Indy and the Condo - All's Quiet on the Eastern Front

 

Here she is, 5:15 on a Saturday evening, and she looks pooped out.  Well, it has been about 10 days since we got home, and everything is finally caught up, and we are all pooped out.  But with ALL we have gone through with the Condo Association with Skruffy and with Bubba, just how is Indy doing being in the Condo?

Friday I get the motorhome into storage.  There are a few minor items still in there that need to come to the condo, but nothing that can't fit in one bag.  So Saturday I decided to print out the forms needed to make Indy 'legal' in the Condo as a service dog...and the printer does not work.  Something about the ink head.  So I soak the ink head for a few days in Rubbing Alcohol, and put in new cartridges, all to no avail. We rarely print anything, and the Cannon Printer probably had not printed more than a few hundred pages during its lifetime.  It has now been replaced with a HP printer.  Submitted the forms Wednesday, and had a talk with Ken the maintenance person who the board has used as a liaison between them and us in the past. He told me that with the new President, AND with the person who bought a unit about six doors down from us who also has a Service Dog, that he did not expect any problem whatsoever with the Board this time since they just went through it.  (Kinda implied that they talked to the lawyers again.)  Well, so far, so good on that front.  (Eastern Front since we are in Florida.)

On Monday Indy and I dropped Marcia off at Bible Study, and went over to the motorhome...a weekly thing while it is in storage.  I run the engine to get the batteries up to snuff (they did not need it this time since it had only been there for 3 days), but Indy was a bit excited to see that we still have the motorhome.  She settled right in while I listened to the radio and I caught up on emails and blogs and stuff.  90 minutes later we were in the parking lot of the church waiting for Marcia.

The first thing on Marcia's mind after getting home was getting her hair cut after five months of growth.  She was able to land a Saturday appointment (week ago), and here is Indy looking at the entrance of the beauty shop looking for Marcia to come out.

And here is the result.  (Picture taken with my phone...had I had the camera out she would have never looked over at me.)

On Sunday I knew that Indy was dying to run around for a bit.  So I took her over the Public Library where they have a back lawn, nearly fenced in, that I could allow her off leash for a good running around.  She really enjoyed it.  She also enjoyed seeing the Sand Hill Cranes that frequent the pond in front of the Library.  Amazingly, she did not bark at all.

On Wednesday I gave Indy her first Condo haircut.  She did pretty good since this was her second haircut that I had given her.  Another few and she will be an old pro at it.  So on Thursday I took her to the Dog Park in Tarpon Springs.  Here (above) she is greeting a new arrival.  This dog is 12 years old and they frequent the Dog Park just about every day.

In this picture she is looking at the adjoining park for larger dogs.  Amazingly, she did not bark once.  It was a good first visit, and we will be back soon.  She did not "RUN" like she does, but she got her exercise.  By the third of fourth visit she will be so eager to get out of the car when I pull up...

Above is a 30 second video of Indy in the Condo.  A few times a day she gets into this mood and she just starts running around the Condo.  She might have her Squirrel toy, or her favorite ball, or a chew stick.  Sometimes she just runs for no reason whatsoever. This time she had the remains of a chew stick.  If you listen to the video at the end I say "Thanks Sis", in reference to Sandy who found Indy and helped us get her.  What a joy of love she has been...and it has only been a few months now!

Ok, Here We Go Again -- Service Animal and Condo Board

 

Back in 2014 we faced a huge battle getting Skruffy approved as a Service Dog with the Condo Association.  Well, unfortunately, the Association, run by a different person this time, is still 'Barking' at the idea.  (pun intended)

First, back in 2018, with a new president at the helm, we were asked to have Marcia re-certified as having a disability and a need for an emotional needs dog.  I sent off a scathing letter which said, in part, that we did not have a emotional needs dog, we have a service dog...and that the Condo Association already had a letter from a Neurologist which clearly stated that she has MS, that she needs the services of a dog, and frankly we were offended by the idea that Marcia would have to re-certify...MS is for life, it does not go away.  I threatened with another HUD complaint if they pursued the matter any more, and never heard back from them.

 

So today we got a Registered Letter, which the post office tried to drop off yesterday but we were at Marcia's Doctor's appointment (which went very well, by-the-way), so at 10:30 I go over to the post office and as I expected, it was a letter from the Condo Association.  They wanted us to fill out a full page application pertaining to Bubba, and then, on top of that, take a two page application to the doctor for him to fill out pertaining to Marcia.  So I get back home, and talk to Marcia, and then head off to the Association President's place to see if I could talk sense into her.  We had submitted the same form for Bubba which was agreed on back in July of 2014...and she accuses me of using the Association's Letterhead (which was part of the form) without their permission!  Well, if you know me, that set me off.  I tried to tell her that this form is the form agreed to back in 2014, and she said "no, it was not", even though she was not on the board back then.  I told her I would abide by the 2014 agreement, and I would put that in writing and she could send that off to their lawyers.   

 

So I go through all my paperwork from before, write a two page letter explaining how they are not following HUD rules, not following ADA procedures, and that we were not notified of the new form, nor was anyone else living at the condos notified, and that we will NEVER have Marcia re-certified, and "IF" they have a new form pertaining to a dog, that we would consider using that form "IF" it followed HUD and ADA rules and procedures.  I included this line:

"Association Presidents and Board Members come and go, MS does not go away. HUD is very clear that once the Association Board knows that she is disabled, and needs a service dog, that they MUST provide a waiver to the “no pet” rule."

The real bad thing about it is that this has brought undo stress upon Marcia, again.  Stress and MS do not mix well at all.  Attached to my two page letter was six different items, most multiple pages, where I highlighted HUD Rules which were being violated, including one which included the idea that all of this might be in retaliation to our HUD complaint, which is a major violation of the law.  Now the ball is in their court...let's see how they want to play it.


 

Skruffy’s Ninth Anniversary

Sister’s House, Citrus Heights, CA

Nine years ago this month this little critter came into my life.  Above Skruffy is sitting in my old office at the library sticking her tongue out at the cruel world that she left behind when she came into my life.    You see, she was “rescued” off the streets of Pine Bluff Arkansas…where for nearly 3 weeks she had been living under construction equipment such as large trucks, tractors, and other equipment where she had been abandoned by her former owners.  She had just had a liter of pups, and the vet felt she was just over 1 years old.  The construction people gave her the name Skruffy, I decided to keep it spelling it with a “K” instead of a “C”.   Below is a picture of her after I had her for a few months, taken care of her heartworms, had her fixed, and groomed.  I told them to leave her face looking “Skruffy”, and they did. 

For 16 months she went to the library with me day and night…even went on library trip to Colorado where I put her into Doggie Day Care during the day while I was in meetings.  For the first few months when she was in my office, if I had to leave to talk to a staff member, fix a computer, whatever, I would have to shut my door.  She would start barking fairly quickly, but it got better with time and she was able to stay in the office when I left it with the door open…but within ten minutes she would let out a quick bark or two…wait…and repeat.  Staff would go by and say, “He will be right back Skruffy…”, and that would quiet her down…for about 5 minutes, and then she would repeat her two quick barks.  “IF” my absence turned out to be a longer one than I anticipated, I would take her down to the bottom floor staff area and she would do just fine sitting in an office with a staff member.  When Marcia and I married in February 2011, along with Marcia came Bubba…and Bubba has allowed us to leave Skruffy without her going crazy because she was “alone”.   A year later we were on the road for 7-9 months each year.

On the road in Texas, almost blown out of a tree…

On the road to Crater Lake Nation Park, Oregon

On the road to Glacier National Park, Montana

On the road to Yosemite National Park, California

On the road entering the Alaskan Highway, Dawson Creek, BC

One the road being the chief navigator, California Desert

On the road being the driver in the snow and rain…on the way to Alaska

On the road searching for grass with Bubba, California Desert

Skruffy’s road almost comes to an end…Soldotna, Alaska

Skruffy and Bubba’s FAVORITE moment of each day in Sacramento
(now she gets about 1/2 ounce of pork due to diabetes, followed by 

her breakfast and her breakfast shot of insulin)

And although Skruffy is the one in many of our photos as we visit places, BOTH Skruffy and Bubba are “STARS” in our eyes. 

(Bubba just can’t sit there, he wants to wander off)

Skruffy helping Marcia, Service Dog with phone at the ready (pink bag on her back)

Nope…she isn’t getting any birthday cake, just more love…

Skruffy One – Condo Zero

At the end of March I blogged that we had to file a HUD complaint against the Condo due to conditions the Condo Association was trying to force on us as a condition to them allowing a service dog to live with us.  Of course the very next day I blogged about the fire which wiped out our motorhome….and Skruffy seemed to be on the back burner.  However, she was not.  We filed our complaint around March 24th.  By mid April our lawyer, who is really a real estate lawyer, asked if he could back out of the Service Dog issue, and we agreed…..if we needed a lawyer for this, we would hire one which deals with Service Dog issues, and I had one picked out if we needed to go that far….but we did not wish for this to go that far. 

April 29th I finally was asked by HUD to provide more information….copy of letter from the Doctor, dates, issues, etc.  I sent my response that day, and receipt was acknowledged.  There was also a small blurb about “back log” and “don’t know how long it will be before we get to it”.

Well, June 19th we received a “official” HUD complaint form which we needed to sign, but some of the information on the form was not accurate.  By the 20th everything had been fixed, we signed, and awaited once again.

On June 27th in steps “Bob” from the Florida Commission on Human Relations.  What a SUPER NICE guy Bob is.  After an initial request for some more information, we schedule a “phone interview’' for Monday, June 30th.  In that phone call he reveals that he had already talked with the Condo Lawyers, and they “sounded as though” they might want to resolve this before it goes any further.  (My first thoughts….why did they not contact me a few months ago before it got this far?)  He said that it sounded like the only issue was the “waiver” that they insisted that we sign which included a whole bunch of rules and ignored our rights before they would agree to us having a service dog.  Bob, who had to remain neutral did point out to the lawyer that one item they were asking us to sign was for Skruffy to keep quiet, yet the Doctor said in his letter that one of the things the dog would be used for is to alert Marcia that someone is at the door by barking.  Bob asked that I write up what in their agreement was unacceptable, and if I wanted, to write up an acceptable waiver.  

So I took their waiver, did a “red line” through all of the items we did not agree with, and in “Green Print” the reason we did not agree with what they issued.  I also rewrote their waiver so that it did not look like a set of rules, but instead did the following:

• Acknowledged the needs of the individual who requested the use of a Service Dog
• Acknowledged that the dog could fulfill those needs, and that the dog could go anywhere the person who needed the dog could go
• Finally, an agreement that the person requesting the service dog would keep it under control, clean up after it, and be responsible for any damage done directly by the dog.

Well, today we heard that the Condo Association would agree to our re-written waiver, and that the issue is essentially resolved.  I sent a signed copy to the Association’s lawyer, sent a signed withdrawal of complaint to Bob, and emailed signed copies to Bob of both.  

It sure put that smile back on their faces…. ours too.

Game Picks, A Couple of Birds, More Condo Antics

So the first 48 games of the NCAA tournament are in the bag now.  Ryan, my youngest son, is leading our bracket with 34 wins and 364 points.  I too have 34 wins, but being more conservative, I did not pick very many long shots, and I only have 314 points.  Stephanie is in second, but her championship pick of Duke has already bitten the dust.  Michael is at the end, but still has the ability to score more points than the rest of us.  After the first night, he was looking real good…not so much now.

Next year I am going to figure out how I can have Skruffy pick some of the games….I figure she can probably pick some of them better than any of us if I can figure out how to get her to make a selection.

We can’t forget that Arkansas “was” in the NIT tournament …. until last night when UC Berkley knocked them out.  ESPN2 captured my oldest son (pictured above), a student at UC Berkley and graduate from Arkansas, showing his friends (and unbeknownst to him, anyone watching ESPN2) how high of an IQ they have, or, as they say, “giving them a double birdie”.  I could provide a link….but I will leave it to your imagination….3 seconds of fame saved on my hard drive.

Here he is, probably before the game, standing next to Corliss Williamson, who played on four NBA teams, and led the Arkansas Razorbacks to its only NCAA Championship in 1994.

Speaking of Skruffy earlier, on Friday we got our letter of notification that they recognize Marcia’s need for a service dog, and that Skruffy can fulfill that need.  HOWEVER, in a fashion that only this evil board could think of, they have decided that “we” need to sign a waiver….a policy they formed for any association member to use if they have a service dog.  But it has problems…..

• All service dogs have to be on a leash.  That will be fun for any “blind people” who have a “seeing eye dog”, they will be tripping over the dog leash with every other step.  Now we keep Skruffy on a leash, and intend to continue to do so…but these rules are for all, and they just aren’t thinking that way.

• They '”grant” permission for a dog, and if that dog has to be replaced, you have to go through the process all over again.  I can only hope that they don’t make the person get recertified too.

• The “animal” cannot make noise which disturbs the peace and tranquility of other residents.  It is so very quiet around here, we never hear any noise…except for the sometimes constant sirens, motorcycles off in the distance, and the Saturday music coming from the Moose Club next door.  Not to speak of the fact that our little Service Dog, Skruffy, is expected to bark if someone knocks at the front door, or the door bell rings so that Marcia can be alerted if I am not here.  Now we agree that loud, continuous barking is not acceptable….but “cannot make a noise” is not.

• Of course, there is the “clean up animal waste immediately …..to limit the odor thereof from creating an unreasonable nuisance.”  Of course, we do pick up after Skruffy…but what about the three garbage bin areas which seem to be so full many times that the lid won’t shut?  These are very close to some of the units, not ours thank goodness, and I am sure during the heat and humidity of the summer put off a very pleasant odor….way more than a little dog would do.

• Then there are the final two, which really got under our skin.  They expect us to “indemnify and hold the association harmless for any damages or personal injury caused by the “animal” and that “we” shall promptly reimburse the association for any cost incurred by the association to make repairs as a result of or arise out of the animal being on the premises. “  Lots of scenarios with this one, such as walking down to the swimming pool, with Skruffy on a leash, and have a car come around the corner real fast, see the dog, freak out and plow into the carport area.  They “can” say, “the wreck happened because of your dog, so pay for the repairs.” 

• Finally, in the event of any legal action, we would have to pay all attorney fees and costs incurred by the association.  Ya, right…..

So we have filed a HUD complaint.  This first step, which we hope is the only step we need to take, should produce a response from a housing specialist which will bring some common sense, and the law, back into the life of the Association Leaders.  Remember, I am a Librarian, retired.  I research EVERYTHING.  I found a HUD notice issued last year which pretty much says that this agreement they want us to sign is against the Fair Housing Act.

We feel that most of these items are in violation of HUD's Notice: FHEO-2013-01, especially where the notice states, in part:  “Conditions and restrictions that housing providers apply to pets may not be applied to assistance animals....” and “A request for a reasonable accommodation may not be unreasonably denied, or conditioned on payment of a fee or deposit or other terms and conditions ....”

A representative from HUD called me yesterday, and she said that a housing specialist should be in touch with us within 10 days.  Now the Association wants our signature within 15 days of last Friday…but the representative told me not to sign anything.

Thank you son, but that is twice the level of these Condo Association leaders  IQs.  PS:  You still look good in RED!  Go Hogs!!!

Service Dog Goodies

I know, everyone was tuned in to see Skruffy’s new little pink backpack.  But there was a problem with it…it was very little.  So we had to return it.  Friday we ran all over the place trying to find a backpack that would work….but to no avail.  So we have improvised again, and picked up this soft fabric dog harness.  So many of the dog harnesses we saw where stiff and ridged..but this is nice and soft.

You can see her on the floor.  Without any problems at all, she jumped up on the chair for another picture.

You can see the pink phone carrier we bought to hold the new cell phone, which we attached to the harness.  Now, if you look real close, you can see two more goodies which came in Saturday’s mail from Amazon.  Do you see them?

How about now?  Yes, around her neck is her “Service Dog” tag.  We had a big ceremony, I hummed God Bless America, and we “pinned on” her new tags, and told her of the valuable service that we hope she never has to perform (because we don’t want mommy falling and needing the use of the phone after all…).   And we gave her a big present, her own copy of the 2014 Milepost book, fresh off the press.  (well, ok, maybe that is for mommy and daddy, but we will let her read some of the book to Bubba from time to time….)

We know she will proudly wear her tag….and we hope that dad learns how to put the new harness on properly the first time, every time.  (notice that her right leg, picture left…someone did not get her foot into the harness correctly…ooops)  May I add, Marcia said that she does not want to hear any comments about how the harness looks like a thong...nor is it some exotic bra either....so just keep you jokes to yourself about any of that.

 

For those who don't know what a Milepost Book is, it is a mile-by-mile travel book for 30 major routes to and within Alaska.  For those who drive up to Alaska, especially for the first time, it is a "must have" resource.  The book just came out today, and I ordered it back in February with other things which already arrived....so we got it very quick.  You just gotta love Amazon...