Yes, I'm talking to you. The people who leave dogs out in the heat, the cold, and every other type of weather.
What do you gain by having such a neglected dog? Is it something that compensates for your failure to develop sound relationships with people? We've seen the dog, jumping for joy and wagging its tail when it sees you, even though you hardly give it the time of day. You don't deserve such adulation.
And lucky us. We get to listen to the incessant barking of your lonely dog. It's crying out for companionship. Which you don't seem capable of providing.
Let me ask you a question: Since you don't want to do anything more than just set dishes of food and water out in the yard, why do you even bother having a dog? It's okay not to have a dog. Really, it is.
Matter of fact, if you didn't have any dogs, our neighborhood would be much quieter and more peaceful.
The Department of Shameless Self-Promotion. Do you have clueless neighbors with neglected yard dogs? Have you tried to report the situation to animal control, only to be told that there's nothing they can do? I understand your frustration. And here's a place to show how you feel. Head over to my QuietBarkingDogs store, where you'll find tee shirts and bumper stickers that will express your displeasure to the world.
I'd like to comment on yard dogs. I am totally against leaving dogs out in yards unattended. I'm also not a fan of just "letting" dogs out. Although many will disagree with me on this, I think it is a good idea for the owner to "take" the dog out, rather than "let" the dog out. This way, the owner knows what the dog is doing or getting into, and it doesn't matter if the yard is fenced, the owner still needs to "take" the dog out. Let me give some concrete examples from my own experience.
ReplyDeleteAfew years back, my daughter and I and our then 5 month old puppy were out walking. We passed a house where lived an aggressive Saint Bernard. This dog was NO saint. The dog was out in the yard, and it darn near came over the fence trying to get us. There was a car in the driveway, so somebody was probably home, but totally oblivious to what was going on outside. We got out of there FAST. That could have been a disaster and it could have been easily avoided if the owner was watching what the dog was doing by being on scene.
Another incident: The homeowner comes home after having gone shopping, and forgets to close the gate. Later on, she "lets" the dogs out and closes the door. Her dogs are now running the neighborhood. One of them was a pit bull! If she had taken the dogs out, she would have seen the gate open and could have called them back into the house. No, they were running up and down on a busy road. I was on my way to work and saw them running the streets, so I turned around and drove to her house to let her know. She was able to get them back, but an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure.
Another neighbor "lets" the dogs out and one of them routinely finds a hole in the fence and escapes. She's not dangerous but she could get hurt. If the owner "took" the dogs out, she would see the escape artist escaping and be able to abort the mission!
I know of someone who let his dog out and later it became very ill. Why? It ate a dead, decomposed wild animal that was in the backyard. Had the owner "taken" the dog out, he would have seen it eating the carrion and stopped it.
Sometimes squirrels raid garbage pails, especially garbage pails that do not have lids (another pet peeve of mine) and drop all manner of items in one's backyard. If a dog is just "let" out it will find and consume these things which could kill it. If a dog is "taken" out the owner will see what is going on and perhaps be able to prevent the incident or get the dog some help before it is too late.
And, of course, since this is a barking blog, if the owner takes the dog out, and doesn't leave it in the yard alone, he can prevent the barking.
Thanks for commenting, Anonymous. The incidents you described made me wonder why some people bother having a dog. If it's not a noise nuisance, it's a dog bite lawsuit just waiting to happen.
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