There's "Dog People" and then there's "People Who Own Dogs" [minirant]

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I was outside the other day and my neighbor and her family were outside with their little wire fox terrier puppy. The yard is un-fenced, and they had the poor thing hooked up with a remote-controlled shock collar and were working on training her to know her yard boundaries.

She told me that the dog “just will not listen” (the puppy is 6 months old) and they were about to send her away, and they had a buyer lined up and everything.

See, their 13-year-old wire fox died last fall. She was a very good girl (after 13 years, at least). The family just could not live without getting another dog, so they got little Maddie in late fall.

But, it really sucks to train a puppy in the winter in Ohio, with all the snow and whatnot. When you don’t have a fenced-in-yard and you don’t walk the dog, someone has to take her outside in the big big snow to do her business, and learn the yard. But now that her two boys are in their 20s and no longer little kids like they were when they had the first dog … well, the new puppy just didn’t get trained easy-peasy like the first dog. Who they probably don’t even remember as a puppy, it was so long ago. I know I was thrown by this phenomenon when I got my puppy after having a “genius” older dog.

My neighbor is not the sort to be disobeyed, so she was convinced that the dog was just “too much” and had to go. At least they found and screened a buyer.

But, the family was just too smitten with the dog and they gave her a second chance. This time, training with the shock collar.

Whatever. That’s not ALL that bad…

The family is scheduled to go on a week’s-long vacation this friday. They didn’t plan on having the dog when they scheduled the trip so they didn’t make arrangements for a kennel. Since it’s over the 4th of July Weekend, there was no room anywhere.

So she calls me up and asks if I wouldn’t mind “looking in” on the puppy while she is in the garage while they are away.

A 6-month-old puppy, locked in a garage, for a week, in the summer.

It doesn’t get Florida-hot here but damn - it’ll be in the 80s all week!! And it’s humid as hell! And I’ll guaran-damn-tee you that their garage is not puppy proof.

So I said no, I would not like to visit the dog in the garage. Instead I would prefer if she let me take her INTO MY HOUSE and stay with me all week. This sort of puts a damper on some travel plans I have of my own, but my folks agreed to take the puppy for the 2 days I’m gone.

I finalized the “plans” (there really are none) with her this afternoon. She still insists that the dog will be FINE in the garage and “if you get tired of her, just put her in our garage.” She doesn’t want to put me out.

I told her I would be more put out by having to deal with waving goodbye to a sad puppy every day when I went to feed her and let her out. I half-lied and said it’d just be easier on ME (it actually will be a bit of a burden, but whatever).

My mom is furious and wants to call the ASPCA but I think that’s quite an over-reaction. The last thing I want to do is piss off my neighbors.

I don’t think she’s a bad person…just, you know…not a DOG person.

Would you ever consider leaving your puppy in the [attached] garage for a week, if you had a responsible neighbor to look after it? I honestly can’t fathom it - but my dog has never gone to a kennel or been left alone more than a few HOURS. Maybe I am just over-sensitive?

sigh

2

I’m with your mom. Your neighbors need a cap in the ass.

3

ZipperJJ, you’re my kind of people.

Although I might conveniently “lose” the dog (to a good home.) Those folks don’t know squat about fox terriers if they think it will ever be 100% safe to leave it in the yard. And anything less than 100% is a potential death sentence.

4

If I were taken suddenly to the hospital and in imminent danger of dying, and my bank account had been hacked into so I couldn’t pay a kennel, and my family members and friends had been killed by drive-by thugs or swine flu, and the rescue group from which I adopted them had dissolved, well, then . . .

no.

5

No, I would not.

6

I’ve never owned (or been owned by) a pet of any kind except a goldfish, and even I would never do something like that. It’s just cruel. If that were my neighbor I’d make the same offer you did. Who knows- I might really fall in love with it and get one of my own.

7

I am furious. I want to call the ASPCA and piss on your neighbors.

8

Leaving a puppy…or any canine in a garage for a week? That’s so evil. Why don’t they just get a furby? You can’t just put a dog in a closet when you get bored with it. It’s a living, breathing, social animal.

9

It’s interesting that the garage thing is pissing everyone off while the shock collar is getting ignored.

10

I’m a dog person (duh) and while I would never do the shock thing to my pwecious baby, I’m not totally against them. It’s just as humane as an invisible fence - just without the fence. She only gets shocked quickly for training. Just like I only pop-choke my dog quickly for training.

I only put it in the story to set up her cluelessness as to why her puppy was so bad.

11

Are shock collars viewed by the dog-loving world as inhumane? I just thought they were a fairly conventional training tool.

12

I’m not part of the dog-loving world. Well, I like dogs and all but you know what I mean. It just seemed like something they would frown upon.

13

Geez, I feel horrible for that puppy. I would NEVER put a dog in the garage for a week, EVER. Is it even air conditioned? The dog would probably overheat and die. The more I think about this the more upset I get. Please try and convince them to re-home this dog.

14

Oh, hell no! And my husband has mentioned getting a shock collar to get my sweet Bichon Ernie to stop his barking. No.

I have a neighbor coming over to feed and let outside our three dogs this weekend while we’re gone. My husband even rigged up a doggie door! They’ve been using it all week. Well, not the old man. (He’s 13.)

Anyway, even if I lived in more northern climes, FUCK NO!

15

I’m with yer mom. I’d have said: “Sure, just make sure your garage is unlocked.” and then the split second they left for the week called the ASPCA to have them rescue and hopefully re-home the pup.

ETA: And I hate shock collars as a training tool. Reward for good behavior is always more effective for living creatures than pain for bad.

16

I can’t even get my head around people who would leave a six month old puppy in a garage for a week, even if the weather was perfectly 70 degrees and wonderful. What an incredibly horrible thing to do… I’m a little sickened by the thought, to tell you the truth.

Thank God you talked them out of it.

Yes, I’m a crazy dog person… my dogs are incredibly spoiled, I’ll admit, and we do go overboard in keeping them safe & sound & happy. But any schmuck should know that you can’t leave a living, breathing, social animal alone in a room (much less a garage) for a week with someone to “look in” on them every once in a while.

It’s worse than a friend of mine who adopted an Australian Shepherd then left the poor thing in the garage all day, every day when she went to work. Australian Shepherds are incredibly energetic smart dogs - they don’t really do well unless they have a job to do all day. They don’t make good house dogs. They really prefer a farm with some sheep to herd to really be happy. The poor dog went nuts. And the friend? “Oh, we’ll just take her back to the humane society, she’s untrainable” :smack:

17

Some may. I haven’t had cause to use one, but one of my dads does use them for his dalmatians. Doesn’t seem to bother the dogs much. Mother dogs often nip at their pups’ necks to correct their behavior, and it seems that the collar is pretty readily recognized by the dog as a corrective signal.

And yes, I tried it on (my leg) and shocked myself. Not entirely pleasant, but not like a tazer, either. Feels like a rubber band snap. I assume, since dogs have fur, thicker skin and less nerve endings in their necks than we do, that it hurts them even less than it hurt me.

Humans are the only animal that are so pain avoidant that many of us won’t use it as a teaching tool. Dogs have no such compunctions. Assuming that brief, consistent and non tissue damaging pain is cruel to a dog is anthropomorphizing them.
And no, I’d never leave a dog alone in a garage for a week. They are social animals who need regular interaction with creatures they love or they do suffer. That’s not anthropomorphism, that’s knowing how dogs’ psyches work.

18

Well, the “good news” of all this is that she managed to bring the puppy over tonight and my dog absolutely LOVES her. Yes, even though they’re neighbors they’ve never played together. And, since the poor thing was tied up on a line for the first 6 months of her life, they never smelled each other until this week.

Anyway, Dolly doesn’t get along with other dogs. She is not mean, she just feels like she’s “above” them and would rather not have to associate with those animals. But she actually PLAYED with the puppy. It’s hard to describe how amazing this is.

So hopefully this week goes well and the neighbors realize they can leave the puppy with me any time. Heck, they can even bring her over for play dates!

Another “stupid dog owner” tale for you, though - when she called to ask if they could come over, she said “me and [the son] were trying to figure out how I should get her over to your house, since we’re training her not to leave the yard. Maybe I will just carry her?”

The idea of a leash did not compute with her. For real! I suggested a leash and she was hesitant. I said “she’s got to learn how to be on a leash some time, you know.” She did bring the dog over on a leash.

I’m going to walk her every day, dammit.

19

were they confused and thought that they got a fox terrier cat? 'cause i would never leave a dog alone that long. cat… sure ( in the house with a cat sitter stopping by), dog… no.

no leash training? once again cat = no leash, dog = leash.

good grief, they really forgot what puppies are like.

20

They didn’t even have a leash? How were they taking it outside to relieve itself?