"It's either get rid of the dog, or find somewhere else"

Happy Dead Week! (For those of us in college)

So with it being SO CLOSE to the end of the school year and with summer just around the corner, it naturally came to be about that time where some of us need to find somewhere else to live. While I listened to countless amount of people complain and stress over who they were going to live with and where they were going to live, I thought I had the upper-hand. I already knew who I was going to live with, and we thought we would just stay at the same place where Kyzer grew up. He was already approved, so that shouldn’t be a problem, right? WRONG.

Well, if you are in college and know that wherever you live for the next few years is probably temporary, I suggest that if you ABSOLUTELY cannot wait and want a dog…get one that weighs no more than 10 pounds. 

When Kyzer was first registered at this apartment, he wasn’t fully grown yet and only weighed 18 pounds. We weren’t aware that the apartment complex would need an updated weight, but we found out a few days ago (when we basically went to sign the lease) that before they could approve him, we needed a recent weight. When we went to the vet about two months ago he weighed 54 pounds. The complex had a max weight of 50, but we didn’t think 4 pounds would cause such a headache. Once again…WRONG.

They suggested we run and starve our dog to get him under 50 pounds.

Along with school being stressful, as well as the stress of not knowing what I’m doing with my life, I had to add to the list of finding somewhere else to live by the end of May. I’m not sure about most towns, but I’ll fill you in on Lincoln: A lot of apartment complexes don’t allow dogs, let alone pets, or if they do, they need to weigh less than 35 pounds. Kyzer barely comes up to my knee (he is a medium size dog) and he weighs 50 pounds, I can’t even think how small a dog has to be to weigh only 35. 

So time and time again throughout this blog where I suggested to do your research and make sure you have a plan before just buying a dog, just remember I’ve learned from first-hand experience. Kyzer is one of the best things in my life and I can’t imagine it without him, but if I had been more realistic about this time in my life, and how living situations are usually always temporary, I would have reconsidered. Having a dog is a commitment, and we are not the type of people who are willing to give him up because the apartment complex says we can't have him. 

So before buying a dog and not only you getting attached, but the dog getting even more attached, evaluate your living situation and how permanent it is. Make sure that places in your area accept dogs the full-grown size your dog will become. We’re lucky to be able to try and make it work to find somewhere else to live, but some people aren’t always lucky. And you really don’t want to come to a point where you have to choose between not having anywhere to live…or giving up your dog.

~Kathryn and Kyzer