Skipper's new neighbor

[boats85]

I live in a townhouse apartment, and recently got a next door neighbor. All was well for awhile then I heard this yapping, I looked out and there was my new neighbors kids, around 11 and 7 years old pulling a puppy Miniature Pinscher around on a leash, obviosly trying to get this puppy to mind them. Being a good neighbor that I am took Skipper outside to see the new puppy and offer advice and suggested a puppy course at Petsmart, so that they could properly care for, and train this pup. The 11 y/o said he wanted a puppy like Skipper, but couldn't find one, thank goodness. So after a week of kids dragging this pup around, the poor dog is now relagated to being tied up outside on a ten foot lead from 6:30 am till dark with no interaction from the owners. Of course where they have this pup staked out is just off my patio, so now when I take Skipper out for his walks and potty breaks, this pup goes nuts trying to interact with Skipper.

I have no idea if they plan on getting this pup fixed or even getting the proper innoculations. A couple of times this pup has gotten loose and I dutyfully hooked him back up. I did notice that his collar is getting snug and I will mention this to owners.

As the weather gets warmer, and the practice of keeping this pup outside all day, I get direct sun on patio area in afternoon, and the temps start getting into the upper 70's and 80's, thats when I start calling to get this pup away from them.

I know that before its all over that this great looking Miniature Pinscher will end up in an animal shelter with a lot of issues.

Should I just let this go and not worry about it, or strike when it's the right thing to do

Skipper, early one morning took their training device, a rolled up newspaper with a taped end, and ripped it to shreds with my blessing, That was Skippers protest.

I know that this is kinda off topic.

So what should I do?

[boats85]

Right after I posted this I gave Skipper a big hug, a belly rub and some extra treats

[Chez]

Mmmm.... well if this post was on "dogpages" there would be alot of wandering if the min pin might get loose again and find itself in a responsible shelter. Of course there are the animal welfare groups that may be able to have a word but whether they can do anything more I don't know. Do you feel able to have a nice chat about this with your neighbours or are they the sort to tell you to mind your nose and take offence? I don't envy you my brother doesn't speak to me anymore because I stuck my nose in about his lab not being walked and shut up in a shed.

[Tracy A.]

Well, I don't know about you... but I would feel great guilt when this puppy gets killed or dies from sun stroke. I know that if you have a dog tied up all day that it's mandatory that the animal have shelter (like a dog house) to get out of the direct sun... also that the animal have water all the time.

You can either:

1) call the condo association

2) call the SPCA to investigate

3) if 1&2 don't work, the start thinking outisde the box.

[mjones]

Oh that sucks! This is a tough situation because it is your neighbor and you need to keep a good relationship with them. All I can think of is to call some kind of animal rights group and ask them to drive by and take a look. Or, write an anonymous letter with some of your concerns and drop it in their mailbox? I don't know if animal control would be able to do anything. Maybe you could call them though and ask them for suggestions.

This situation really makes me mad because this dog is going to end up with behavioural problems and they will probably end up putting it in a shelter because they won't know how to handle it. Then it will have a harder time getting adopted.

Good luck.

[Sandi16]

We went through something similar back in St. Louis with our neighbors dog. When they first got her, she was the baby of the house. Her owners got her fixed and let her out only to potty. Then they seperated. The wife couldn't take her and the husband was too busy being a bachelor to care for her. It was summer, and I saw no water out there for her in the heat. Ended up taking a bowl, and throwing it over the fence, getting a stick to set it up right, running my hose over her fence to fill it up for her. She had no toys, she was dragging things out of the garage to play with. Old shoes, Cd's, hangers. She was getting thinner. A guy used to visit our neighbor and he was the ONLY one I saw that would go out and play with her. Finally, we had enough and decided we were going to offer to take her off his hands. My husband went over there and of course the guy was completetly offended and flustered. He claimed she gained and lost weight due to not being fixed. But, she was fixed because I remember talking to the wife he day after it happened and she told my kids to be careful with her.

He showed her more attention after that. MAking sure she had water and came into the house occasionally. We would let Lucy come over to play with the kids and she loved it. The owner realized that Lucy was bonding with us, and even though he said she could come over, he stopped letting her. We had to move and I don't know what happened with her, but at that point he was taking care of her. I think he just needed a wake up call you know?

I would say something to them, if not now, eventually if you feel the situation is really bad especially in summer. We figured the dog can't talk, and someone needed to talk for her.

Good luck,and good Skipper for tearing up that newspaper. Poor doggy. Why pay so much money for a min pin and then leave it outside?

[boats85]

After thinking all this through, I am going to monitor the situation. If I speak too soon and the pup gets loose then they will think that I let the pup loose. I really don't think these are the kinda neighbors who would take kindly to advice about their dog. I will do my homework to find out what can be done and without reprecution. After all Skipper is in too close proximity and I don't want anything UNEXPECTED happen to him. I watch Skipper like a hawk and he is never unattended. if they wanted a dog like Skipper then maybe they can see how I interact with Skipper and hopefully learn something. As the weather warms up I will see where their heads at. Meantime I will just stay aggravated.

[Shazza]

This is one thing that really ticks me off. A dog owner that doesn't take care of the dog!

We had a similar situation when we moved into our house. The next door neighbor had a pit bull (which we didn't know when we put an offer in on the house) it stayed tied up outside all day and night, he would only interact with it when he wanted to, his kids couldn't play with it, it was too big and rough. One day the little girl was outside playing and her dad let the dog loose, at one point I looked over and the dog had ahold of her shirt and she was trying to get away, he was ripping her shirt right off her back!

Eventually it ended up in our back yard one night, thankfully this was before we had Miya or Max. We went out back and there it was, it had jumped a 6ft fence and had no intentions of being taken back to it's own yard, growling and snarling at us. Finally it jumped our fence and went into the other neighbors yard. It just kept going back and forth from yard to yard for about an hour. Finally, I said that's enough, I'm calling animal control. It took them 2-1/2 hours and they still couldn't catch that dog.

They asked us if we knew their name and unfortunately we didn't, they were Vietnamese and he was the only one who spoke enough English. They ended up leaving a note on their door and told us they would be served numerous violations for having that dog tied up in the back yard all the time. They could see the path the dog walked, it was nothing but dirt, it was awful.

I remembered I could find out the owners name online, so I called the animal control back with the information and the next day the dog was gone. Nothing was ever said about it.

I see that you are in Ohio, come summer time that little min pin is going to suffer big time out in the heat I can't say what's right for you to do, I just know in our situation I did what I felt was right when it came to the pit bull.

Good luck

[sheila and Misty]

I dont see the biggie in letting your neighbor be aware of what they may not even know theyre doing anything wrong-Id say something...but be cautious not to be a knowitall or agitated or say anything hurtfull-really-its all in the approach...like the collar thing-just let them know while they were out the dog started choking and pawing at his collar.--you went to see what was wrong and you noticed his collar was tight--little things subtley dropped- may sove the whole problem.

[jimnconnie]

The way I understand it, Boats, this hasn't been going on for a long time yet, right? If that's the case, I think you're right to wait for a while and see how it develops. You will be able to see if the dog is being left out in the sun, or the rain, or without water, with no concerns by the owner. You might want to take some photos, in case other actions become necessary. I don't think these people are going to become good friends of yours anyway, so you should definitely do what you feel is best for the dog. If things don't improve in a reasonable time, I would attempt to have a polite talk with the owners to express your concerns about the dog's welfare. If things don't change after that, contact the appropriate authorities, and "DAMN THE TORPEDOES, FULL SPEED AHEAD!"

Jim

[boats85]

Well, the pup got loose again, and me and Skipp helped carrol the poor pup. I took advantage of letting them know collar too small and too tight and showed how Skipper's collar fit, suggesting that they get a better fitting collar. I look down the street about 3 doors down from them and I see another pup, looks like a black lab mix about 3 months old. Has my retirement turned me into a busybody, after all, I live in the last townhouse on the left

[Nikki]

I have had to do this for my brothers dog....his neighbor kicked my brothers dog like 6 feet when he was only 8 weeks old by the way ....my brothers dog only weighed 2lbs and the jerk did it b/c he didnt like dogs...and didnt want to hear him bark...like EVER...what a jerk...well lets just say GDHS fined him like $300...

so I got on Greater Dayton humane society website and you can report animal cruelty online unanimously

website

[tlwtheq]

Well, the pup got loose again, and me and Skipp helped carrol the poor pup. I took advantage of letting them know collar too small and too tight and showed how Skipper's collar fit, suggesting that they get a better fitting collar. I look down the street about 3 doors down from them and I see another pup, looks like a black lab mix about 3 months old. Has my retirement turned me into a busybody, after all, I live in the last townhouse on the left

I dunno. To me, looking out for the welfare of non-humans is not related to age. I hadn't responded

to this topic so far because your first post made me so %*&^%* mad at your stupid neighbors

I just couldn't think straight. Don't feel like a busybody looking out for creatures who are

at the mercy of others...human and non-human alike.

From the 53-year old busybody in Annapolis.

[jodi0553]

Boats,

I also think your concern is valid and that it does not make you a busybody - just an animal lover who is saddened by neglect of a puppy. While you are waiting to see what happens, perhaps you could get on the web and research if there is a min pin rescue sociey like Col potter is for cairns that you can consult with. That way, if it does come to it, you may be able to save that dog from going to a public pound. good luck!

[boats85]

The pup is having a styrofoam party right now, chewing a piece of it, and a discarded a/c filter in reach now. I am doing some research now on rescue groups and saved the link that Nicole sent me. This min pin averages 12 to 14 hours a day outside now, starting at 6:30 am. whats amazing she does not bark a lot and is super friendly, Same collar still on her though. They named her Princess, and then exciled her. All I can do is watch and see.

[maggie]

Call animal control and find out if your city has a law about how long a dog can be tied up outside. We do in Olathe, KS. I had a similar situation a couple of years ago when we were living in TX. My next door neighbor kept their wire fox terrier tied up outside the whole time we lived there (approx 1 yr) rain shine etc. Unfortunately, we lived in a new development out in the country, and the only rule was that the dog have food & water. I can't tell you how many times we had to rescue this poor pup because he would get caught under the fence and not be able to get back in, but he couldn't runaway because he was tied up. I talked to them several times, they didn't want the dog, Grandma/breeder gave it to the kids, she wouldn't take it back because she had others she wanted to "get rid off". No one ever spent time in the backyard so the pup had no interaction whatsoever.

I spoke to the breed rescue person in the adjacent major city, and she was more than willing to take it. I gave them all the info, and they never did a thing about it, it has been over a year since we left TX and I still worry about the little guy. There were so many nights that I heard him crying...it was heartbreaking. I regret ever talking to them because the only thing that accomplished was one and I mean one walk, and one bath. If I had to do it over again I think I would keep my mouth shut and that pup would have found his way to breed rescue on my way back to KS.

[PeppersMom]

This is a behavior problem just waiting to happen. The frustration level of this dog will just continue to rise until it is a behavioral mess. There is no socialization....these people should not have a dog period. This dog will end up either dead or in a shelter to become someone else's problem. If they can't do doggy day care or come home at lunch time to let the dog out etc they should not have one. This is cruelty plain and simple.

[boats85]

There is a person at home, the lady of the house is there except for occasional errands etc., this morning pup got loose again and I could hear her calling for it, and I was rooting for pup under my breath "run, run like the wind, freedom is yours". When the weather gets somewhat warmer I will start keeping a daily time frame, nothing much I can do now

[tlwtheq]

There is a person at home, the lady of the house is there except for occasional errands etc., this morning pup got loose again and I could hear her calling for it, and I was rooting for pup under my breath "run, run like the wind, freedom is yours". When the weather gets somewhat warmer I will start keeping a daily time frame, nothing much I can do now

Right now my soul is aching for this pup. Please keep us posted.

[bradl]

Ditto. Keeping a log could be helpful down the road. An accounting of stake-time, escapes, and so on might short-circuit claims of "On, this has never happened before!" when the time comes for animal control to get involved.

[boats85]

I'll just wait, watch and record, will let you know of anything positive

[Xonk]

God bless you for being a busy-body!

[sheila and Misty]

maybe a few pictures would help too!

[Brody]

That poor puppy! It really sad that she got such crap owners! At least she was lucky enough to have a busy body neighbor to keep an eye on her and really look out for her best interest.

Why do people bother getting a dog if they only plan on tying it up 12-14 hours a day? We searched for Brody for over a year before we got a pup. And with his leg issues were here strapped for money to pay for his surgeries but we are thankful that we got him instead of someone else that wouldn't do everything they can to give him the best of care.

Again, Poor Puppy!