about a friend by saying: "My friend, ______(insert name)... did such and such." Besides, Takoma will soon be joining me in the move to New York.
I know it's gonna be quite an adjustment for him and I often think about how I am going to make it work. But again, he is my best friend and I just want him to be there to explore and experience New York with me. I plan on jogging him every morning ( a big commitment for a semi-overweight guy who currently doesn't work out) and visiting dog parks as often as possible.
I found this website today that seems to be a great place to meet and get to know other dog owners, dog walkers, dog lovers in the city. I am hoping to find some resources that will help make the transition a little easier. I will report more later after I explore the site.
For now, I leave you with a glamor shot of Takoma in hopes of some cheap comment boosts.
3 comments:
Thanks for the information, Troy. I'm sure it will be helpful. I'm sure having your dog in New York with you will help with the transition, but I agree with you that it will be a huge transition for him. At least you'll have a loyal friend with you!
Im not trying to scare you (sorry this will be a long post) but you should know the other side of the argument. I brought my dog here as well in 2004. About the same size dog, only a mild mannered Lab. He even rode with me the whole way from St. Louis to NYC in a U-Hual.....
Absolute disaster. I can not explain how hard it is here to find an apartment, and it is true that a lot of buildings are dog friendly but most are only up to a certain size dog. My current building allows no dogs. So in an already crazy apartment market you will be cutting out about 65% of them because you have a large dog. I lost the apartment I really wanted, and was considered dog friendly, because if it is between you with dog and an applicant without a dog you will lose every time.
My company paid for a broker so I was lucky and they worked hard for me to find an apt that would take Maverick so it is possible. Of course the broker fee was $2000, thank god I did not have to pay that.
Maverick was an inside dog so I assumed he would be ok. There are larger dogs here but everyone I have met were raised here. It is tough for a dog to be raised in the Midwest then learn to poop on concrete, and the constant stimulation of what was going on around him completely freaked him out. Plus I was now paying 1500 a month for a 300 square foot studio apartment, it was really so unfair. I still feel like an ass for bringing him.
Every apartment we had in St. Louis the front door of the Apt lead outside. Here they all lead to an inside hallway. What happened was he thought the apt building was a house and I was locking him in a small room (which was kind of true) so he spent every day clawing at the door (which had never done before anywhere) and barking to get to the people he could hear in the hallway. Every day I came home from work, stressed out enough from just moving here I had to clean up wood shavings, clean up the pee (before I moved he was completely potty trained)and apologize to my pissed off neighbors. Its not hard to evict people here, and realizing he was about 2 days away from digging through the entire door I had to get rid of him.
I was so lucky because my mom agreed to take him how lived in Kansas City, but on my first full weekend living in New York guess who had to rent a car and drive to KC and back. Not a short drive. Anyway, just a word (ok a lot of words) of caution before you bring him.
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