AIBU it think getting a dog in this situation is very silly

[trampstamp]

My friends friend has just got a staff which is there choice but what I think Is very very silly, they live in a small flat on the 3rd floor (which may I had dose not even have a separate kitchen it's a kitchen and sitting room in onethere are 5 of them 2 adults and 3 children 4,11 and 13


I can see this ending badly and my mate who also has a dog (hers is a lab and she has a 3 bed house with a 70ft garden) is also horrified and was very worried when she told me .


Also the dog is not really being taken out enough because they live in a flat the dog pretty much has to wait until they take it out with the rain over the last few months that's not been that often


AIBU to think this and agree with my friend

[Tuhlulah]

I agree with you totally and wholeheartedly. It's a recipe for disaster.
Poor dog. Poor kids.

My objection isn't the breed of the dog either, it's the conditions in which the poor thing is being kept. The dog is being set up for a disaster. The kids are just sitting targets. Three kids and a dog -great -just not in a small flat with no immediate access to the outside.

So I think you and your friend are NBU.

[LackingEnergy]

If they take the dog out regularly and give it enough mental and physical stimulation (in and out of the house) then not having a garden won't affect the dog.

As it looks like they aren't doing that then be prepared to here about how much work the dog is, how in house trainable it is and how destructive it is.

Two of the kids are old enough to walk the dog even if they only do it when they're together, so should help out.

[LackingEnergy]

*un not in house trainable

[mollypup]

oh dear.

[1stworldissue]

YANBU they are idiots

[RamblingRosieLee]

No i dont think gettting a dog is silly at all.

But I think getting a muscular, energetic dog who needs a damn good walk twice a day in a small flat is fucking ridiculous.

A small tiny dog, who is more of a lap dog, yes. A staffy. no. Idiots.

[trampstamp]

Lacking were are already seeing posts on Facebook about what a pain the dog is and barking a lot



Also the older two don't want to walk. The dog in the rain and the cold it's why I would never have a dog no matter how much my teens begged and to be honest as there nor dog people eg had history with dodgy I don't think It would be a good idea gor the kids to take the dog out any way they haven't a clue about dogs

[Tuhlulah]

Lacking - but there is nowhere for the dog to escape the attentions of the children, or the adults, or escape loud noise, etc. There doesn't seem to be a place for it to escape stressful situations (and 5 people in a small space might be stressful for a dog).

Of course the dog might have a lovely calm temperament (and let's hope so). But it is living with a family who don't seem to be giving it the basic care of sufficient outside time. All this adds up to stress.

And yes the children are old enough to take it outside IF they are able to control it. What if it get's attacked or attacks another dog? Or a human? Because OP says they have just got it -so they don't yet know what it's capable of.

[Tuhlulah]

The more I read about this the more I despair.

[trampstamp]

It's a two bed flat I know this sounds awful but I hope one of the neighbours complain to the HA

[Crowler]

Bad idea. Hard to watch friends make bad decisions. This would drive me crazy.

[LackingEnergy]

See we had a crate with a blanket over it to provide a safe human free zone when we ended up in a flat for a bit.

I was allowed to walk my GPs rottie from about 11 but they'd put a lot of effort into training their dog and then into training me to be a competent dog handler.

It's sad that they seem to be failing in what could turn into a great family bonding pet. Our 3 year old can control our dogs :-)

[Tulip26]

Oh dear. I had a large dog in a small flat, however there was a massive park behind my home and loads of green spaces to take him. I also don't have children. It is possible but it will be hard work which it doesn't sound like they are prepared to put in.

[trampstamp]

Show works full time hubby is unemployed he reckons he walks the dog but my mate who has a lab and knows about dogs says if he was walking it t wouldn't be barking al the time

He smokes a lot of weed so you can see why we don't believe he walks the dog all the time

[Tuhlulah]

Yes, OP, it does sound horrible for someone to complain to the HA but it might just (a) prevent a dreadful incident and (b) save the dog from a life in which it doesn't get walked/properly looked after, and ends up dead because it bit someone.

Let's hope this story doesn't get converted into a tabloid headlines about dogs mauling children.

[trampstamp]

our 3 year old can control our dog

[Tuhlulah]

Trampstamp -this gets progressively worse -so I have to ask you- is any of this story real?

[RamblingRosieLee]

I think people are on different pages when it comes to what they think their dog is capable of or how well its controlled, I have been on the blunt end of this twice whilst out with my little dog.

I have seen two dogs that I would consider to be totally under control and they were both police dogs, being walked by handlers.

[Tiptops]

YABU to object to them having a dog in a flat. As long as they meet all the dogs needs through walks, exercise, toilet trips etc there's no reason whatsoever to stop a dog living in a flat.

YANBU to be annoyed that they are not doing the above.

[LackingEnergy]

TrampStamp yes a 3 year old is capable of controlling a well trained dog hard as that seems for you to believe. They sit/down/wait/come to call and heal when he asks because I want him to be confident around them and for them to deffer to him as much as they do for us but then we do have 6 large dogs so having them run riot potentially harming ds isn't an option. :-)

[Tuhlulah]

Lacking -but don't the dogs put your 3 year old in their own pecking order? (what I mean is, irrespective of your wanting and making them obey a 3 year old, isn't that them obeying you as opposed to a child that they may percieve as beneath them in the pack order?

(I am not contradicting you, BTW, just asking a genuine question.)

[trampstamp]

Tuhlulah sadly yes I am not saying he's a loser I don't know him that well at all but I do know he's at home but smokes a lot I don't know that much about dogs however my friend who has a Labrador tells me if a dog is regularly walked ECt it should not bark all the time like the staff I can only take my friend who is a dog persons word on that note however even I can see that having a dog in a tiny flat with 5 people will end badly

[Crowler]

It's a horrible idea, the best that will happen is that the flat will be completely trashed.

[specialsubject]

made of sugar, are they? rain doesn't mean you don't walk a dog.

feel sorry for the neighbours with the endless barking. Let's hope it doesn't attack the kids.

[sparechange]

Tuhlulah, there are huge misconceptions about pack mentalities of dogs, mostly perpetuated by that idiot Caesar and his tv programme.

Dogs aren't locked in a permanent struggle over pack hierarchy, nor are they constantly challenging each other for superiority on the pack order.

The dogs will have observed the status of the child relative to the adults. They eat together, they sleep together (in the dogs eyes - lower status animals sleep in dog beds, higher status animals - humans- sleep upstairs). The adults and children interact in a different way to the dogs.

In the dogs eyes, this makes the child equal to the adults, and they are no more likely to start challenging the child than they would the adult.

You can now possibly see why people who sleep with their dogs on their bed, feed them from the table and let them have full run of the house are setting themselves up for problems...