First of all, hello everyone and I hope someone can help me with answering a question for me. This might be more appropriate for a rental forum, but I wish to have some feed back from the ADHD community.

I own an apartment building and one of my tenant's children has be diagnosed with ADHD. According to said tenant (a single mother), the doctor told her that her daughter has to get a dog to help with her condition.

We don't disagree that animals are very helpful with certain medical condition, so this is not the real major issue...

BUT:

She text messaged me on Sunday while my husband and I were out of town, in the mountains (no cell reception), and on Monday (memorial day - we got home around midnight) she messaged me again and told me she got a puppy, without waiting for our feedback. And she said that the doctor told her that it had to be a puppy.

We do love pets, and because of that we do allow our tenants to have them, but the rule is that we have to discuss this before they bring pets in the building and there are rental fees involved with pets based on the type. Because of the nature of the animal our rules are a bit more strict on dogs. Especially puppies.

The tenant to be honest is not very organized or clean. The times I went to pick up the rent she had dishes in the sink that had been there for days and clothes strewn all over the floor. Also based on issues on paying the rent on time, I know she doesn't have the financial means to handle increased expenses. And not only rental ones, but also the cost of keeping a dog licensed, well fed, with all the shots etc.

Our rental rates are 90.00 a month increase for puppies for the first two years of the puppy's life and then the amount is lowered based on age of dog and if he/she is house trained or not. For a 4 year old house trained dog, our rates are $30.00 a month.

For some people these might seem steep, but for those that have had dogs - especially puppies, I am sure they can confirm how much damage they can cause, especially in the first years of their life and if not trained properly.

I tried to contact some child psychologists and the two I was able to speak to briefly, gave me opposite answers.

One said that puppies are absolutely a no no since by nature dogs have ADHD, and the child and the puppy will "feed" on each other and it will not help at all. But a slightly older dog who has been trained might help.

The other said that a puppy is more appropriate since they will learn with eachother.

I do not want to feel like I am the bad guy here, but how can I deal with this situation in a proper and fair manner?