An HOA’s Annual Neighborhood Dog Competition Descended Into Absolute Chaos After One Aggressive Poodle Ruined the Entire Event
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Imagine having a silly neighborhood competition. Would it ruin the fun if the same competitor won every single event?
That’s the issue the person who wrote this story is dealing with. The competitors are pet dogs who live in the neighborhood. It was just supposed to be fun and silly.
But then a new dog moved in with an unfair advantage.
What’s the best way to handle this situation? Is it even worth holding the competition if it’s no longer fun?
Let’s read the whole story to decide.
AITA for getting our neighborhood dog Olympics canceled instead of bending the rules for a neighbor?
5-6 years ago my HOA decided our neighborhood is boring and encouraged people to come up with ideas/activities to liven things up. This, my Pup Olympics was born.
It’s just the neighborhood dogs competing (poorly), in different silly events for 2 days and being rewarded with treats.
Early on there would be prizes for the owners of whichever dog won each event, and it really was all fun and games.
But the competition grew.
After a couple years we started doing a paid entry for each event, and the money went toward cash prizes and a donation to a really great local animal shelter (where lots of us got our pups!).
Might be worth it to note that most people in the neighborhood choose to donate their cash prize toward the shelter fund, so we usually come up with a pretty great donation.
People look forward to the Olympics every year, it’s ridiculous but it’s fun and we all loved it.
But a new dog moved into the neighborhood
18 months ago a new neighbor moved in and she has a Poodle who frequently competes in (and wins) dog competitions.
This dog has a million followers on Instagram.
We all follow the page and obvious root for this dog in the competitions.
No issue with the dog itself.
I can see how this dog ruined the fun.
However, it ruined pup Olympics last year.
This dog swept every single competition.
There is literally one event for senior dogs that it didn’t qualify for and that’s the only one that this Poodle didn’t win.
We all just kind of stood there for two days and gave cash prizes to the same woman for every event.
They don’t want the poodle to compete again.
To make matters worse, she also didn’t donate a single extra penny to the shelter fund (bonus AITA for if I’m wrong for being judgey here).
This has taken a event for families and kinds and turned it into something it was never meant to be.
It’s like having a professional athlete compete at a high school field day.
So, Pup Olympics are happening soon, but this year my committee decided on “No Competition Dogs” rule, to make it more fair for the other owners/families.
One dog ruined it for everyone.
The Poodle owner got notice of this and has gone ballistic.
Our HOA had a committee meeting and decided in her favor, that we couldn’t exclude her or her dog if we wanted to have the competition in the neighborhood.
I thought about it and then just went ahead and sent a cancelation notice out.
The poodle owner is even more upset.
Somebody from the HOA board tried to pull it back together but just isn’t getting much interest.
Now the Poodle owner has sent me multiple vindictive messages implying that I did this to hurt her personally and the neighborhood is split 50/50 on who was in the wrong.
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So, am I in the wrong?
It’s an amateur competition. It seems only fair to exclude professional competitors. There’s no point in having the competition if it’s not going to be fun.
Let’s see if Reddit agrees.
This person compares it to a competition for children.
Another person points out the HOA’s role in the competition ending.
Another person thinks the new neighbor is clearly the problem.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a neighbor who takes advantage of an inexhaustive HOA-approved plant list.
But this person thinks the new neighbor may not have understood the true intent of the competition.
Considering the poodle owner is new to the neighborhood, it is entirely possible that she doesn’t understand the point of the competition or how it has worked in the past. She is used to her dog going to real dog competitions, and she might see this neighborhood competition the same way. I wonder if it would make a difference if someone explained it to her.
Regardless, if it’s not fun, it’s not worth it.
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