How long to leave a dog with daily visits - neighbour

SallyDucati

Hi,  

I have a dilemma.  My neighbours have gone on holiday it seems and left their Maltese terrier dog in the house with someone visiting once a day for feeding and letting out into the garden.

it’s been a week now, I don’t think it’s right to leave a dog like that for that long?  Not a dog owner so not sure.

elsien

I wouldn’t do it, but if the dog has food, water and shelter and isn’t barking continuously then there’s no welfare issue anyone will do anything about.

I had a work colleague who used to leave her dog for 24 hour shifts with no one calling in - she put puppy pads down for the dog to use as a toilet. 

My personal opinion is that it’s absolutely not right and very unfair on the dog, but I can’t see any steps you could take that would make any difference. 

SallyDucati

elsien said:

I wouldn’t do it, but if the dog has food, water and shelter and isn’t barking continuously then there’s no welfare issue anyone will do anything about.

I had a work colleague who used to leave her dog for 24 hour shifts with no one calling in - she put puppy pads down for the dog to use as a toilet. 

My personal opinion is that it’s absolutely not right and very unfair on the dog, but I can’t see any steps you could take that would make any difference. 

Thanks.  I just feel so bad for the little thing, especially as it’s been so warm lately.

HampshireH

It's awful pet parenting.

However the RSPCA really won't care and your neighbours obviously don't either.

Spendless

Do you mean the dog is being left alone overnight too? That's not something I would do. During the day the best laid plans may go astray. I've recently started a new job. My parents have the dog whilst I work. They were on holiday when I got offered it. I delayed the start until their return. I'd not considered that within days of being back first my Mum and now my Dad have got covid. Add in that my husband works away and teenage daughter commutes to a job with shifts that she only gets just over a week in advance and we've had to sort out what we could. Fortunately my sis-in-law was off last week and could call in for a short while but today my teen has gone and left her door key in DH's car so got stuck outside for over an hour till I got home, so dog left longer than anticipated.

Could you just have a friendly word with the person calling in for the dog and check all is ok? 

SallyDucati

Spendless said:

Do you mean the dog is being left alone overnight too? That's not something I would do. During the day the best laid plans may go astray. I've recently started a new job. My parents have the dog whilst I work. They were on holiday when I got offered it. I delayed the start until their return. I'd not considered that within days of being back first my Mum and now my Dad have got covid. Add in that my husband works away and teenage daughter commutes to a job with shifts that she only gets just over a week in advance and we've had to sort out what we could. Fortunately my sis-in-law was off last week and could call in for a short while but today my teen has gone and left her door key in DH's car so got stuck outside for over an hour till I got home, so dog left longer than anticipated.

Could you just have a friendly word with the person calling in for the dog and check all is ok? 

Yup, left alone apart from 10 mins a day.  

diystarter7

OP
I'm no dog owner but that is awful and I dread to think what loving dog owners will post.
Call the RSPCA and seek their advice as it just does not seem right especially in this very hot weather.
I'm assuming windows closed, curtains open equates to a massively hot house.

Yes, as I type, certainly time to seek advice from professionals, IE RSPCA

MalMonroe

Honestly, with the weather lately, I don't think the dog will be suffering too much if left inside. It's not like it's in a car. But I would never do that to any pet of mine. Dog, cat, lizard, hamster, whatever. It'll be suffering from boredom, which can lead to depression in animals.

Our flat isn't hot in this weather and we fail to open windows wide because we are afeared of flying insects. Crazy but true. It's certainly not stuffy though. I don't think your neighbours' home will be either.

What surprises me most is the fact that you obviously don't talk to your neighbours. Wherever I've lived, and where I live now, I do. Plus you obviously keep a close eye on what's going on. I haven't a clue what mine are up to, although I know them all. 

When your neighbours get back it may be a nice thing to do to start to talk to them and eventually offer to let the dog out yourself if they ever need to go away again - maybe even have it visiting in your own home. Of course your neighbours will have to get to know you a lot better first but it'd be a neighbourly thing to do.

As you don't speak to them, you don't even know why they're away. They could have a family emergency, or anything which meant that what they've arranged for their pet was the best they could do at short notice. 

I do love dogs although I'm not an owner (cats) and if I hadn't introduced myself to my neighbours beforehand, I'd have done so as soon as I saw that little Malteser. 

Start communicating with them, and offer your services to them. They can only say no but they may say yes. Of course, that's only if you want to. 

As HampshireH says, the RSPCA won't care because they're too busy caring for animals who are maltreated, malnourished and abused. And there are far too many of those, sadly.

diystarter7

diystarter7 said:

OP
I'm no dog owner but that is awful and I dread to think what loving dog owners will post.
Call the RSPCA and seek their advice as it just does not seem right especially in this very hot weather.
I'm assuming windows closed, curtains open equates to a massively hot house.

Yes, as I type, certainly time to seek advice from professionals, IE RSPCA

I've just had a read of the RSPCA site and I'm no dog lover. Ideally, you should not leave a dog for more than 4 hours.
In this rampant hot weather, the buildings are getting hotter and hotter as the fabric of the building not get a chance to cool down.

Without delay OP, seek advice from the RSPCA. Anyone that thinks its ok to treat a dog like this should not be owning a dog.

I've always said to people I know, if you keep a dog, look after it like one of the family, a very young member of the family.

elsien

My house is far cooler inside than it is outside. I keep the curtains drawn on the sun side and the windows closed and that works. My dog doesn’t go outside in this heat other than a 5 minute toilet break. 

The dog would be hotter and far more at risk outside with no proper shelter in this weather. 

The section you are quoting from the RSPCA about only leaving for 4 hours is advice on how to teach a dog to be on its own. 

The RSPCA will not do anything about this situation. If you read their webpage properly and go to the report animal cruelty section it says the following.

“We're asking you to avoid calling unless you have a genuine animal welfare emergency that may require a visit from one of our officers.

A genuine animal welfare emergency is one where an animal that is sick, injured or trapped and it is not safe or suitable for a member of public to assist. Or where an animal is in a situation that results in risk to life or imminent danger of it being harmed. 

We receive a call for help approximately every 30 seconds. Some situations that may appear distressing are not against the law. In their daily work our inspectors have to prioritise cases where the law is actually being broken.”

Please explain how you think a dog with food, water, shelter and someone checking on it daily fits into the above emergency criteria? 

coffee_cake

I wouldn't, that's too long and not fair on the dog.

With our previous dog (when he was old and just slept most of the day), occasionally we'd go away for the weekend and leave him at home, but he was visited a few times a day by our neighbour to check he was OK and let him out / feed him.  Anything more than a weekend he was taken to a relative's house for his holidays, or we'd take him with us.