Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We are not too great of friends with our neighbors who live behind us. They have a beagle they got a couple years ago for their son, however, I often worry if they care about the dog at all. When he was just a puppy I remember him getting tangled up in the leash they left him on for hours, crying and no one came outside to help the poor thing. I figured they weren't home so I went over and untangled the poor thing. As I was getting ready to walk back to my house, the father came out and I quickly (and rather nervously) explained why I had come over and he acted as if he had no idea. yeah right. There is no way someone could be inside that house an not hear that puppy crying.

Now that the dog is full grown, and hey have invisible fencing, they often leave the dog in the yard for hours on end, no one playing with him or anything. I've also never seen the dog taken on a walk. The dog is so bored that he once somehow broke out of the invisible fencing and ran around the neighborhood, he's probably neurotic from that lack of proper exercise.

I know no real cruelty is being done here, I just worry since I know the beagle is a breed that requires a lot of exercise and playing with, and this dog gets neither.

I can't very easily confront them about it, since my the father already got into a fight with my dad about the dog's constant barking. And other than that we never talk to them (very u
unfriendly). Is there anything else I can do???

Well this is really a sticky situation for you and I'm sorry you have to go through this. Since there doesn't seem to be any abuse going on there may not be much you can do in the way of the authorities. In this regard only a couple of things come to mind... If the dog is outside alone all of the time, have you noticed if there is ample food and especially water for him to drink? Is the yard picked up of all the feces? Is there a place for the dog to get into some shade or out of the elements if it rains? These are some things that may warrant a call to animal control. I suppose you could try opening up another dialogue with the neighbor and try to keep it non-confrontational though that may not be easy to do since it sounds like they might be on the unreasonable side. I always hate to see situations like this myself and wonder why people would get a dog and then ignore it... is it just so they can say they have a dog?
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

that's exactly what I alway say when I see the dog. "why did they even get a dog??" I swear the kid played with him when he was a puppy for like a month before he was old news. It's really sad.

He has all the necessities. I believe they take him inside to feed him and I'm pretty sure he has a water source. He has shade, their yard is clean and they'll take him inside if the weather's bad. He doesn't look malnourished or anything I just worry about his lack of stimulation. All I've really tried to do so far is play with him sometimes when they aren't outside/home.

I was thinking of maybe sending an anonymous letter to them with a care sheet for beagles highlighting the part that says "requires walking and regular exercise" or something like that. But who knows if that would really do anything. =(

I would say also to look around and see if he has food, water, and shelter. If there is a doubt i would call animal control, if nothing else than to complain about the excessive barking. Perhaps the animal control people would suggesst that walking the dog would decrease the barking.

Sadly, beyond that, I don't know that there is much else to do. Some people just seem to think that all a dog needs is just some sort of outdoor space. They buy a dog toss it outside and never think about it again.

Your neighbors dog had it a little lucky compared to mine. He was given food and water but also never played with. When he barked for them to come see him they yelled shut up to him. His pen was muddy and the only shade he had was his dog house but come on it must get hot in there just like in the winter when the temps were in the teens and -0 how much can that dog house keep him warm. They never took him in they said cuz hes so bad in the house and cuz hes not house broken. If someone gets a puppy and is to lazy to train it to live in the house then dont have a dog. Panzer just loved the dog behind us. He would go to the fence all the time to see him and even now with the dog off to the rainbow bridge he still goes to the fence and looks for him. I felt so sorry for him so we would take him treats and for Christmas I got him some nice bones.

Oh and my in laws neighbors dog is outside all the time as well. He has a big 5 gl bucket of water but it dosnt look like he can get his face or head down in it far enough to get to the water. His shelter is the gardge which again it had to be hot in there with no windows. And when the dog starts barking when he sees our dogs playing the owners will hang one of those loud boat fog horns out of the window and use it to shut the dog up....Poor thing.