Neighbours have gone away, leaving puppy at home. Thoughts?

[Fermit and Sarah]

As per the title. Firstly, this is NOT an animal welfare issue, their neighbour the other side is going in to tend to her twice a day.

They have only had the puppy a month or two, so I'd still call her settling in. They have been away now for over a week, and the pup has been home alone. It is obviously being fed, watered, and let out, BUT, to us we think it not right for her to be left alone (with the lights not put on once) for this long, especially at her age, and being newly homed. Also every time the other neighbour leaves she barks for a good 20 minutes, which we suspect is stress at being left again.

Is this fair on the dog, or are we over reacting?

[pequod]

I disagree, this is an animal welfare issue! Who the hell leaves a dog (and particularly a pup) alone for a week or more and expect the animal to be ok, and just because they have arranged a neighbour to come in to feed it and let it out in the garden, this is, if you are correct, a reportable offence!
Get on the phone to your local RSPCA Officer, now!

[anonymous-user]

pequod said:

I disagree, this is an animal welfare issue! Who the hell leaves a dog (and particularly a pup) alone for a week or more and expect the animal to be ok, and just because they have arranged a neighbour to come in to feed it and let it out in the garden, this is, if you are correct, a reportable offence!
Get on the phone to your local RSPCA Officer, now!

Agreed. At the very least you should talk to the RSPCA see what they say.

[untakenname]

Make an anonymous call saying you've heard the dog barking and no one's at home, it's not on leaving a pup alone.

[Fermit and Sarah]

We do have fairly good neighbourly relations, and would prefer to keep it this way. That would royally fk up any relations, and as we plan to stay here for a good 10 years (and they're not going anywhere either) You can imagine how big the fall out would be, which we don't want. The dog isn't at risk, but is not happy. Would telling him our concerns and unhappiness not be a better route (he's a tricky one at the best of times)

[Djtemeka]

Why not offer to take the pup for an hour or so each day?

[StuTheGrouch]

This ?

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[lrdisco]

I don’t want to be harsh but if you care more about your relationships with your neighbors than the welfare of a very small puppy then you are a very very pathetic specimen.

[Starfighter]

The pup is at risk. At this stage in life they are socialising and need near constant contact with “the pack” to learn all the dos and don’ts. Either they won’t interact with the owners or will become overly attached once they get back.

[Bluesgirl]

What DJtemeka said, if you're in contact with them.

It's cruel to leave a puppy all day and night like that, for the sake of the cost of a kennels or a home-from-home setup. If they think it's ok now, presumably this will become a regular event and then you'll wish you'd done something straight away.

[Fermit and Sarah]

lrdisco said:

I don’t want to be harsh but if you care more about your relationships with your neighbors than the welfare of a very small puppy then you are a very very pathetic specimen.

Wow. Get some perspective. The dog is unhappy, were he physically abusing it, not feeding it properly, letting it be covered in tics I'd report him, in a heart beat. Shall I also report him for never walking her too? (abuse in my mind)

It's a good idea RE taking the dog in for an hour or two a day (we don't know when they're back, it could be tomorrow for all we know!) as we have a front room where we could bring him in (two of our three dogs don't mix well with stranger dogs)

I do need to also check, the other neighbour could be taking him in for an hour a day already. I doubt it though, he has a Boxer and a Spaniel of his own.

Edited by Fermit and Sarah on Saturday 17th November 23:12

[essayer]

RSPCA. This is abuse as much as kicking it would be.
No way to treat any dog let alone a new puppy (4 months old?)

[CoolHands]

fking hell you lot are mad. Sorry to tell you but....it’s a dog. Seriously. You (posters above) can all get over-protective and precious but at the end of the day it’s just a dog. It’s social skills aren’t going to be stunted. It’s development wont be damaged. It’s...a....dog.

I say keep your nose out and stop being so ridiculous

[Coxey]

You are not over reacting. We have two golden retrievers and as a family made sure that between the four of us someone was with the puppy at all times.

I think they are being totally irresponsible

[Fermit and Sarah]

StuTheGrouch said:

This ?

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Yes, he has royally fked us off with that affair (his own sister said to me last week that she thinks he's being a tt. BUT, we take in each others parcels, his wife sometimes makes us (amazing!) cakes we 'rub along' OK. We will object when he submits plans, on multiple grounds, if he gets the arse at that then fine, we've told him we're not happy with his plans, so tough st.

[Fermit and Sarah]

essayer said:

RSPCA. This is abuse as much as kicking it would be.
No way to treat any dog let alone a new puppy (4 months old?)

Between 4-6 I'd guess. It's a miniature breed, which is not my type of canine to know enough about!

[ninepoint2]

CoolHands said:

fking hell you lot are mad. Sorry to tell you but....it’s a dog. Seriously. You (posters above) can all get over-protective and precious but at the end of the day it’s just a dog. It’s social skills aren’t going to be stunted. It’s development wont be damaged. It’s...a....dog.

I say keep your nose out and stop being so ridiculous

+1

[CAPP0]

CoolHands said:

It’s social skills aren’t going to be stunted. It’s development wont be damaged.

Regardless of any other responses or actions taken, this comment above is patently and wholly untrue. The exact opposite applies - to any dog, any breed.

[Fermit and Sarah]

CAPP0 said:

CoolHands said:

It’s social skills aren’t going to be stunted. It’s development wont be damaged.

Regardless of any other responses or actions taken, this comment above is patently and wholly untrue. The exact opposite applies - to any dog, any breed.

I do agree. One of ours, a Viz x Dobe, is now in many ways broken, because of the treatment his 3 (!) previous owners, all before he was 18 months old. All took him back to Blue Cross, he was too much. He spent a year of his first 18 months there.

[xjay1337]

CoolHands said:

fking hell you lot are mad. Sorry to tell you but....it’s a dog. Seriously. You (posters above) can all get over-protective and precious but at the end of the day it’s just a dog. It’s social skills aren’t going to be stunted. It’s development wont be damaged. It’s...a....dog.

I say keep your nose out and stop being so ridiculous

It's not on though leaving a puppy at home for a week by itself.