Dog owners, how would you react if a neighbor did this? (veterinary, breeding)

[rummage]

I'm working from home today, and I can hear the neighbor next door has left their dog in their fenced backyard without water or a comfortable place to lay down. This got my attention, because after I returned from my appointment this afternoon today I can hear the dog yelping and scratching at their backdoor to be let back inside. But it looks like no one is home, they usually have their cars out front.

In the past when I have heard the dog make this sound, within a minute the backdoor opens and he's let in.

I love dogs, and I can't stand to listen to him yelping to be let back in. He's a nice dog too and very approachable. I don't know if they have left the dog out like this before when they weren't home, cause I'm not here all the time to know this. Besides the sound of this poor dog is bothering me, I feel sorry for him.

How would you react if you got a text message about your dog was outside yelping asking if everything is already?

How would you react if a neighbor brought over a water dish for the dog and left a note for the neighbors?

I don't want to upset these people, but it seems wrong to leave the dog outside all day without water.

We would leave our dog inside the house when we weren't home during the day, and when he was a puppy he would stay in a large crate. As he got older, he wouldn't go chew on things so he didn't need to stay in the crate any longer. So we never left our dog outside when we weren't home, so I don't know how dogs handle this. Do they finally give up yelping to come back in?

I realize talking to another dog owner about what they are doing isn't going is likely to be welcomed, so I thought I was post here to get people's reactions and suggestions.

Poor dog our there alone. Makes me want to bring him into my house and give him a dog cookie. :-)

[2Q&Lrn&Hlp]

The dog MUST have water and cover from the elements available.

Are you POSITIVE there is NO cool water . . . ?

No cover to get out of the hot sun, or dog house for protection if it's cold?

Perhaps the owners thought they'd already let the dog back in before they left.

Either way, I'd call Animal Control for a Pet Welfare check on this dog, toot sweet.


IF you give it a bowl of water & AC shows up & sees it, they may go away thinking you were wrong . . . that the dog had water all the time . . . and say nothing to the owners . . . so ask them what you should do about that. Let them know the dog is normally quiet & inside, like you've told us.

[phonelady61]

I would put a note on their door stating that it is against the law to leave a dog outside without any cover or water . Please make sure you don't leave your dog outside without water and cover again please or I will be forced to contact animal control and have them come and discuss with you . thanks . and if they still do it please call animal control some people should not have pets nor children .i would also go knock on the door and if no one is home or answers i would jump the fence and take him over to your house and say he got out of your fence and he came to my door , at least that way you would know he is okay and well watered .

[LesLucid]

I have no use for people who mistreat animals, either deliberately or through negligence. I called the local humane society on my neighbor 2 doors down some years ago. She had left her small dog tied to a lawn chair as the only shade on a scorching day and with a small water bowl. He had turned over both of course and he (I worked at a veterinary hospital in college) was in serious distress. I got over the fence, opened it a got him into my basement. He was panting so hard he could hardly move. I rushed upstairs and got ice and water, took it to the basement and just dumped it on the floor. He knew what to do, he lay down on it stretched completely out on his belly. It took him about 15 minutes of cool water to get him back to normal. I had the folks from the shelter pick him up at my house before they visited her.

[hiero2]

First of all, calling Animal Control, or the SPCA, or whatever it is you have where you live - is an extreme response - and should be reserved for extreme circumstances. The neighborly thing to do would be to leave them a note. Something along these lines:

Doggie was outside and stressed when I was home today. I noticed he didn't have any water, so I left a bowl of water. I'll drop by later and get the bowl. I hope he is ok!

Because, the thing is, you don't want to go pointing fingers and saying

You guilty animal-abuser - you!

right off the bat. Unless you already know it's true, but from your post, I don't think that is quite the case here. The point is they may have been thoughtless, and inconsiderate of the dog, and the BEST answer is to persuade them to be more thoughtful and considerate of the dog, right?

You're less likely to get to that "more thoughtful and considerate" place by being confrontational. But sometimes being confrontational can be what it takes to get some people to change.

My thinking is to go with the good neighbor approach first. If that doesn't work, or if the danger to the dog is immediate (like LesLucid's example), take more immediate action, or call the animal control people to do that.

Now, as to yelping, or crying, or howling. Some dogs will keep this up until they are near starvation. Most dogs will quit long before that, but not all. And a dog crying, or howling, in a backyard is NOT necessarily a sign of a negligent owner. It could be a sign of an owner who simply doesn't realize how their dog behaves when they are not home. I had a dobie once. I rescued him from an abusive owner. He was a good dog, and when I was home, and not working, everything was fine. What I did not know was that, after I left, he would cry and howl all day long. Incessantly. And he did this day after day. He simply was miserable being left alone. And I was ignorant of this, because when I came home he knew I was coming. Everything was cool. This went on for, I don't remember exactly, but a longer time than I would have thought neighbors would tolerate such stuff. Somebody finally mentioned something. It so surprised me I didn't believe them - but I asked others and they told me "Yeah, he sure is miserable when you are gone!"

Shortly after that I found him another home, where he could be with his humans more of the time, and where he got more opportunities to be active. I simply was not in a job position where he could do those things. He lived out a good and happy life with those humans. But the point was, I wasn't being inconsiderate of the dog. I was ignorant of the dogs needs. I was lucky and had good neighbors. A situation like that could easily have turned ugly. And I could have had neighbors whom I hated, and who hated me. I've been there too, sometimes because of dog situations. I'd rather have neighbors I can turn to as friends when the chips are down.

[Girl]

1) Do you have a good relationship with these neighbors? I'd say you know them well, if you feel comfortable text messaging them, but clarification would be nice.

2) Climate where you live makes a difference. Summer in Arizona is a lot different than summer in Washington or upstate New York. Are you still experiencing hot summer days where you are (90+ degrees), or are we talking about the temps being in the mid-70s?

3) Can you see over the fence well enough to truly determine whether or not the dog has water to drink? Not sure how one can "hear" that no water was left? As for a comfortable place to lay down - are you saying the backyard has no grass lawn on which the dog could lay down should s/he desire to?

If the answers are Yes, hot summer, visual confirmation of no water or grass, then I'd say text the neighbor and tell them the dog seems frantic in the backyard, and if they are not home, would it be okay for you to go check and make sure s/he is okay. If you truly have a good relationship with the neighbor, I expect they'd be fine with this.

I don't leave my dog outside for long periods either, but if I forgot and left him out, I'd be happy that a neighbor alerted me to my forgetfulness and sought to help me in some way, as long as they didn't come to me with judgment.

[rummage]

Thanks for everyone's posting here. I was afraid I was going to get people telling me to mind my own business and stuff like that.

After over three hours, the wife returned home and I see she is unloading packages from the car. She came in the house and immediately let the dog inside. Hopefully this is an isolated incident. Maybe it was intended to be a quick trip to the store turned out to be a flat tire or needed her car jumped and was delayed. I'm speculating, of course.

I rarely see these neighbors but we are on good terms, but I know for some people if you say or do anything regarding their kids or pets, they get defensive. So I wanted to ask here to get some input and ideas. But I don't know them well enough to determine if this is the first dog they ever owned, since they got it last year. So they might not know all the things experienced dog owners do.

I can easily see into their yard because our property is higher, and I used binoculars to carefully examine the area and don't see any sign of a water dish. There is no covering for the dog. Maybe they don't have one outside because most of the time if the dog is outside, they are with the dog. Maybe they have a water dish they take outside while they play with the dog, I don't recall. But they didn't leave one outside when they left the house. Perhaps they are concerned about breeding mosquitoes and have concerns of leaving a dog dish of standing water outside all the time. I say that because they run a bug zapper thing all the time in the backyard.

But we are going to be on the lookout to make sure this isn't a pattern of behavior.

[LynnKrause1]

Can they not be approached via a simple conversation of the subject? In a subtle way, perhaps you could alert them to the fact that you knew the dog was alone in the yard with no water and no shelter....you may find out it was a "one time mistake" or again, they could be very non-committal about the entire incident, which again, could tell you volumes about their character. Either way, the next time it happens, you will be better equipped to deal with the situation in favor of the dog.

[Deserterer]

I would complain about their bug zapper (they kill primarily harnmless and beneficial insects) and keep my mouth shut about their dog until I had more to go on. A lot more than you've told us.

Where do you live? What was the temperature? Is there no shade anywhere in the yard? Few dogs are going to die or be irreparably harmed in 3 hours without water unless its very hot withy no shade or unless its a frequent occurrence. And 3 hours without water is not "all day without water".

From the information you've provided, I certainly wouldnt make a determination that anything seriously awry happened, but I suspect you're very close to sticking your nose where it doesnt belong.

[rummage]

Originally Posted by Deserterer

I would complain about their bug zapper (they kill primarily harnmless and beneficial insects) ...but I suspect you're very close to sticking your nose where it doesnt belong.

Maybe you should take your own advice here. The very idea to be more concerned about insects and not a dog reveals a lot about you, that I don't care to know.