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VERY frustrated, need to vent!

Discussion in 'Dogs - all breeds / types' started by mamabear_34, Jul 6, 2005.

  1. mamabear_34

    mamabear_34 New Member

    Hello all! I hope all of your Fourth of July festivities were fun!

    I had a frustrating one....we have a 5 year old, intact dalmation that lives next door to us. He is used by the owners as a "watch dog" and is kept in the fenced back yard at all times. He is agressive and if he doesnt know you he WILL bite you!! Over the past few months since we (and the neighbors with the dog) moved in my husband and I have been able to get to the point of petting him (his name is Lucky) and giving him treats.

    The part that bothers me is that this dog is left outside all of the time, in the heat and rain. He has a dog house but doesnt use it, and also has a covered porch. They never play with him and are always yelling at him. This past weekend the neighbors were gone and left Lucky outside and their 8 month old border collie pup inside. We had hours and hours of really loud fire works going on all around us in this neighborhood and poor Lucky was terrified!! All he would do is cry and wimper and scratch like crazy on the back sliding door of the house. It broke my and my husbands heart!! We would go over and pet him and take him treats and try to calm him.

    The night before the 4th I woke up and heard him throwing up and the next morning found out why.... he had gotten into a bag of bbq charcoal and eaten some, there was also a bottle of lighter fluid that had fallen on the back deck also but from our side of the fence it didnt look like he had chewed on that at all. As far as I can tell someone must be coming home (at least at some time) to let the dog out of the house and (we can only hope) feed and water Lucky. He seemed thirsty yesterday, it was near 90 degrees here, so we took out some water and ice cubes for him. It just makes me so sad to see him so neglected and unloved!! His toe nails are so long that they are nothing but talons and he even broke off a few digging at the back door trying to get in away from the fireworks. My husband and I wanted to go over and check on his food and water situation but were afraid of him becoming aggresive with us if we were in his yard.

    I know that if he has food and water and shelter the animal control wont do anything about it, but I needed to vent to some other people that I knew would care about his plight and maybe even have some insite for me on what we could do to help him.


    Thanks for listening!
     
  2. Mary_NH

    Mary_NH New Member

    maybe if you called and mentioned the long uncared for claws and how he got sick by getting into the briquettes and received no vet care, to your knowledge, they'll at least come look - perhaps you can get them to call your neighbor for some dog care education.
    I had a cousin whose house burned and during reconstruction she moved into a condo - no dogs. She left her dog tied to a railing of the burned house porch. She didn't even go near the dog - her father fed/watered the dog daily. I called the shelter and even though the dog had shelter (under the porch) and food/water they still called her to find out what her plans were for the dog.
    she gave the dog away....just the call and some education from the humane society made her think of just what she was doing to that poor dog
     
  3. mamabear_34

    mamabear_34 New Member

    I just went out and checked on him a few minutes ago. I see that he has no dog license and I have a friend and customer at our store that works for the county's license enforcement program. Maybe I can get ahold of her and let them know that he isnt licensed and then they can also see the rest of the conditions he is living in.
     
  4. honeybears

    honeybears New Member

    mamabear thats a good idea on the license, and call animal control too to put in a complaint and then explain the poor care and it should at least be investigated and maybe open the eyes to these morons that they are not providing proper care
     
  5. DeLaUK

    DeLaUK New Member

    Maybe he could 'find his way' to a Dalmatian rescue.
     
  6. honeybears

    honeybears New Member

    "Maybe he could 'find his way' to a Dalmatian rescue."

    good idea Delauk!
     
  7. Jamiya

    Jamiya New Member

    I know others on this forum have.....errrr, "borrowed" a neglected dog and got it into a rescue. Not that I advocate such a thing... :wink:
     
  8. mamabear_34

    mamabear_34 New Member

    I did call animal control and report the license to them and also told them of the conditions. Hopefully they will do a house to house check for licensing as there are LOTS of dogs in this neighborhood, and then the owners wont try to blame anyone for turning them in. The lady that lives in the house seems to be home now so at least he isnt there alone anymore (not that being left outside all the time isnt alone). I just love my dogs so very much and it hurts so bad to see what could be a really great dog treated this way!!

    I dont know of any shelters for dalmations in this area but I will check online and see what I can find!!

    I dont know for sure but I have heard that dalmations are easily sunburned. Is this true, does anyone know??
     
  9. elizavixen

    elizavixen New Member

    I don't think anyone here should advocate stealing a dog. I had a dog stolen and there is nothing worse than not knowing what happened to your dog. I understand you don't want the dog to be abused, but what is abuse to one person is not abuse to another. Not letting the dog inside is not abuse. The long nails and charcoal thing, maybe. I used to have dogs that were only kept outside (b/c my dad had a lung condition and they couldn't be inside b/c of the hair). They had a garage and porch to go onto and they were fine. I just think you should be careful before turning him into animal control or something similar b/c he doesn't really sound abused to me, maybe not taken the best care of, but going to a shelter where he may stay for months or forever or be put to sleep is worse.
     
  10. coppersmom

    coppersmom New Member

    I had a neighbor with a dog kept under similiar conditions. I found a home for him and then talked to her about him telling her how I had a friend that really wanted a malamute. She let me take him right away.
     
  11. maxkicker

    maxkicker New Member

    i agree most the dogs around my way are kept outside. mine have a choice but i wouldnt feel bad if they didnt they have a dog house food water and shelter ..calling about tags pinches a nerve i wont get into that
     
  12. MyPetTherapyDog

    MyPetTherapyDog New Member

    Coppers Mom has a real good point.

    :lol:

    I bet if you did some calling around and found a decent home that was lined up for the dog that the owners would gladly give you the dog. It does not seem like they even care that the dog is alive.

    Once with a pit bull that was in the same conditions, my friend asked the owners of the dog if they would give her the dog for $100.00. She told them it looked just like hers that had just passed away. They graciously accepted.

    Make up a story that your best friend just lost his/her Dalmatian and is taking the passing extremely hard; he/she would give anything for that one! It looks just like good old "Pongo" or Perdita"

    It just may be worth it.

    (All breeds have their own rescue) http://bcf.usc.edu/~thaase/DOT/


    Elizavixen wrote:

    “But going to a shelter where he may stay for months or forever or be put to sleep is worse”.

    I have to agree with Elizavixen; depending on what shelter the dog ends up at and how he weathers the shelter environment & a temperament test that many shelters are now doing, I believe that placing the dog in a shelter just may be detrimental to the dogs life.


    Sue
     
  13. MyPetTherapyDog

    MyPetTherapyDog New Member

    PS, But, most "Rescues" have all of their dogs in Foster Care, not shelters. They usually pull their breeds from shelters. So do make that call to dalmation rescue. It can't hurt and maybe someone from the rescue organization can keep tabs on the situation too!!!
     
  14. DeLaUK

    DeLaUK New Member

    Personally my dogs stay indoors for the most part although I did have one who wanted to be outside all the time, I dont consider a dog being outside abuse....its just not my thing, what I do consider abuse is leaving your dog outside for an entire weekend at a time when you know there are going to be fireworks (or any other potentially highly stressful situation) with no one there to ensure the dog is okay, I cant even count the high numbers of dogs that Ive had a part in assisting vets to sew up and put back together that have tried to 'escape' around July 4th, getting caught on fencing mostly....in a 'regular' attempt to escape and a pet gets stuck somewhere and casues itself damage, most pets will stay there...some struggle but the damage is usually not as bad as when a dog is so freaked out that it rips itself wide open from the front of its chest down to the groin area....and still keeps running. Pets hit by traffic increases July 4th, in some cases causing injuries to people in the cars trying to avoid hitting them....Of course things happen when we are not home and can do nothing about, I lived in California, we had earthquakes, theres no way to know if one will hit.
    Apart from the fact that this dog is not taken care of health wise....The person who started this thread is obvioulsy concerned about the welfare of the dog, if animal control is called and does a check and can find no reason to take the dog or give out a citation then no harm done...apart from annoying to the owner, Ive had dealings with animal control, theyve been in and seen my dogs, the best they could come up with was I had 4 dogs and was, by city law, only allowed 2 as I was in rented accomodation (although my landlord didnt have a problem)....but hard as they tried they could find abuse or neglect....if your pets are taken care of animal control shouldnt give the owners a problem. If the dog is abused/neglected I dont look at it as 'stealing'....in my line of work its called 'rescuing'. That said...I would not send a dog to a shelter unless it was a no kill shelter.
     
  15. MyPetTherapyDog

    MyPetTherapyDog New Member

    Delauk has a good point too. This dog does seem to need a new home life.

    I always leave my dogs inside too. When I am home, that is when they are allowed outside. (I have a 6 ft enclosed stockade fence) When animals are left outside 24/7 they get destructive, bored, scared, lonely, etc.

    I never understood the mentality of wanting to own dogs and then just keep them outside tied up or kenneled 24/7. My animals live in the house with us. They are like our children.

    Of the people that do keep their dogs outside, if the dogs get adequate exercise, housing, play time, social time with the family and is allowed to come inside often then that is a different story. (that and the weather climate situation) Where I live, we can have extremily harsh cold winters and sometimes very hot summers. I don't think my dogs would enjoy being left outdoors in the heat or the cold.

    My beef is when people just tie out the dog, basically throw it a bone now and then and a dish of water and call themselves good dog owners.
    That is what I don't understand.

    Being involved in rescue myself, I too can tell too many horror stories about dogs that come into shelters by people who treat their dogs in just the manner that is being discussed on this thread.
    Very very sad. And as someone else said, Some people don't view cruelty the same way as others, what you and I believe is cruel, the next guy may think he is a great dog owner because his dog is always fed and has a nice old dog house to live in.
    This is the same mentality that will never vet the dogs and will always go to Wal-Mart and buy the biggest bag of Ol' Roy dog food.
    They think the dogs are getting "High quality" dog food !!
    Again, same mentality!


    Here is a good link to begin with. It gives many helpful hints.

    Regardless of the way the dog gets re-homed, it still seems by reading the post, that this dog deserves a "New leash on life"


    http://www.unchainyourdog.org/WaystoHelp.htm (This may help)


    I hope the poster makes it happen!!

    Sue
     
  16. honeybears

    honeybears New Member

    I agree with Susan,

    "My beef is when people just tie out the dog, basically throw it a bone now and then and a dish of water and call themselves good dog owners.
    That is what I don't understand. "

    "Of the people that do keep their dogs outside, if the dogs get adequate exercise, housing, play time, social time with the family and is allowed to come inside often then that is a different story. (that and the weather climate situation)"

    This couldnt have been said better, even though this dog is not being physically abused, its endangerment leaving things out like charcol to let the dog get into, leaving it out during fireworks, when its abviously freaked out etc. emotional - for not giving any attention to the dog, this is wrong. dogs need socialization, play time, and excercise, and this goes for insude dogs too. this can happen to them too.
    I would do like some suggested and contact a dalmation or or other rescue and then talk to the owners.


    Just a side note on outdoor dogs. Wylie loves to be outdoors, she hates being in the house and spends almost all of her time in our backyard except for sleeping. We do have a dogdoor that she can come and go as she pleases, she would not be happy if someone tried to make her a housedog.

    Now Jake is just the opposite, he has to be in the house, and only ventures out to go to the bathroom, so my dogdoor has been wonderful in both aspects.
     
  17. zoeysowner

    zoeysowner New Member

    Some people tell me I'm a bad dog owner becuse my dog is inside. I have a black lab mix and she has always been an inside dog, alot of people make fun of me but I dont think my dog would have it any other way! I take her for two good runs a day and she has a small kennal that she goes to the bathroom in. As soon as we taker her to the kennal she dose her thing and then whines to go back inside. The only time she enjoys being outside is when shes outside with me. I don't think there is anything wrong with people keeping there dogs outside aslong as they have shelter but it isnt for me. I wanted a dog to keep me company and protect me.
     
  18. mamabear_34

    mamabear_34 New Member

    Just an update on the dalmation. Nothing was ever done by the animal control :( to help this dog. Now he is suffering from fly bites and the little border collie that they have (who is about 9 months old) just had 4 of his puppies. Such a sad situation. Wish there were more I could do!!
     
  19. Jamiya

    Jamiya New Member

    Did you try offering to buy the dog from the people?
     

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